Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness

On the third day of the polar night.

Under the dim white light, Bi Fang yawned, crawled out of the Musk Ox Skin sleeping bag, and pushed aside a moveable rock in the remaining fire pit. He picked and chose, found a smoking log, broke it, and after revealing the sparks, he lit the oil lamp.

Ancient people often used animal fat as fuel for lighting, and since oil lamps could employ any non-flammable container, Bi Fang quickly fashioned one out of a lump of clay.

The lamp wick, twisted from pine tree bark, smoked and sputtered vigorously when it met the spark, then lit up.

A small flame flickered to life, illuminating the dim cabin and Bi Fang's sleepy eyes.

The sudden appearance of light made Goudan from the Three Fools twitch his ears, open his eyes, and after seeing Bi Fang, he closed them again, turned over, and continued to sleep next to the fire pit.

Getting out of bed in the cold was sheer torture. The more severe the outside temperature, the more one coveted the slight warmth of the bed—a situation Bi Fang had never encountered before.

After dawdling for several minutes, Bi Fang finally triumphed over the bedcovers—those evil incarnate—and started his live broadcast. In the gaze of his audience, he put on gloves and began to pack things he needed for departure.

Unknowingly, Bi Fang had been living in the Arctic for twenty days. A fifth of the hundred-day survival challenge was completed, which seemed to alleviate the pressure significantly. Still, Wilderness Survival was never simple, and the impact of time was not yet apparent.

Backpack in tow, Bi Fang returned to the cabin to wake up Sanshao, who were still nestled in their sleeping spot.

"It's time to set off."

Fugui and Wangcai were slow to get moving, but at least they started to stir. Only Goudan turned over, showing his belly, until Bi Fang grabbed his ear. Reluctantly leaving the cabin, he sat beside the food bowl, waiting for Bi Fang to feed them one by one.

"Wangcai, this is yours."

"Goudan, don't snatch—it's Fugui's turn. This one's yours."

Bi Fang placed a whole grilled fish and some Musk Oxen meat into Goudan's bowl, immediately piquing the audience's curiosity. After all, the food in Goudan's bowl was noticeably more substantial than Fugui's or Wangcai's, including the added luxury of a fatty, grilled salmon.

Fugui and Wangcai noticed as well, letting out pitiful whimpers, but Bi Fang remained unmoved, as if he didn't even see them.

[Hey, Old Fang, aren't you playing favorites big time?]

[Is this a mistake? The naughtiest, Goudan, gets the most to eat?]

[This favoritism is way too obvious.]

[Whoa, I swear I just saw Goudan grinning.]

The audience immediately erupted with complaints, finding Bi Fang's actions incomprehensible.

"I'm not playing favorites at all, everyone gets about the same amount," Bi Fang explained, gesturing towards the Three Fools' bowls.

Indeed, although Goudan's dish had an extra salmon, he had less Musk Oxen meat compared to the other two dogs. The overall amount they ate wasn't much different. In fact, the Alaskan had a bit more since it was bigger and naturally had a larger appetite.

Seeing the audience's reaction, Bi Fang felt amused, "After all, I'm counting on them to work. I'm no exploiter—how could I possibly let them go hungry?"

[Ah, so there wasn't enough Musk Oxen meat?]

"Of course not, there's plenty left. As for why, you'll find out soon enough."

Bi Fang kept the audience in suspense. Although they all ate similar amounts, it wasn't really about how much or how little you had, but whether you had it at all or not.

But what Bi Fang wanted was to make Fugui and Wangcai realize their own "favoritism" towards Goudan.

Unaware of this, Goudan wagged its tail happily, content with its meal for the day.

After finishing breakfast and closing the cabin door, Bi Fang took one last look at the wooden hut before turning his gaze to other places, where heavy stones pressed down everywhere.

The uneaten musk ox meat was mostly buried in the snow, and after he left, bold little animals might come to steal a bite.

Originally, Bi Fang had intended to move all the meat into the cabin but was worried that if not "little animals," Arctic wolves or even polar bears might come, possibly ruining the wooden hut he built.

"I hope no bears or wolves come," he said.

Without a lock, he simply fastened the door and, carrying only the fats and oils and a small portion of musk ox meat, Bi Fang said a prayer before heading over to the completed dogsled to harness the Three Fools.

The completed sled appeared exceptionally lightweight, almost entirely composed of wooden strips that Bi Fang could lift with one hand.

Despite its light weight, the sled was very sturdy. The key joints were not only constructed with mortise and tenon but also reinforced with resin glue and bark rope for a second and third time. Even if the wooden strips themselves broke, the joints were unlikely to crack, creating a seamless unity.

Stepping out from the warmth of the cabin into the cold wind, the Three Fools quickly regained their vigor, shook off their sleepiness with several yawns, and shook their bodies free of fatigue. When Bi Fang stood on the sled, confirmed the direction of Polaris, and tentatively tugged on the reins, the audience was astonished to discover.

The intelligent look in the eyes of the Three Fools suddenly changed, revealing a trace of defiance, a sense of freedom...

As the lead dog, Goudan stood up, howled at the moonlight, and then started moving forward, the sled gradually set into motion under the pull of the three sled dogs, from the initial resistance to the later fluidity, eventually gliding smoothly.

The cold wind hit his face, igniting a fiery passion inside Bi Fang. This novel sensation, which he had never experienced before, completely captivated him.

Fast, too fast.

And beneath this speed was the thrill of free sprinting across the snow plains, as if flying across the snowy fields!

Although his Skill set included animal taming, driving, especially driving a dogsled, was a rare blind spot in Bi Fang's knowledge—not exactly a blind spot but rather sparse in content—and since he had never tried it before, he had been somewhat worried before starting. Now, it seemed simpler than he had imagined.

This was greatly thanks to the presence of Goudan, an experienced "Lead Dog," which largely compensated for Bi Fang's lack of operational experience.

"Do you know why I deliberately added a salmon to Goudan's meal just now? It's because it's the Lead Dog."

[What does that have to do with being the Lead Dog?]

[You're fussing over nothing.]

"There's a structure in dogsledding called the Eskimo setup," Bi Fang said.

Pointing to Goudan, whose rope was clearly longer than Fugui and Wangcai's and who was leading by a body's length, Bi Fang explained, "This is a method of harnessing invented by the people living in the Arctic Circle to make dogsledding faster and better."

"Giving the leading dog privileges that the other Sled Dogs don't have makes them envious. During harnessing, the Lead Dog's rope is made longer, so it can run at the front; this way, during dogsledding, the other Sled Dogs can always see the arrogant tail of the Lead Dog ahead of them."

"The Sled Dogs will be angry and always want to catch up and bite it. However, the Lead Dog's rope is more than two feet longer than that of the Sled Dogs. To bite it, they need to run forward with all their might, which ensures the speed of the sled."

"In the extreme cold of the Arctic Circle, the Inuit people are able to gallop freely. Therefore, this method is called the Eskimo setup."

"By utilizing exclusivity, it taps into the animals' potential maximally and is of great practical value."

The audience was dumbfounded.