American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness.

Chapter 394 Greenland, the End of the World (Another 20,000-word update)

The smokeless coal stove inside burned all night, keeping the polar cold out of the thick wooden walls.

Lin Yu'an was awakened by a rhythmic tapping sound. He opened his eyes and subconsciously glanced at his watch—7:30 in the morning.

But through the gaps in the blackout felt, it was still bright daylight outside.

At this latitude, time seems to lose its meaning; the sun merely draws circles in the sky, refusing to set.

He quickly rolled out of bed, not stretching lazily as he would in the city, and went over to unlock the door.

Outside the door, the old guide, Odak, was holding a slightly chipped white enamel plate, his face, etched with the wrinkles of time, adorned with a smile.

"Good morning, Lin. People who don't eat breakfast on the ice field can't go more than ten kilometers." Odak squeezed into the room and placed the plate on the rough pine table.

"Try this; it's a gift from the Arctic to men."

There were no steaming hot fried eggs or bacon on the plate, only a few pieces of raw meat cut into neat squares, covered with thick layers of fat and a grayish-black skin.

They exude a faint, sweet and pungent aroma, similar to raw hazelnuts mixed with the fishy smell of the sea.

"This is raw narwhal skin." Odak didn't stand on ceremony, picking up a piece and popping it into his mouth, chewing it with relish like chewing gum.

"Many Danish tourists who come here will vomit when they smell this. But it's full of vitamin C, and it's the only medicine that can keep us from losing all our teeth even without vegetables."

Lin Yu'an didn't hesitate at all. He wasn't just there to hunt; he was there to experience the local way of life. If he couldn't even accept the local food, he would forever remain just a tourist.

He picked up a piece of cold whale skin and put it in his mouth.

The first bite is extremely tough, like chewing a piece of gummy candy full of oil.

As you chew, the fat melts in the warmth of your mouth, and that unique, fishy smell assaults your nasal cavity...

"It tastes good..." Lin Yu'an forced down his throat and gave a fair assessment, "It's a bit like sashimi, but chewier."

Audac's smile deepened, and he nodded in satisfaction: "Very good, your stomach belongs here. As long as you can eat this, you won't collapse on the ice."

After a simple breakfast, the two began to pack their gear.

As Audak watched Lin Yu'an skillfully holster the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle and then grab a handful of loose 7.62mm bullets and stuff them into his jacket pocket, he casually asked, "Today's plan is simple. We won't go far. I'll take you for a drive around the edge of the sea ice near Kanak."

"The main purpose is to help you get used to the climate here, and also to test whether your firearms are adapted to this environment."

As Audak put on his heavy sealskin gloves, he said, "Also, it'll be good for my pack of dogs to get used to your scent."

Lin Yu-an slung her heavy camera bag over her shoulder and followed Audak out of the warm little house.

The blinding sunlight instantly enveloped my entire body, but it was followed by extremely cold air at minus thirty-two degrees Celsius.

The two trudged through the snow towards the dog sled parked on the ground. Lin Yu'an finally asked the crucial question that had been nagging at him.

"Audak, there's something I need to clarify."

Lin Yu'an stopped and said seriously, "I am a Chinese citizen, and I hold a U.S. green card and an Alaskan hunting license."

.

"Although Mr. Yepesen helped me get the travel permit and gun license, in Greenland, as a foreigner, do I really have the right to shoot at musk oxen or polar bears?"

He didn't want to become a poacher because of legal issues.

Odak stopped checking the reins, straightened up, rummaged around in the greasy sealskin coat for a while, and pulled out a shiny round iron box.

With a crisp "snap," the lid popped open, revealing dark brown, moist tobacco with a strong, pungent aroma.

In the Arctic, this substance, known as "chewing tobacco," is a treasure for hunters.

In this godforsaken place where water freezes instantly, ordinary butane lighters cannot ignite because the liquid butane cannot vaporize at temperatures below -10 degrees Celsius.

While kerosene lighters are cold-resistant, lighting one in strong winds is still a skill. Taking off your gloves to light a cigarette with a lighter is a foolish act of self-harm.

Moreover, the smoke from burning cigarettes tends to frost over goggles. Only this type of "mouth smoke," which requires no lighting and is simply put into the mouth to absorb nicotine through the oral mucosa, is suitable.

This is what allows men to maintain their excitement and body temperature while waiting on the icy plains for hours.

Audak picked up a clump of dark tobacco with his two rough fingers and offered it to Lin Yu'an as if sharing candy, raising his eyebrows in acknowledgment.

Lin Yu'an glanced at the tar-like substance, smiled, and waved his hand politely in refusal.

The old tour guide didn't mind at all. He skillfully stuffed the clump of tobacco between his lower lip and gums, chewing it a few times with a look of enjoyment.

Then it turned its head and spat out a mouthful of dark brown liquid mixed with saliva onto the white snow.

He turned his head, and his eyes, hidden behind his goggles, refocused on Lin Yu'an, his gaze now filled with admiration.

"Lin, it's good that you're very careful with the law. Here, the law is divided into two parts."

"Part of it was written on paper by those politicians in Copenhagen, and the other part was carved into the ice by us Inuit people."

"Regarding the laws on paper," Odak patiently explained, "many outsiders think that everything in Greenland is under Danish control."

"Actually, that's not the case. We obtained expanded autonomy as early as 2009."

"Her Majesty the Queen of Copenhagen controls our diplomacy, our defense, and our currency. But she has no control over the things that run on this icy plain."

He patted the sled forcefully with his large, gloved hands: "The land, the minerals, and all the animals—these are under the jurisdiction of the autonomous government of Nuuk (the capital of Greenland)."

"For hunters, the documents issued in Nuuk's red house are more effective than the Danish constitution."

"The Greenland Department of Natural Resources issues strict hunting quotas to each settlement every year based on calculations by scientists."

"7

"For example, this year, our village of Kanak was allocated quotas of fifteen cows and three polar bears. These quotas are issued to us registered professional hunters."

"Yeperson paid a hefty price for one of the commercial quotas. Legally, this prey is on my tab, and you were shooting under my supervision."

Odak paused, then squinted at Lin Yu'an: "Of course, what's on this paper is just the starting point. The real rules will depend on how you treat this piece of ice."

After explaining the legitimacy, Odak's expression became serious and solemn, and his voice lowered: "But this leads to the second part, the laws on ice."

"That's the rule left by our ancestors. What we sell to you trophy hunters is only the experience of firing a gun, that fur, and that big head."

"As for the meat, every single ounce must be left behind."

The old man gazed at the smoke rising from the village not far away: "Here, a musk ox can provide several hundred kilograms of red meat, which is the winter food for the elderly living alone in the village."

"The fat of a seal is the fuel that keeps my twelve dogs going. If you're going to shoot to take the meat, I'll break my contract and dump you on the ice."

"But if you only want that corner as a specimen and leave the meat for the community, then you're a friend we welcome!"

After hearing this, Lin Yu'an felt a huge weight lifted from his shoulders. This was not only a legal transaction, but also a survival contract with a mutual aid element.

He nodded solemnly: "Of course, the meat belongs to Karnak. What I want more is the experience."

Odak grinned, revealing teeth stained yellow by tobacco. Instead of setting off immediately, he squatted down beside the sled and took out his water bottle.

He did something that would leave ordinary people speechless: he took a big gulp of warm water, gurgled it twice, and then, with a "plop," sprayed the warm water onto the smooth bottom of the skateboard.

Immediately afterwards, he quickly wiped it with a clean piece of seal skin.

