CHAPTER 193: CHAPTER 16: LOST AND FOUND

Rashly entering this glacial lake is bound to lead to trouble.

The hard ice and low temperatures can destroy everything.

Therefore, Chen Wen plans to wait downstream for the bighorn sheep to be washed down.

After all, with the collapse of the glacier continuously flowing into the glacial lake, the water level rises, and the bighorn sheep will definitely be taken downstream.

Having made up his mind, Chen Wen and Hua Yun begin to head downstream.

...

The two walk intermittently, tracking the traces of the bighorn sheep.

Eventually, in the afternoon, they successfully reach the forest below.

"This should be the Yukon River."

Looking at the riverbank in front of him, Chen Wen is deeply moved.

Finally, no more dealing with ice and snow.

"To be precise, it’s a tributary of the Yukon River."

Hua Yun looks at the map given by the crew and points to the river ahead, saying, "We have to walk another thirty kilometers along this tributary to reach the Yukon River."

"No rush to walk, let’s check on the bighorn sheep first."

Chen Wen says.

They definitely won’t finish the thirty kilometers today.

The two place their supplies on a flat spot by the riverbank and come to the edge of this tributary.

"This water is so cold!"

Chen Wen removes his gloves to feel the icy river water.

The sensation instantly gives him a shiver.

As a southerner, even with added protection.

In such high-latitude regions, Chen Wen still finds it hard to bear.

"The river is about to freeze. Before I came, I checked the weather forecast for the Yukon Territory, and by the seventh day of our survival, the temperature here will drop significantly with snow."

Hua Yun looks over the river, searching for signs of the bighorn sheep.

Soon, Hua Yun discovers it.

She points to the area in the middle of the river: "Look there, among those glaciers, isn’t that the bighorn sheep?"

"It is, but it’s still hard to retrieve with so much ice, walking over is very difficult."

Chen Wen says, gritting his teeth.

The bighorn sheep’s carcass was washed down but is trapped in the middle of the river surrounded by large glaciers.

"How about getting directly into the water? Let me do it, you go and start a fire, the environment here is much better than the glacial lake."

Hua Yun makes a decision.

The section of the river where the bighorn carcass is located is broad and the current is relatively slow, and it’s not deep.

It’s a relatively good segment to enter the water.

As for what the river is like downstream, no one knows.

If there are rapids further down, it might carry the bighorn carcass away.

Therefore, Hua Yun wants to prevent this and retrieve the bighorn carcass from the water.

Chen Wen frowns, remaining silent.

What Hua Yun can think of, he can think of too.

Chen Wen is also hesitating.

But just as Chen Wen considers getting into the water himself, he suddenly remembers something.

"Don’t rush, right now the bighorn carcass is floating on the river surface, moving quite slowly. I’ll take this time to check downstream. If I don’t return before the bighorn floats further down, then go in and retrieve it; if I come back, we’ll decide then."

Chen Wen’s words leave Hua Yun puzzled.

Seeing this, Chen Wen explains, "There’s a lot of beavers in the Yukon. With such a large river, there must be beavers around."

"If beavers have built a dam downstream, we can retrieve the bighorn from there."

Hearing this, Hua Yun’s eyes light up.

She hadn’t thought of the beaver situation.

Earlier in the day, fleeing frantically had consumed a lot of energy.

She’s too tired to think now.

Chen Wen signals Hua Yun to stay calm, then sets off downstream to check the situation.

...

Once out of Hua Yun’s sight.

Chen Wen accelerates, sprinting alongside the riverbank.

Finally, about 2.5 kilometers away.

Chen Wen stops.

The winding river here suddenly becomes wider, even wider than the area above.

The reason for the river’s width is the dam built across the river.

"Just as I thought!"

Chen Wen chuckles, impressed with his foresight.

"I had heard about it when I came here, the beaver is Canada’s national animal, and there are few people in the Yukon, mostly concentrated in cities, leading to an unchecked increase of beavers in the wild."

