Chapter 143: Wow, a Spider
Chapter 143: Chapter 143: Wow, a Spider
Gu Zhao, the subject of their thoughts, was already fast asleep.
Zhong Siqi and the others also fell asleep the moment they lay down, leaving the two watching "Brother Corpses" speechless.
’Are they really that carefree?’
’They’re not even going to keep watch?’
Just then, the little white fox wriggled out of Gu Zhao’s arms.
Deprived of her living pillow, Gu Zhao whimpered in her sleep. The little white fox leaned down, gave her a little kiss on the forehead, and then scurried away.
A moment later, it returned with a baby penguin dangling from its mouth.
The little penguin was round and fluffy—clearly a prime specimen. The little white fox set it on the ground and began to pant.
It was completely worn out.
After a short rest, it sniffed the penguin all over. Once it confirmed that the baby penguin didn’t stink, it carried the bird over and placed it in Gu Zhao’s arms.
Feeling something fluffy and warm, Gu Zhao instinctively pulled it into her embrace.
"Don’t you dare poop in her arms! Or I’ll eat you!" the little white fox viciously threatened the baby penguin before heading outside the tent.
It found a clean patch of snow and curled up, its fluffy white fur blending in almost perfectly.
It glanced around, and seeing nothing amiss, buried its small head between its fluffy front paws.
Its ears, however, remained pricked straight up. At the slightest sound, their tips would twitch and its small body would tense. Its nose would quiver slightly, and only after confirming there were no unfamiliar scents would it relax again.
The essential travel-sized night watchman.
While one side had a dedicated cuddle-buddy and a night watchman—both underage workers—the special guests’ side wasn’t faring so well.
The group, whose camp had been raided, took the backpacks so thoughtfully left behind by the thieves and their three hostages, and found a spot sheltered from the wind.
With no tent, they had to use the thermal blankets from their backpacks to create a makeshift shelter.
But then a new problem arose: they had no food.
Moreover, with the constant daylight of the polar summer, they hadn’t rested for a full day and night.
"We need to rest in shifts. Some of you will come with me to find food, some of you will stand guard, and the rest will get some sleep immediately." The leader was the oldest and had experience climbing snow-capped mountains from his time in military service, so no one had any objections to his arrangements.
Well, if anyone did, it was the hostage-edition troublemaking trio.
Jiang Yifeng had figured out Gu Zhao’s plan after being "captured." ’The only thing I don’t get,’ he thought, ’is why they’d keep their own team in the dark!!’
’My brother, too! Why didn’t he say anything?!’
"I’m hungry," he said with a stony face, deliberately picking a fight.
"Then starve," someone replied coldly.
Gu Zhen caught on as well. ’Act like a disobedient hostage? I can do that!’
"It’s so cramped in here!"
"Ugh! Who didn’t wash their feet? It stinks."
Ye Zexi’s complaint was the most genuine. "Hah. So Gu Zhao’s abandoned you guys, too?"
He was trying to pick a fight with Jiang Yifeng and Gu Zhen.
Jiang Yifeng and Gu Zhen exchanged a look and immediately turned on Ye Zexi.
’Might as well cause trouble for him!’
Meanwhile, the ones left behind to rest and stand guard looked like they were on the verge of a breakdown.
’Not this trick again!’
’First the kids were a handful, now the adults are starting?’
"Well then, let’s just shut them up," Twenty-one said with a grin, pulling a clean sock from his clothes.
"Good thing I have a habit of stashing away socks. Who wants a taste?"
The three of them immediately shut their mouths. Then, in perfect sync, Jiang Yifeng and Gu Zhen pointed at Ye Zexi.
Ye Zexi: ?!!
A few seconds later.
Ye Zexi had a sock stuffed in his mouth, his face a mask of utter despair.
The other two pressed their lips together, not daring to speak, afraid the captors might pull the sock out of his mouth and use it on them.
With the noise gone, the people trying to rest could finally get some peace. Several of them took out sleep masks and put them on.
