Shen Feng was, after all, too young. He hadn't had many opportunities to travel far, and even fewer to go abroad. When faced with heavy snow, Shen Feng could only wait for it to stop. However, in northern regions, once winter arrived and it snowed, it meant being unable to go out for a considerable time. This was because the outside was covered in several feet of snow, and the roads were completely invisible.
Shen Feng waited in the forest for three days, hoping to move after the snow melted. Without a road, heading to Siberia would be a joke. Moving in the thick snow was completely impossible.
Shen Feng's tent became uninhabitable. Fortunately, he had a trench shovel in the car. He dug a cave on the hillside, finally creating a place to shelter. The four of them slept in the cave. The lake surface had also frozen over. To fish, they would have to break through the ice, otherwise, the fishing hook couldn't even be cast.
Shen Feng leaned against the cave wall, watching the heavy snow fall outside, and recalled a saying: "The sky is white, the ground frozen three feet deep. The vast land, devoid of birds and beasts."
"If this continues, we'll be trapped here. Even reaching Siberia is a problem. Everyone, think of a solution!" Shen Feng couldn't help but say to the others.
Before setting out, Shen Feng had envisioned many difficulties. He worried about encountering mutated beasts and being attacked by mutated birds. But Shen Feng believed in his own strength and that he could fight his way through mutated beasts. The reality was indeed so; Shen Feng led his men through the wolf pack, and the wolves couldn't stop Shen Feng's progress.
However, at this moment, Shen Feng finally realized that the obstacle blocking him was not anyone else, but the relentless wind and snow. In the midst of the wind and snow, the car couldn't see anything outside, and movement itself became a problem. Although the car had snow chains, they were useless at this moment.
Under the thick snow, nothing was visible. Stepping outside, the snow reached directly to one's calves. The SUV was just an ordinary vehicle; it couldn't gain traction on the snow and couldn't move at all.
However, for Shen Feng, not being able to see the ground was manageable. He could walk on the snow without leaving any footprints. If this were a wuxia novel, such qinggong (lightness skill) would be considered peak, leaving no trace on the snow. But one couldn't go without supplies, could they? In heavy snowfall, without food and heating facilities, wouldn't they freeze or starve to death in minutes?
Leaning in the cave, Shen Feng sat with a frown. He stared blankly at the bonfire, seemingly contemplating something important. The others dared not disturb him.
At this moment, Lu Xian said in a low voice, "City Lord, isn't this situation perfect? It's not that we're unwilling to rescue Xiao Sheng, but the roads are blocked by heavy snow, so we can't go. I think after a few days when the snow stops, we can just take a few photos and go back to Yuzhou. At least we'll have an explanation."
Shen Feng had originally planned the same. In this era, slacking off was a necessary behavior. Truly risking one's life could easily lead to death in a foreign land.
However, after personally witnessing the heavy snow in the north, Shen Feng shook his head helplessly and said, "The Little Ice Age has arrived. Winter hasn't even officially begun, and the snow is already this heavy. One can imagine how miserable our fate will be in the depths of winter."
"Since it's so miserable, why not go back?" Qi Lingshan also joined the discussion. All four were southerners and had never seen such heavy snow. Snow was falling everywhere, and it had been snowing for three full days. They were currently only at Lake Baikal. Who knew what they would encounter if they continued towards the Tyumen oil fields?
"Precisely because the Little Ice Age has arrived, we must get used to the cold climate. If we refuse to carry out missions out of fear of the cold, won't we just sleep in our homes every winter? I've decided, we must go to Tyumen. Don't you all think about slacking off." Shen Feng said directly.
The other three immediately showed helpless expressions upon hearing this. They could understand the City Lord's thoughts. Retreating after encountering difficulties was certainly not a glorious act, but if they persisted, it meant they would continue to suffer in the north.
Xu Xing suddenly asked, "Driving is impossible now. Why don't we walk to Tyumen?"
"I don't know what you're thinking now. With such deep snow, even cars can't move. And we're supposed to walk? Carrying food and luggage for thousands of miles, wouldn't we freeze to death within half an hour?" Lu Xian couldn't help but shake his head.
Xu Xing quickly explained, "I'm not saying walk on the snow. I mean walk on the ice. When I fetched water today, I saw that Lake Baikal had already frozen over. It's fine even to stand on it. Skating to Tyumen, that shouldn't be a problem, right?"
After Xu Xing stated her intention, the other three began to ponder seriously. Shen Feng even found a map to examine. After observing it, he realized that this plan was indeed feasible. They were currently at Lake Baikal and would head northwest next. The waterways in this area were quite developed. If they skated along the frozen rivers, they could indeed reach Tyumen.
"It seems we need sleds. Without sleds, skating isn't that simple," Shen Feng said in a deep voice.
"I remember there are many small towns around here. Perhaps there are sleds in these towns. Why don't I go to one of the small towns to look for them? Maybe I can find sleds!" Qi Lingshan said quickly.
Qi Lingshan vaguely remembered that there were small towns nearby, as this was also a tourist attraction. A large lake on the grassland, where herdsmen from the south in danger would run to. This indicated that people had lived by the lake.
