American Landowners: Starting with Hunting in Alaska

Su Wei had no idea that a small white tail was persistently following him.

He's now focused solely on getting on his way.

The cold snowflakes, carried by the wind, stung my face.

The lingering fear of escaping the bear's jaws hadn't subsided, and his strength was completely depleted. The biting cold seeped into his body through his soaked collar and trouser legs.

Suwei shivered from the cold, but could only clutch her clothes tightly, hoping for a little warmth.

The wind and snow really started to pick up slowly.

The snow grew deep, and he trudged on with increasing difficulty, his steps becoming more and more arduous.

Su Wei pulled the nearly dead phone out of his pocket.

The screen lit up; it was exactly 3 PM.

At this time of day, with the snow intensifying, trying to descend the mountain before dark would be suicidal.

It is highly likely that they will perish in the snowstorm before they can successfully descend.

Memories of the original owner flashed through his mind.

There is a hunter's safe house on this road down the mountain.

Built with funding from the Alaska Hunters Club, it was intended to give unfortunate individuals who encounter accidents a chance of survival.

It also provides a place for hikers and hunters to rest.

Simply clean it up before you leave; there are absolutely no charges.

Of course, the club also hopes that someone can pay some membership fees to maintain it.

Su Wei knew very well that the best thing to do now was to go to the safe house; that was the only way to survive.

Otherwise, given his current state, it's practically a done deal.

There wasn't much food, no tent, and no warm clothing to carry; all they had was a gun and some simple tools.

They faced an increasingly heavy snowstorm, and Suwei had already died once.

This time, Su Wei didn't want to try a second time.

He must make the best decision!

Immediately, right now, head to the safe house to rest!

Without further hesitation, Su Wei braved the wind and snow, relying on his hazy memory, and moved with difficulty toward the general direction of the safe house.

He didn't notice that a hundred meters behind him, a snow-white figure was following closely, its small nose twitching in the wind and snow, sniffing the scent he left behind, which would soon be covered by the heavy snow.

Nobody knows why this little guy is so persistent.

The wind grew increasingly sharp, a piercing howl.

The snowflakes had long since turned into hard snow pellets, which swept against the down jacket, making a dense "crackling" sound.

Suwei's lungs were burning badly; with each breath, icy air rushed into his lungs, burning all the way down his trachea to his chest.

He wasn't in good physical condition, and he had just woken up from a blizzard yesterday and hadn't slept well the night before.

Today I encountered that damn brown bear again, and after running all the way, I ran into a snowstorm.

My body was already completely exhausted.

He moved mechanically, almost driven by a survival instinct, his mind a complete blank.

Only one thought kept echoing in my mind.

live.

We must survive, pay off that damned debt, and save that cabin and the land.

That's the only place he can call home now.

He was also the hope for survival in this place!

Time slipped away during the journey.

Just as Su Wei's eyelids were getting heavy and he was about to give up,

At the edge of the white expanse, a blurry black dot suddenly appeared.

His spirits lifted suddenly.

Nearly.

closer.

It was a small house built entirely of logs, its roof and walls covered with a thick layer of snow, appearing and disappearing in the wind and snow.

that's it!

A surge of survival instinct gave him a renewed burst of strength, even though he was almost completely exhausted.

He scrambled to the front of the cabin, where the snow instantly reached above his knees.

He reached for the door with his hands, which were so cold they were almost numb. The low temperature emanating from the iron handle felt like it was peeling off a layer of his skin.

My trembling hands tried several times, but I still couldn't pull the bolt open.

"Fuck you! Hurry up!!"

Su Wei was so angry that he cursed loudly, his tone extremely irritable.

That was the panic between life and death.

He slammed his shoulder into the door and then used all his strength to pry it open. The bolt, which was so frozen it was almost stuck to the door, finally made a piercing sound as it was slowly pulled open.

"Squeak—"

The wooden door was pushed open a crack.

A dry but cold smell of wood wafted over me.

Su Wei plunged inside, and then, with his last ounce of strength, slammed the heavy wooden door shut again.

"Bang!"

As soon as the door closed, the sounds of wind and snow outside were shut out, and the world became quiet.

All that remained was his own heavy breathing.

Su Wei leaned against the cold wooden door, then slid weakly down to the ground.

He survived.

temporary.

The room was dark, with only a small window letting in a few pale rays of light.

The window was so broken that it had to be wrapped with wire to keep it closed.

But a cold wind still managed to get in through a small gap.

But now, Su Wei no longer had the mind to care about these damned gaps.

It took Su Wei several minutes to recover before he could stand up, leaning against the rough wall, and look around at the little house that had saved his life.

The room was very small; you could see the whole thing at a glance.

A simple wooden plank bed covered with dry straw.

There were several wooden boxes under the bed, containing a quilt covered in dust, which looked like a moldy cotton quilt, and some old clothes.

Aside from the quilt, these clothes were probably left behind by someone who used them before.

Although it was old and smelly, it was good news for Suwei.

Beside the bed was a small, portable tin stove, next to which was a neatly stacked pile of chopped firewood.

There was also a locked wooden box in the corner, and I didn't know what it contained.

There were small gaps in the windows and doors, letting in a constant stream of cold wind.

But there's nothing we can do about it; this little house probably hasn't been maintained in a long time.

It's good news that it's still usable.

