Deep affection knows no origin; remember the polar bear's love for you.

Chapter 87 Losses Caused by the Rainstorm

When Guo Mi woke up, half of the water that had submerged her body had receded, her fur was half-dry, and she smelled musty.

The clouds that had covered the sky had dispersed, and sunlight shone through the thick clouds, casting an orange glow on the edges of the clouds, warm and eye-catching.

Last night's torrential rain and strong winds felt like a dream, bringing us a moment of peace and beautiful scenery.

Guo Mi stood up, and the salmon slid down her back and lay on the ground to continue sleeping.

Fishbone was sleeping on its back with its paws in the air when it started rolling into the water without anyone noticing. Guo Mi reached out a paw and scooped it up before it completely rolled into the water.

She shook her fur, sat on the ground in a daze for a while, then reached out her paw to wake the two bear cubs and beckon them to come back:

She wanted to go back and check on her cave.

...Then Guo Mi broke down.

The hole didn't collapse, but it was even more devastating for her than if it had!

The carefully maintained opening, once filled with dried flowers, has been flooded by rainwater and now looks like a bottle filled with water.

Guo Mi stood at the entrance of the cave, lost in thought as she looked at the muddy water that was about to overflow the cave.

She tentatively dipped her paw into the water and stirred it around, then lifted it out, looking at her paw, now stained yellow with mud, and finally recognized the cruel reality:
Her hole is completely ruined.

To drain the water, at least half of the cave entrance would have to be collapsed. Even so, the cave walls, which were originally compacted, would have become soft and rotten from being soaked in water. The Arctic summer heat is only relative to the winter temperature; in reality, the temperature will not exceed 10 degrees Celsius. It is unknown how long it will take to dry such a deep and wet cave entrance.

In other words, there is no longer any need to salvage this hole.

Guo Mi was somewhat dejected, but after sitting at the cave entrance for less than two minutes, she belatedly realized—

It seems she has more than one hole; there's another, even more crucial hole!

The giant fluffy ball suddenly jumped up from the ground, its round body moving with unprecedented speed and agility, rushing towards the hole next to the flower field!
The two bear cubs, not understanding what was happening, also ran after her with their paws outstretched.

The three bears hurried to the flower field.

The once vibrant sea of ​​flowers is now a mess, with fallen petals scattered on the ground, broken stems, and withered leaves.

Guo Mi stood in front of the flower field, took a deep breath, and stepped forward. Her paws immediately got wet, as the water that had been hidden by the broken branches and leaves suddenly reached the back of her paws.

Her heart sank, and she quickly walked to the location of the cave entrance, using her paws to push aside the flowers and plants that were covering the entrance!
As expected and as logical, the cave had already been flooded. Perhaps because of the grass and leaves, it wasn't as badly flooded as Guo Mi's nest, but it had still flooded half of the cave entrance.

The fish hidden inside had long been submerged.

Guo Mi ignored everything else and went straight into the hole, her claws probing everywhere in the water. When she caught a fish, she would lower her head, pick it up with her mouth, and throw it out of the hole.

After searching for a while, it crawled out of the hole again, its white fur soaked in dark red mud, looking quite disheveled.

She lowered her head and counted the fish she had caught. Of the thirty-two fish, only twenty-nine remained. So she went back into the hole and stayed in the water for a long time before finally managing to retrieve the remaining three fish.

The salmon stretched out its claws and pressed down on the water-soaked fish on the ground. It wasn't the kind that had dried out and hardened; instead, it was starting to soften. It looked up and asked Guo Mi:
"Guo Mi, are these fish still edible?"

Guo Mi lowered her head and sniffed; there was no smell of spoilage. She said helplessly:

"It's edible, but it can't be stored any longer."

The dried fish softened after being soaked in water, and since the water itself wasn't very clean, it quickly became moldy and spoiled without the sea salt that had been attached to it.

Now Guo Mi had lost the last bit of confidence she had left.

She sighed and nudged the fish forward with her nose:

"Eat."

Fishbone lowered its head and took a bite, its little face scrunched up, and it covered its nose with its paws. After a long while, it finally managed to squeeze out a small sentence: "...It tastes a little bad."

It's definitely hard to eat, since it was already hard to eat before it was soaked in water.

Guo Mi also took a bite, and almost choked and spat it out!

Fish that is already salty and fishy becomes even fishier when soaked in water, especially after the fish meat is dried and then rehydrated, resulting in a texture that is half soft and half hard, like chewing rotten cowhide.

It's not just disgusting, it's practically a biological weapon made by a bear!
Guo Mi held the piece of meat in her mouth, mustering her courage several times, but none of those courages lasted long enough for her to swallow the fish.

After struggling for a while, it finally resigned itself to spitting out the fish from its mouth and said to the two bear cubs:

"...Maybe we shouldn't eat it."

Food is indeed precious, but it's not worth getting health problems just for a couple of bites of fish.

Guo Mi felt that her digestive system wasn't strong enough to withstand the test of biological weapons, and there were no hospitals here. She didn't want to struggle and persevere for so long only to die from a digestive tract infection.

The salmon looked up at her.

The giant furball kept saying it didn't want to eat it, but the heartache in its eyes was undeniable.

She exchanged a glance with the fishbone, then lowered her head and took another bite of the dried fish that had been soaking in water, chewing with difficulty and muttering:
"Actually... it's not that bad."

Fishbone swallowed hard, closed his eyes, and bit down, chewing as he shouted:

"Yes, it's still edible, it's okay, Guo Mi, we can finish it!"

Guo Mi knew perfectly well the two little ones' good intentions and felt very touched, but she still pushed the soaked dried fish aside and said gently:
"Alright, we can eat it, but we can't eat too much. Dried fish has no nutritional value anymore, so let's eat something else."

The two bear cubs stared at her blankly.

Guo Mi stood up casually and walked towards their usual reindeer hunting grounds.
"Let's go, I'll go catch some reindeer for you."

However, they soon realized that it seemed, perhaps, apparently...

There's no way to catch reindeer anymore.

The original freshwater source was located in a low-lying area, which is why it was able to collect rainwater and form a freshwater pool.

However, due to the torrential rain that lasted for a day and a night, the water level of the original freshwater pool rose sharply and broke free from the constraints of the shoreline, spreading outwards and mixing with a saltwater river that extended from the sea not far away, forming a vast depression!
In other words, the original freshwater source has disappeared.

Guo Mi was dumbfounded, staring at the unfamiliar, boundless expanse of murky water before her, unable to believe that this was the freshwater source where she had hunted reindeer before.

I thought I had taken the wrong path, but then I suddenly followed the shoreline and saw several huge rocks protruding from the water's edge not far away.

It looked familiar. A bad feeling crept into her heart. Could it be?

After looking closely, I finally saw a deer bone stuck in a crevice on the boulder, and then I belatedly realized that this was probably the top of the boulder slope.

...So the vast expanse of water in front of us really is the original freshwater source!

Guo Mi's mind was in complete chaos, but something suddenly made sense to her.

No wonder the boulders on the slope are rounder than the boulders the little goose flew over the cliff below; now I understand.

Every year during the rainy season, the water that accumulates here during the torrential rains will spread over the top of the rocky slope, and once it connects with the sea, it will create a turbulent undercurrent.

Although the time this place is submerged is short compared to a whole year, over the years, the stones will still have their edges smoothed by the water flow.

This is yet another trace left by time in nature.

(End of this chapter)