In the dead of night, bathed in the glow of the aurora, the entire Crown Territory seemed to be shrouded in a mysterious radiance.
Feng Mountain leaned against the window at the foot of his bed, silently admiring the brilliant, colorful aurora shimmering in the night sky. Coca-Cola and Prince snuggled up beside him.
Flipping open his grand-uncle's diary, he found that every read-through offered a new insight.
He paused on the page with the map of the Crown Territory. His grand-uncle had written that patrols were necessary at the end of autumn and the start of winter, as this was when hunters frequently trespassed onto the land to hunt reindeer and moose.
The territory spanned 2,000 square kilometers, with snow-capped mountains on one side and the tundra on the other. It was impossible for one person to patrol it all, so he could only choose one direction.
"Coca-Cola, how about we take a walk on the tundra tomorrow?"
MEOW!
Coca-Cola responded lazily, rolling over and forcefully pulling his little brother, Prince, into an embrace for warmth. Prince looked pitifully at Feng Mountain, hoping he would say something to rescue him from his fiery predicament.
"Alright, it's a deal then!" Feng Mountain ignored Prince's resentful gaze, muttered to himself, and extinguished the kerosene lamp.
...
In the early morning, the sky was a dim gray.
Here in the Far North Tundra, dawn now came ten minutes later each day, while dusk arrived ten minutes earlier, a pattern that would continue until the polar night set in.
Feng Mountain woke up early to prepare his gear for patrolling the territory.
Since this was his first official trip out of the camp and into the barren Far North Tundra, gear and supplies were crucial. The weather in the Far North Tundra was incredibly volatile—it could be sunny, windy, snowy, or hailing, and could even escalate to extreme weather like a blizzard.
He packed his rifle and bullets, a deerskin blanket, a stewpot, a firestarter, a waterproof tarp, salt, and spices. He could pack light on food, bringing just enough for emergencies. There was ready prey on the tundra, so he wouldn't have to worry about going hungry.
He sorted the supplies and gear and packed them into his backpack.
Feng Mountain shouldered the backpack. At over 30 kilograms, it wasn't too heavy. He looked down at Prince and Coca-Cola by his feet.
"Are you two staying here to guard the house, or are you coming with me?"
Coca-Cola immediately scrambled up his pant leg and onto his shoulder. Prince, lacking such skills, could only paw at Feng Mountain's pants and yelp.
"Alright, let's go!" Feng Mountain picked Prince up by the scruff of his neck and placed him in the hood of his fur coat, which was just large enough to hold him.
"We're off!" Gazing at the vast Far North Tundra in the distance, Feng Mountain adjusted his backpack and strode out of the camp.
Since arriving at the Crown Territory, the farthest he had gone was the Moonlight Forest next to the camp. The rest of the time, he had just wandered around the immediate vicinity.
The autumn wind carried a hint of chill, bringing a unique, crisp sensation as it blew against his face.
In the distance, the low-hanging clouds seemed almost within reach, creating an oppressive atmosphere.
Occasionally, a few rays of sunlight would pierce through gaps in the clouds, casting mottled patterns of light and shadow on the tundra.
The withered, yellow moss looked like an old carpet spread across the earth, interspersed with a few resilient arctic flowers that shivered in the cold wind, yet stubbornly bloomed with their last vestiges of beauty.
Perhaps because of the heavy snow two days prior, the tundra was slightly damp, and the vegetation underfoot made a soft PUFF, PUFF sound as he walked.
Feng Mountain's figure moved slowly across the vast tundra, leaving a trail of shallow footprints that were soon smoothed over by the biting wind.
「Half a day later.」
Following the map in his grand-uncle's diary, Feng Mountain found a territorial marker: a Hunter's Lodge built from stones on a hillside.
The Hunter's Lodge was the central point. The land inward from it was part of the Crown Territory's forests, while the land outward was the Alaska Tundra Preserve.
Standing on the hillside, he could see wooden stakes driven into the tundra at regular intervals. These stakes were territorial markers, warning Wilderness Hunters that this was private land and entry was forbidden.
But no Wilderness Hunter would pay any attention to that. His grand-uncle's diary recorded catching hunters trespassing to hunt on several occasions, which had even led to disputes.
'And those were just the ones Grand-uncle discovered. Who knew how many others went unnoticed!'
