54 Chapter 53: Dark Clouds Overwhelm the City on the Verge of Collapse (Extra-large Chapter)

Translator: 549690339 |

The meandering glacial river washed past, and the mist that hit my face was like a cloud of ice fog, so cold it was startling.

Bi Fang stood quietly on the shore, like a stone Buddha.

“With streams this shallow at the edge, if you touch them directly with your hand, the fish can sense it very quickly, so it’s best to use a wooden spear to strike directly.”

Bi Fang tightened his grip on the Stone Spear, staring at the glacial river, his eyes burning with intensity.

Under careful observation, he quickly made a discovery.

A large fish, about the length of a forearm, was quietly staying in a crevice close to the shore. Its white-spotted gill cover was slowly opening and closing without any sign of the impending danger.

Bi Fang did not act rashly but instead sneaked up to the rock, coming up behind the big fish while he explained the technique of spearing to the camera.

” Due to light refraction, what we see above the water is the fish’s apparent image, which is higher than its actual position.”

“So when we feel that the fish is about 1 meter from the surface, the depth we need to spear into should be at least 1.35 meters, if it’s about 0.5 meters from the surface, then at least 0.7 meters deep, and if it’s about 0.2 meters from the surface, then at least 0.3 meters. The farther away from the fish you are, the more the angle of entry must be towards yourself, and the closer you are to the fish, the more the angle must be towards the fish.”

After finishing, Bi Fang took a deep breath, his right arm muscles bulging. Timing it perfectly, he thrust the spear into the water swiftly!

Whoosh!

Accompanied by a whooshing sound, the sharp wooden spear struck the fish’s back like lightning, piercing through the fish’s body with hardly any effort.

Bi Fang pulled the wooden spear out of the mud, crouched down to inspect his catch, and saw a creature resembling a catfish incessantly struggling on the tip of the spear. Unfortunately, its struggles were futile, only driving the spear deeper.

“Ha! Looks like we’re in luck today!”

Bi Fang’s tone was full of surprise. He had only seen the fish’s hind body previously and hadn’t identified it completely; now, he realized it was actually a cod!

This was indeed a good thing!

Not only was the meat delicious, but it was also rich in nutrients, worth at least thirty to forty per pound on the market!

[Leap Soil is online again!]

[A classic masterpiece!]

[Every time I watch Master Fang hunt, all I can do is shout ‘666’]

[There won’t be bears this time, right? (witty)]

“If I run into a bear again…” Bi Fang, stepping on the cod, pulled it off the wooden spear, placed it on the shore, and then looked back at the camera, “then this time, I won’t compete with it.”

[Hahaha, even Master Fang is afraid!]

[Joke, Master Fang afraid? It’s just a tactical retreat]

[What are you guys laughing at?]

[Newcomers, go check out B Island!]

Bi Fang smiled and stationed himself on the riverbank again, intending to catch as many as possible while he had the chance, preferably enough for three days. Since it was winter, the fish he just caught would freeze solid soon after being taken ashore, preventing any rot and making them easy to carry.

The stream, which had been clouded by the disturbed sediment, became clear once more. Bi Fang looked at the sediment on the bottom and suddenly noticed something seemed to have burrowed through…

At this moment, the drone’s camera also zoomed in, allowing many viewers to see clearly that it was a ghastly pale tail!

[F*ck, could that be a snake?]

[In this cold weather, shouldn’t snakes be hibernating?]

[Maybe the snake is hibernating right here?]

[I’m a bit scared…]

But Bi Fang turned to look at the sturgeon and suddenly realized something. He immediately used his wooden spear to stir up the mud and sand there.

Soon enough, clumps of mud and sand were lifted, and in an instant, several ghastly pale tails surfaced amidst the mud and sand. Bi Fang, quick to react, reached out to grab them. As soon as he touched them, the elongated creatures struggled violently, but Bi Fang’s grip was firm as a vise, and he flung them onto the shore, along with the mud and sand.

One, two, three…

Five in total!

“It’s lampreys!”

Bi Fang used the spear to pin down the writhing eels, pulled out his hunting knife to pierce through their bodies, and then picked one up to show to the audience in front of the drone.

But when the audience got a clear view, they were immediately astounded.

This creature, resembling an eel, had a tunnel-shaped mouth filled with countless backward-pointing sharp teeth, densely packed and yellowed, looking like rows of gears stacked from largest to smallest—an absolutely phobic sight!