In the air at minus 32 degrees Celsius, the warm water freezes into a thin, glass-like ice shell the moment it comes into contact with the skateboard.

"This is called putting ice skates on a sled." Odak straightened up, exhaling a puff of white breath. "With this layer of ice, the friction is almost zero. But remember, don't crash into rocks; this ice is very brittle."

After doing all this, he finally untied the six- or seven-meter-long seal whip from the side of the sled.

Its handle is made of polished driftwood, and the whip itself is woven from the thick hide of an adult bearded seal. The whip tip is extremely long and thin, resembling a venomous snake poised to strike in the cold wind.

Lin Yu'an raised an eyebrow: "This is your steering wheel? I thought it was for disobedient kids."

"Ha! If you hit a dog with it, you're a bad driver."

Odak corrected him seriously, "In a fan-shaped formation, the lead dog is ten meters away from me, and its voice will be carried away by the wind. This whip is my extension, my baton."

"Watch closely, Lin. Use your wrist, not your arm."

The old guide flicked his wrist, and the long whip drew a strange arc in the air.

“Pah!”

A crisp sonic boom, like the sound of a pistol being fired, rang in the ear of the dog on the far left.

The dog immediately seemed to receive some kind of radio signal and corrected itself half a step to the right. The whip didn't even touch a single hair on its head.

"A crackling sound at the tip of the whip on the left means turn right; a crackling sound on the right means turn left; and a crackling sound on the snow behind them means acceleration."

Odak pointed to the group of giant beasts that were now lying on the ground conserving their energy, his eyes filled with fatherly pride: "Let me introduce my lads. They are purebred Greenland hounds, one of the oldest dog breeds on Earth, who have been pulling sleds here for thousands of years."

"They don't know what 'sitting down' or 'shaking hands' means; they only know how to work and survive."

He pointed to the center of the fan-shaped queue, to the male dog that, while not the largest, had the most composed gaze and fur as black as night.

"That's Qilaq (Sky), my lead dog. It doesn't need to be the strongest, but it must be the smartest."

.

"It can understand even my slightest commands, and it can sniff out ice cracks covered by snow in a blizzard. It is the brain of the entire team."

"And those big, muscular guys on either side are wheel dogs." They're responsible for the power, the engine of the team.

After the introduction, Odak suddenly handed the heavy seal whip to Lin Yu'an, his eyes carrying a hint of testing: "Try it? Many Danes practiced for a month, and all they did was whip themselves in the face, and miss nothing."

Lin Yu'an took the whip. It felt heavy and had a slippery, oily texture. He didn't swing it immediately, but instead recalled Odak's movements from earlier.

That instantaneous wrist flick is almost identical to the principle he uses when fly fishing or swinging a rope on a sailboat. It utilizes the transfer of kinetic energy to create an explosive burst at the end.

He took a deep breath, turned his body slightly to the side, and flicked his wrist seemingly casually.

The long whip stretched out in the air like a living thing, and the kinetic energy was smoothly transferred to the tip of the whip.

"Smack—!"

A perfectly crisp sonic boom rang precisely in the right ear of the lead dog, Qilaq.

Qilaq, which had been lying down, immediately raised its head alertly and glanced to the left, as if to confirm whether it was time to set off.

Odak's eyes widened instantly, and he almost dropped the chewing tobacco in his mouth.

"Damn it—you used to chase dogs in Alaska?"

"No, it's my first time." Lin Yu'an rolled up the whip and handed it back. "It's the same physical principle as swinging a horsewhip or casting a fishing rig, as long as you master the rhythm."

"A genius—absolutely a genius." Odak muttered, his gaze toward Lin Yu'an completely changing, no longer that of a tourist.

"Since you have this kind of feel for it, you don't need to be a passenger." Odak gave up the driver's seat and pointed to the standing platform at the back of the sled: "You drive, I'll sit in front and show you the way."

"Besides the whip, you only need to remember three words: lu (left), li (right), and most importantly, 'Tama' (stop). As for starting, just shout it out."

With everything ready, the pack of dogs was now in a state of near-manic agitation.

Greenland dogs have an exceptional sense of perception; they knew what Odak's action of "putting ice skates" on the sled meant.

The twelve Greenland hounds that had been lying down all stood up at this moment, and the fan-shaped formation instantly turned into chaos.

They leaped wildly, howling at their throats in a way that sounded more like a pack of wolves than dogs.

Several impatient male dogs even started tearing at their leashes or frantically pawing at the hard snow, sending ice chips flying everywhere.

If it weren't for the metal snow anchor at the back of the sled, which hooked firmly onto the ice like a ship's anchor, these little wild animals would have long since dragged the empty sled away and disappeared.

"Get in the car! Quick! They're going crazy!" Odak roared, his voice almost drowned out by the howling of the pack of dogs.

Lin Yu'an stopped talking nonsense, stepped onto the pedals covered with non-slip rubber, bent his knees slightly, and gripped the rough wooden handles tightly with both hands.

He could clearly feel the entire sled shaking violently as the pack of dogs pulled it, like a trapped beast about to break free of its chains.

Sleds don't have shock absorption; the knees are the only suspension.

Odak jumped into the truck bed and pulled the snow anchor out of the ice with his backhand.

"Huk! Huk! (Let's go!)"

With a deep and powerful shout from Lin Yu'an, the howling of the twelve Greenland hounds came to an abrupt halt.

In that instant, all the chaos vanished, replaced by twelve taut, bowstring-like backs and forty-eight legs simultaneously unleashing their power to push off the ground.

"collapse--!"

As the dozen or so slack tow ropes were instantly straightened, Lin Yu'an felt a sudden, violent, and harsh pulling force, as if someone had yanked his collar hard from the front.

If he hadn't been strong enough in his core and hadn't lowered his center of gravity beforehand, this blow would have been enough to throw him off the sled.

"Sizzle—splash!"

The snowboards, freshly made of ice skates, rubbed against the hard snow, producing not a smooth, silky sound, but a sharp noise similar to metal cutting glass.

Once the sled starts moving, the jarring, unbearable jolt travels straight from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.

This doesn't feel like driving a speedboat; it feels more like standing barefoot on a giant washboard and being dragged along at breakneck speed.

Every protruding icicle and every snow ridge blown by the wind was clearly reflected in Lin Yu'an's leg muscles.

A small snow hill appeared ahead. It didn't look big on the map, but it was an obstacle for a sled without a steering system.

Lin Yu-an didn't twist the handlebars like he was riding a motorcycle. Instead, he pressed his entire body weight onto the inside of the snowboard like he was skiing, while simultaneously stomping one foot into the snow to act as a temporary brake.

"Sizzle—!"

The tail of the sled swung violently outward due to inertia. In this imperfect drift, the rawhide knot absorbed the enormous torque, and the sled forcefully cut through the bend.

Odak, sitting in the sled, was being tossed around like a sack of flour.

He turned to look at the Asian man whose legs were firmly planted in the driver's seat, and couldn't help but burst into laughter. His voice carried far in the cold wind: "Hahahaha! Lin! Looks like your knees are pretty good! Lots of people who try to stand on that seat for the first time are already biting their tongues!"

"Don't slow down! Let the dog run away! Charge!"

Two men, two guns, and twelve dogs, accompanied by violent jolting and heavy breathing, raced wildly into the depths of that boundless, perilous white wasteland.

After running for about five kilometers, the suffocating jolt finally subsided as the pack of dogs slowed down.

The dogs' tongues were lolling out, and the heat condensed into white mist in the air, making each dog's fur wet and clinging to its body.

The frigid temperature of minus thirty-two degrees Celsius was greedily consuming their body heat, reminding Lin Yu'an that these biological engines were not perpetual motion machines.

