"What’s the name of this village?"

"Flatwood Village. There’s a sign outside."

A sudden blizzard and fierce winds had stranded everyone in Flatwood Village.

Chopping firewood, shoveling snow, cleaning up, boiling water, feeding the animals...

Everyone began to busy themselves in an orderly fashion. The kitchen was a filthy mess, so Evelyn Ford and Wendy took charge of it. After cleaning, they set a large iron pot on the stove and started melting snow.

Ronan Kendrick went to chop firewood. He was strong and could carry three or four large logs at once.

The chimney was clogged, so Evelyn Ford found a ladder, climbed onto the roof, and began clearing it with a stick.

Officer Graham and Peter Owens had already returned with chopped branches. Seeing the leaves, the Mammoth immediately emerged from the building on the left.

The blizzard showed no signs of stopping all day. It seemed they would be stuck here for a while.

The small patch of woods nearby had been completely cleared, and the courtyard was piled high with firewood. Staying warm was no longer a concern.

To conserve food, everyone was now eating only two meals a day. Every few days, Evelyn Ford would add some grain to the shipping container, but no one dared to eat too much.

Miles Vaughn suggested going hunting. There were several mountains not far away where they could likely find game. To solve the food crisis, everyone agreed with the proposal.

"Wyatt Vaughn, Evelyn Ford, Ronan Kendrick, Quincy, Peter Owens, and I will go hunting. The rest of you should keep chopping firewood."

"I’ll go too," Officer Graham suddenly spoke up.

"You should stay behind. You can chop firewood with Peter Owens. Zion Lowell and I will go cut branches for fodder, and Wendy will stay in the courtyard to guard the supplies," Taylor Vance quickly interjected. After all, with Officer Graham’s lame right leg, hunting wasn’t suitable for him.

Officer Graham was silent for a few seconds before nodding in agreement. "Alright."

He was well aware of his current condition and was willing to follow the arrangement.

With everyone assigned a task, they grabbed their crossbows and guns and set off.

If there was no game in the mountains, Evelyn Ford planned to take some out of her space.

The forest was some distance from the courtyard, a one or two-hour walk. They split into teams: Evelyn Ford, Ronan Kendrick, and Peter Owens in one; Wyatt Vaughn, Miles Vaughn, and Quincy in the other.

Once inside the forest, the teams parted ways. The old rule applied: if you encounter danger, blow the whistle.

"Joy Ford, will there really be any game in the mountains?" Peter Owens asked, panting as he walked with his gun shouldered.

"There should be."

Evelyn Ford looked at Ronan Kendrick. "Ronan, can you sense any prey?"

"Not yet."

Evelyn Ford nodded. "It’s fine. Let’s keep heading deeper in. In this cold, most animals are probably hiding."

The three of them continued deeper into the mountains, trudging through the accumulated snow. Half an hour later, Ronan Kendrick raised a hand, signaling for the other two to stop.

"There’s movement. To the right."

Evelyn Ford’s eyes lit up. "About how many?"

"Probably a herd. Most likely musk oxen. Everyone be careful."

The two of them had hunted musk oxen before in Westeria. Musk oxen were extremely fierce and not easy to kill.

Peter Owens had never seen a musk ox before, so Evelyn Ford gave him a quick rundown.

"Can the three of us handle a herd of musk oxen? Should we blow the whistle to get Miles Vaughn and the others over here?"

Evelyn Ford shook her head. "Blowing the whistle might scare the musk oxen away. We have guns, we’ll be fine."

The three of them moved quietly toward the woods on their right. A herd of musk oxen was gnawing the bark off tree trunks. They hadn’t yet noticed the approaching humans and seemed quite content.

Ronan Kendrick raised his gun and aimed at the largest musk ox. Evelyn Ford did a quick count—there were five in total.

BANG! Ronan Kendrick fired a shot, hitting the musk ox directly in the head. The ox swayed twice and fell, but it wasn’t dead. It began to bellow in agony on the ground.

Evelyn Ford fired a follow-up shot. The two worked in perfect sync; to avoid wasting bullets, a headshot was a must.

The other musk oxen began to scatter in a panic, but Ronan Kendrick’s firing was swift. In just three minutes, all five were dead.

Peter Owens stared blankly at the two of them. It seemed the hunt had come to a perfect end before he even had a chance to do anything.

"Blow the whistle. Let Quincy and his team know. If they haven’t caught anything, tell them to come help us carry the musk oxen."

Peter Owens quickly took out his whistle. A few sharp blasts echoed through the quiet forest.

"HEY~" A shout came from the opposite mountain. It was Miles Vaughn’s voice.

"Miles Vaughn! Get over here! We got musk oxen! We can’t carry them back, come help!" Peter Owens cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted back.

"Okay, on our way!"

After waiting for more than twenty minutes, Miles Vaughn’s group finally arrived. They were struck speechless at the sight of the five musk oxen on the ground.

"What incredible luck! You just got into the mountains and already made a haul. We covered two mountains and only saw one lynx. We were about to shoot, but the thing was too fast and vanished in a flash."

Quincy ran over and touched the musk ox’s fur and horns. "Holy cow, these are twice the size of a wild bull! How are we going to carry them? There are only six of us."

Evelyn Ford smiled. "It’s simple. We’ll drag two back with ropes first. Then we’ll bring the Mammoths over and have them drag the rest."

No sooner said than done. It took three people to move one ox. They tied it with hemp ropes. Dragging it was strenuous, but it was all downhill. In places where they couldn’t drag it, they just pushed the carcass down the slope.

Halfway back, Evelyn Ford had Peter Owens blow the whistle. The others heard it and, thinking something was wrong, immediately came running.

When they saw the two musk oxen being dragged back, even the usually calm and composed Taylor Vance couldn’t help but get excited.

"Are these musk oxen?"

"Yeah, and there are three more up on the mountain. Come and help."

"Three more?"

"These musk oxen are huge. They must weigh over a thousand pounds."

"The hide and horns alone probably weigh one or two hundred pounds."

Everyone worked together to drag the musk oxen back to the courtyard. Worried that the remaining carcasses on the mountain would be eaten by other animals, they didn’t dare rest. They took the Mammoths up the mountain. This time, only Quincy, Miles Vaughn, and Peter Owens went, while the others stayed in the courtyard to process the game.

"First, bleed them out. Then skin them. We can save the hides to make rain capes."

Evelyn Ford started boiling water while the others began skinning the animals in the courtyard. Wendy was very brave, taking a basin to collect the blood.

"Should we keep the organs?"

"Keep them. Wash them with melted snow and we can braise them."

The other three musk oxen were soon brought back. The courtyard was a hive of activity, and not even the swirling blizzard could dampen everyone’s spirits.

"This is great. With these musk oxen, we won’t have to worry about going hungry anymore."

Five musk ox hides were hung up in the courtyard. Zion Lowell was singeing the heads, while Taylor Vance was cleaning the offal.

Officer Graham kept adding firewood to the bonfires. Evelyn Ford cooked a large pot of beef, and before long, the aroma spread to every corner.

"What should we do with the blood?"

"Boil it in a pot. Blood doesn’t keep well, so we have to eat it quickly."

In the courtyard, Peter Owens was telling everyone how Ronan Kendrick had shot the musk oxen. The others looked at Ronan Kendrick, their eyes filled with admiration.