Feng Mountain sneered inwardly as he gazed at the seemingly endless territory. 'Patrolling this just on two legs is impossible; I'd die of exhaustion.'
'Once the Witchcraft Bone Ring has accumulated enough Soul Power, I'll get a flock of eagles for the Crown Territory. They can patrol every day, and if they spot any trespassing hunters, I'll let them have a taste of lead.'
'Frank said that if someone trespasses on private property without permission and ignores the owner's warnings, the owner can shoot to kill.'
'Grand-uncle was too kind.'
'When people are poaching on your land, what's the point of arguing?'
'Just shoot them.'
WOOF WOOF WOOF!!
Just then, Prince, who had been hiding in the hood, suddenly barked a few times and leaped out. He tumbled on the ground, but thankfully, it was just grass, so he was fine. Scrambling back to his feet, Prince ran toward the edge of the slope, barking as he went.
A fox with fiery red fur burst out from a thicket of willows in a panic. But when it saw Prince's small size, it wasn't scared at all. Instead, it bared its teeth and charged back at him.
There was a huge size difference between them. Prince was still just a rookie; he'd definitely be no match in a fight.
Feng Mountain raised his Kar98k and pulled the trigger.
BANG! The gunshot echoed across the open tundra.
In the next moment, the fox staggered and fell. Prince pounced on it, biting down and shaking his head.
"Let go. At your size, you would've been a sitting duck without me." Feng Mountain walked down the slope to the fox, patting Prince on the head. He grabbed the fox's tail and gave it a shake to confirm it was dead, then used the Witchcraft Bone Ring to absorb its Soul Power.
He felt a warm current flow through his body. The Soul Power provided by the fox was more than a Thunderbird's, but still a far cry from a brown bear's.
After collecting the Soul Power, Feng Mountain's gaze fell upon the fox's fiery pelt.
'It's quite beautiful.' The fox's fur was soft and thick, its color transitioning naturally from a vibrant orange-red to a slightly darker brownish-red, shimmering with a captivating luster in the sunlight.
'Well, what's done is done!'
'Might as well not let it go to waste.'
He returned to the Hunter's Lodge and hung the fox upside down. Since his body had been enhanced by Soul Power, Feng Mountain's knife work was now extremely precise. The tip of his blade moved between the skin and flesh with a skill that would have earned a thumbs-up even from an old hunter.
Soon, a complete fox pelt was stripped away.
'This will make a nice scarf for Xiaohua. It'll definitely look pretty on her.'
He didn't waste the fox meat either. He carved out the edible parts and threw the inedible entrails into a stream to feed the fish.
...
「Night.」
A strong wind howled across the tundra. There was no aurora tonight, but in its place was a dreamlike starry sky. The pitch-black firmament was like a giant velvet curtain, adorned with countless dazzling jewels.
The Milky Way was like a shimmering silver ribbon, winding from one end of the horizon to the other. The stars were densely scattered, shining with both bright and dim light—some as brilliant as diamonds, others as soft as pearls.
Every day, the Far North Tundra offered Feng Mountain a new experience.
On a stove built of stones, dry willow branches burned. Skewers of fox meat on willow sticks roasted over the fire. Prince gnawed greedily on a fox leg, while Coca-Cola ate chopped fox meat.
The two little ones ate happily, but Feng Mountain was having a harder time. The roasted fox meat smelled alright, but it was difficult to swallow.
It had a heavy, gamey stench. It might have been edible if he'd had spices to mask the taste, but he had only brought salt and chili pepper on this trip.
To fill his stomach, Feng Mountain tossed the fox meat aside and took out some smoked bear meat from his backpack.
After dinner, the temperature plummeted. In the Far North Tundra Region, the difference between day and night temperatures was immense.
Inside the Hunter's Lodge, Feng Mountain cleared a flat patch of ground and started a bonfire. Dressed in his fur coat and wrapped in a deerskin blanket, with his two little "hand warmers" in his arms, he didn't feel cold at all.
「In the middle of the night.」
AWOOO!!!
The sound of wolf howls rose and fell outside the Hunter's Lodge, sometimes distant, sometimes near.
Prince and Coca-Cola shivered at the sound of the howls, but Feng Mountain, who was using his rifle as a pillow, simply tightened his grip on the two little ones in his arms.
"Don't be scared. They won't dare come any closer. Go to sleep."
...