Instead of taking Lin Yu'an directly into the dangerous ice floe area, Audak stopped the sled at the foot of a huge iceberg.

This is a natural "ice cathedral".

Under the direct polar sun, this behemoth, which broke off from the Greenlandic inland ice sheet and was frozen in the Smith Strait, takes on a breathtaking sapphire blue color.

Wind erosion has carved countless bizarre and magnificent textures on its surface, with huge arches and spires reaching into the clouds, making people look as small as ants in its presence.

"Tama! (Stop!)"

At Lin Yu'an's command, the twelve Greenland hounds obediently stopped and immediately lay down on the ice, gulping down the snow beneath them to cool down.

The head dog, Cangqiong, heaved violently, its eyes half-closed as it panted. Although the temperature was minus thirty-two degrees Celsius, the full-speed sprint had overheated the twelve "bioengines."

Odak jumped off the sled bed, and the first thing he did was pull the old rifle from the holster on the side of the sled, skillfully cock it, and then sling it over his back.

Lin Yu'an subconsciously made the same movement, his gloved fingers resting on the trigger guard of the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, his eyes habitually scanning the surroundings.

Seeing Lin Yu'an's smooth and fluid tactical movements, Audak nodded in satisfaction.

"Looks like I don't need to say much more. Many tourists who just arrived take out their cameras as soon as they get off the bus, but you take out your gun. That's a good habit; it can save your life in a critical moment."

Odak pointed to the colorful houses on the edge of the town of Karnak in the distance. "See that outermost red house? In Greenland, that's an invisible red line."

"Within the red line is human territory. To prevent accidental discharge and injury, firearms must be unloaded, and they are even prohibited from being carried in some public places."

The old man pointed to the vast ice field beneath his feet, his tone suddenly turning cold: "But the moment you step out of that house, you enter the territory of polar bears."

"Here, whether you're taking out the trash or enjoying the scenery like you are now, your gun must be loaded and the safety must be ready to be released at any time."

"Because polar bears can't read maps, they are terrestrial predators on this planet that actively include humans in their diet."

"Last year, a Danish geologist was squatting down less than 500 meters from town, tying his shoelaces. When we finally found him—"

Odak shrugged, not saying anything more, but the meaning was clear: "All that's left are the shoelaces."

Lin Yu'an nodded. This was the cruel aesthetic of the polar regions. The more beautiful the scenery, the closer death was.

Looking at the magnificent scenery before him, he subconsciously reached out and touched the action camera fixed to his left shoulder strap. Seeing that the faint red indicator light was still flashing, he breathed a sigh of relief.

At this temperature, where even electron flow is frozen, the so-called "cold-resistant battery" cannot last more than ten minutes.

He had to resort to the most common, makeshift method used by polar photographers: directly removing the camera battery and using a freeze-proof Type-C cable.

The thread was tucked along the neckline into the inner lining of the fleece jacket, which was closest to the body.

Hidden there was a heavy power bank with two heat packs attached, drawing power from his body heat.

Although the exposed cables were frozen stiff like wire, this was the only way to ensure the machine wouldn't shut down at minus forty degrees Celsius.

The two rested against the warm, leeward side of the iceberg, briefly enjoying the tranquility.

Just then, the roar of an engine came from the distant sea ice.

Lin Yu'an turned his head and was surprised to find a red pickup truck towing a flatbed trailer with thick guardrails, driving swaggeringly on the frozen sea.

The trailer was empty, but the pickup truck's bed was loaded with several huge pickaxes and chainsaws.

"That is—" Lin Yu'an was somewhat taken aback.

"Oh, those are water trucks that deliver water to town," Odak said matter-of-factly. "In the summer, we either drink rainwater or spend a lot of money to desalinate seawater. But in April, this sea ice is our highway."

He pointed to the huge blue iceberg beside him; the water was right there. Then, with a sharp hunting knife, he chipped a piece of ice off the ice wall and popped it into his mouth, crunching it loudly.

"Try some? This is good stuff." Odak broke off another piece and handed it to Lin Yu'an.

Lin Yu'an took the glistening ice cube, but instead of immediately putting it in his mouth, he examined it carefully in the sunlight.

"Audak, I've read some reports." Lin Yu'an frowned slightly. "The scientific community currently has reservations about directly consuming glacial water."

"Leaving aside the ancient bacteria or viruses that have been sealed away for tens of thousands of years, even just drinking glacial flour (rock powder) produced by glacial movement would put a heavy burden on the kidneys."

After hearing Lin Yu'an's concerns, Audak was taken aback for a moment, then burst into a hearty laugh, "Hahahaha!"

Lin, you're just as lovely as those scientists from America!

The old guide swallowed the ice shards in his mouth and pointed to different parts of the iceberg with his rough finger. "You're right, but only half right. Look over there."

He pointed to the milky white, even somewhat murky areas at the bottom of the iceberg.

"That kind of white, milky ice, we call it dirty ice. It's full of stone powder. If anyone drinks that water, their stomach will swell up like a balloon within three days."

Then, he pointed to the dark blue ice block in Lin Yu'an's hand: "But the one you have is called Black Ice. It broke out from the deepest core of the ice sheet."

"After tens of thousands of years of terrifying compression, all the air bubbles and impurities were squeezed out, making it as dense as a stone."

Audak patted his chest: "There's no stone dust or living insects in here. Only the purest water."

""

"We've been drinking this water for thousands of years. If there were any curse in this water, the Karnak people would have all died out long ago. Instead, they would all be as strong as musk oxen as they are now."

Lin Yu'an looked at the block of ice in his hand, which shimmered like a sapphire in the sunlight. Since the locals' millennia-old survival experience had already made this clear, it would be impolite to be overly fussy.

He put the ice cube in his mouth, and an intensely cold sensation exploded in his mouth. It didn't taste dusty or strange as he had imagined, and it didn't even have the mineral taste of ordinary mineral water.

It is so pure that it has no taste, only a chilling coldness. This is the most expensive water in the world, the taste of ten thousand years sealed away.

In a New York restaurant, a glass of water like this might cost tens of dollars, but here, it's an entire mountain.

Looking at the waterwheel in the distance, Audak said with a smile, "Those trucks drive to the iceberg fracture zone ahead to collect this black ice and transport it back to town to melt into drinking water."

"Therefore, the blood vessels of the Karnak people are filled with water from 10,000 years ago."

As they were talking, the pickup truck drove by.

The driver clearly recognized Odak. He rolled down the window, stuck out a head wearing a thick woolen hat, shouted a few words in heavily accented Greenlandic, and waved at Lin Yu'an.

Audak responded with a few words and a hearty laugh.

"What did he say?" Lin Yu'an asked.

Odak translated, "He said the ice conditions have been very good these past few days, with the ice layer being 1.5 meters thick, enough for even a Boeing plane to land."

He also said, "If you're lucky, head northwest; someone spotted a unicorn in the sea 'breathing in a crevasse'."

"A narwhal?" Lin Yu'an's eyes lit up.

"That's right." Odak put his goggles back on, and the sharp glint of the old hunter returned to his eyes.

"Warm-up is over, Lin. Now that you've learned how not to fall off the sled and understand the rule of keeping your gun with you at all times."

"Then let's not look at the scenery here." He walked to the sled, patted the lead dog's head hard, and the black dog immediately stood up, shaking off the snow powder.

"We'll head northwest. I'll show you a real Inuit supermarket—the sea ice crevasse area. That's the only way we can find musk oxen and bears."

Lin Yu-an put the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle back into its holster, stepped onto the driving pedal, and with his command, the sled team set off again.

