Doomsday Totem

Chapter 91 Icefield
The boat moved forward slowly, with Iron Slag standing on the bow, while Old Anpu and two sailors were paddling while carefully avoiding the ice floes along the coast.

The beaches here have no sand, only ice and snow.The closer to the shore, the more ice floes, the slower and slower the boat rowed, and it was impossible to move forward when it approached the shore.Two young sailors got into the water and pushed the skiff on.

In less than 30 seconds, both sailors were blue with cold.Seeing this, Iron Slag also jumped into the water and helped them push together.

Soaking in the cold ice water, the whole body hurts like being cut by a knife.The worm shell of the iron slag grew naturally, but the worm shell has not fully recovered, and some places have not grown well, only a thin layer.With the addition of iron slag, the three quickly brought the boat to the shore, and then pulled it ashore with cables.

Both sailors were shivering from the cold, and although Iron Slag didn't shiver much, it wasn't much better.Old Anpu had the most experience. He took out the wine jug and poured spirits for everyone. Then he found the kerosene stove from the supplies and lit the campfire.

The three men who entered the water were drying their clothes around the campfire back to back, while Old Anpu was arranging supplies.

Looking up, the place is barren, without any trace of living things, only a vast expanse of ice and snow.

"Brother Tie, this is the Snowy Night Ice Field. If you go further north, the days will be shorter and the nights will be longer, but only in winter." Old Anpu introduced.Feng Yun sent him here because he was old and experienced, and asked him to be a guide.

"You...you've been here...here?" Iron Slag was so cold that he couldn't speak well.

"I've been here several times when I was young, I counted..." Old Anpu pinched his fingers and thought for a while, then said, "This is the sixth time."

"Have you...been to farther places?" Tie Slag asked.

"I've been to the Phyllis Mountains, but I only spent two days at the foot of the mountain. I didn't go up the mountain before going back." Old Anpu replied.

Tie Slag nodded and didn't speak again, and Old Anpu continued to sort out the supplies.The kerosene stove was burning quietly, radiating heat outward.There was steam from the wet clothes, and after about half an hour, the three of them were completely dry and their bodies warmed up, and they started to head towards the ice field.

The snowmobile is not big, except for the four big wheels, it looks like a big locomotive no matter what.After the load is filled, another sled is towed.Old Ump arranged for the Red Comet to be sleighed, saving fuel and electricity.After hunting the snow bear, they used the sled to transport the bear, while Iron Slag continued to move forward on the locomotive.

The terrain of Xueye Icefield is very flat, without any ups and downs, only an endless sea of ​​snow, except for snow, it is still snow.

The snowmobile is difficult to drive in the ice field, and often gets stuck in the snow, and can only move forward with half-drive and half-push.Most of the time, they drive the snowmobile alone, while the other three step on the snow with one foot deep and the other shallow, moving forward with difficulty.

On the first day of entering the ice field, Iron Slag felt the hardships ahead.

There are no people here, no plants, no animals, nothing in the vast expanse of whiteness.Compared with the wasteland, the environment here is worse. At least there is no need to worry about starving to death in the wasteland. Occasionally, gerbils can be hunted to satisfy their hunger, and no matter how bad they are, they can dig some weeds to eat.However, to survive here, in addition to food, there is also a source of heat.At night, you must warm yourself by the fire, otherwise the hardened people will not be able to stand it.

The four of them walked for a whole day in the ice field, and did not set up camp until night fell.

Iron Slag originally wanted to set up camp under a snow hill because it could keep out the wind.However, the experienced old An Pu immediately denied it. The reason was that the snow hills were prone to avalanches, so they could only find large rocks or cedar forests.

However, there will be no such places when you first enter the Snowy Night Ice Field.Only in the central part of the Snowy Night Ice Field will there be cedars.Only in the northern part of the Snowy Night Ice Field will there be large boulders rolling down from the Felice Mountains.

Finally, they pitched camp on a flat open field.

The north wind is very strong, mixed with granular ice slag, it is cold and wet, and if you don't pay attention, you will be scratched.It took half an hour to set up the tent. A total of more than 30 fixed ropes were pulled and more than [-] anchors were nailed.Even so, under the bitter north wind, it was still blown as if it was about to fly away.

A kerosene stove was lit in front of the camp, and the four gathered together to keep warm.While drinking spirits, while chatting.On the first day of entering the ice field, everyone seemed to have no appetite to eat. They just felt so cold that they even forgot to be hungry.

After a while, under the baking of the kerosene stove, the four of them gradually warmed up.At this time, they felt unspeakable hunger, only feeling their stomachs twitching.The ice sheet is too cold, and the calories are consumed very quickly, so people are prone to hunger.But the premise is that it is warm, otherwise, under the erosion of the extreme cold, other feelings will fade away.

Iron Slag took out the canned meat of the Central Continental Defense Team and wanted to share it with everyone, but Old Anpu quickly stopped him and said, "You keep these, you have to go a long way, these must be kept in the most critical time." eat."

