Earth Era - Chapter 15: Snow Pile

Chapter 15: Snow Pile

The old man stood up and shouted to the people behind him, and they gathered around. After giving some orders, the crowd dispersed, and after a while, they came to the church with their sleds or cars.

“Guests who have come from afar, please wait here for a while. We are going to look for the Freya family and will come back immediately when we find them,” said the old man.

Mengzhu stepped forward and said, “Elder, we are all young and strong, how can we hide behind? We can go with you; just let Huasheng stay here. Huasheng is ill, he cannot endure the cold.”

Zhao Huasheng immediately stepped forward and protested, “No, we’ll go together.”

Meng Zhuo glanced at Zhao Huasheng with a faint look, and Zhao Huasheng returned with a determined gaze, so Meng Zhuo nodded.

Almost all the residents of the town, except for the weak and elderly, poured out. The barking of dogs and the roar of cars formed a jumbled mess. The old man obviously knew the direction the Flay family was going, so he didn’t hesitate on the road and went straight in one direction.

The snow became heavier and heavier, and the wind changed from a whimper to a mournful howl. Although Zhao Huasheng was wearing the thickest, warmest clothes he could find, he still felt cold from head to toe. In front of him was a white, icy world, and under the heavy snowfall, he could not even see things twenty meters away.

Zhao Hua’s worries had grown increasingly heavier, and it seemed the chill had even seeped into his heart: “What if the Freys get lost in this wind and snow? Will something bad happen to them?”

Someone produced a bullhorn and some people shouted out with their own voices, but there was no response in the snowstorm.

The group advanced further, and a figure, almost covered by the snow, entered their vision. The figure was painfully pushing against the wind in the thick snow. As they got closer, people finally saw that it was Jans, the one whom the old man had sent to look for the Freys.

“Did you find the Freys?” the old man asked.

“No,” answered Hans, shaking his head. “I went to the fishing spot, but the net was gone, and I could not find Freyas family.”

“What happened to your sledge dogs? You had them with you when you went?” the old man asked.

Hans cursed under his breath before replying, “The weather was so bad, I just stopped the sledge to take a look and the snow and wind got so strong that when I came back the dogs that had taken me there had been frozen to death. I had to walk back. I’m glad I ran into you guys, or else I would have been lost.”

Sledge dogs are a special breed with immense cold tolerance, but… they were frozen to death.

Freyia’s family is in a dangerous situation, we must find them as soon as possible or else they are at risk of freezing to death,” said Meng zhuo. “Let’s stay together and don’t get separated. Xiao Hu, go and bring the helicopter over, and use the thermal imager to look for Freyia’s family.”

“Yes!” replied the strong young man named Xiao Hu before he returned to the town. Zhao Huasheng asked, “Can the helicopter take off in such weather?”

“We have no choice. If we don’t find Freyia’s family soon, they will die. Xiao Hu is an ace pilot, and the plane is the most advanced one, with a global positioning system installed on it. Don’t worry, nothing will happen.” Meng zhuo’s answer seemed very confident. Zhao Huasheng could only suppress the uneasiness in his heart.

A group of people were still searching in the snowstorm, but to no avail. In such weather, even if footprints were left, they would be filled up by the snow in a moment. Everywhere the eyes could see was a white, snowy land, without exception.

After searching for half an hour, something like a cellphone on Meng zhuo’s chest vibrated. Meng zhuo took it out and said to Zhao Huasheng, “They have been found. Not far from us, about two kilometers to the left.”

“How are they? Is there anything wrong?” Zhao Huasheng asked in a hurry.

Meng zhuo sighed and patted Zhao Huasheng’s shoulder, saying, “You’ll know when you get there.”

Zhao Huasheng’s ominous premonition grew stronger, but there was still a glimmer of hope in his heart. Zhao Huasheng did not ask any more questions as the regiment changed direction and marched towards the place under the leadership of Meng Zhuo.

It took about half an hour for them to arrive at the place. Zhao Huasheng saw a mound of snow first and when he got close, he realized it was a sleigh with four people sitting on it, almost buried in the snow. In front of the sleigh were several dogs lying in various positions, all frozen stiff.

Trembling, Zhao Hua got down from the sleigh and slowly walked towards the mound of snow. Meng Zhuo followed closely behind Zhao Huasheng, obviously trying to prevent him from doing anything unexpected.