But this time, the thrill of flying close to the ground lasted for less than twenty minutes.

As they ventured deeper into the northwest, the ice beneath their feet began to become jagged, and the once smooth, mirror-like highway disappeared.

Instead, there was a chaotic ice zone that looked as if it had been smashed by a giant's hammer.

This is the ice ridge region.

Huge sea ice plates collide and bulge under the pressure of ocean currents and tides, forming countless sharp, knife-like ice walls.

This is a nightmare for sledders, and a battleground that tests the skills of the drivers.

"Huk! Huk!"

Lin Yu'an's roar echoed between the ice walls, and the pack of dogs noticeably slowed down.

When it encountered a nearly vertical ice ledge, the heavy sled made a teeth-grinding scraping sound and got stuck between two huge blocks of blue ice.

The pack of dogs kept pulling desperately forward, their neck fur digging into the sled, but it didn't budge.

Just as Audak was about to jump down to help, he discovered that Lin Yu'an had already moved first.

Instead of waiting to be waited on by the guide like a king, he nimbly jumped off the footboard, braced his shoulder against the cargo bed, and, in rhythm with the dogs pushing, let out a low growl: "Up—!"

This is not only an explosion of power, but also a precise control of timing.

Just as the twelve dogs gave a sudden tug, Lin Yu'an used his shoulder to lift a corner of the sled, forcefully pushing the weight of at least 100 kilograms over the ice ledge.

"Bang!"

The sled crashed heavily onto the snow on the opposite side. Lin Yu'an grabbed the handle and, like a gymnast, lightly jumped back onto the driving pedal.

Sitting in the truck bed, Audak looked at Lin Yu'an, who was panting but had bright eyes, and silently gave him a thumbs up.

After another hour of brisk walking, we passed through this chaotic ice maze, and suddenly the view opened up.

A huge black crack appeared ahead, like a wound in the earth, stretching across the white wasteland.

That is the open water area of ​​the glacial lake that has been torn apart by ocean currents.

This is the "Inuit Supermarket" that Odak mentioned.

"Tama! (Stop!)" Odak suddenly shouted in a low voice.

Without needing an explanation, Lin Yu'an also noticed the abnormality.

The lead dog, Qilaq, which had been running at a steady pace, suddenly stopped, its nostrils twitching violently, and turned its head to look to its left—the direction upwind.

Immediately afterwards, the entire pack of dogs began to stir, whimpering with a desire to kill.

"They smelled it." Odak quickly jumped out of the truck bed and immediately slammed the heavy metal snow anchor into the ice, firmly fixing the charging beasts in place.

At the same time, he tapped the ground with the handle of the whip, producing a low, intimidating sound to keep the pack of dogs quiet.

"There it is, at ten o'clock." Odak handed the binoculars to Lin Yu'an. "Do you see that black dot behind that large ice ridge?"

Lin Yu'an took the binoculars. About four or five hundred meters away from them, on the edge of the ice, a black dot shaped like a rugby ball was lying on the ice.

That's a ringed seal!

"Luckily, we're downwind, so the wind is blowing our scent and sound in the opposite direction." Odak exhaled a puff of white breath and pointed to a raised ice wall in front of him.

"We can't drive the sleds anymore. At this distance, the sound of the sleds scraping against each other is like thunder."

"Take your gun, we have to climb over there."

The two left the restless pack of dogs on the leeward side of the ice ridge.

To avoid alerting the wary little creature, Lin Yu'an removed his crampons, picked up his Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, and followed behind Odak, using the chaotic ice ridges as cover as he crouched low and crept towards his target.

300 meters — 200 meters — 150 meters. The two stopped behind a huge piece of blue ice.

Odak cautiously poked half his head out to make sure the seal was still there, then pulled back in and made a gesture to Lin Yu'an.

"It's 150 meters away. Beyond that, it's flat ground, no place to hide."

Odak glanced at the gun behind Lin Yu'an and said, "This is a good opportunity to test your old Chinese gun."

""

The old guide's eyes held a hint of doubt: "At this distance, and at minus thirty-two degrees Celsius, the gun oil in many semi-automatic rifles would freeze, making it impossible to pull the bolt back."

Lin Yu'an didn't speak. He took off his gloves and immediately felt the stinging sensation of the extremely cold air on his skin. He then gripped the modified Type 56 semi-automatic rifle.

The gun was ice-cold.

However, the structure of this gun can be described as one of the most durable designs in the history of human small arms.

Before setting off, Lin Yu'an had wiped off all the excess lubricant, leaving only a very thin layer of graphite powder for lubrication. This was the secret to using guns in the polar regions.

He lay prone on the snow-covered ridge, using his elbows to press the snow down and create a stable firing platform, resting the rifle butt against his shoulder.

He adjusted his breathing and brought his eyes close to the tactical scope mounted on the rail.

Through the high-transmittance lens, the world 150 meters away is instantly brought closer.

It was no longer just a black dot, but a living, breathing creature.

This is a sturdy ringed seal, its cloud-patterned fur gleaming with an oily sheen in the sunlight.

It was perched on the edge of that pitch-black breathing hole, like a goalkeeper guarding his own goal.

It wasn't sleeping; instead, it was constantly in a state of extreme tension.

Every few seconds, it would suddenly raise its round head, its wet nostrils twitching rapidly, trying to catch any trace of predator's scent in the air.

The hot air exhaled from its mouth and nostrils condensed instantly into wisps of white mist in the -32 degree Celsius air, which were then dispersed by the crosswind.

"We must aim for the very front," Odak said in a very low voice, almost whispering in Lin Yu'an's ear. "It's too close to the water, less than half a meter away."

"If it hits the lung or neck, even a fatal wound, it will slip into the hole due to muscle spasms or instinctive struggle. Once it's in the water, we won't get anything."

Lin Yu'an remained silent, silently calculating the firing parameters in his mind.

At a distance of 150 meters, the ballistic drop of a medium-power 7.62.39mm round is not significant; it is almost a direct-fire range.

The problem is the wind.

The polar winds were unobstructed, whistling like knives from the left. Although the snow powder on the ground wasn't flying up, experience told him that the crosswinds were probably around force 3.

Lin Yu'an had originally locked onto the crosshair between the seal's eyebrows, but he shifted it slightly to the left by half a micrometer while adjusting the wind deviation.

The cold was seeping into his palms, and the sensation in his index finger was becoming dulled. He had to pull the trigger before his fingers stiffened.

breathe-

Lin Yu'an took a deep breath of the cold air, then slowly exhaled half of it and held his breath.

The world seemed to stand still at that moment.

The whistling wind in my ears disappeared, and all that remained in my vision was that black head that rose and fell slightly with the rhythm of breathing.

My index fingertip touched the cold steel trigger of the 56.

He gently pulled the trigger, the first half of the firing motion was neutral, pre-compression. One firing cycle was complete.

Feeling the distinct resistance at the critical point of the second spark, my fingers came to a steady stop, preparing for the final strike.

Just as the seal raised its head again, seemingly sensing something and trying to turn back into the water, "Bang!"

A crisp, short gunshot shattered the deathly silence of the icy plain.

The classic gas-operated structure of the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle is instantly activated by the propellant gases.

The bolt recoils, ejects the spent casing, and returns to its original position—a series of complex mechanical actions completed crisply and cleanly within a fraction of a second.

"bite""

A red-hot, painted steel shell tumbled through the air and landed on the pristine snow with a soft "sizzle," instantly burning a small hole in the snow.

There was no jamming, no hesitation. This old gun, weathered by half a century of trials, fired its most perfect shot.