Su Wei couldn't care less about any of that right now; he was so cold his teeth were chattering and his body was trembling uncontrollably.

He put down his backpack, stumbled to the stove, took out dry sawdust and birch bark for kindling, and then skillfully pulled out a magnesium rod and a military knife.

"Sizzle!"

The sparks landed precisely on the ignition source, a wisp of smoke rose, and soon a cluster of orange flames danced in the furnace.

The orange flames burned, and the heat they emitted made him feel alive again.

Su Wei couldn't wait to take off all his almost soaked outer clothes and boots, along with his socks, and draped them one by one on the open ground next to the stove to dry.

Wearing only a single layer of close-fitting quick-drying clothing, he felt so cold under the firelight that goosebumps rose on his skin.

He quickly took out a quilt and tattered clothes from the wooden box under the bed, cleaned them up a bit, and then wrapped himself in the tattered clothes before wrapping himself in the quilt.

Wait until your body gradually warms up and your limbs no longer feel numb.

Only then did he take action again.

Su Wei placed the cooking pot on the stove and put a handful of clean snow from the doorway into it to melt.

The water has boiled.

He took out the last pack of compressed biscuits, broke it in half, threw it into the pot, and cooked it into a pot of steaming porridge.

The scalding hot paste slid down my throat and into my cold stomach, and a warm current quickly spread throughout my body.

The body, which had been almost frozen, finally came back to life.

Suwei leaned against the wall, watching the flames dancing in the stove and listening to the increasingly fierce wind and snow outside. His tense body finally relaxed.

Without this safe house, he would be a hardening corpse right now.

He touched the backpack beside him, which contained sixteen pounds of birch mushrooms.

This is his initial hope of paying off his $30,000 debt.

As long as I get down the mountain alive...

A wave of fatigue washed over him, and his eyelids began to droop.

Just as he was about to fall asleep.

A subtle sound, completely different from the sound of the wind, suddenly came from outside the door.

……

Outside the door, the little white fox was almost buried by the wind and snow. Its small but somewhat chubby body shook itself vigorously, brushing away the snowflakes that hit it.

It whimpered softly, its cries sounding somewhat panicked.

It had no idea that it had only followed the humanoid creature because it smelled a familiar scent and wanted to see if it could find its way home.

Yes, it used to live peacefully in the cave; that was its home.

Outside the cave, on a withered tree, there was a cluster of mushrooms that smelled of old wood.

That's its favorite smell; every time it goes out to find food, it climbs the tree to smell it.

Unexpectedly, a couple of days ago, during another search for food...

Chased by a ferocious humanoid monster, they eventually escaped to a forest they had never been to before.

It left its familiar living area and, unusually, got lost.

Although it could move to another place to live, it couldn't bear to part with the taste of mushrooms.

Moreover, it has only lived there for a few weeks and is very comfortable there, so it doesn't want to move yet.

That's why, on its way to find its home, it suddenly smelled that familiar scent.

They found Suwei, but he turned out to be a vicious humanoid monster.

The little white fox hesitated, only to find that the humanoid monster was like a fool, only knowing how to chase it.

Finally, after seeing the other person leave, he hesitated before chasing after them.

It thought Suwei might be heading in the direction of its home, but it didn't expect to go further and further away until it got lost again and was locked outside the wooden house in the wind and snow.

Only then did it realize, in a daze, that it was in danger!

Here, trees are sparse, the space is vast, and apart from the snow, there are only wooden houses in front of you.

If it cannot find a suitable place to hide in time, it may be one of the rare foxes that freezes to death!

……

"Shh...shh..."

Like the claws of some animal, it was gently, yet somewhat urgently, scratching at the heavy wooden door.

The sound instantly woke him up, banishing all sleepiness.

Su Wei sat up abruptly, his muscles tensing instantly.

What is it?

Bear?

No, the sound was too soft.

Wolf?

He grabbed the Browning rifle lying beside him, the cold barrel bringing his mind back to its usual calm.

He held his breath, moved silently to the door, and pressed his ear against the rough wooden door.

The howling of the wind and snow was so loud that the faint sounds came and went.

Just when he thought he was hallucinating.

A faint sob, tinged with grievance and urgency, somehow drowned out the roar of the wind and snow and reached his ears.

"Waaaaah..."

That sound...

Su Wei's pupils contracted slightly.

It's that white fox with blue eyes!

It actually followed me all the way here?

What does it want? Why did it follow us?

Several thoughts flashed through Su Wei's mind.

Su Wei couldn't figure it out at all, her eyes filled with astonishment.

The sobbing outside the door continued, one after another, sounding particularly clear against the backdrop of the howling wind, and conveying an indescribable pitifulness.

An even more absurd idea popped into my head.

Need help?

Ask a human for help, someone who recently tried to capture it alive?

Su Wei was completely stunned; he hadn't expected this.

This fox was actually asking for help from a hunter hiding in a wooden hut in the snowstorm?!

But soon, a new idea came to mind.

Eight thousand US dollars!

Anyway, eight thousand US dollars is right in front of me!!

Suwei exhaled and carefully opened the door bolt. The wind and snow pounded against the door, making a dull thud.

A strong gust of cold wind swept in, and a white blob followed.

Before Su Wei could even open his eyes wide enough to see clearly...

I felt something warm and soft pressed against my leg.