Nash immediately twisted the throttle, accelerating in the direction Feng Mountain indicated.

The Prince and Princess remained where they were, exchanged a look, then dropped the Thunderbird and chased after the snowmobile.

「By Gem Lake.」

Yves heard the commotion and wanted to follow, but the two girls were still fishing beside him.

Of course, they came up empty. How could they possibly catch anything without special bait? The "fishing champion," Erica, was extremely frustrated. ’Why can Feng Mountain pull them in one after another, while all I catch is air?’

"I’m done! What a stupid place." Erica huffed, throwing down her fishing rod and kicking over the plastic bucket. "Yves, Tammy, let’s go see what they’re up to."

Before Yves could stop her, Erica pulled Tammy onto a snowmobile and sped off in pursuit.

Yves shook his head helplessly and could only follow.

The snowmobiles tore across the Tundra, their engines roaring and echoing across the vast, snowy plains.

The tall silhouette of a moose appeared and disappeared in the snow. It strode elegantly, seeming unalarmed by the pursuers behind it.

If it had run toward the forest, Feng Mountain really would have been powerless to stop it.

But out on the open Tundra, it was practically asking for death.

Soon, Nash caught up to the moose on his snowmobile. Only then did the moose grow anxious, its four long legs starting to pound across the snow in a frantic dash.

Feng Mountain stood up on the back seat, kept his balance, and raised his Type 56 carbine.

As the snowmobile accelerated into firing range, Feng Mountain pulled the trigger without hesitation.

After the crack of a gunshot, the moose staggered and slowed, but it stubbornly kept running forward.

Blood streamed from its body, dripping onto the snow and leaving a trail of crimson.

A moment later, the moose stumbled and collapsed.

The snowmobile stopped beside the moose. Feng Mountain jumped off the back, approached the moose from behind, and cautiously prodded it with his rifle to check for a reaction. Every year, there are a few cases of Hunters being counter-attacked by a dying moose during a hunt.

After a few pokes with the barrel elicited no response, Feng Mountain finally relaxed and walked around to its side. Seeing its half-closed eyes still held a glimmer of light, he gently placed a hand on it.

The moose’s body was still trembling slightly. Warm breath puffed from its nostrils, condensing into a white cloud in the cold air.

Nash walked over with a knife, ready to deal the moose the final blow.

Feng Mountain raised a hand to stop him, merely crouching silently beside the moose, feeling its life gradually slip away.

When the Witchcraft Bone Ring had gathered abundant Soul Power, the moose’s eyes closed completely, and its body went still.

Feng Mountain stood up, took a deep breath, and then began to process the moose carcass.

Just then, Yves and Erica arrived. Tammy was holding the Prince and Princess in her arms.

"Whoa, what a huge moose!" Erica’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

Yves also took out his personal knife and joined in on processing the moose.

To be honest, this was the biggest deer Feng Mountain had ever seen. Even lying on the snow, its sheer size was intimidating.

It was at least two meters from hoof to shoulder, with a pair of antlers on its head like the shovel of the small bulldozer parked at the River Beach Camp.

It weighed over a thousand pounds. After skinning it, removing the innards, and accounting for bones, there were still more than five hundred pounds of meat left. At the very least, the camp wouldn’t be short on meat for a month.

He packed the meat and bones into a Storage Bag, and loaded the hide, Deer Antler, and head onto the sled. The organs were left behind for other animals to clean up after they left.

The group then rode their snowmobiles back to the lake, picked up the Thunderbird they had just hunted, and saw the plastic bucket and fishing rods lying pitifully in the snow.

"So, fishing champion, where are all your fish?" Feng Mountain asked teasingly.

"Hmph!" Erica turned her head away and took Tammy with her, speeding back to the new camp alone.

Feng Mountain dragged the moose to the bus camp, planning to give some of the meat to Frank. But Frank refused, saying that on his way back to the Crown Territory, he was mourning for Feng according to China’s customs and would not eat meat.

’Mourning?’

’What kind of mourning is this?’

’When a husband dies, the wife mourns. But how does that apply to you...?’

’Ugh, forget it. No matter how you look at it, it doesn’t make any sense.’

Feng Mountain felt a headache coming on. He could only say that he’d have Jenny make some bread and send it over, then left the vexing bus camp.

「Back at the River Beach Camp.」

The Ice River had completely thawed. Snowmelt from the mountains gave the river a turquoise-blue hue, clear and vibrant.

Sunlight spilled across the water’s surface, making it glitter as if countless sapphires were sparkling.

The river flowed with a pleasant murmur, adding a sense of tranquility and vitality to the camp.

Just then, a few large fish swam over from a distance, appearing to be suspended in mid-air in the clear water, their forms faint and indistinct.

They swayed with the current, elegantly flicking their tails as they slowly moved forward.

"They’re really alive?" Erica ran to the riverbank in disbelief.

Feng Mountain pulled a small piece of moose meat from a Storage Bag on the sled, chopped it up, and tossed it into the Ice River.

SPLASH!

The water instantly rippled. The large fish swiftly swam toward the meat scraps, fighting over the food and churning the water in a lively scene.

"They’re really eating... Ahh!! What are you doing?" Erica had just managed to get a few words out when she was startled by a rock splashing into the river. A large white fish flipped onto its back, its belly up, and floated to the bank.

Feng Mountain reached out, hooked his fingers into the fish’s mouth, and lifted it from the water.

"What else? We’re eating fish."

"But... but... but..." Erica stammered, speechless.

"’But it’s delicious!’" Feng Mountain finished her sentence for her, then got on his snowmobile with the fish and left.

Erica jumped up and down in a frenzy. "Feng, you’re an asshole!!"

The new camp being enveloped by the Fire Seed had its pros and cons.

