Arctic survival, starting in hell at minus fifty degrees Celsius

Big Black took the arrow and nodded solemnly.

The greatest danger now is the wolf.

There aren't many carnivorous predators in the Arctic, except for bears and wolves.

The territories of different bears do not overlap.

However, bears and wolves have always fought over territory.

Wolves lose more often than they win.

Now that the brown bear is dead, they will smell the blood and likely come over to check what happened.

During his break, Dahei went to the neighborhood and collected a lot of pine branches and twigs, which he then piled up.

Brown bears are not afraid of fire, but wolves are.

If you encounter a pack of wolves, lighting a fire can help you survive a little longer.

They traveled a long way this time. It would take Wang Hu and Er Hei at least two days to travel back and forth, and even longer if something unexpected happened.

Fortunately, they brought plenty of supplies, and there was bear meat nearby, so they wouldn't starve or freeze to death.

Sun Chengwu had Wang Hu and Erhei take the reindeer hide with him.

Otherwise, if the temperature drops on the way, the two of them might not be able to withstand it.

Sun Chengwu and Dahei built a simple shed with the help of squirrels, using sticks and pine branches. They covered the gaps with moss and stuffed it full, which provided good insulation.

With the fire for warmth, it was only a little cold at night, but not enough to freeze to death.

The day passed quickly. There was no danger, but there was also nothing to do, so it was quite boring.

Sun Chengwu lay in bed recovering from his injuries, set up a chessboard on the ground, and taught Dahei some chess games that only required pebbles and sticks.

Dahei learned very slowly. He had never been exposed to it before, and even when Sun Chengwu let him win, he kept losing. In the end, he was so frustrated that he kept scratching his head.

Since the two of them didn't move around much, they didn't expend much energy, and neither of them felt very hungry after a whole day.

Soon, night fell.

Nighttime is the most dangerous time.

As evening approached and the sun had just set, the howling of wolves could be heard in the distance.

Judging from the sound, the wolves were far away. Unless they were extremely unlucky and there was no wind, the wolf pack wouldn't be able to smell them and wouldn't come looking for them.

But just as I feared, a cold wind suddenly picked up in the middle of the night, and dark clouds filled the sky, looking like it was going to snow.

The wind is secondary; the real problem is the amount of snowfall in the Arctic. If it snows for a whole day, it's impossible for a person to move an inch.

Fortunately, the wind wasn't blowing in the direction of the wolves' howls; otherwise, the wolves would have surrounded them within half a day.

Even so, Sun Chengwu and his team still need to be prepared.

The shacks need to be reinforced, otherwise the accumulated snow will collapse them, and without the shacks to block the wind, their fires will go out.

Without fire and due to hypothermia, they could not last more than three hours.

Sun Chengwu ignored his physical pain, endured the pain and got up to go with Dahei to find branches and firewood.

The wind grew stronger, and what fell was not snowflakes, but ice crystals as sharp as knives.

These ice crystals hit my skin, making a crackling sound, and as the temperature continued to drop, the ice crystals gradually grew larger, developing into hailstones.

There were few pine branches and even fewer supportive trunks. After searching for almost two hours, the ice crystals had turned into hailstones the size of soybeans, and they had to return to the shelter.

They used the collected branches and tree trunks to reinforce the shack, and then left the rest to fate.

If it really collapses, there's nothing we can do about it.

Fortunately, when they built their shelter, they leaned against a pine tree, and the pine branches overhead shielded them from some of the hail, so they shouldn't be too unlucky.

Splash...

The hailstones pelted down, growing larger and larger, constantly knocking down tree branches.

The hailstones fell to the ground, forming a continuous layer that froze together and created a layer of ice.

The temperature dropped rapidly.

The daytime temperature, which could occasionally reach one or two degrees above zero, suddenly dropped to below ten degrees below zero and is still falling.

The hailstones have gradually grown to the size of marbles.

It's summer now, so it's rare to see hailstones this big.

Arctic weather is notoriously unpredictable, and our usual understanding of the world is often challenged here.

For example, this hailstorm was caused by warmer weather in summer, which caused warm air to rise and come into contact with cold air above, disrupting the balance of the cloud layer.

When clouds condense into water vapor, they release heat, which leads to further imbalances in cloud formation.

When water vapor falls and comes into contact with cold air, it quickly condenses into ice crystals, which in turn absorbs heat, causing the temperature to drop.

This is why, even though the weather is getting warmer in the summer, we still experience such extreme weather.

Sun Chengwu didn't have any good solutions, so he could only hide.

He was somewhat worried about Erhei and Wang Hu.

With such large hailstones, and no shelter for them, being hit on the head would result in a serious injury.

On the other side, Erhei and Wang Hu quickened their pace and changed direction as the hail began to fall, eventually finding a cave.

They were able to arrive here just as the hail was falling, thanks to their tireless journey throughout the day.

Looking at the hailstones hitting the ground, both of them felt a bit scared.

If it had been half an hour later, it would have ended up with a bloody head.

In this kind of weather, wild animals won't come out; they'll find places to hide.

They dared not venture deep into the cave, but could only squat at the entrance, hoping that God would quickly end this natural disaster.

The hail lasted for more than three hours before turning into freezing rain.

Freezing rain, with temperatures close to zero, causes the rain to freeze quickly upon hitting the ground.

If you get wet, you will quickly lose body temperature, which can be even more serious than falling into water.

Wang Hu couldn't wait any longer and wanted to risk running back.

Erhei calmly stopped him, "Don't take the risk. Wild animals won't come out in this weather, and the rain will block their scents. The boss and the others are safe."

If something happens to you again, who will go back to rescue them?

Wang Hu was persuaded to stop.

The rain lasted all day.

In the latter half of the night, Sun Chengwu and Dahei squatted in the shack, listening to the sparse rain outside, while the flames dwindled to a tiny sliver.

They didn't have much firewood, so to keep the flames burning, they had to use as little dry firewood as possible.

A thick layer of frost had formed around the shack, and they were shivering. The temperature at night was more than 20 degrees Celsius lower than during the day.

Sun Chengwu wrapped his clothes tighter, curled up into a ball, exhaled a puff of white breath, and said to Dahei, "We're just waiting to die like this. We need to bring in the bear skin so we can wrap it around ourselves and survive."

Sun Chengwu regretted not wearing the polar bear coat when he came out, otherwise he wouldn't be so cold.

The main problem was that the polar bear's coat was too heavy. They were out hunting, traveling light, and who would have thought they'd encounter a brown bear, followed by hail and freezing rain...

Big Black nodded, stood up shakily, rubbed his hands which were numb from the cold, and said, "I'll go by myself."

Sun Chengwu stood up and said, "Let's work together. None of us can get hurt."

As soon as the two stepped out of the shack, a gust of cold wind blew, instantly dissipating the little warmth they had accumulated on their bodies.