Arctic survival, starting in hell at minus fifty degrees Celsius

Old Xu gripped Sun Chengwu's arm tightly, as if grasping at the last vestige of warmth in the world.

His cloudy eyes gazed at the gray sky, yet his gaze seemed to pierce through the clouds, looking towards some distant, warm place.

His lips moved, but his voice was so faint that it was almost swallowed by the wind; Sun Chengwu had to put his ear close to hear him.

"If...you can go back, you must tell my grandson, I...I..."

The grip on Sun Chengwu's arm loosened little by little.

He didn't even finish his last sentence.

Sun Chengwu was stunned for a long time after seeing this scene, and he couldn't react.

He gently nudged Old Man Xu's body, but Old Man Xu did not react.

Sun Chengwu is a doctor. He knows that Old Xu is dead, but he can't accept it.

He continued to push numbly, "Old man... old man, get up... weren't you going to teach me how to fish?"

Get up quickly...

Sun Chengwu felt as if a cold hand was gripping his throat tightly; he wanted to cry.

My eyes were so dry and painful that I couldn't shed a single tear.

He could only remain bent over and close, motionless, feeling the hand on his arm quickly lose its warmth and become stiff.

Su Wanqing could no longer hold back and rushed to Old Man Xu's side, tears streaming down her face.

She choked back tears, her words incoherent, "Wake up, wake up, please don't die..."

Although the group wasn't familiar with Old Man Xu, at this moment, they could all feel the desolate sense of shared sorrow.

The funeral was so simple it was almost hasty; there was no coffin, no ceremony, and not even a proper tombstone.

Sun Chengwu called over a few people to help. Together, they gently lifted the wrapped-up old man Xu to the edge of a relatively flat ice floe on the beach.

The ice floe was small and rose and fell gently with the waves.

Sun Chengwu took one last look at the still roll of cloth and whispered, "Old Xu, if we can get out of here alive... I will find your grandson..."

Sun Chengwu didn't know how to say the second half of the sentence.

What should we say when we find his grandson?

Tell him that the old man eventually froze to death.

At this moment, an overwhelming sadness belatedly welled up inside him, and Sun Chengwu squatted on the ground, unable to stop himself from dry heaving.

After vomiting for a while, he wiped his mouth, looked up at the worried looks on everyone's faces, and gave an ugly smile. "Why are you looking at me? A person dies and that's it. The living must live."

Let's all get closer to the fire, warm ourselves up, there's still a long road ahead.

The funeral ended, and the atmosphere was as heavy as frozen ice.

People silently returned to the now-dim fire, added the last bit of dry twigs, and huddled together to draw upon the meager warmth.

Sun Chengwu forced himself to break free from his grief and exhaustion and began to carefully observe his surroundings.

They were on the edge of an ice field, covered with a thick layer of snow. In some places, the snow was thin, and the ice beneath could be seen.

In some places, the snow and ice did not cover the ground, and black soil could be vaguely seen. Some low-lying plants survived tenaciously, and some places were covered with dark brown, unidentified moss.

A man in his thirties wearing glasses stopped in the group, picked up a piece of algae, tasted it, and shouted to Sun Chengwu, "If I remember correctly, this moss is edible. I bought it on Taobao, and it was quite expensive."

Sun Chengwu turned around and asked uncertainly, "Really? It's not poisonous, is it?"

The bespectacled man said confidently, "It's not poisonous. I just tasted it. If it were poisonous, I should have felt my tongue go numb or my throat tighten."

He was indeed describing the symptoms of poisoning. Sun Chengwu asked doubtfully, "Are you a doctor too?"

The bespectacled man scratched his head and introduced himself, "My name is Li Mu, I'm a teacher, and I like to read magazines and drink tea in my spare time."

I saw this kind of moss when I was buying tea; it cost several hundred yuan per kilogram.

If it can be used to make tea, then it can probably be eaten, though the taste certainly won't be as good.

Sun Chengwu looked around. Although there wasn't much moss in front of him, this area was full of small clumps of moss.

He immediately made a decision: "Everyone stop, start a fire, this moss is edible."

Upon hearing that moss was edible, several extremely hungry people immediately lay down on the ground, picked up a clump of moss, and put it in their mouths.

Sun Chengwu immediately stopped them, saying, "Don't eat it raw. If you get dehydrated and have diarrhea, your bodies won't be able to handle it."

We've been hungry for so long, a little longer won't hurt. Let's look around for dry wood or anything that can be burned.

We cannot rely on fuel forever.

This fuel can save lives in a critical moment.

The Arctic is relatively dry, with little wood but plenty of dry grass and leaves.

Some people also found marine debris, such as plastic.

Ironically, this marine debris became a life-saving source of fire.

Sun Chengwu used a cigarette lighter to ignite the dry leaves.

When the dried leaves started to smoke, he held them in his palm and gently blew on them.

Soon after, flames began to ignite inside.

He placed the flames in the pile of dry grass, and soon a fire broke out.

There is a lot of marine debris, and when combined with hay, it can burn for a long time.

Sun Chengwu found a few tin cans, wiped them clean with snow, filled them with moss, and then stuffed them with more snow.

At that time, nobody cared about how dirty or messy it was. As long as there was food, even if it was covered in feces, people would probably wash it off and swallow it.

Soon after, the snow inside the tin can melted into water.

After burning for a while longer, the water began to boil.

When the moss inside had completely dissolved into the water, Sun Chengwu picked up a stick, picked it up, and took a sip.

It's very hard, hard to eat, and has a strong earthy taste.

But at least it's edible.

Everyone looked at Sun Chengwu expectantly.

Sun Chengwu said, "Eat up, don't fight over it, just one bite each."

Some people used sticks to pick it up, while others even grabbed it with their bare hands; they didn't care that the water was very hot.

The instinct of hunger took over.

However, no one fought over it; each person took a bite and waited for everyone else to finish before eating.

Their time on the ice floes taught them the importance of sticking together.

Sometimes, altruism is actually self-interest.

One person's strength is limited.

Even when extremely hungry, I restrained my instincts.

Then someone brought moss and put it in an iron pot to boil.

Steam was bubbling and billowing from the tin can.

They drank all the water boiled in the tin can only after the marine debris and hay were exhausted.

After drinking the hot tea, everyone felt warmer.

Sun Chengwu sat by the sea, took a sip of hot tea, and gazed at the ocean.

He didn't see the other people; they had been separated by the ocean currents when they went out to sea.

I don't know where those people went, or if they're still alive.