Landlord in the Arctic-Chapter 54: The Sound of Wind
He continued to observe the Fire Seed.
The barren soil of the Glacial River Beach converted very slowly. At the current rate, it would take at least a year just to transform the small area of the fire pit.
Unless...
He injected more Soul Power into the Fire Seed to fuel its burning.
But there was a problem.
In his ancestor’s world, people hunted for the survival of the tribe. There were all kinds of animals to hunt, and Soul Power was frighteningly abundant, so they could pour as much of it into the Fire Seed as they pleased.
But now, on Earth, where would he find so many beasts to hunt? Even if they existed, you couldn’t just kill them at will. The law and animal protection organizations weren’t blind, after all.
Feng Shan thought of a place.
...
Night passed, awakening the slumbering earth.
Perhaps it was a habit from his seven years in prison, but Feng Shan’s internal clock woke him at 6:30 sharp every morning.
He got dressed, walked into the small living room, and tore a page from the calendar on the wall.
September 30.
’Time flies.’ He had been in the Crown Territory for half a month, but it felt much longer.
He picked up Ms. Hong’s photo and said, "Good morning."
Feng Shan began his morning routine: washing up, cooking, and cleaning the ashes from the stove.
Life was unchanging, placid and simple.
"Get up! Time to eat!" Feng Shan shouted toward the bedroom, holding a steaming bowl of bone broth noodles.
Prince and Coca-Cola came scurrying out of the bedroom, standing obediently by the door with wagging tails. Ever since their intelligence was awakened by the Beast Taming Technique, they hadn’t done their business in the bus. They would always hold it until the door was opened for them.
Feng Shan opened the bus door, and a blast of cold wind hit him in the face.
As autumn drew to a close, the weather in the Far North Tundra grew colder and colder. The average temperature hovered around negative three degrees, dropping as low as negative five at night.
After emptying their bladders, the two pampered pets trotted back into the bus, found their own food bowls, and began their day of enthusiastic eating.
Feng Shan walked out of the bus with his bowl. Nash was squatting under the wooden shed, acting as if nothing was amiss, but his snow-dampened brown bear-skin coat gave him away. A single glance was enough to know he had stayed by the Fire Seed all night, only to sneak back to camp before dawn.
’He had to cross the Melted Snow River Valley to get from the Fire Seed to the camp. In the pitch-black of night, he’d be walking on the ice of the Melt River, which is full of holes. And on top of watching out for predators, he had to do it all without me finding out. What a tough job for him.’
Feng Shan didn’t call him out, pretending he didn’t know anything. "Go eat breakfast. We have a lot of work today. We need to clear the drainage ditch behind the camp and check the bus’s foundation."
"Mhm."
Nash nodded, stood up, and walked into the bus.
After breakfast, the two men went to the back of the bus. There was originally a drainage ditch there, about half a meter deep, that connected to a tributary of Gem Lake.
But perhaps because his great-uncle had grown too old for such work, the ditch had since been filled with rocks, soil, and dead leaves. It was even overgrown with bushes, which prevented snowmelt from draining and caused it to flow back into the camp.
What was worse, the backed-up snowmelt kept the logs under the bus constantly damp, causing them to rot. Feng Shan had noticed that the whole bus was beginning to tilt inward.
He had been too busy storing food to deal with it earlier, but now that he had some free time, his first task was to clear the ditch. After that, he would figure out how to replace the foundation logs.
After walking the length of the drainage ditch to inspect it, the two men picked up their tools and got to work.
First, they cleared out the bushes growing in the ditch. Then, they dug out the sand and gravel with shovels, loading it all onto a sled.
This sand and gravel wouldn’t be wasted; they would use it to pave the path leading from the camp to Gem Lake. Fixing the path was the next step after clearing the ditch. It had fallen into disrepair over the years and turned to mud with any rain or snow, making the daily trip to the lake for water very inconvenient.
Two strong men working together are fast. In less than a morning, they had cleared half of the hundred-meter-plus ditch.
Dragging the sled, Feng Shan returned to the drainage ditch to see Nash pressed against the stone face of Beheading Cliff, his ear held tightly to the rock.
Thinking Nash was acting strange again, like when he was chopping trees the day before, Feng Shan frowned and asked, "Nash, what are you doing?"
Nash pulled his head away from the rock wall and looked at Feng Shan, his eyes full of confusion as he pointed to the spot he had just been pressed against.
"Khilla, sound of wind?"
’What’s so strange about the sound of wind?’
’The wind blows on the Tundra every day, that’s perfectly norm—’
Just as he was about to tease Nash for being bored, Feng Shan suddenly realized something.
Nash meant there was a sound of wind coming from *inside* the mountain.
Feng Shan dropped the sled, went to the spot Nash had pointed to, and pressed his ear against the stone wall.
A strange sound reached his ears.
At first, the sound was so faint it was nearly imperceptible, but as he listened, it grew clearer. It was a whistling wind that seemed to come from deep within the mountain.
Feng Shan straightened up, his brow furrowed, and stared doubtfully at the mountain before him.
’Strange!’
’How could there be wind coming from inside Beheading Cliff?’
’Unless it’s hollow inside. But why didn’t his great-uncle mention a single word about it in his diary? He never even mentioned Beheading Cliff.’
Suddenly, Feng Shan’s eyes lit up as he stared intently at the rock face.
’Frank had said that my great-uncle had a copy of the contract for the Crown Territory, the one signed between Tsarist Russia and the United States. I’ve searched the camp inside and out but never found that document. I suspected back then that my great-uncle must have hidden it somewhere in the Crown Territory.’
’Could that place be Beheading Cliff? Or, more accurately, hidden inside it?’
At this thought, Feng Shan couldn’t contain his excitement. His gaze sharpened as he meticulously scanned every inch of the rock face for any place that might hide a secret.
"Nash, quick, help me look! See if there’s anything strange about this section of the cliff face."
At his words, Nash joined in. The two grown men searched, pressed against the rock wall like a pair of geckos.
Back at the camp’s wooden shed, Prince mischievously snuck up behind the dozing Coca-Cola, gave her swaying tail a hard bite, and then took off running. With a pained meow, Coca-Cola shot off in pursuit of Prince.
The two pampered pets chased each other across the clearing. Just as he was about to be caught, Prince immediately changed direction and ran toward the drainage ditch to tattle to Feng Shan.
He’d been bullied by Coca-Cola! 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
"Stop messing around, go play over there." Feng Shan, busy searching for the secret, had no time for them. He irritably waved the dog away.
His master wouldn’t help him, and the boss, Coca-Cola, was squatting nearby, licking her paws with sinister intent.
Prince had no choice but to shamelessly stick close to his master’s heels, hoping to find refuge for as long as he could.
The bare rock face was as smooth as could be. Other than the sound of the wind, Feng Shan couldn’t find any hidden spot, and neither could Nash.
He’d have to use heavy machinery or explosives to force the mountain open, but where was he going to find heavy machinery and Gunpowder in this godforsaken part of the Crown Territory?
Just then, Prince, who was standing in a hidden, shadowy corner, began to bark, continuously pawing at the rock wall.
Curious, Feng Shan walked over and leaned in for a closer look.
A hand-shaped indentation appeared before his eyes. The shape was strange, perfectly matching a hand with six fingers. If one didn’t look closely, it could easily be mistaken for a weathered crack in the rock.
Feng Shan’s heart suddenly began to race. He took a deep breath, carefully placed his hand into the indentation, and pushed with all his might.
A low RUMBLE echoed from deep within the mountain.
...
