22: polar ice sheets

Luo Chen, of course, had no idea that the dung from days past had now smacked into today's person.

At that moment, he was speeding across the snowfield on his flying motorcycle.

Luo Wan Ning and the others had stayed near the Train to collect ice blocks, while he had ventured out alone to search for a treasure chest.

A white wind, like a sandstorm, blasted into Luo Chen, pouring into his clothes. His skin prickled with goosebumps under the assault of the frigid current.

The flying motorcycle raced across the snow. Luo Chen's teeth chattered uncontrollably, his limbs stiff and numb.

The flying motorcycle crested a snowdrift, and Luo Chen finally saw several rounded protrusions jutting from the flat ground in the distance.

Those should be the ice houses Wan Ning mentioned.

He scanned the area but didn't spot any other conspicuous structures.

He hurriedly changed direction, steering towards the snow houses.

Just as he turned the handlebars, exerting force, a sensation like an electric shock shot from his hands to the back of his skull.

That sour, stinging numbness!

Like countless needles, dense and piercing.

"Damn! My hands are frozen numb."

Luo Chen grimaced, cursing under his breath.

He didn't dare speak loudly. Opening his mouth would let the biting wind rush down his throat. It felt dry and painful, like drinking ice-cold cola right after eating a mint candy in winter.

The flying motorcycle, now uncontrolled, maintained its speed and slammed straight into the white fog that shrouded the world.

*Thump!*

Luo Chen was launched into the air, his entire body smacking against the world barrier formed by the white fog.

Another loud crash echoed as the rebound force flung Luo Chen back onto the ground.

The flying motorcycle also toppled over beside him.

Luo Chen struggled to get up from the ground. With great effort, he moved his numb limbs and limped over to the motorcycle.

Fortunately, the motorcycle was well-made and hadn't disgorged any parts.

Otherwise, having to trek back through the wind and snow would have meant freezing to death on the way.

Luo Chen slowly righted the motorcycle.

Unbeknownst to him, the sound of his crash had drawn the attention of a man named Abu inside one of the snow houses.

Abu had been in the snow house, gnawing on salmon, when a sudden loud noise instantly silenced the few people who were talking.

Then, another loud crash.

Abu quickly set down the salmon in his hand. He pressed a hand backward, signaling his wife and daughter to stay put, then grabbed a knife and stepped out of the snow house alone.

The icy ground was too slippery. After several attempts, Luo Chen finally managed to stand the motorcycle upright.

Luo Chen let out a heavy puff of white breath and leaned his whole body against the motorcycle.

*Crunch, crunch, crunch*

The sound of footsteps on snow came from behind him.

Luo Chen quickly drew his pistol and turned around.

He saw a middle-aged man who had somehow appeared behind him, holding a gleaming knife.

Startled, Luo Chen swiftly aimed the gun at the middle-aged man's head.

Seeing the gun in Luo Chen's hand and noticing his gaze fixed on his own right hand, Abu hurriedly dropped the knife to the ground and raised both hands.

Then, he launched into a rapid, incomprehensible stream of words directed at Luo Chen.

Though Luo Chen couldn't understand Abu's language, seeing the other man had dropped his knife, he refrained from firing.

Seeing this, Abu revealed a smile. He pointed at the snow house not far away, then at Luo Chen, gesturing for him to be a guest at his home.

He then picked up the knife from the ground, turned, and walked towards the ice house.

This time, Luo Chen roughly grasped the meaning.

This middle-aged man before him, clad in animal hides, his face covered in a beard and wrinkles, seemed to be the owner of that snow house.

As for why he reached this conclusion:

The Train system had indicated this was a single-line world, meaning besides him, there would be no other Train Conductors.

Moreover, the man before him wore clothing made from some kind of animal fur. The wear on the surface didn't look like it had been made in just a few days.

That could only mean he was a native of this place.

"The treasure chest is actually in someone else's house." Luo Chen frowned deeply, sensing the situation had become tricky.

Only three paths lay before him: kill and plunder, trade for it, or steal it.

