Landlord in the Arctic-Chapter 67: Wolf Cub

The dethroned Prince squatted sorrowfully to the side, watching the happy, warm scene inside the tent. An inexplicable feeling of loneliness and loss welled up in his heart.

’This family doesn’t need me anymore.’

’Big Sis doesn’t love me anymore.’

’Master doesn’t love me anymore either.’

’I’m going to run away from home.’

The Prince walked toward the tent flap, looking back every few steps. He decided that if anyone called out to stop him right now, he would forgive them.

Unfortunately, no one said a word to stop him, even when he reached the entrance of the tent.

The heartbroken Prince poked his head out of the tent flap. The frigid wind instantly scraped his nose, stinging like a needle.

’Forget it!’

’This weather isn’t suitable for running away from home. I’ll give them some time to reflect on their actions.’

The Prince drew a new bottom line below his old one, turned around, and walked back to the warm deerskin rug.

Meanwhile, Feng Shan’s attention was caught by Nash’s words. He asked what he meant by the Wolf Pack being in trouble.

Nash pointed at the Little Wolf Cub, who was eating a wing. "If the Alpha Wolf wasn’t dead, a cub wouldn’t be alone on the Tundra."

"Oh!"

Feng Shan nodded thoughtfully, his gaze falling upon the Little Wolf Cub, who was happily munching on the wing.

The importance of an Alpha Wolf to its pack was self-evident. If something hadn’t happened to the alpha, a cub would never have been abandoned in the frozen wilderness.

’But what could have happened to the Wolf Pack?’

’If this Little Wolf Cub belonged to the Wolf Pack near the camp, my premonition would have been triggered.’

’Since there was no reaction, it means this cub isn’t a member of that pack.’

’Annoying.’

’Just how many Wolf Packs are there in the Crown Territory? Don’t tell me this place is a den of wolves!’

After finishing the wing, the Little Wolf Cub, perhaps still not full, sidled up to Feng Shan’s leg and whimpered.

Feng Shan could practically see several bedbugs squirming in the Little Wolf Cub’s fur. He hadn’t noticed them earlier because the low temperature outside on the snow had forced the bugs into a dormant state to conserve energy.

Now that the temperature inside the tent had risen, the bedbugs had become active again.

HISS!!

’This cub has bedbugs!!’

Don’t think for a second that there are no bedbugs in the Arctic Circle. In reality, even in extremely cold environments, bedbugs can still find places to survive; they’re just less active.

They are especially common among the Inuit, who don’t bathe often.

Feng Shan hated bedbugs more than anything. When he was wandering as a child, he’d been bitten by them countless times. Each bite left a cluster of red, itchy bumps. Back then, he had no money for ointment and could only endure it. The red bumps would take ages to fade.

Seeing bedbugs again, Feng Shan instantly felt his skin crawl, as if he hadn’t bathed in months. He immediately grabbed the Little Wolf Cub by the scruff of its neck.

To deal with bedbugs, Feng Shan had used dichlorvos and lindane powder, and had also tried baking them out in the sun. But in this icy wasteland, there was no way to find such things, and counting on the sun was even more hopeless.

His gaze fell on the pot of melted snow boiling on the wood stove, which Nash had prepared for scalding the Thunderbird feathers. Boiling water also worked on bedbugs.

"Nash, quick, add more snow to the pot! The cub has bedbugs."

Hearing this, Nash quickly lifted the tent flap, scooped up a handful of snow, and tossed it into the pot. He dipped his hand in to test the water temperature.

"It’s ready."

Feng Shan lifted the Little Wolf Cub and, amidst its terrified yelps, pushed it directly into the pot.

Prince was dumbfounded when he saw this.

’Just for being possessive of its food?’

’Wouldn’t a good beating be enough? Was it really necessary to toss it in a pot to be boiled?’

’I’d better not be possessive of my food in the future.’

’But then again, I wonder if it’ll taste good once it’s cooked?’

The Little Wolf Cub sank into the hot water. Its initial terror slowly gave way to comfort as the hot water flowed through its fur, warming its entire body.

Possibly due to malnutrition, many of the underfed bedbugs were scalded to death by the hot water and floated to the surface, while many others still clung tightly to the fur.

Its head, in particular, couldn’t be submerged in the hot water and became a life-saving island for the bedbugs. You could see them crawling all over the Little Wolf Cub’s head with the naked eye.

Feng Shan shuddered, a layer of goosebumps rising on his arms.

’That’s right, I can use Witchcraft!’

’Coca-Cola and Prince don’t get pests in their fur precisely because I used the Beast Taming Technique on them.’