In Kent’s book, while describing the history of a city in the mid-section of the Yukon, beavers were notably mentioned.

The city started with beaver fur trade, but now the locals no longer trade furs.

Instead, they encourage tourists and businessmen to protect beavers together.

And hunters rarely endure the cold to catch beavers.

Who would want to work in the freezing wilderness when they can work in a warm city?

Therefore, Chen Wen surmises from Kent’s book that beavers are rampant in the Yukon Territory.

And beaver dams are likely abundant!

Exactly!

Thrilled, Chen Wen dashes back to deliver the news to Hua Yun.

...

Chen Wen returns once more.

After learning about the wider water downstream, Hua Yun agrees to retrieve the bighorn sheep from there.

The two arrive at the beaver dam, planning to camp here.

While the bighorn carcass hasn’t arrived yet, the two cooperate to build a shelter and start a fire.

Tonight, they’ll spend the night here.

Chen Wen takes an axe, chops down a relatively thick Yunshan tree.

He splits the Yunshan tree into four, creating a very simple A-frame shelter.

Chen Wen is now quite skilled at building an A-frame shelter.

By the time Hua Yun returns with firewood, the shelter’s framework is mostly complete.

Hua Yun piles the firewood on the side of the shelter, clearing an area.

Then she retrieves some stones from the river, arranging them in a circle, serving as a firebreak.

Then Hua Yun uses a fire starter, successfully lighting a campfire.

With the fire, the surrounding temperature rises significantly.

Chen Wen also puts down his task, coming to the campfire to warm up.

After warming up, Chen Wen continues building the shelter, while Hua Yun goes to observe the situation by the river.

...

Once Chen Wen finishes the framework, Hua Yun hurries back.

Before Chen Wen can speak, Hua Yun says, "There’s a problem."

"It seems something in the water is pushing the bighorn and eating its meat!"

Eating meat?

Chen Wen freezes: "A meat-eating fish... could it be a dogfish?"

Very likely!

The waters of the Yukon region are widely inhabited by North American dogfish. These large, cold-water dwelling fish are quite ferocious.

And they do eat meat.

If they encounter bighorn meat, they would definitely try it.

Chen Wen thinks and immediately sets aside what he’s doing, heading to the lakeside.

...

At the lakeside, Chen Wen witnesses a bizarre sight.

The bighorn carcass seems alive, moving upstream in the water.

Chen Wen frowns, using his dynamic vision, spotting the large shadow underwater.

"It should be a dogfish, but I don’t know which kind."

Chen Wen murmurs: "Theoretically, dogfish would go to the deep water of the big river for winter; the water here isn’t deep, how could there be dogfish?"

Hua Yun holds her forehead: "Now’s not the time to discuss dogfish habits. We need to figure out a way to retrieve the bighorn, or it will be pushed further away from us."

Chen Wen nods, saying, "That’s simple, just scare the dogfish away with stones, they’re not that brave, just scare them off."

With that, he picks up a stone and hurls it towards the water around the bighorn.

The splash, as Chen Wen said, scares the fish in the water.

It quickly splashes and swims toward deeper water.

Without the fish’s push, the bighorn drifts downstream again.

But as the bighorn floats downstream, Chen Wen and Hua Yun notice it is steering towards them.

Seeing the bighorn carcass getting closer to the shore, Chen Wen uses part of the rope tethered to the Golden Eagle.

He makes a slipknot at one end of the rope, planning to lasso the bighorn carcass and bring it over.

After a few throws, Chen Wen successfully lassos the bighorn carcass.

He slowly pulls it to the riverbank.

The food is regained, as is the rope.

But Chen Wen doesn’t immediately look at the bighorn; instead, he stares at the dark lake water.

"That dogfish just now was really big, probably about 1.2 to 1.3 meters."

Chen Wen swallows, saying, "This thing can be eaten, and the taste is quite good!"