Landlord in the Arctic-Chapter 66: Heavy Snow

Feng Shan hadn’t expected it either—the massive blizzard the weather bureau had forecast wouldn’t arrive for another three days was already starting its dress rehearsal.

At first, only a few scattered snowflakes drifted down. Then, they grew more numerous, plummeting straight from the gray sky.

Each one was the size of a fingernail, with an irregular shape. They fell thick and fast, quickly filling his entire field of vision.

The once-calm, cold wind suddenly turned violent, howling as it swept across the tundra, blowing so hard a person could barely keep their eyes open.

The low-lying moss and vegetation were quickly buried by the accumulating snow.

’This is some serious snow.’

Wearing a rider’s face mask and a fur hat pulled down over his head, Feng Shan wrapped his fur coat tighter and led Nash onward, struggling with every step in the deepening snow.

The swirling snowflakes piled up at an astonishing rate.

With every passing moment, another layer of snow blanketed the tundra.

’In weather like this, the smart thing to do would be to return to camp.’

Feng Shan sank into thought. ’The grass rope divination isn’t foolproof. I managed to divine the Wolf Pack’s trail this time, but there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to find it again.’

’I’m already on their trail. If I give up now, the Wolf Pack could hide anywhere in Alaska’s million-plus square kilometers.’

’The thought of returning to camp now left a bitter taste in my mouth.’

Feng Shan gritted his teeth and decided to press on.

「As time went on.」

The snow fell harder and harder, blurring his vision. The ground beneath his feet grew even more slick and treacherous.

The warm air from Feng Shan’s breath formed a thick layer of frost on his eyebrows and eyelashes. He looked up at the sky.

The entire world was a white shroud of snowflakes. It didn’t look like it would be stopping anytime soon.

He turned to look at Nash, who was trudging along behind him like a snowman.

His watch read 8:00 PM, but the sky was still a sheet of gloomy gray.

"Let’s find a place to make camp. We’ll move out tomorrow when the snow stops."

Nash nodded. He scanned their surroundings and spotted a patch of dry shrubs in the distance. "That’ll work."

They reached the thicket of shrubs.

The two men cleared away the snow and pitched their tent, after which Nash used a sapper shovel to chop some branches for firewood and dragged them inside.

Feng Shan laid a moisture-proof mat on the tent floor, covered it with a reindeer blanket, and set up the wood stove.

As flames rose in the wood stove, the temperature inside the tent slowly climbed. The two men finally let out sighs of relief. Prince and Coca-Cola also crawled out of a backpack and began scurrying around on the warm blanket.

Nash filled a stew pot with snow, added a few dry twigs, and placed it on the stove to boil.

Feng Shan kept busy as well, taking out smoked venison and venison sausage from his backpack. He placed them by the edge of the stove to warm them with the residual heat.

Before long,

the tent was filled with the aroma of meat. Prince wagged his tail, circling the stove.

’These rations are for emergencies,’ Feng Shan thought. ’It’s always better to get fresh food by hunting.’

"I’m going out to see if I can bag a hare or a Thunderbird." Feng Shan picked up his Type 56 carbine, stopping Nash, who looked like he wanted to come along, and lifted the tent flap.

WHOOSH!

A blast of frigid wind howled past, lashing his face with bone-chilling cold.

Feng Shan quickly pulled the tent flap shut behind him and plunged headfirst into the heavy snow. The fierce wind, thick with snowflakes, made it impossible to see clearly.

With every step, the snow came almost to his knees, slowing his movements to a crawl.

His luck was pretty good.

After walking a few hundred meters, he spotted a Thunderbird cautiously poking its head out of the snow near another thicket.

He raised his Type 56, aimed at the Thunderbird, and pulled the trigger.

BANG.

The sound of the wind completely masked the gunshot. The Thunderbird was killed instantly, with no chance to even struggle.

Thunderbirds are flock animals; where there’s one, its companions are sure to be nearby.

Sure enough, on the other side of the thicket, another Thunderbird lay in the snow. Its white feathers were a natural camouflage, and it had been hiding safely, but was unfortunately betrayed by its idiotic teammate.

Another shot.

A direct hit.

Feng Shan walked over and collected the Soul Power. While the bird was still warm, he quickly bled it and hung it from his belt.

’With two people, a dog, and a cat in the tent, two Thunderbirds definitely won’t be enough.’

However, one’s luck doesn’t always hold out.

After bagging the two Thunderbirds, he searched for a long time but found no trace of any others.