The pro was that all things were coming back to life and the temperature wasn’t as cold. The con was that there was no way to store meat. If they were at the bus camp, they could just dig a snow cave to use as a natural refrigerator.

But that wasn’t possible at the new camp; you couldn’t even find a patch of snow.

These several hundred pounds of moose meat had to be processed quickly, or it would spoil.

There were basically three ways to process the moose meat: smoking, curing, or air-drying.

Feng Mountain gave the large white fish to Tammy and told her to take it to Jenny to be cooked for lunch.

Half of the moose meat was set aside for smoking, and the bones were kept for making broth. He took the other half to the Glacial River Beach and had Nash and Yves gather some stones.

First, they piled up snow, compacted it, and then hollowed out a snow cave. They stacked the stones outside the cave entrance, then buried the stones with more snow. They shoved the moose meat inside the hole and sealed the entrance with a rock.

This could barely prevent large predators from stealing the meat, but if it was visited by smaller animals like martens or weasels, there was nothing they could do.

They took out a portion of the moose meat for dinner and threw the rest into the smokehouse.

Old Swan had helped build this smokehouse. It was spacious and sturdy, easily capable of smoking several hundred pounds of meat at once.

Nash brought back fresh fir branches and leaves he had cut from the Moonlight Forest.

Yves cut the moose meat into standard-sized strips and hung them on the smoking racks. They lit a fire and covered the open flames with the fir branches.

They closed the smokehouse’s wooden door. With occasional checks on the fire and additions of more fir branches, the moose meat would be fully smoked in three days.

After finishing their work, the three men stripped naked and jumped into the bone-chilling Ice River for a nice, cold bath. Then, shivering, they threw on their clothes, rushed into the villa, and sat laughing and joking by the fireplace to warm up.

Even though the River Beach Camp was protected by the tribe’s Fire Seed, the water temperature in the Ice River was still below freezing.

"You guys are crazy." Jenny didn’t know what to say to the three of them. She quickly told Maria to get some reindeer hide blankets.

"In the future, anyone who wants to become a member of the Crown Territory has to swim in the Ice River first," Feng Mountain said defiantly, though his teeth were chattering uncontrollably. But when he saw Maria’s earnest gaze, he quickly amended, "Women are exempt!!"

"Quick, drink this fish soup. There’s a lot of pepper in it." Jenny and Tammy brought over three bowls of cod soup.

A thick layer of pepper floated on top of the soup. ’It looked like someone had dumped the whole pepper shaker in.’

"’Maria made this, didn’t she?’" Holding the bowl, Feng Mountain couldn’t find a single spot to take a sip from.

Mhm!!

Maria nodded eagerly, a look of pride on her face.

’No wonder she was so generous with the ingredients.’

"Alright, bottoms up!"

Feng Mountain looked at the long-faced Nash and Yves, then raised his bowl to his lips.

’The boss is drinking it, how can we refuse?’

’We shouldn’t have gone along with Feng Mountain’s crazy idea.’

Nash and Yves picked up their bowls and, with furrowed brows, drank down the peppery fish soup one sip at a time. The pepper grounds stuck uncomfortably in their throats.

"Here, drink some water to wash it down!" Feng Mountain thoughtfully brought them two glasses of water.

The two of them finished the water, but their throats still felt a bit scratchy. Only after they put down their glasses did they see that Feng Mountain hadn’t taken a single sip of his soup. His bowl was just as full as when it was brought over.

"Don’t look at me like that. I’m in much better shape than you guys, I don’t need the soup!" Feng Mountain picked up his bowl and swaggered into the kitchen.

Seeing this, Jenny shook her head. ’Those two honest guys are just too trusting of Feng.’

Everyone gathered around the dining table, eating freshly pan-fried whitefish and moose tenderloin while discussing the afternoon’s work.

Their current wood supply was enough for a month, so they didn’t need to chop any more for now.

For food, they had just harvested a moose. When they had time, they could catch more fish and keep them in the Ice River, ensuring a ready supply of fresh fish.

The vegetable garden, however, did need some attention.

Their recent hands-off approach had allowed moss to invade the vegetables’ growing space. The once-healthy vegetables were now growing in a chaotic mess.

After they had determined the afternoon’s tasks, Feng Mountain suddenly looked at everyone around the table and asked.

"Where’s David?"

’So we’ve been eating and talking nonsense this whole time, and nobody even noticed someone was missing.’

"I think I saw him upstream on the Ice River," Tammy said, raising her hand.

Feng Mountain grabbed a napkin, wiped his mouth, and stood up. "You guys keep eating. I’ll go see what’s going on."

With that, he left the villa and rode the snowmobile upstream along the Ice River.

David was squatting by the riverbank, clutching a thermometer and muttering to himself.

"How can this be?"

"It’s completely unscientific!"

"The soil temperature is normal, there’s no sign of warming, so why did the Ice River melt?"

"There’s no free shale gas in the air, and just across the Ice River, the temperature on the opposite bank is 10 degrees lower than in the camp."

Feng Mountain walked closer, listening to David’s muttering, and sighed helplessly.

’Such a good kid.’

’He’s about to be driven mad by the tribe’s Fire Seed.’

’This thing can’t be explained by science.’

"Buddy, everyone’s waiting for you to eat!"

David turned around, his eyes bloodshot, and held up the thermometer resentfully. "Khilla, why is this happening? I can’t figure it out!"

Feng Mountain put an arm around David’s thin shoulders. "If you can’t figure it out, then don’t think about it. Maybe this is just a magical place, and all we have to do is enjoy life to the fullest, right?"

"But..."

"No buts. Trust me on this. First, fill your stomach, then you can continue your scientific research!"

Not giving David a chance to say more, Feng Mountain forcibly dragged him onto the snowmobile.

...