Arctic survival, starting in hell at minus fifty degrees Celsius

Sun Chengwu and the others embarked on their journey back.

Giroud asked with a smile, "Do you know why we only come out to sea to hunt during the polar night?"

He pointed to the stars in the sky and said, "It's because during the polar night, the stars never fall. The stars are our best companions; they will guide us home."

Sun Chengwu discovered that Jiru was right; every Hadza person was a master of stargazing.

Even Ollie can point to most of the constellations in the sky and name the location of each constellation in different seasons.

They determined their location at sea by referring to various constellations and other sources.

Sun Chengwu also wanted to learn, because he planned to go to sea in the future.

Ollie patiently explained to Sun Chengwu, but Sun Chengwu couldn't understand or comprehend it. He would often close his eyes and then open them again, unable to distinguish which star was which.

In his view, all the stars in the sky look the same and there is no difference between them.

But in Ollie's words, different stars have different brightness and shapes.

He can distinguish the differences between hundreds of stars with the naked eye.

Sun Chengwu expressed his sincere admiration.

Ye Zhi Qiu was also studying together. Ye Zhi Qiu used to be a rebellious and headstrong young man, a little better than Wang Hu, but not much better.

But now, he has matured and grown rapidly.

As the sole breadwinner of her family, Ye Zhi Qiu shouldered the responsibility of supporting the family at a young age, and she did it very well.

Through Ollie and Giroud's explanations and practice, Sun Chengwu was able to recognize several large, distinctive constellations.

However, they don't call the constellations in the sky constellations; they translate them as "gods."

In their view, it was the gods who guided them to find their way home.

Their gods are the stars in the sky.

The Hadza people believe in the sky, the sea, and freedom, but they do not believe in the gods in our mythology.

They believed in themselves more than in God.

The return journey was shorter and faster than the way there, and they reached the coast in just two days, within a hundred meters of where they had gone into the sea.

Sun Chengwu asked in surprise, "Have we been going around in circles at sea?"

As someone who can't swim, Sun Chengwu can only rely on his senses to determine direction when he's in a place without any landmarks, but he's often inaccurate and ends up going in the opposite direction.

He remembers going to the mall when he was a child. His neighbor led him in a square shape, and when they returned to the starting point, he couldn't find the exit.

Ye Zhi Qiu's sense of direction was much better than Sun Cheng Wu's, and he asked in confusion, "Brother Wu, don't you know?"

I thought you knew.

Sun Chengwu was somewhat speechless.

He felt as if he had woken up from a nap and everyone in the world had regained their sense of direction, except for himself.

Getting back to shore was more difficult than getting off the boat on the ice, because it was all floating ice. They not only had to climb more than a meter high on the swaying boat, but also had to be careful of nearby floating ice floes hitting them.

Giroud wanted to stay on the ship and steer it to avoid the ice floes.

Ollie climbed up first.

He first steadied himself and placed his hands on the ice, but because the ice was very slippery, he tried many times but could not secure his body.

Giroud said, "Wet your palms a little."

Ollie took off his gloves, wet his palms, pressed them against the ice for a moment to freeze them, and then pushed himself up.

The boat rocked, so Giroud picked up two harpoons and stuck them into the ice to stabilize the boat.

Giroud commanded, "You guys carry the seals up."

The benefits of dismembering the seal beforehand are now becoming apparent; otherwise, it would have taken a lot of effort to lift a seal weighing three or four hundred pounds, as its body is slippery and there are no leverage points.

After dismembering the body, the internal organs weighed more than 50 kilograms. The internal organs were sent up first, and then Ye Zhiqi and Sun Chengwu lifted the body together and, with the help of Ollie's pull, threw the body onto the ice.

Then, Ollila pulled Sun Chengwu up, followed by Ye Zhi Qiu, and then Giru.

After the four men climbed onto the ice, Giroud first used a harpoon to pierce the ice surface multiple times to ensure that the ice could bear weight, before throwing the rope down.

With his superb control skills, he tied the boat to the hull with ropes, and the four of them pulled together to bring the boat up.

They then placed the food inside the boat and towed it to shore.

Stepping back onto solid ground, Sun Chengwu felt as if he had been transported to another world, experiencing an indescribable sense of comfort throughout his body.

He stomped his foot hard; it felt so good to be grounded.

Sun Chengwu gained a lot of experience on this voyage. If he goes out to sea with them a few more times, perhaps he can get a small boat and swim back from here.

Of course, he was just thinking about it; he wouldn't risk his life for it.

The four of them chatted and laughed all the way back to the village.

Upon arriving at the village, we could see a tall mast erected in the distance, with a blue flag hanging on it, the flag looking somewhat worn.

Ye Zhi Qiu joked, "There's even a flag-raising ceremony in the village?"

When Giroud and Ollie saw the flag, their faces suddenly turned deathly pale.

Giroud said solemnly, "You two stop now, don't go back to the village."

Sun Chengwu was stunned and asked, "What's wrong?"

Judging from their expressions, Sun Chengwu guessed that raising the flag might not be a good thing.

Ollie explained with a grim face, "The blue flag means someone has died in the village and there is danger. It's a warning to the nearby tribespeople not to go back yet."

If the flag is green, it means someone has passed away.

If it's red, it means we're in a life-or-death situation; let's run!

Sun Chengwu thought of Su Wanqing, and his expression immediately changed.

But with Lao Ma and the others in the village, it shouldn't be too dangerous, since it's just a blue flag now, not red.

Giroud fell into deep thought.

Ollie was very anxious because his family also lived in the village.

But he was able to calm down. Even when he was anxious, he would just pace back and forth in place, biting his nails and thinking of a solution.

Sun Chengwu also wanted to go back immediately, but he knew that he should listen to the advice of Giru and Ollie at this time. He knew nothing about the situation in the village, and going back rashly would not only not help, but might also harm others.

He believed the village chief could handle this unexpected situation.

Sun Chengwu looked at Giru, who was deep in thought, and asked, "Do you have any ideas?"

Giroud nodded. "Yes, I think I know who it is."

He looked at Ollie and asked, "Remember that Russian?"

Ollie realized it too, and then angrily exclaimed, "That beast, it must be him!"

Sun Chengwu quickly asked, "What are you talking about?"

Giroud explained, "You should know that we went out to sea to contact another group of smugglers. They are ostensibly smugglers, but in reality, they have official connections..."