The image, viewed through the scope, was incredibly impactful.

There was no struggle, not even a painful spasm.

The seal, which had just been about to raise its head, suddenly went limp, like a machine whose power had been cut off.

A vivid and poignant flower of blood bloomed behind its head, quickly staining the pristine white sea ice beneath it.

"puff."

Only then did the dull thud of the bullet hitting flesh reach their ears.

"Beautiful! Right on the brainstem! That's it! As clean as turning off the lights!"

Audak abruptly put down his binoculars and excitedly patted Lin Yu'an on the back, even happier than if he had hit him himself.

He glanced at the Chinese rifle that was still emitting wisps of smoke, and the doubt in his eyes completely turned into admiration.

"It seems the Chinese really know how to make cold-resistant stuff! It's so smooth even at minus thirty degrees Celsius, this gun is a good buddy!"

The two stopped sneaking, got up and ran back to the sled to calm the restless dogs.

Accompanied by the excited howls of the twelve dogs, the sled glided the last 150 meters and stopped beside the black breathing hole.

The bullet stopped very well, leaving only a small hole in the back of the head.

Before drawing his knife to deal with the prey, Audak made a move that left a deep impression on Lin Yu'an.

The old hunter took off his heavy sealskin gloves, exposing his calloused and frostbitten hands directly to the cold wind.

He bent down, grabbed a handful of the cleanest snow from the spot unstained by blood, and stuffed it into his mouth.

He kept his eyes closed, and even though the extreme cold snow made his teeth ache and his mouth numb from the cold, he didn't chew. He just quietly waited for his body heat to melt the snow into a pool of warm water.

A few seconds later, he crouched down, gently pried open the seal's tightly closed mouth with his rough thumb, and lowered his head.

With utmost solemnity, he spat the warm water in his mouth into the seal's mouth.

At that moment, even the wind seemed to stop.

Audak's expression was solemn and dignified, as if he were not facing a dead beast, but giving a final baptism to a fallen comrade.

"What are you doing?" Lin Yu'an asked softly, afraid of disturbing the tranquility.

"Give its soul water." Odak stood up and wiped the water from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Seals live their entire lives in bitter, salty water, and their souls are always thirsty. If a hunter can give a seal a sip of fresh water after it dies, its soul will be grateful to you."

Audak's voice was as deep as an ancient ballad: "Its soul will swim back to the sea and tell the other seals that the hunter kept the ancient covenant and gave me precious fresh water."

"That way, more seals will be willing to stick their heads out of the ice cave and offer their bodies to us next year."

"On this cruel icy plain, killing is not for conquest, but a sacred exchange of energy. I take your life to survive, and I give you clean water as a sign of respect."

Audak turned his head, his cloudy eyes fixed on Lin Yu'an: "Lin, remember this, it's the foundation of our survival on this icy plain. Only hunters who know how to respect will always have meat to eat."

Lin Yu'an looked at the peacefully deceased creature and nodded thoughtfully.

"Alright! The ceremony is over!"

Audak's sadness came and went quickly. The instant he finished feeding him, he instantly reverted to being the Inuit hunter.

"Whoosh!"

A sharp Finnish hunting knife appeared in his hand.

Without any fancy moves, Odak flipped the seal over, precisely pierced the skin under the seal's chin with the tip of his knife, and then pulled it down along the white belly line to the tail fin.

"Sizzle!"

With the sound of a sharp blade slicing through subcutaneous fat, the seal's body cavity was opened.

"boom--!"

That was the sound of hot air bursting out.

In the frigid air of minus thirty-two degrees Celsius, the moment the seal's internal organs, which were at nearly forty degrees Celsius, were exposed, billowing white steam rose up like a mushroom cloud.

The strong smell of blood and the salty smell of the ocean instantly enveloped the two of them.

"Woof—! Woof! Woof!"

The dogs caught the deadly aroma and went wild. They frantically tugged at the snow anchor, driven by a primal craving for warmth.

Audak reached into the scalding steam and skillfully pulled out a huge, purplish-red organ that was still steaming.

"This is liver, good stuff." Odak tossed it onto the clean snow at Lin Yu'an's feet. "Slice it while it's hot, or freeze it solid. This is a vegetable from our Arctic."

Lin Yu'an looked at the piece of liver but didn't reach out to pick it up. Instead, he frowned and said, "Odak, wait."

"The liver of polar seals contains excessive amounts of vitamin A, and eating it can lead to severe poisoning. The symptoms are the same as those of eating polar bear liver, which can cause the skin to peel off all over the body or even lead to death."

Upon hearing this, Odak was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Hahaha! Lin, it seems you've read your book quite well, but only halfway through!"

The old guide used the tip of his knife to pick up the piece of liver and earnestly gave Lin Yu'an a lesson: "The kind of poisonous creature you're talking about is called a bearded seal."

"It's a huge creature weighing several hundred kilograms, with a long white beard. If you eat the liver of a bearded seal, you'll have a splitting headache and your skin will peel off."

"But look at this—" Odak pointed to the carcass on the ground, "This is a ringed seal, a small one that grew up eating krill and small fish."

"In Greenland, these are two completely different creatures. The bearded seal's liver is poisonous, and even dogs won't eat it. But the ringed seal's liver is a tonic, and it's given to pregnant women and children."

Odak cut off a small piece, put it directly into his mouth and chewed it to prove it was safe: "Don't worry, my friend. This stuff will only make your eyes brighter, it won't make your skin peel."

With the alarm lifted, Lin Yu'an stopped being coy and even started to look forward to the taste of this "polar foie gras".

"And what about the rest?" Lin Yu'an pointed to the seal carcass, whose internal organs had been removed.

"We're taking the meat, fat, and skin back with us. That's the villagers' staple food."

As he spoke, Odak ripped the remaining pile of lungs, stomach, and steaming intestines out of the body cavity and piled them on the snow.

"These organs now belong to the dog."

Like a seasoned chef, Odak wielded his Finnish hunting knife with a flash of silver light, swiftly slicing the slick and heavy entrails into pieces.

The pack of dogs had gone mad; the twelve little giants were pulling desperately on the ropes, letting out longing whimpers.

Odak first picked out the large, deep red heart. "In the Arctic, there are rules for eating."

"The Sky!"

He shouted the lead dog's name, flicked his wrist, and the heart drew a bloody line in the air, flying precisely to the very center of the fan-shaped formation.

The sky soared high, and a bite landed on the heart in mid-air.

After landing, it did not rush to swallow, but instead let out a deep roar to intimidate its companions who were trying to come closer, before it began to enjoy this privilege that belonged to the king alone.

Immediately afterwards, Odak accurately tossed the remaining lungs and intestines to the "wheel dogs" and ordinary team members on both sides who were responsible for the work.

The once desolate ice field was suddenly filled with the sounds of chewing and swallowing.

Steam rose from the twelve gaping maws, and in less than two minutes, the entrails on the snow were devoured clean in a whirlwind.

"That's it?" Lin Yu'an asked, somewhat surprised. "The entrails of one seal, divided among twelve dogs, would only amount to a few bites each, right? Is that enough for them?"

"If we don't work, this certainly won't be enough."

Odak grabbed two handfuls of snow and vigorously rubbed the blood off his hands, explaining, "But we still have a long way to go. If we let them eat until their bellies are round like they are at home, all the blood will go to their stomachs, and these lazybones will want to sleep, and might even vomit while running."

"This bit of warm offal and fat is just the right amount to give them explosive power without making the body feel heavy."