Shen Feng said, "I'll go. I won't get stuck in the snow in this terrain, and my speed is quite fast."
With that, Shen Feng directly climbed out of the cave. The SUV was already covered by more than a meter of snow. The surrounding trees were also covered in snow. From time to time, the sound of branches breaking could be heard in the forest, "crack," unable to bear the weight, the branches snapped and fell to the ground.
Shen Feng wore a down jacket with a hood and tightened the drawstring. The wind and snow couldn't penetrate his clothes. If he didn't take precautions, the wind and snow would definitely get in.
Shen Feng moved quickly along the shore of Lake Baikal. The wind and snow were too dense. Beyond twenty meters, nothing could be seen. Whether he would encounter a town, Shen Feng was unsure.
After walking along Lake Baikal for a long distance, Shen Feng finally vaguely saw a huge dark shadow. He quickly perked up and moved towards the shadow. Upon getting closer, he realized it was a church, with a prominent cross on its roof.
Christianity is arguably the largest religion in the world. Churches are found not only on the Eurasian continent but also in places as far away as South America. However, Christianity also has its denominations, and in the region where Shen Feng was, there were also people who believed in Jesus.
The presence of a church indicated human habitation. Shen Feng brushed off the snow from his body and continued forward. Behind the church, a small town indeed appeared. The roads were already frozen, and no one had cleared them. This suggested that there were no people in the town, otherwise, someone would have cleared the snow and ice from the roads.
Entering the town, Shen Feng could only see desolate houses. After the apocalypse, not only small towns but also many cities had been abandoned. Now, Shen Feng could only hope to find usable supplies in the town.
Finding a room, Shen Feng directly pushed open the door. The lock had rusted. This was the result of long disuse. The speed of rust was far beyond what people imagined. With a gentle push, the door opened.
As soon as he opened the door, dust fell from above Shen Feng's head. Shen Feng couldn't help but cough, "cough cough..." The exhaled breath immediately turned into a white mist.
"The furniture is all still here. It seems no one has been to this town," Shen Feng analyzed.
In this house, there were no signs of the tables, chairs, or benches being moved. It was clear that no mercenaries or similar individuals had been there, otherwise, this furniture would have been taken away long ago.
In the house, there were five or six mummified corpses. It was unclear whether they were human or zombie corpses. Shen Feng believed they were zombie corpses. If humans were trapped here, they would have already thought of a plan to escape the town, not wait until they starved to death without leaving.
"Creak..." Shen Feng opened the door to the storage room and his eyes lit up. He discovered skis placed in the corner. The presence of skis also meant that there might be sleds.
Shen Feng immediately began searching the town. After looking through more than ten houses, he finally found sleds. However, they were old-fashioned sleds, meaning they needed to be hitched to animals to be used. In the north, reindeer and sled dogs were generally used to pull sleds. Finding animals to pull sleds at this time was not easy.
"Forget it, it's better than nothing. Even if we found a snowmobile, it might not be usable. Old-fashioned it is. It looks like it can carry five or six people without much difficulty. Let's take it back. It's getting dark." Shen Feng shook his head helplessly and then began pulling the sled, preparing to return.
Winter in the north was very short, especially within the Arctic Circle. It got dark very quickly. Once it got dark, it was best not to go out, otherwise, if they encountered a brown bear or a Siberian tiger, they would surely become dinner.
When Shen Feng returned to the cave pulling the sled, Lu Xian and Qi Lingshan became hesitant. Finally, Lu Xian asked, "City Lord, are you going to pull us along? That's too embarrassing, isn't it?"
The animals that pull sleds are not just anyone; they must be able to walk on snow to be considered suitable. Therefore, horses pulling sleds were not very suitable because horse legs were very thin and easily sank into the snow. Among the four people present, only Shen Feng could walk on the ground. Thus, it seemed only Shen Feng would have to pull the sled alone.
Upon hearing this, Shen Feng's face immediately darkened. "You're thinking too highly of yourselves, expecting me to pull the cart? Impossible. After the snow stops, we'll search nearby to see if we can find any animals."
Since Shen Feng had said so, the others couldn't say much more. They quickly let Shen Feng enter the cave. Shen Feng then took off his clothes and dried them by the fire. His clothes were soaked by the flying snow, and he was freezing wearing them.
Fortunately, the four of them were hiding in the forest to escape the wind and snow. If they lacked firewood, they could simply cut down trees. If they had encountered wind and snow on the grassland, their fuel would have been depleted directly.
Qi Lingshan smiled and said, "There are many wild animals out there now. After the snow stops, I'll look for reindeer. If there are any, I'll catch twelve and tie them to the front of the car to run. I'll also hang bells around the reindeer's necks so they make a jingling sound when they move."
"And then I'll change into a red outfit, wear a Santa hat, carry a bag on your back, and you can go home through the chimney," Xu Xing added.
"Just kidding. Reindeer are said to be found only in Northern Europe. Where can you find reindeer on the grassland?" Qi Lingshan added.