Arctic survival, starting in hell at minus fifty degrees Celsius

Watching the seal disappear under the ice, Sun Chengwu shook his head with some regret, but didn't linger for long.

He returned up the mountain to rejoin the others and briefly explained the situation.

"Never mind, let's keep going." Lin Can wrapped his coat tighter, his breath forming fine frost on his eyelashes. "It gets dark early, we need to find a place to spend the night."

The four people walked along the edge of the forest near the coastline.

Around 7 p.m., the sky had become noticeably dark, with low-hanging gray clouds and visibility rapidly decreasing.

A strong wind swept in from the sea, carrying ice pellets that stung my face.

"We can't go any further." Sun Chengwu squinted as he surveyed his surroundings.

He pointed to a rock about two people high in front of him, with dense trees nearby, and said, "That'll provide shelter from the wind. Let's camp there."

Upon approaching, Sun Chengwu discovered a slightly concave rock wall.

In front of the rock face stood several spruce trees, their branches laden with thick snow.

Sun Chengwu's eyes lit up, and he pointed to the depression, saying, "This is just the right place to set up camp."

Everyone put down their luggage and immediately began making arrangements.

Huang Shi and Su Wanqing were responsible for clearing the snow off the ground, using tree branches to sweep out a relatively dry area.

Lin Can took out a tent from her backpack. She chose to set up the tent close to the inside of the rock wall, using the rocks to block most of the cold wind. She also used collected dry branches to build a semi-circular low wall at the tent opening to further block the airflow.

Sun Chengwu took his military knife and went deep into the forest; he needed more firewood.

In the Arctic, the absence of fire at night is almost tantamount to death.

He carefully selected the relatively dry deadwood and used his military knife to cut off branches of varying sizes.

Some resin-rich pine branches are excellent kindling, and he collected extra of them.

When he returned to the camp, he was dragging a large bundle of logs as thick as his arm.

Sun Chengwu used stones to create a shallow pit about two meters in front of the tent entrance, and then laid it with small dry branches and fibers torn from the inner bark.

He took out his homemade "fire folder," carefully uncorked it, and gently blew on it.

A dark red spark appeared, and he brought it close to the wad of fibers. A few wisps of smoke rose, and then a small cluster of flames flickered and lit up.

He carefully added thinner branches, then gradually added thicker pieces of firewood.

They also made some wood chips from the dead wood and added them back into the fire tongs, pressing them down gently to ensure the flame wouldn't go out while minimizing the burning speed.

The orange-red firelight cooled down, dispelling the rapidly decreasing chill and bringing a sense of psychological comfort to the group.

At this moment, the watch hands pointed to nine o'clock in the evening. It was almost completely dark outside, with only the snow and the icy sea reflecting a faint, deep blue glow.

"We're running low on food." Lin Can opened his backpack to check. "We can still eat the nuts for another day, but we need to find a way to replenish them."

Sun Chengwu looked toward the dark coastline. "I'm going to try my luck at the beach. Huang Shi, you're coming with me."

Lin Can, you and Wanqing stay here and watch the fire, and boil plenty of hot water.

Su Wanqing put the last of the needle leaves into the boiling water can, while Lin Can began to crush the remaining nuts into smaller pieces with a stone, then added hot water to cook them into a paste.

Sun Chengwu picked up the spear with the military knife strapped to it, as well as the only fishing rod he had put in his suitcase when he fled, and trudged towards the sea.

The wind picked up, and the sound of waves crashing against the rocks and ice floes seemed particularly turbulent in the darkness.

They dared not get too close to the water, walking along the frozen, hardened snow crust near the tide line.

The beach was pitch black with very low visibility; everything in sight was white.

Sun Chengwu broke the nuts open, hung them on the fishing hook, and threw them into the sea.

The fishing rod is placed on the beach and weighed down with stones to prevent it from being dragged into the sea by fish.

Then, Sun Chengwu stood up and said, "Let's go, let's walk along the coastline and see if any fish have washed ashore."

They searched carefully, hoping to find shellfish brought ashore by the tide, or stranded small fish.

After walking for about half an hour, we found nothing except a few pieces of seaweed that had been eaten and some ice chips.

As the temperature dropped, the two of them could hardly stand it anymore, and the sea breeze quickly took away their body heat.

"It's too cold; the fish have probably all gone to the deeper water," Huang Shi suggested, his teeth chattering. "Should we go back?"

Sun Chengwu was unwilling to give up, so he continued walking forward.

A while later, he suddenly saw a snow-white fish lying on the beach.

It was an Arctic cod that was almost as long as an arm.

It must have died not long ago, tossed ashore by the waves, and then quickly froze in the extreme cold, its body stiff and covered with a thin layer of ice.

Sun Chengwu took out his military knife and cut open the fish's belly. The internal organs inside were intact and not rotten.

A smile finally appeared on her face, which was red from the cold wind. "Great, we'll have fish soup tonight."

The Arctic's low temperatures act as a natural refrigerator, allowing many dead animals to be preserved for at least a week.

Huang Shi also got excited, "I've been eating so many nuts and leaves these past two days that I feel like throwing up. Finally, we can have some meat to eat!"

Sun Chengwu carefully picked up the frozen fish, weighed it in his hand, and found it to be about two or three pounds.

Although it's not enough for four people to have a full meal, a pot of hot soup is enough to provide valuable calories and protein.

Looking at the snow-white ice ahead, Sun Chengwu exhaled a puff of white breath and said, "Let's go back!"

The two returned to the spot where they had been fishing.

Unfortunately, no fish were caught.

However, since we've already had a harvest, it doesn't matter if we didn't catch any fish. Anyway, we didn't come back empty-handed, and any fish we caught is still fish.

The two quickly returned to the camp.

In the camp, a fire had been lit, and hot water in the iron can was bubbling and hissing.

Seeing them return with frozen fish, Su Wanqing and Lin Can finally smiled again.

Sun Chengwu did not process the fish directly on the snow. Instead, he found a relatively flat stone slab and wiped it clean with snow.

He heated the general's knife by the fire to warm the blade, making it easier to cut the frozen fish.

He placed the frozen fish on a stone slab and carefully tapped the fish with the back of a knife to break off the ice shell.

Then, he gently cut into the fish's anus from below its belly with the tip of the knife, where the skin is relatively soft.

Steadily cut the fish open along the midline of its abdomen.

The internal organs were frozen solid. He carefully removed them as a whole and set them aside for later use.

These offal, especially fish liver, are rich in oil and vitamins and can be eaten under extreme circumstances.

Even if you don't like the taste, it can be used as bait or to set traps to catch other prey, such as Arctic foxes.

Unlike humans who are picky eaters, offal is a rare delicacy for animals.

He also used the tip of his knife to remove and discard the gills. Then, he scraped away the black membrane and residual blood from inside the fish's abdominal cavity and repeatedly wiped the inside and outside of the fish with clean snow.

Finally, Sun Chengwu used a knife to cut off the fish head.

Although fish heads don't have much meat, they are a great ingredient for making soup.