Chapter 128

Chapter 128

The little penguin holding a fish looked up, staring eye to eye with Lin Qianyu.

The last caught muskox was all given to the little animals at home; Lin Qianyu didn’t eat any.

The skinned, cut meat was piled together—hard to distinguish with the naked eye, but the little animals could smell it.

The little snow leopard must have noticed and kept thinking about catching a muskox again.

Lin Qianyu pressed the little snow leopard to her chest, smiling, “Got your intention.”

She definitely wouldn’t eat it, but could help cut the meat when the little one brought the muskox back.

Lin Qianyu returned to the bedroom; the two curtains on the door were still open. The polar bear and arctic fox noticed and also got up to follow in.

The table where the arctic wolf pack stayed faced the door directly; the compartment inside was a new place for the arctic wolves.

Lin Qianyu rubbed a wooden knitting needle in her hand, “Later I’ll expand this side and make another room.”

After the igloo is formed, it’s hard to expand; opening a wall might accidentally break the front wall and could cause the whole igloo to collapse like dominoes.

In contrast, making a door just big enough for people to pass through was easier.

“Woo…” The polar bear put its front paws on the edge of the wooden bed and climbed up.

Seeing this, Lin Qianyu spread the sleeping bag out and then folded it back on the bed, leaning against the polar bear, “It’s still more comfortable leaning on Xuetuan.”

The polar bear circled behind her, adjusted its position, lay down, turned its head, and licked her cheek, “Woo!”

Lin Qianyu had the arctic fox under her arm, petting its big tail while joking with a smile, “Xuetuan has eaten too many canned foods; it smells like fruit canned food.”

The canned juice was very sweet, though the fruit smell wasn’t very obvious.

【Really? I don’t believe it... unless you let me smell it too.】

【Xuetuan is so good, actively climbing up as a pillow. If Xuetuan were a little bigger, Sister Lin could lie directly on the polar bear, like lying on a lazy sofa.】

【Sweet polar bear! I can’t even imagine how delicious that must be!】

Lin Qianyu rubbed the polar bear’s ears, occasionally glancing at the chat comments, suddenly raising her eyebrows and turning to look at the obediently lying polar bear, “What’s so unimaginable about that? I’ll taste it for you.”

Saying so, she opened her mouth as if to bite.

The polar bear shook its ears, completely unaware of danger, instead turning its head to lick her cheek; its nose rubbed against her neck, making a sticky, intimate purring sound.

Lin Qianyu’s eyes curved happily; she didn’t bite but kissed the polar bear’s fluffy head.

Her phone was streaming live with the flashlight on; when the low battery warning popped up, it was already dark outside.

Lin Qianyu turned off the flashlight and used the phone screen to light up, then found the power bank to start charging, “Phone’s out of power, everyone rest early.”

Just as she was about to set the phone screen to black, she hesitated holding the live-stream equipment, thinking that since it had been outside for a while, she said, “No black screen tonight; I’ll leave the live equipment in the kitchen.”

The snowy owl and arctic wolves were all in the kitchen, even more than the furry animals in the bedroom.

After pushing the live equipment out, Lin Qianyu waved and pulled the door curtain shut, “Good night, everyone.”

Little Nian wagged its tail first, “Awoo!”

The snowy owl hanging upside down on the branch opened one eye, “Chiu!”Peace!

The blizzard lasted for several days.

Longer than the rescue station had predicted. Before the show began, Su Yuxing had deliberately chosen a time to avoid extreme weather, but no matter how careful, they couldn’t avoid the blizzard.

For a full third of the filming time, the guests were trapped inside the base, barely able to move; their largest range of activity was just chopping trees nearby.

“Hmm—today the weather’s nice.” Lin Qianyu raised her hand to shield the glaring sunlight. Under the blizzard, she had forgotten when she last saw such sunlight.

The furry animals at home had all gone out hunting.

Only the injured arctic wolf stayed by her side.

Lin Qianyu had been worrying about the fishing net she set before the blizzard; once they got out, she immediately came out with the animals.

“This area seems to have a lot more snow piled up.” Lin Qianyu stepped on the snow, which was now deeper than her knees.

Cracks appeared on the smooth snow surface, spreading from back to front.

Hearing the sound, the arctic wolf jumped out of the snow, stood firm ahead, shook the snow off its body, raised its head high, and called to Lin Qianyu, “Awoo!”

Lin Qianyu followed the path the arctic wolf ran along and warned, “Run slower, be careful not to hurt your leg.”

“Woo!” The arctic wolf lowered its upper body; its injured front leg never touched the ground, only lightly tapping near the snow.

As it turned out, the arctic wolf walking on three legs still ran very fast.

The arctic wolf in front waited for Lin Qianyu to approach, then rubbed against her waist before continuing to run forward.

Worried it might not adapt, Lin Qianyu even brought a skateboard, thinking that if the arctic wolf couldn’t walk, she could carry it with the ski board. “Looks like this snowboard can only be used to carry fish.”

She hoped the catch wouldn’t disappoint.

But actually, from the time the net was set to when it was collected, so much time had passed that Lin Qianyu wasn’t sure how many fish were inside.

If the net wasn’t taken up in time, the live fish might suffocate underwater.

Or they might be eaten by other passing fish, leaving remains in the net.

Setting this kind of net required precise timing.

When she arrived, Lin Qianyu stopped, looking at the vast whiteness underfoot. Far off, only the cracked ice floating on the sea was distinct from the neat white snow covering everything else.

She pursed her lips and said, “Next time, I’ll need to mark the ice hole.”