The old guide clapped his hands and pointed to the cleaned seal carcass: "Alright, help me load this hundred-pound carcass onto the sled. We'll feed them frozen fish when we get home."

The two men worked together to tie the seal carcass to the top of the sled and cover it with a canvas.

Audak jumped back into the driver's seat and looked at the sky.

"Warm-up done, dog fed. The place we're headed for next won't be so easy."

After doing all this, Lin Yu'an glanced at the empty, desolate ice field around him, then at the trace of blood seeping from the sled, and frowned slightly.

"Odak, we have to go."

Lin Yu'an's voice held a hint of wariness. "In such clean air, how far can the scent of this seal's blood travel? Ten kilometers? Or twenty kilometers?"

"Wandering around on the ice with such a large piece of fresh meat, we're not just hunters now, we're a mobile buffet truck. What if there's a polar bear nearby—"

Upon hearing this, Odak stopped gathering the ropes, glanced at the wind direction, and his expression became more serious than ever before.

"You're right, Lin."

The old guide quickly jumped into the driver's seat, no longer as relaxed as he had been joking earlier. "Nanook's nose is a masterpiece of God."

With the wind, it can smell a drop of blood thirty kilometers away.

"We've just created a scent bomb, and now all the predators within a radius of dozens of miles will be heading here."

Odak grabbed his whip and said urgently, "We can't stay here any longer. We must move immediately and use the wind to shake off the smell."

"Going home?" Lin Yu'an asked.

"Yes! Head straight back to Karnak!" Odak pointed to the sled behind him loaded with goods. "We'll take this stuff back to the village's cold storage first. Today's delivery is already a pleasant surprise."

His cloudy old eyes were filled with an incredulous smile. He reached out and touched an old raven claw bone amulet hanging on his chest, and said with emotion, "Lin, I must say, you carry a strong aura of luck about you."

"You know, normally, just to wait for a single vent to bubble, we might have to squat in the cold wind like fools for an entire day."

"And you? You encountered it on your very first trip out, and you even hit it with your first shot."

"7

Audak made a gesture towards the sky, his tone reverent: "This is the blessing of Sila (the spirit of the sky and weather), and also this ice plain's gift to you, a hunter from afar."

"In Inuit legends, when the gods generously bestow food, hunters must know when to stop. Greed is the greatest taboo on the ice plains."

Audak grabbed his whip, his expression shifting from excitement to seasoned caution. He surveyed the empty ice plains around him: "Now that we've got a perfect start, there's no need to provoke those hungry ghosts while covered in blood."

"Now, all we need to do is evacuate at full speed and bring this luck home safely!"

"Huk! Huk! Huk!"

With three consecutive sharp barks from Odak and the crack of his whip, the pack of dogs, who had just eaten a "fast food" meal, unleashed astonishing energy.

For these old dogs, the command "go home" is more effective than anything else. They know that returning to that colorful little wooden house means more frozen fish and a warm hay nest.

The sled changed direction like an arrow released from a bow and sped off back the way it came, even faster than before.

The wind howled.

Lin Yu'an sat on the cargo pile in the truck bed, his back against the seal carcass wrapped in canvas. Even through the canvas, he could still smell the faint scent of blood.

For some reason, even as he ran home, a chill ran down his spine. The feeling of being watched was like a needle pricking the back of his head.

After running for about ten minutes, the outline of the colorful town in the distance began to appear and disappear.

Suddenly, a young male dog on the far left of the fan-shaped line let out an uneasy whimper. Its ears snapped back, and it kept looking back, almost tripping over its companion.

Immediately afterwards, the lead dog "Qilaq" also began to become agitated. Instead of slowing down, it began to accelerate desperately, with a sense of panic in its acceleration.

Something's not right.

Lin Yu'an turned around abruptly, took off his goggles, and squinted at the white trail behind the sled.

The sunlight was blinding, and the ice field was deathly silent, with nothing but snow dust swirling in the wind.

But Lin Yu-an trusted his terrifying intuition, and even more so, the instincts of dogs.

He raised the binoculars hanging around his neck, adjusted the focus, and his field of vision extended backward along the two deep ruts left by the sled.

About 600 meters away from them, behind a huge patch of chaotic ice.

A white figure emerged from behind the ice ridge with a seemingly slow but actually extremely fast pace.

It has a streamlined head, and its black nose stands out in the white world.

Each of its strides is enormous, making it look like it's taking a walk, but its astonishing size actually makes it incredibly fast.

With its head down, it followed the scent trail left by the sled, biting hard behind them.

Lin Yu'an's pupils contracted sharply, and her heart skipped a beat.

"Odak!" Lin Yu'an growled, "There's a Nanook behind us! At six o'clock! Six hundred meters away!"

Upon hearing Lin Yu'an's low growl, Odak did not panic and immediately reach for his gun.

The old hunter, who had lived on the ice field for sixty years, suddenly turned around, tucked his long whip under his arm, and raised his binoculars to his chest.

On the bumpy sled, he squinted, trying to quickly "inspect" the approaching white ghost.

However, just three seconds later, Odak put down the telescope.

But instead of the greedy, maniacal laugh Lin Yu'an had expected, his face bore an ugly, terrified expression, as if he had swallowed a fly.

"Damn it! Damn it! Sila's playing a joke on us today!"

Audak's voice held a shrewd calculation: "Look at its head, it's too narrow! Look at its rear end, it's too small! This is a female bear that weighs at most a little over two hundred kilograms!"

He cracked his whip again, accelerating, and roared at Lin Yu'an, "Nanook is the wild animal with the most drastically different male and female sizes on this planet! It's an unfair masterpiece of God!"

"A fully grown male bear is a true white tank, easily weighing over 500 kilograms, or even 800 kilograms!"

He's three meters tall when he stands up!

"But female bears are like overgrown children, weighing at most a little over 300 kilograms! They're not even as big as male brown bears in Alaska!"

Odak roared in the freezing wind, spittle flying everywhere: "Yeperson paid a full thirty thousand euros for that polar bear quota! And that doesn't even include my guide fee!"

"You might only have this one chance in your life to fight a polar bear! Do you really want to use the money that could buy a nice car to buy a rug that's only the size of a dog's skin?"

"That's a disgrace! If I bring back this shrunken spoils to the village, I'll be laughed at for a whole year! They'll say Odak is blind and only picks on the weak!"

The situation suddenly became somewhat absurd.

This was an escape forced upon them because they felt their prey was "not big enough".

"So what do we do? It doesn't think it's worthless!"

Lin Yu-an looked at the mother bear that was still relentlessly pursuing him. Although it weighed only 200 kilograms, it could still easily crush a person's skull.

"The only way is to shake it off! It's a test of endurance!"

Odak suddenly stood up, his feet firmly planted on the driving pedal, and the long whip in his hand cracked in the air with the loudest explosion, a sound filled with a desperate determination.

"Huk!!!Huk!!!Huk!!!"

The old guide gave an almost roaring command, the whip cracking wildly in the ear of the lead dog, "Qilaq".

"Speed ​​up! Kids!!"

Odak roared at the twelve panting Inuit dogs, "I'll give you extra food tonight! Double the amount of frozen meat! And the best seal oil!"

The adage "a great reward will surely bring forth brave men" applies not only to humans, but also to the fact that there is the scent of a top predator approaching from behind.

The twelve Greenland hounds clearly understood their master's promise and felt the terrifying pressure behind them.

The seal entrails they had just eaten were now being released as bursts of energy.

They lowered their bodies and frantically scratched at the hard ice with their four claws, as if they were scratching sparks.

"Buzz"

The sled let out a painful groan, and its speed instantly increased to its limit.

