Chapter 389: Chapter 291: Tundra 2
The biting cold made teeth chatter uncontrollably, the sound ringing out with stark clarity in the small cabin.
"You get used to it! The Inuit have lived in this kind of environment for thousands of years." Feng Mountain seemed much calmer. He responded with a smile while vigorously shaking out his animal hide coat, sending a shower of ice crystals rustling to the floor.
Afterward, Feng Mountain spread the hide coat open and hung it on the wall. He then walked over to the fire, sat down, and held out his hands to warm them.
Yves, for his part, got busy. He took out some coffee powder and poured it into a stewpot already filled with packed snow.
He placed the stewpot on the fire, where the flames licked merrily at its base. Before long, the mixture in the pot began to react.
Nash wasn’t idle, either. After rummaging in his backpack for a moment, he pulled out a few sticks of dried musk ox jerky and handed them around.
To preserve it longer, the jerky was made extremely dry and hard, and it was also heavily salted. Chewing on it felt almost like gnawing on a salt-covered stick.
But in this frigid environment, the tough chewing was a good way to warm up the jaw and replenish some calories.
As everyone sat chewing jerky and warming themselves by the fire, the coffee in the stewpot began to roll to a boil. BUBBLE, BUBBLE... Steam rose in clouds, and the rich aroma of coffee filled the entire hunting cabin, a mellow and captivating scent that tickled everyone’s noses.
Seeing that the coffee was brewed, Yves pulled a box of sugar cubes from his backpack and dumped the entire thing into the pot. Then, he stirred it gently with his Hunting Knife.
The sugar cubes slowly dissolved in the scalding coffee, adding a sweet fragrance to the rich aroma and making it even more tempting.
Once the sugar had completely dissolved, Yves poured the coffee into four tin cups. He held one up and said to the others,
"Have some coffee."
The others stopped what they were doing and reached for the tin cups. A steaming cup of coffee was undoubtedly the best way to drive off the chill.
Director Roland was gnawing on the rock-hard jerky. His jaw ached and his teeth felt ready to give out. He was just lamenting how tough the stuff was when he heard Yves’s offer. He quickly took a cup, and not caring if it was scalding hot, eagerly took a big gulp.
The moment it hit his tongue, a cloying sweetness flooded his mouth. The sugary taste was beyond anything he could have imagined. Director Roland was stunned. ’This might be the sweetest coffee I’ve ever had in my life,’ he thought.
’Back in Hollywood, if someone dared to serve me coffee this sweet, I swear to God I’d throw it right in their face without a second thought.’
’It’s just too sweet. Unbearably sweet.’
However, this wasn’t Hollywood. This was the brutally cold Tundra, a place so frigid it could numb you to the bone.
Miraculously, after just that one gulp of sweet coffee, he could feel his entire body begin to warm up. It was as if a warm current was spreading through him, driving away much of the bone-deep chill.
"Go easy on the sugar next time. It’s too sweet!" Feng Mountain frowned with a look of disgust. Forcing it down like medicine, he managed to choke down about half the cup.
’I can’t stand this much sugar. It feels like my teeth are about to rot out.’
Yves, however, looked unconvinced and began to explain.
"Boss, when sugar oxidizes in the body, it releases a lot of heat. Every gram of glucose that fully oxidizes can release about 16.7 kilojoules of energy. A high-concentration sugar solution contains a lot of sugar, which can supply the body with a large amount of thermal energy."
"Alright, alright, I’d rather have some hard liquor," Feng Mountain said. He knew Yves had a point and that the sugary drink would help fight the cold, but it was just sickeningly sweet.
Before he had even finished speaking, Nash, as if by magic, produced a palm-sized wineskin from inside his hide coat.
"Khilla, I brought some liquor. It’s brewed by my tribe."
"Now *this* is the good stuff." Feng Mountain’s eyes lit up the moment he saw the liquor. The look of disgust on his face vanished, replaced by a delighted surprise. He quickly set down his cup and eagerly took the hide flask, which was warm from Nash’s body heat.
He gently twisted off the wooden stopper, and a strong, sharp scent of alcohol immediately filled the small cabin.
Without another thought, Feng Mountain raised the flask and took a huge swig.
SSSS... HAH!
As the liquor went down, it felt like a ball of fire burning a path down his throat. The heat made Feng Mountain grimace and hiss, his expression a mixture of pained shock and intense satisfaction.
This was no weak stuff. It had to be at least 60% alcohol by volume. Most common liquors back in the United States were rarely that strong.
But once the liquor hit his stomach, his entire body began to burn with heat from the inside out. The warmth spread rapidly, as if activating every single cell.
His body, which had been stiff with cold, now felt nimble and warm.
"Buddy, you sure this isn’t industrial alcohol?" Feng Mountain joked after catching his breath.
Nash shook his head, his expression serious. "No, it’s proper liquor. My father made it from cornmeal."
"Feng, let me try some," Director Roland said, unable to stomach any more of the sweet coffee. He looked at the flask in Feng Mountain’s hand, his eyes filled with longing.
"Here. Be careful, it’s strong," Feng Mountain warned, handing over the hide flask.
Director Roland took the flask, not caring that Feng Mountain had just drunk from it. He copied his host and took a large swig.
SSSS... HAH!
Immediately, just like Feng Mountain, Director Roland grimaced and hissed from the fiery shock of the liquor.
A flush of red instantly spread across his pale, frozen face. A wave of heat surged through his body, warming him considerably as he muttered,
"This stuff has a kick! A real kick!"
Seeing this, Yves, who just a moment ago had been thinking his sweet coffee was great for generating heat, now watched everyone drinking the liquor with gusto. He looked down at the cup in his hand and suddenly, the coffee didn’t seem so appealing anymore.
"Well, one shouldn’t drink too much high-concentration sugar water anyway," he reasoned. "It can cause a rapid spike in blood sugar, put a heavy strain on the pancreas, and even cause osmotic diuresis."
Yves nodded thoughtfully as he spoke, as if trying to find a rational excuse to put down his coffee.
He then set down his cup, a hint of anticipation in his eyes, and held his hand out to Director Roland.
"Director, let me have a taste."
The hide flask was only palm-sized and could hold half a pound of liquor at most. With the four of them passing it around for a swig each, it was empty after just one round.
But the liquor was truly potent. After they’d finished, catalyzed by the alcohol, everyone felt warm from head to toe.
Their bodies, once gripped by the cold, no longer felt the chill.
A faint flush appeared on everyone’s cheeks, and their spirits lifted considerably.
「In the time that followed.」
Outside, the wind continued to howl and the snow to fall in a flurry.
Since they couldn’t go out anyway, the group simply chatted around the fire in the hunting cabin.
They went back and forth, sharing amusing stories from their pasts.
Bursts of hearty laughter punctuated the conversation, and the atmosphere was incredibly relaxed and comfortable.
「Two hours passed by slowly.」
The howling wind and raging blizzard outside finally subsided.
The four of them, restless from being cooped up in the cabin, put on their hide coats, which were now toasty dry from the fire. They felt wonderfully comfortable.
Next, they carefully extinguished the fire, making sure no embers remained that could cause a hazard. Only then did they set out on the hunt once more.
With the wind and snow gone, the surroundings became sharp and clear. The world that had been a blur of white finally revealed its true form.
Feng Mountain took a pair of binoculars from his backpack and carefully scanned the distance. Relying on past experience, he quickly located their old hunting trail.
The three snowmobiles then roared to life and sped off across the vast, snowy plains.
Still, they didn’t dare to drive too fast. They had to stop from time to time to search for tracks left by reindeer.
.....
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