Now, she couldn’t even see the anchor for the fishing net, let alone the ice hole.

—All covered by heavy snow.

Lin Qianyu walked along the edge, unable to see the ice hole and could only rely on memory to find the spot. She tapped the snow with a wooden stick and called out, “Don’t wander off. I’m going inside to check. Be careful of the ice underfoot, don’t fall through.”

“Awoo!” The arctic wolf lying on the ground lifted its head; its nose and face were covered in snow. It shook its head, casually licked its nose, and sniffed around in the snow.

They didn’t find the ice hole where the net was set, but Lin Qianyu noticed some strange tracks, “Look at these prints. What kind of animal do you think left them?”

The marks weren’t paws and showed no animal outlines, just several lines stretching forward.

They looked like marks left by dragging a wooden stick over the snow.The tracks were still very fresh and hadn’t been covered by snow, so they must have been made today or just a few hours before she arrived.

【By elimination, it’s definitely not left by an elephant.】

【A spotted seal? They slide on the ice leaving tracks like this, right?】

【Let’s go check! Maybe it’s some little animal no one’s seen before!】

Lin Qianyu looked up and watched from afar; the tracks disappeared once they reached the deep snow.

She didn’t know if the animal had burrowed into the snow or if there was another way to get through nearby.

“They should come back,” Lin Qianyu said, then followed the tracks forward for a while.

...

There were other guests on the ice as well.

After resting for so many days, food had run out. Fishing was naturally the quickest way to get food on this polar island. There was no need to find the previous fishing ice hole; they could just find a suitable spot and make a new one.

The arctic wolf didn’t approach the unfamiliar humans. After sniffing around on the ground, it stopped in one spot and worked hard digging through the snow with its front legs.

With one injured leg, it had to rely on the remaining leg to dig.

Each time it dug, the whole wolf almost jumped up. It looked very exhausting, but the arctic wolf showed no sign of fatigue and repeated the action many times, digging persistently.

Lin Qianyu reached the end of the tracks, the wooden stick stuck beside her. The crack in the ice was quite wide. Those unknown animals must have gone into the sea through the cracks.

Along the way, apart from a few tracks, there was nothing that could help identify the animal.

Lin Qianyu tapped the thin layer of ice formed on her gloves, saying, “Next time I come, I’ll look for my fishing net first.”

“Woo!”

The arctic wolf ran very fast, and with the sound, a white figure dashed past her, barely stopping. It balanced on three legs with difficulty, trotted back to Lin Qianyu, bit her sleeve, and seemed to want to lead her back.

“Hm?” Lin Qianyu let it pull her, walking at a steady pace behind it. “Did you find something interesting?”

The arctic wolf had been stuck inside for so many days. Although it wasn’t short of food, being cooped up without moving was boring.

Other wolves in the pack could go out hunting occasionally.

Lin Qianyu couldn’t relax when the injured arctic wolf was out of sight, especially in such bad weather. Besides carrying it outside to get some fresh air, she mostly stayed home.

So being able to run around now made the arctic wolf happy.

It was frolicking in the snow.

As it ran, its fluffy, soft fur bounced, like a silly happy Samoyed.

After turning back for a bit, the arctic wolf let go of her sleeve, took a few quick steps to stand at the place it had dug for a long time, and called, “Awoo!”

“This is…” Lin Qianyu was stunned, her eyes moving past the snow piles around. Frozen in the ice beneath was the anchor she had hung when setting the net.

She suddenly looked up, very surprised, “How did you find it?”

Judging by the snow dug up around it, this place should have been completely covered by snow. Yet the arctic wolf not only found it but had dug it open by itself.

“Woo!” The arctic wolf puffed out its chest, wagging its tail energetically.Lin Qianyu crouched down, patted the arctic wolf’s head, and guessed, “Maybe it smelled my scent?”

But so much time had passed; the scent on the anchor must have mostly faded.

And with the snow covering everything, could the arctic wolf’s sense of smell really be that strong?

Lin Qianyu scratched under the arctic wolf’s chin through her thick cotton gloves. “Good job. Today I’ll give you an extra meal. Let’s see if there’s any fish you haven’t tried, and I’ll make you some soup.”

“Awoo!”

The ice was frozen thickly, so opening a new hole elsewhere wasn’t an option.

Fortunately, Lin Qianyu had tools. While chopping with the axe, she carefully avoided cutting off the part of the ice holding the fishing net. If the net floated into the sea, the current might carry it away immediately, and it would be too late even to ask the little spotted seal for help to pull it back.

While Lin Qianyu chopped the ice, the arctic wolf obediently lay on the side, wagging its tail, sweeping a fan-shaped patch clear of snow behind her.

After breaking the ice, she used a wooden stick to lift and fling large chunks of floating ice ashore.

Lin Qianyu grabbed the anchor and pulled down to catch the fishing net, then dragged it upward. “This net is even heavier than last time.”

There were signs it got slightly stuck near the top. Luckily, this time the hole was made larger than before; otherwise, with the old-sized hole, she might not have been able to pull the net up intact.

Still, she had to gently sway it left and right while hauling it up to prevent any large fish from getting stuck.

After several shakes, Lin Qianyu finally pulled the net out whole.

With a splash, as it left the water, a big puddle formed on the nearby ice, instantly melting part of the snow.

Before she could drag the net away, Lin Qianyu noticed something gray-black hanging at the bottom of the net. “Hey? A fish fell out…”

Before she finished speaking, the little penguin holding the fish lifted its head and locked eyes with Lin Qianyu.

Author’s note: Little penguin: Wow! Self-service!

Good night, sleep early, love you all.