Odak gripped the handlebars tightly, driving the sled through the treacherous, icy terrain, engaging in a life-or-death drift.

The wind howled, and the scenery rushed past.

The chase lasted a full ten minutes.

Finally, the mother bear realized that the prey was running too fast, and the physical cost of hunting had exceeded the gains.

It stopped, stood on a towering ice ridge, took one last look at the departing sled, and then turned back to its territory.

"It stopped chasing."

Lin Yu'an put down his binoculars, looked at the white dot that disappeared into the end of the snowstorm, and let out a long breath.

"It's smart, isn't it?"

Odak didn't turn around, but the tense muscles in his back visibly relaxed. He loosened his grip on the whip, allowing the pack of dogs to maintain a light, slow jogging pace.

The old guide twitched his nose, sniffing the air like the bear had done earlier, then grinned: "Can you smell it, Lin? It's the smell of coal smoke, and the sour smell of pickled puffin. We're home."

As the sled glided over the last ice ledge, the iconic colorful wooden houses of Karnak came into view once again.

But this is not the kind of cozy fairytale town.

Upon returning to human territory, they were not greeted with flowers, but rather by a tsunami of howls from sled dogs.

It was a declaration of territoriality and a greeting to the returning visitors.

Audak skillfully maneuvered the sled through the alleyways piled with oil drums and discarded fishing nets, finally stopping at his own house—

In front of the red wooden house with a musk ox skull hanging on it.

"We've arrived at our destination."

Odak jumped out of the vehicle and, without saying a word, immediately stomped the heavy snow anchor into the frozen ground.

Lin Yu'an and Audak worked together to lift the heavy seal carcass down.

Although it had a thick layer of fat for warmth, after being blown by the wind at minus thirty degrees Celsius for a long time, the seal's skin had frozen as hard as old cowhide, and its limbs were stiffly stretched out.

"As hard as a rock." Odak patted the seal's hard belly and shook his head.

"Using the knife now will break Maria's Uru knife and damage the skin. Drag it inside and let it lie there for an hour until the skin softens before dealing with it."

Just then, the door opened, and an elderly Inuit woman, her face wrinkled but her eyes bright, emerged, wrapped in a thick snow leopard skin vest.

That was Audak's wife, Maria.

Seeing the two people enter, shivering from the cold and with icicles still clinging to their beards, Maria didn't offer any exaggerated hugs or pleasantries. In this reserved people, care is shown through actions.

She simply walked forward silently, took the heavy sealskin coat that Odak had taken off, skillfully shook off the snow powder, and hung it on the drying rack next to the stove.

Then, she turned around and gently patted Lin Yu'an's arm with her not-so-large hands—a silent welcome, signifying acceptance.

"Sit," Maria said, gesturing to a bench covered with reindeer hide.

Lin Yu'an had barely sat down, and before he even had a chance to warm his hands, a steaming cup of coffee, almost black in color, was placed in front of him.

The room wasn't large, but it was very tidy. Several yellowed black-and-white photos hung on the wall, showing Odak hunting narwhals in his youth.

But if you look down, the scene before you will instantly shatter any illusions about "primitive tribes".

This is not a dungeon covered with animal hides, but a standard living room full of the atmosphere of modern Nordic life.

In the center of the living room sits a comfortable dark gray fabric corner sofa, which looks like a typical IKEA style.

However, to protect the fabric, several reindeer hides were laid on the sofa as cushions, perfectly blending modern industry with primitive hunting.

On the wall directly opposite the sofa hung a 55-inch Samsung LCD TV. KNR was playing on the screen.

News from (Greenland Broadcasting Corporation).

"Please sit wherever you like, don't be shy." Maria gestured to the sofa, then turned and walked towards the open kitchen.

There was no wood-burning stove there, but a whole set of white kitchen cabinets, with even a dishwasher embedded in it, and an electric kettle bubbling and steaming on its base.

Lin Yu'an sat on the soft sofa, looking at the decorations on the coffee table, feeling a strange sense of temporal and spatial dislocation.

On the coffee table, on the delicate lace tablecloth, lay a box of the iconic "Danish Blue Tin Cookies," a box of Lurpak butter, and a half-empty bottle of Heinz ketchup.

In this place, which is only a little over a thousand kilometers from the North Pole, the furnishings inside the house are almost no different from those of a working-class family in Copenhagen or New York.

"Surprised?"

Audak noticed Lin Yu'an's scrutinizing gaze, smiled, opened the large refrigerator, took out a carton of milk, and poured some into his coffee.

His tone carried a modern Inuit humor: "Many tourists who come for the first time think we'll be living in igloos, burning seal oil lamps, and picking lice off each other."

"It's the 21st century now. We're hunters in sealskins by day and modern people watching Netflix by night."

"The igloo is just a temporary tent we use for sleeping in the wild. Who would be foolish enough to stay in one at home?"

"This milk was just delivered last week by the Greenland state-run supermarket chain. Although it's more expensive than gold, at least it's fresh milk."

"In many outsiders' stereotypes, polar natives seem to only drink meat broth or melted snow water."

"But the truth is quite the opposite. On this ice field that was ruled by Denmark for three hundred years, coffee is almost the second blood flowing in the veins of modern Greenlanders."

"This black liquid is a legitimate stimulant to combat the depression and extreme cold of the polar night."

"For hunters living in environments with temperatures as low as -30 degrees Celsius, nothing is more effective at quickly energizing them than a high concentration of caffeine."

"In Greenland supermarkets, the highest shelves are always piled with large packages of coffee powder, which are even more important than guns and ammunition."

Maria walked over carrying a small basket and added with a smile, "Although we eat seal, we can't live without Danish butter biscuits. This is Greenland now."

The small basket was filled with slices of homemade dried halibut (Ræling) and a few pieces of pastry that looked like some kind of berry cake.

"This is Kaffemik (coffee, please)." Odak took off his boots, slumped comfortably in his chair, picked up his coffee, took a big sip, and let out a satisfied sigh.

He looked at Lin Yu'an as if introducing a sacred ritual: "In Greenland, having coffee is our social religion."

"Whenever someone walks in, whether it's to celebrate a birthday, a child's baptism, or a guest like you, the first thing a woman always does is make coffee."

"Without this cup of hot bitter water and dessert, this house cannot be called a home, and this hospitality is not polite."

Lin Yu'an took a sip of her coffee with milk, looked at the modern living room, and couldn't help but ask, "Odak, don't mind my directness, but were these pieces of furniture, and this big TV—given to the indigenous people by the Danish government as a welfare benefit?"

"Free? Ha! Lin, it seems you have a misunderstanding about the Danes. They may not be as bad as Americans, but they are definitely not philanthropists."

Odak pointed to the seemingly ordinary carton of milk and held up four fingers: "In Copenhagen, this carton of milk sells for 10..."

Crowns. But in Karnak, it's 45 crowns!

He pointed to the IKEA sofa beneath him, his tone a complex mix of pain and pride: "This sofa only cost three thousand yuan. But to ship it to the northernmost point of the earth, I paid six thousand yuan for shipping!"

"And I waited a whole year, until the summer supply ships broke through the ice and finally delivered the goods!"

"The government has built houses, electricity, and schools for us, that's right."

"But every screw in this room, every gram of coffee powder, was bought with money I earned from seal skins, narwhal teeth, and hunting trips with tourists."

"We don't live off charity." Odak looked at Lin Yu'an with sharp eyes. "All the comfort you see in this house was bought with blood from the ice fields."

"For example, that television set," he pointed to the large screen on the wall, "was something I got by trading two musk oxen with an old German man."