[What the hell is this thing, it’s so gross]

[F*ck, take it away, I’m gonna puke]

[Damn it, take it away or I’ll unfollow!]

[Plus one to the threat of unfollowing!]

[Are you all city folks above? Haven’t you seen this? Actually, it tastes amazing!]

[Seriously, this can be eaten?]

Seeing such a strong reaction from the audience, Bi Fang chuckled and said, “Because of its grotesque appearance, the lamprey is also called the ‘zombie fish.’ But don’t be put off by its looks; it actually tastes great. It is said that King Henry I of England died in the 11th century from eating too much lamprey.”

Lampreys are widespread in rivers and seas, with their main habitat being Heilonghe, and with the Khingan Range covered with its tributaries, it’s not surprising to find such creatures, yet it’s still a pleasure to capture them.

After cutting off all the gill parts of the lampreys, Bi Fang picked up the nearby sturgeon and pointed at it, saying,

“The sturgeon’s diet includes lampreys. I was reminded of this fact just now, and seeing that the tail had no scales, I dared to reach out and grab it directly. If you’re not sure, don’t even try to grab it. If it really were a snake, even a non- venomous bite could lead to a fatal infection.”

“However, with so many lampreys here…”

Bi Fang took the wooden spear and stirred it in the mud and sand where he had just caught the lampreys, and directly skewered a large fish that was reduced to bones on one side of its body!

Faced with the audience’s shock, Bi Fang seemed to have anticipated it.

Just as he had thought, in this small bay stream, there was still a complete food chain intact.

Lampreys are carnivorous creatures that lead solitary lives as well as parasitic ones. They often attach themselves to other fish with their suckers, using the keratin teeth in their suckers and on their tongues to rasp open the fish’s body, burrow into the cavity, and suck out the blood and flesh, sometimes leaving the fish with nothing but a skeletal frame.

Normally, these creatures would congregate together where there is food nearby. But while they were gnawing at the large fish, a sturgeon quietly set its sights on these little creatures, unaware that humans had already been eyeing it with eager interest.

The scene before me perfectly exemplified the big fish eating the little fish, showcasing the brutality of nature in its truest form.

[This thing is so disgusting, just like monsters in horror movies, even burrowing into body cavities… Ugh!]

[Lamprey, haddock: The waters here are too deep; I can’t grasp it!]

[Is this the eternal cycle of life and growth? It’s like the harmony of Yin and Yang, the Eight Trigrams; everything is interconnected!]

[Upstairs! You’ve got it!]

[Yes, thanks to Master Fang’s guidance, I’ve touched the path of creation and the principles of nature. When I ascend to the higher realm, I will surely wish you long life!]

[Beware lest Master Fang skewers you with his spear, wanting a taste of immortality…]

[Ah, this… I’ve realized something again…]

Bi Fang put the dead fish back into the river to naturally decompose and started collecting the increasingly rigid lampreys from the ground.

The weather was still cold, and the fish that were taken out of the water froze solid in no time.

“It’s worth mentioning that lampreys are ancient creatures and contain some toxins in their bodies. However, the toxicity is very small and can be mostly eliminated through cooking. Additionally, they have few bones and a delicious taste, so they are quite popular. These five should be enough for us to eat for a while,” he said.

“Furthermore, we don’t need to be afraid at all; lampreys generally do not bite humans. They only attach to the surfaces of fish to feed on their flesh and blood, humans are not their host.”

However, despite Bi Fang’s high praise for the taste of lampreys, the audience didn’t buy it. They found it disgusting, and some even sent gifts, begging him to get the lampreys out of camera view as soon as possible.

Is it really that bad?

Bi Fang looked at the lampreys and then at the fans who kept sending gifts begging for mercy, as if a door to a new era had been opened to him.

It seemed he had discovered something incredible…

He shuddered violently, quickly shutting that door, dispelling the unethical behaviour from his mind, and then put the stiff haddock and lampreys into his backpack.

Unfortunately, perhaps because the fishing attempts had disturbed the local fish population, Bi Fang was unable to catch any more fish afterward.

But he wasn’t discouraged. Today was already a huge success, and feeling hungry, Bi Fang decided to find a place nearby to start a fire and roast the haddock to fill his belly.

“In cold regions, there’s a very simple method of starting a fire, and that’s using refractive fire-starting,” he said.

As he spoke, Bi Fang knocked off a thick piece of ice from the edge of the frozen creek, then quickly shaped it into a disc with his hunting knife, shaving the edges thin.