He wasn't someone who killed the innocent indiscriminately, so the first option was out.

That left two paths. Luo Chen leaned more towards trading. He only had three hours. In broad daylight, finding an opportunity to steal would be very difficult.

He could only try to see if he could trade for it, hoping the item wasn't too important to the man.

Having decided, Luo Chen quickly holstered his pistol and, smiling, followed along.

"Abu!" Abu pointed at himself, uttering two syllables.

"Abu?" Luo Chen looked at Abu with a hint of question.

Abu nodded.

Only then did Luo Chen understand that Abu was his name.

"Chen!" Luo Chen similarly pointed at himself and spoke his name.

Abu smiled broadly, then led Luo Chen to the front of the snow house.

The snow house was half above ground, half below. A set of steps led from the narrow doorway down to the ground level.

Lifting the door curtain, they entered the snow house.

Inside, Luo Chen discovered three other women. Two of them, like the middle-aged man, wore animal hides. Luo Chen guessed they were probably a family.

The older-looking woman of the two appeared to be around Abu's age, with rough, thick skin. She was currently using a crescent-shaped hand knife to scrape and cut an animal hide.

As the hide was repeatedly sliced open, layers of yellowish-white muscle were exposed. The middle-aged woman held the hide, occasionally licking her fingers, which were coated in yellow grease. The younger girl sat obediently nearby helping, her gaze stealing occasional glances at Luo Chen.

In another corner sat a girl with meticulously styled white hair.

Flowing white hair, white eyebrows, and thick white eyelashes—all in white, like a snow fairy.

At that moment, her exposed, pale arms were held behind her back, seemingly bound.

The white-haired girl, Xue Shang, had fixed her gaze tightly on Luo Chen the moment he entered the snow house. She kept uttering strings of incomprehensible syllables at him.

The white-haired girl seemed to be this family's prisoner, Luo Chen speculated inwardly.

Wary of causing unnecessary misunderstanding, he averted his gaze from the white-haired girl.

Seeing Luo Chen ignore her completely, Xue Shang's face instantly flushed red.

Luo Chen looked at the older woman in animal hides, putting on what he thought was a friendly smile, while his eyes secretly scanned the entire ice house.

The entire ice house was very simple, practically devoid of decoration, save for a huge animal hide painting hanging on the wall directly ahead.

It depicted the massive head of a beast with grayish-white fur. Its cold, beastly eyes stared straight ahead, sending an involuntary chill down Luo Chen's spine. It felt as if the giant beast might open its maw at any moment and devour him whole.

He hurriedly shifted his gaze to the ground. Aside from a burning oil lamp and a large animal hide spread on the floor, there was nothing else.

Where was the treasure chest?

Luo Chen thought to himself, his brow furrowing slightly.

Could Wan Ning have been wrong? Maybe it wasn't this place.

"Man?" The middle-aged man pointed at Luo Chen beside him, then at the middle-aged woman, gesturing as he said, "You and him, help me have a son!"

Luo Chen didn't know that the Nuit people had a tradition of communal marriage. Old Bu, who had long wanted a son, wanted his wife to bear him a child.

But after several attempts, he found he could no longer father children. He had originally wanted his wife to seek help from others in the tribe, but an invisible barrier blocked them, preventing contact with the rest of the tribe.

Now, seeing Luo Chen, an outsider and potential seed, he was eager to use him for procreation.

The middle-aged woman looked at the middle-aged man, shook her head, then pointed at the daughter beside her.

She wanted her daughter to mate with Luo Chen and bear a child.

They didn't know when the barrier would disappear. They needed their daughter to have a child to continue their genetic line.

Luo Chen had no idea what scheme the man and woman were hatching. Seeing the woman look at him, he absentmindedly gave a polite nod, his eyes once again sweeping over every corner of the ice house.

Seeing Luo Chen nod, the middle-aged woman thought he had agreed. She stood up, pulled the man aside, and they began to discuss.

After whispering for a while, the two settled on the matter of Luo Chen mating with their daughter to produce a child.