"Yeah, Brother Tie, keep it." "We're not hungry, just eat something else." The two honest sailors also persuaded.Although they haven't known each other for a long time, they have experienced the first battle of the research institute together, and have fought life and death together, so the distance between them has been shortened a lot.

Then, Old Amp took out a marching pot from the supplies, filled some snow, and set it on the kerosene stove to cook.After a while, the snow slowly turned into water. Old Anpu took a few white radishes and sliced ​​them into the water.After cooking for a while, the marching pot was steaming.Old Ump brought another big chunk of frozen steak and poured it all in.

Afterwards, the four of them stared at the pot like this, smelling the fragrance of meat gradually emitting, desperately suppressing their appetite.The environment here is harsh and there is no seasoning yet, but the boiled beef ribs smell like the ultimate delicacy, which makes the mouth water almost flow out.

After tossing and tossing for more than two hours until late at night, the four of them had a delicious meal.Taking advantage of the heat of dinner, the four of them got into the tent, opened their sleeping bags and got in, starting the first night on the snowy ice field.

In the middle of the night, it suddenly snowed heavily.Iron Slag was awakened by the howling north wind, and went outside the tent to see that the whole world was covered with snowflakes, and he couldn't see his fingers. The kerosene stove in front of the camp was swaying in the wind and snow, and it seemed that it was going to go out soon.

In order to prevent the camp from being buried by the wind and snow, Tie Slag dared not sleep any more, so he woke up Old An Pu to discuss countermeasures.The old AMP got out of the tent to observe for a while, and said, "It's okay, continue to sleep, the snow on the snowy night ice sheet looks huge, but in fact the snowflakes are very fluffy, with low water content, it looks like the snow is huge, but in reality But not much."

With the old guide's explanation, Tie Slag went back to sleep with peace of mind.

The next morning, the four of them woke up one after another, packed their bags, and continued on the road.The sun shines on the snow, but there is no warmth. The sun on the ice field on a snowy night is like light without temperature.

There is only snow and cold in the whole world. They kept walking north like this, and the scenery was exactly the same every day. It made people feel suffocated and unspeakable fear, as if they had been spinning in circles and fell into an endless maze.

At noon on the ninth day, they finally came to the middle of the Snowy Night Ice Field. Sparse cedar trees grew along the way. Although the leaves of the cedar trees were all gray, their presence brought a glimmer of life to this pale world.

One person drove the snowmobile listlessly, while the other three lowered their heads and struggled forward in the snow.

At this moment, Old Anpu suddenly raised his head and shouted excitedly, "Look, Ice Crystal Berry!"

Looking in the direction that old An Pu pointed, they saw a cluster of dwarf shrubs under a cedar tree.The shrub bears small, bright red fruits.

Old Anpu picked one, put it in his mouth and tasted it carefully, then showed a very satisfied expression, and shouted, "Mmm... great! Great!"

Iron Slag picked one off. This ice crystal berry was smaller than a cherry, and its surface was crystal clear, seemingly translucent.Put it in your mouth, bite it with your teeth, and the thick slurry sprays out, sweet and cold, as if there is liquid ice slag in it.It tastes sweet and refreshing, which makes people have endless aftertaste.

They quickly divided up the remaining berries.Although there is only a little bit, the taste is unforgettable for a lifetime.So, from this day on, they have been active a lot, and their eyes are always sweeping under the cedar, hoping to find such a good thing again.

However, for the next two days, they didn't find any more ice crystal berries.

As we moved forward, the cedar became denser and denser, and patches of cedar forests began to appear.

Old Anpu said that the snow bears live in this area.However, they do not have a fixed territory, nor a fixed nest, where they generally eat and sleep.Snow bears are solitary creatures, sometimes alone, sometimes a male and a female.

Day by day, they walked through cedar forests one after another, but they never found any trace of the snow bear.People can't help but wonder whether such creatures exist or not.

It stands to reason that there is a lack of food here, and snow bears are large creatures several meters high. What kind of food can support them to survive.An Pu said that the snowy night ice field is divided into polar day and polar night. The polar day is always daytime, and the polar night is always night.

During the extreme daylight season, snow bears will migrate to the seaside to catch and eat the creatures in the sea.When they are full, when the polar night comes, they will come back here, eat a small amount of food, and stay up until the polar day of the next year.Therefore, at this time of year, snow bears are very dangerous. They will attack and eat any creature they see.

By day No. 15, they hadn't found any snow bears, but they saw a snowy elk along the way.Tie Slag said that he would catch it and stew it for food, but this elk was extremely sensitive, and as soon as Tie Slag thought about it, it ran away.The speed was unimaginably fast, dodging left and right in the cedar forest, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Old Anpu said that if they couldn't find the snow bear any further, they would go back.Feng Yun said that he could only wait for forty days. If this time was exceeded, the Beidou would return.

I don't know if it was the blessing of the heavens or the cruelty of the heavens, but the day after Old Anpu finished speaking, they met snow bears, and there were two of them!

(End of this chapter)