The watchmen stood guard outside.
Not far from their camp, a colony of penguins was huddled together.
A chubby little chick was nestled on the feet of each male penguin.
All but one, that is. A lone male penguin was frantically peeking under the others’ bellies.
"SQUAWK! SQUAWK! Has anyone seen my chick?"
"Is that my chick? Let me see."
"I’m not a chick-napper! Stop pecking me! My chick is missing!"
The male penguin escaped from another’s pecking beak and waddled to a high spot. He gazed out at the vast, snowy expanse, his face a picture of despair.
"My little chick, where did you go?!"
The male penguin looked at the other penguins and made a decision. He had to get his chick back!
He set off resolutely in a random direction.
"Chickie! Wait for me!"
He was getting farther and farther away from his chick.
...
"Boss! There’s an Arctic Rabbit over there!"
one of the men exclaimed in astonishment. They’d found food!
Arctic Rabbits weren’t on the list of protected species for this region, so they were fair game!
"You guys, circle around that way! The rest of you, block it from the other side!"
The men sprang into action.
The Arctic Rabbit was quick, but with everyone closing in, it was eventually caught.
After being caught, it kept staring fixedly in one direction.
"Is this rabbit an idiot? It’s not even struggling, just staring over there."
"What’s over there?"
Curious, one of the men went to check. He ended up locking eyes with another rabbit lying in the snow.
"Holy crap!" He immediately pounced, pinning the rabbit.
"There’s another rabbit here!"
Seeing the other rabbit get caught, the first one grinned in satisfaction.
’Hmph! That’s what you get for fighting with me! That’s what you get for biting my butt!’
’If I’m going down, you’re coming with me!’
"Boss! We’re so lucky! We just got out here and we’ve already found rabbits!" one of the men laughed.
A snowy owl circled in the sky above.
"Alright, let’s keep looking while we still have the energy."
"Hehehe, this rabbit is so plump! It would be great if we could catch a few more."
One man held up a rabbit to admire it. "Look at the long legs on this thing."
"Drop it!" someone who had noticed something suddenly yelled.
"Huh?"
Before the man could react, a white figure swooped down and snatched the rabbit away.
"Damn it! Give me back my rabbit!"
the man yelled at the sky.
An adult snowy owl clutched a plump rabbit in its talons.
Hearing his shout, it even made a point to swoop low and do a fly-by right in front of him.
The disrespect was palpable.
"You better hope I don’t catch you!"
The others burst out laughing. "Even if you did catch it, you couldn’t do anything. They’re a protected species."
"Is this funny? All I see is one desperate man, and a bunch of soon-to-be-starving men laughing their heads off," the leader said, exasperated.
The men stopped laughing. Clutching their one remaining rabbit, they continued the search.
They had three hours before they had to head back, otherwise their bodies wouldn’t be able to hold up.
They had to find food within that time frame.
And get it back to camp successfully.
Seeing that they weren’t giving chase, the snowy owl lost interest in teasing them and flew off in a specific direction.
On its way, it passed a penguin waddling in the opposite direction, squawking its heart out.
"Boo-hoo-hoo, my chick, where are you!"
The snowy owl glanced down, shook its head, and sighed. ’Hah, another one who’s lost their kid.’
It flew over the penguin’s head and landed outside a tent.
The moment it got close, the little white fox shot its head up warily, arching its back and letting out a warning hiss.
The snowy owl paid the little cub no mind. It preened its feathers, then waited by the entrance.
’The scent of Xiangxiang is coming from inside!’
’I must bring warmth to my dear Xiangxiang!’
The little white fox stared at it for a moment, but seeing it meant no harm, it curled back up to sleep.
Fast asleep, Gu Zhao had no idea that she was emitting a scent only animals could detect.
Meanwhile, the baby penguin in her arms was practically intoxicated by it.
At the same time, for miles around, animals couldn’t stop themselves from rushing toward her location.