But as the cold wind blew away the loose powder, Feng Shan saw the tracks of another animal—the footprints of a wild hare.

.....

「Inside the tent.」

Nash finished boiling the water with the twigs and poured some out for Prince and Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola knew this water was good for her, so she lowered her head and lapped it up bit by bit.

Prince, on the other hand, was in his rebellious phase and strongly objected to the weird-tasting water, yelping at Nash in protest.

Nash wasn’t like Feng Shan, who liked to reason things out.

In his mind, an animal that didn’t obey needed a beating. Beat it enough, and it would listen.

He grabbed Prince by the scruff of his neck and gave his rear a few smacks. He got smacked for talking back, and smacked again even after he started to whimper.

Just then,

the tent flap was suddenly thrown open.

A gust of frigid wind surged into the tent, followed by Feng Shan, who looked like a snowman and was carrying two Thunderbirds and two wild hares.

The moment he saw his master return, Prince immediately struggled free from Nash’s demonic grip and rushed to his master’s side to complain, turning his head to bark accusingly at Nash.

"Get lost. You deserved that beating." Feng Shan couldn’t be bothered with Prince. The dog was the most mischievous one in the entire camp; a bottomless pit who was useless at everything.

’Well,’ he amended, ’he’s good at collecting protection fees.’

Seeing that his master wouldn’t back him up,

Prince’s tail drooped, and he trotted off to a corner of the tent to sulk.

"Khilla." Nash took the Thunderbirds and hares, then suddenly noticed something moving inside Feng Shan’s fur coat.

"Found a puppy," Feng Shan said with a smile. He opened his coat to reveal a small, gray-and-white-furred puppy curled up inside, its eyes wide with terror.

"A wolf!" Nash said with certainty, looking at the pup’s eyes and snout.

’So it really is a wolf!’

’No wonder... I was thinking, how could there be a puppy out in this blizzard?’

Feng Shan grinned. He walked over to the stove, sat down, and placed the Little Wolf Cub from his arms onto the blanket.

The moment he was set down, the Little Wolf Cub tucked its tail between its legs and scrambled to hide behind Feng Shan’s leg, letting out a series of pitiful whimpers. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Prince, who had been sulking, immediately perked up at the sound. He trotted over nosily, but as soon as he caught the wild scent coming off the Little Wolf Cub, he let out a low, warning growl.

The growl terrified the Little Wolf Cub, making it hide even more desperately.

Coca-Cola padded over gracefully. She gave Prince a sharp glare, and before she could even lift a paw, he scrambled backward in terror—his childhood trauma was bone-deep.

After chasing Prince off, Coca-Cola gave a lazy stretch, went up to the Little Wolf Cub, and began to carefully groom the messy fur on its head.

"See that? That’s how a big sister acts. You’re just a little hoodlum!" Feng Shan praised Coca-Cola, not forgetting to throw a jab at Prince.

Prince rolled his eyes, then trotted over to Nash’s side to watch him prepare the Thunderbirds, completely forgetting he had just gotten a beating.

’Winter hares are at their fattest. It’s a waste to use them in a stew; only roasting can bring out their delicious flavor.’

"Let’s stew the Thunderbirds and roast the hares," Feng Shan said, picking up a hare. He pulled out his knife, skinned it, and cleaned out the innards.

After its initial panic, the Little Wolf Cub gradually calmed down under Coca-Cola’s comforting presence. Realizing it wasn’t in danger, it slowly began to recover some of its energy.

However, after being out in the blizzard for so long without food, the Little Wolf Cub still looked very weak, wobbling when it tried to walk.

Feng Shan shook his head.

’It’s lucky it ran into me. Otherwise, it would have frozen to death.’

"Something must have happened to the Wolf Pack," Nash said, tearing off one of the bird’s wings and tossing it to the Little Wolf Cub.

The Little Wolf Cub snatched it and began to devour it ravenously. Prince, his eyes green with envy, edged closer, only to hear the Little Wolf Cub let out a protective whimper.

Instantly,

Prince lost it!

’In the Crown Territory, I’m the only one who gets to be protective over food! Don’t you know who’s boss around here?’

He was about to teach the Little Wolf Cub a lesson.

Just as he was about to snap, he saw the Little Wolf Cub getting farther and farther away. He turned his head and saw that his master was holding him up by the scruff.

’Master.’

’It’s being possessive with its food!’

’Look! It’s guarding its food!’

’Smack it!’

’Hey, hey, hey, why are you tossing me out?!’

...