Zhao Huasheng tightened his hat and squatted down to brush away the snow that had fallen on the face of Freya and her mother. The little girl who had sweetly called him uncle that morning had her eyes closed forever. Her mother still held her tightly in her arms, as if trying to keep the little girl warm with her embrace. But it was obvious that it was of no use.

Next to them, the elderly couple closed their eyes and embraced each other until their last breath, keeping that position.

The little girl still had a sweet smile on her face, even with a hint of rosiness. She was as if sleeping, as if in the next moment she would open her eyes and laughingly jump into Zhao Huasheng’s arms, saying to him: “Uncle, we brought the fish back; we can have grilled fish for lunch.”

Meng Zhuo who was behind him, said in a low voice: “The process of freezing to death is divided into two steps. In the first process, the nervous system is in an excited state, sensitive to cold stimuli, and the skin and subcutaneous blood vessels shrink, and the blood flows to the deep muscles to reduce the loss of heat. But when the body temperature drops to thirty to twenty-six degrees Celsius, the cortex of the brain will lose its regulatory effect on body temperature, and the warm blood in the deep muscles of the body will flow to the surface of the body, and the cold blood on the surface of the body will flow to the deep muscles of the body. The temperature in the depths of the body drops quickly, and the temperature on the surface of the body drops slowly, so the skin will have a very warm feeling… So the person who is frozen to death will not feel cold before death; they will feel very warm, and they will die in warmth.”

Zhao Huasheng’s remained expressionless, without any emotional fluctuations. Zhao Huasheng seemed to not have heard what Meng Zhuo had said. he just kept stroking Freyja’s little face, feeling the warmth gradually leaving her little face, gradually becoming cold and ultimately solidifying, engraved in Zhao Huasheng’s mind.

Zhao Huasheng’s whole body was trembling. Zhao Huasheng seemed to still be recalling Freya’s tender, sweet voice: “Uncle, this is my gift to you.” He also seemed to be recalling her mother’s slightly awkward words: “Mr. Zhao, please let us know if you need anything.” He also seemed to hear the couple’s cheerful and kindly laughter: “Young man, come and have a meal.”

……

There were many voices lingering in Zhao Huasheng’s mind, but the owners of those voices had forever fallen here. Zhao Huasheng still had in his pocket the clay reindeer that Fleur had made by sacrificing her sleep time, which felt like a donkey. He touched it and seemed to still feel the warmth of Freya’s fingertips. Freya also had the pearl necklace that Zhao Huasheng gave her around her neck, and the pearls still shone dazzlingly, but… everything was different, everything was different.

Zhao Huasheng knelt down in front of Freya’s family, and finally couldn’t help but burst into tears. Li Wei stood behind Zhao Huasheng and seemed to want to help him up, but in the end didn’t touch Zhao Huasheng. Li Wei stood there, motionless, and her eyes too became red.

Zhao Huasheng hadn’t cried for a long time, since he had become an adult, he hadn’t shed a tear, but at this moment, Zhao Huasheng was crying like a child.

“It’s my fault they died, it’s my fault they died!” Zhao Huasheng cried out.

The people of the town gathered around to comfort Zhao Huasheng, they told him the death of the Frey family was not his fault, it was due to the sudden change in the weather and Freya’s family not being prepared…but only Meng zhuo knew what Zhao Huasheng really meant.

Zhao Huasheng was blaming himself.

If I could have cracked the riddle left by Li Qi earlier, so that the sun could have warmed up again it wouldn’t have been so cold here, nor would have such bad weather appeared, Freya’s family would not have died.

Zhao Huasheng also hated Li Qi.

“Li Qi, why did you choose me? Why me? I’m not smart, and my logical thinking ability and professional knowledge are not top-notch. Why did you choose me to take on this responsibility? Why didn’t you choose someone with extraordinary wisdom to do this? Did you ever think that your doing this would make many people die needlessly?”

Zhao Huasheng seemed to have held back a breath but could not vent it out.

At this moment, Meng Zhuo’s cold voice entered Zhao Huasheng’s ears: “Zhao Huasheng, if you don’t want more innocent people to die tragically, you have to pull yourself together and don’t let me down.”

“You can cry and fall apart, but who will bear the responsibility that should have been yours after you fall apart? This is a puzzle that only you can solve; no one else can. Even if you want to fall apart, you have to solve the puzzle first! Zhao Huasheng, if you want to be a real man, stand up for yourself!”