Although he had a firesteel, as a wilderness survival expert with aspirations, Bi Fang felt it was necessary to take this opportunity to teach everyone more ways to start a fire.

[This skill, like a bartender shaving ice.]

[Wait, this shape! It’s a magnifying glass! (Cue the Doraemon theme music)]

[Damn, concentrated sunlight with a magnifying glass! I tried it in middle school physics class, and it’s wicked fast!]

“That’s right!” Bi Fang touched the ice with his hand, allowing the heat from his body to melt it into a smooth, even shape. “It’s the same principle as using a magnifying glass to start a fire. Focus sunlight to one point, then start a fire!”

“However, although this sounds simple, it is actually quite difficult to do. You need to ensure the surface of the ice is smooth enough and the curvature is roughly the same. If it were an ordinary person, it might take several attempts to succeed.”

In a little while, Bi Fang had crafted an ice lens that was thick in the middle and thin at the edges. He gathered some dry leaves and shaved some wood shavings, propped the ice lens on a stone at a height, choosing the angle carefully so the light spot appeared at the center of the flammable material.

It was noon now, and although the sky was a bit overcast, it was still the brightest time of the day. It took almost no time for the dry leaves to start smoking, and then red sparks scattered, slowly spreading like a caterpillar chewing through leaves, and eventually, the small flames ignited the wood shavings.

Ablaze rose up!

[This host is truly badass, rubbing his hands to make a convex lens and still managing to start a fire.]

[Not Cocky Pete gifts the host Big Bone*66—Brother Fang is awesome!]

[Can’t See the Forest gifts the host a spaceship*!—Brother Fang, can you take me with you next time? I want to do this too! ]

With the fire started, the number of viewers in the live stream once again soared. In the blink of an eye, the popularity had broken through four hundred thousand and was estimated to be not far from reaching five hundred thousand.

Many of the viewers who had just joined were shocked by the snowy scene in front of them during their first second there because the image was so clear, as if they were seeing it with their own eyes. It was completely different from other outdoor hosts, and having seen Bi Fang’s actions, the retention rate was very high.

Snowfield, survival, extreme environment, campfire, alone.

These words combined could not be resisted by anyone against such a rugged, heroic charm.

With the fire burning, many old viewers began to spam “eat fish” in the chat, and complying with the audience’s requests, Bi Fang processed the fish in a simple way.

“Be careful when breaking its stomach, make sure not to puncture the intestines or get any waste on the fish flesh, otherwise there will be a strong odor. Also, be cautious of its dorsal fin spines and pectoral fin spines because they have poison glands. If stung, you’ll experience severe pain and a burning sensation, and it’s very susceptible to infection, and in some cases can even cause a fever.”

Once Bi Fang finished processing the fish, he strung its whole body on a stick and set it over the fire to roast.

Gradually, a charred aroma drifted through the air, and Bi Fang picked up the well-cooked grilled fish and began eating.

As a large economic fish species, the burbot’s flesh is not only tender and delicious but also rich in fat and without small bones, especially the belly part with soft edges where the swim bladder is particularly thick. In cold weather, it is especially suitable for supplementing the body’s needed calories.

Thus, it took him hardly a few minutes to devour the entire fish, and a warm current flowed from his abdomen to his limbs and body.

With his stomach filled, Bi Fang, who had been on the road all morning, could finally rest properly.

[Damn, this is too comfortable, both grilled fish and a warm fire, it’s making me want to go there]

[Stop dreaming, if you go, you’d turn into an ice pop on the same day, and you still want to grill fish?]

[Only Master Fang is a real man, doing what others can’t]

The viewers in the live stream shouted 666, but the Bi Fang roasting by the fire suddenly furrowed his brow, staring intently at the campfire.

Light smoke rose lazily.

The smoke from the fire went straight up, and it would take a long time before a gust of wind blew it towards the northeast.

He was too happy eating before to notice, but now that he was idle, he found the way the smoke drifted to be very strange.

This was abnormal, because even with the slightest breeze, smoke couldn’t possibly float straight upwards without moving, and when it did drift, it was to the northeast, indicating that the occasional breeze was coming from the southwest.

Southwest wind, smoke rising straight up, the gloomy sky, and the unusual rise in temperature…

Instantly, these clues flashed by like a carousel, gradually connecting into a line, making Bi Fang’s heart skip a beat.

Since early this morning, he had felt uneasy, and now he finally understood why!

Damn!

A blizzard!