Thinking of this, Feng Shan quickly extended his hand toward the Little Wolf Cub and began chanting the Spell for the Beast Taming Technique.

A red glow shot out from the Witchcraft Bone Ring and landed on the Little Wolf Cub.

The very next moment, swarms of bedbugs abandoned the Little Wolf Cub’s head, collectively plunging into the embrace of the hot water.

After a while, Feng Shan decided it was enough. He rummaged through the Little Wolf Cub’s fur and, seeing no more signs of bedbugs, lifted it out of the pot, wrapped it in an animal hide, and placed it by the stove to dry.

Nash took the pot outside the tent, dumped the water, and started boiling a new pot of melted snow.

They still needed to scald the Thunderbird’s feathers and make soup later.

As for the pot having been used to soak bedbugs, so what?

From another perspective, bedbugs were also a source of protein. Haven’t you seen monkeys at the zoo picking them off each other and eating them all day?

Soon, the Little Wolf Cub’s fur was dry. The moment the hide was unwrapped, even the stoic Nash couldn’t help but exclaim at its beauty.

A beautiful coat of white fur was revealed in its full glory.

Every hair was neat and soft, with a slight curl, as if it were a work of art meticulously carved by nature.

"It’s a Taiga Wolf. Only Taiga Wolves have this kind of white fur," Nash said.

’Who cares what kind of wolf it is.’

’As long as it’s pretty.’

Feng Shan gently combed his fingers through the Little Wolf Cub’s fur, feeling its fine texture, as if he were touching the softest of clouds.

The Little Wolf Cub blinked its bright eyes, meeting Feng Shan’s gaze.

In that moment, Feng Shan seemed to see trust and dependence in its eyes.

"I’ll help you find your family."

"Let me see, are you a little brother or a little sister?"

Feng Shan grabbed the Little Wolf Cub by its front legs and lifted it up in front of him. The cub shyly covered itself with its tail.

"Prince, it’s a girl. You guys better not bully her."

Prince looked up resentfully. Seeing the new Little Wolf Cub being pampered in their master’s arms made his heart sink even further into despair.

The Thunderbird Soup in the pot was ready. Bubbles broke through the thick layer of fat on top, and a rich aroma filled the cramped tent.

The two remaining hares, skinned and cleaned, were skewered on branches and propped up at the edge of the wood stove to roast in the high heat from its walls.

Compared to roasting directly over a flame, the advantage of this method was that the rabbit meat wouldn’t get burnt.

Rabbit meat is naturally tender and doesn’t require very high temperatures. There was no need to brush it with oil either; winter was when the hares had the most fat, so all it took was slow-roasting with the stove’s heat to render that fat.

Feng Shan took out the holy trinity of Chinese barbecue: salt, cumin, and chili powder.

First, he used a small knife to score the rabbit meat, then sprinkled it with salt, letting the rendered rabbit fat dissolve the salt and infuse the meat. Once the surface of the meat had roasted to a crispy crust, he sprinkled on the cumin and chili powder.

It was a pity he hadn’t been able to buy sesame seeds at the Walmart Supermarket; the flavor was missing something.

The Thunderbird Soup was already fragrant enough, but the aroma of the roasted rabbit with its added spices completely overpowered it.

Nash, in particular, stared wide-eyed at Feng Shan’s roasting technique.

Normally, he would just put meat directly over the fire to roast, not caring if it got burnt, and at most would sprinkle on some salt.

But when Khilla roasted meat, he just grabbed some powders and sprinkled them on the rabbit, and the smell immediately changed. Just the scent alone was enough to make one’s mouth water.

Prince, Coca-Cola, and the Little Wolf Cub stood guard by the stove, their little eyes fixed on the roasting hares.

Feng Shan cut into a rabbit leg with his small knife, saw the color of the meat, and nodded.

"It’s done! Time to eat!"

The words had barely left his mouth when Nash pulled his own mess tin from his backpack, and Prince and Coca-Cola trotted out with their food bowls in their mouths.

Only the Little Wolf Cub looked around in confusion, letting out a soft whimper toward Feng Shan.

"You’re still weak, so you can’t eat spicy food. You can have some Thunderbird Soup!"

Feng Shan took out his own mess tin, stirred the soup in the pot with a spoon, skimmed off the layer of fat, and then ladled out a scoop of clear broth. He also picked out some Thunderbird Meat and placed it in front of the Little Wolf Cub.

As for Prince and Coca-Cola, Feng Shan used his knife to scrape the spices off the surface of the rabbit meat. The two spoiled brats each got a hind leg.

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