Lin Yu'an listened with deep respect; this was even more moving than the government giving it away for free. It showed that the old man before him was not only a survival expert but also a strong figure in this cruel economic system.

"I'm sorry, I offended you." Lin Yu'an raised his coffee cup in a toast, "To your hard work."

Odak clinked glasses with his. "So that's why I'm happy to host a generous tourist like you. Yepeson used to be one of my clients too."

"I helped him successfully hunt a 500-kilogram male polar bear. He was very satisfied with me, and he later introduced me to more clients."

Maria didn't speak, but simply sat opposite them with a smile, holding a fur glove that was being sewn, quietly listening to the men's conversation.

"We were lucky today," Odak said to his wife, chewing on a slice of dried fish like a child showing off his trophy. "Lin is a natural hunter; she hit the bullseye on the first shot."

"And—" He pointed at Lin Yu'an, his tone tinged with surprise and admiration: "Can you believe it? The first time you drove a sled, you managed to subdue that bunch of rascals completely."

Upon hearing this, Maria stopped her needlework, looked up at Lin Yu'an, and a kind smile appeared on her weathered face.

She spoke her first words in broken English: "A person who can handle an Inuit dog has a hard heart, but also a warm heart."

""

"Oh, right, there was another big one." Odak took another sip of coffee and vividly recounted his encounter on the return journey.

"A mother bear, possibly with two cubs, or a lone mother bear—in any case, not much meat—chased us all the way."

"Luckily you didn't hit it," Maria interjected casually. "If you hit the small one, there won't be any big ones next year. Sila will remember your greed."

Lin Yu'an sipped his piping hot coffee, feeling the warmth flowing through the small house.

This is not merely a way of hospitality, but a survival philosophy of relying on each other in extremely cold places. The outside world is cruel and cold, but the fire in the fireplace and the coffee inside are always piping hot.

After a while, Mary put down her needlework, stood up, and went to the porch to look around.

"It's gone soft."

She turned around, took a gleaming crescent-shaped Uru knife from the drawer, nodded to the two men, and said, "Get to work. The hide needs to be tanned as soon as possible."

Odak immediately put down his coffee cup, his boastful arrogance vanishing instantly, and he transformed into an obedient assistant.

“Let’s go, Lin. On the ice I’m a dog, but in this house—” Odak shrugged, pointing to his wife holding the Uru knife, “she’s the queen.”

The three returned to the cold, stuffy porch workshop.

After an hour of warming up, the seal carcass's skin was no longer as hard as steel, but had regained a toughness similar to raw rubber.

Maria laid a thick plastic sheet on the ground and then gestured for Odak to turn the seal over so that its belly was facing up.

She doesn't need a cutting board because the seal's thick layer of fat is the best cushioning.

"Watch closely, Lin. Next up is the magic of the Greenland woman." Odak stepped aside and lit a precious cigarette.

Maria gripped the large, crescent-shaped Uru knife, but did not use the tip of the blade to slash as she would with an ordinary dagger.

Instead, he used the strength of his wrist to control the curved blade, gently pressing and pushing it against the white belly fur.

"Zi"

Without any sawing motion, the supple seal skin parted neatly to both sides as if a zipper had been unzipped.

Next comes the separation of fat, which is the most technically demanding step.

Seal skin is extremely thin, while subcutaneous fat is extremely thick. If your knife skills are not good, you will either cut through the skin or leave too much fat on it.

But in Maria's hands, the Uru knife seemed to become an extension of her fingers. She used a unique "swinging" cutting technique, her wrist flexibly rotating, the blade moving closely along the skin.

With a slight tearing sound of grease, a complete, clean seal skin, almost without a single ounce of excess fat, was quickly peeled off.

The five-centimeter-thick, translucent layer of fat, as white as jade, remained perfectly wrapped around the red muscles.

In less than a few minutes, the once plump seal was reduced to a skin, a pile of fat, and a dark red body.

The whole process was smooth and seamless; Maria was like a doctor who had just completed a bloody yet elegant surgery.

"Perfect." Lin Yu'an couldn't help but exclaim.

Maria straightened up, wiped the blade with a cloth, pointed to the pile of deep red lean meat and a few pieces of the best fat, and said a few words in Greenlandic to Odak.

Odak nodded, found a few clean plastic bags, and began to pack the meat pieces.

"Who are we delivering meat to?" Lin Yu'an asked curiously, helping to hold the bag open. "Is it for the village chief? Or some kind of leader who manages the hunting?"

Upon hearing the word "chief," Odak paused in his work, then burst into laughter, nearly dropping the meat in his hand.

"Chief? Hahahaha! Lin, you watch too many movies!"

Audak stuffed a prime piece of pork tenderloin into the bag and explained with a smile, "Greenland has no chiefs or tribal leaders. That was hundreds of years ago."

"We have a mayor now, but he has to buy his own meat at the supermarket. If I were to give it to him for free, that would be bribery, and that's illegal!"

"This is for those who need it." Odak's smile faded, and his tone became serious. "This bag of the finest tenderloin is for Aviak, who lives up on the slope."

"She's eighty years old, a widow, and has no son to hunt for her. If we don't send her some, she'll have to eat frozen chicken nuggets from the supermarket."

Then he picked up another bag of pork ribs filled with thick layers of fat: "This bag is for my stupid son, Inuk. He broke his leg while repairing the roof and can't go out to sea to hunt anymore."

"My granddaughter was just born, and the family needs a lot of nutrition right now. Seal oil is the best supplement; it can help the mother produce milk and also help the baby grow strong."

"As for the rest—"

"I'll shout on the public radio in a bit that the Odak family has fresh seal meat!" Then whoever's family is short of meat will come over with a bowl.

"This is our prey-sharing law. On the ice sheet, no one can survive the winter alone. Maybe tomorrow I'll be in danger on the ice, and the person who ate my seal meat will be the one to save me."

"9

"Come on, Lin. Help me carry that bag of ribs. In this village, it's more respectable to knock on a widow's or son's door with meat than with gold."

The two put on their coats and were about to go out.

Just then, a series of urgent but somewhat muffled knocks came from outside the porch, sounding like some small animal banging on the door.

"Aata! Aana! (Grandpa! Grandma!)"

A tender, cute child's voice, shivering from the cold, came from outside the door, speaking in Greenlandic.

"Oh! It's Alek!"

Maria's previously calm face instantly blossomed into a radiant smile as she strode over and pushed open the door.

A cold wind swept in, carrying snowflakes, and a figure bundled up like a little ball stumbled in. The little guy was absolutely adorable.

Wearing a miniature traditional onesie made of sealskin, with a fluffy hood on her head, only her rosy little face and big, dark eyes were visible.

"My little hunter!" Audak laughed and picked up his grandson, rubbing his beard against the tender face, making the little guy giggle.

Maria tenderly carried the child to the sofa and quickly helped him take off his heavy sealskin coat, revealing the sweater underneath.

Then, the precious box of Danish Blue Tin cookies and the hot milk that had just been poured were immediately pushed in front of the child.

Alek held the warm milk cup in both hands, a butter biscuit stuffed in his mouth, his cheeks bulging.

But he wasn't focused on eating; his big, dark eyes were fixed on Lin Yu'an sitting opposite him with curiosity.

In Greenland, East Asian faces share a natural resemblance to Inuit faces.

The little guy swallowed the biscuit and finally couldn't help but speak. He looked at Lin Yu'an and asked in a childlike, innocent tone, using the Danish he had just learned at school, "Uncle, are you from Greenland? You look different from me, but—it seems a little the same."

Lin Yu'an was stunned for a moment, then smiled.