Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Damn it!” Li Du could not restrain himself from swearing.
The guide looked at him and asked, “Where is the gopher?”
Li Du stretched out his hand to scratch his scalp. He heard a scratching sound, but he did not feel much pain, just some numbness.
He looked at Steve and the others and said, “I think I saw a red-eyed tentacle, too. I saw a gopher, but then it was dragged away by something…”
“Dragged away by something? Did you see what dragged it away? Is it the devil of the deep sea? Did it grab the gopher with its tentacles?” Andrey asked anxiously.
Steve gave them both a shove. “What’s wrong with you? Damn it, we’re from America, we’re educated in science, and you still believe in this superstition?”
Hearing this, Li Du became irascible for some reason.
He gave Steve a push too and roared angrily, “Of course I don’t believe in such superstitious nonsense, but it’s true! I did see a tentacle with red eyes!”
Steve snapped, “It’s impossible! You must have been hallucinating. You are an educated person, and you know it’s impossible!”
Li Du pointed at him and said, “Ok, the evil spirit of the deep sea can’t exist, so what about the fifth dimension? The time gate? What about science, huh?”
“That is based on science,” Steve retorted. “You know what Einstein was working on in his later years? Do you know what it means to unify the three field theories? Once the three field theories are unified, it is a node in a five-dimensional space!”
Sophie came up to support Li Du and said, “Hey, don’t get angry, everyone. Calm down first, you all are too excited.”
Steve frowned. “It’s not that I’m excited, it’s just that Li is dumb…”
“Shut up. Who do you call dumb?” Li Du was so angry that he could not help pushing and shoving Steve.
Steve’s bodyguard immediately stopped him. Brother Wolf and others immediately rushed up with a murderous look when they saw that the other side’s bodyguards placed their hands on Li Du.
“Stop it all!” Sophie was angry. She shouted, “Brother Wolf, take the men back! Everybody go back!”
Li Du was furious but forced himself to calm down. He said to Brother Wolf, “Go back, this is between Steve and me, it has nothing to do with you all. Don’t interfere.”
“Look at that!” Hank shouted suddenly, pointing to the swamp ahead of him.
Li Du and the others hurriedly looked over. In the white fog, a deer silhouette appeared.
“Northern deer,” said Sophie at once.
Apart from humans, northern deer were the largest animals on the land of Severnaya Zemlya. There were also some seals, sea lions and other animals on the coast. There were no other large animals on the land.
Northern deer, thought to be one of the first domesticated animals, have long been an important part of the Arctic people cultures, along with sled dogs.
For example, the Nenets, the people of Hankway and Hudi, have been raising reindeer for a long time, and often migrated to find better pastures for their herds.
Northern deer were the hardiest of all deer species, surviving on moss and low shrubs, but they were too lean and small to become a commercially popular species and there was no interest in breeding them in the modern meat industry.
Northern deer could grow up to a meter and a half high in the wild. Because of its height, this deer’s head was completely immersed in the fog. It did not have the wits to crouch and see where it should go, so it could only stumble along in the fog.
Wandering in the fog, this northern deer looked lost, hesitating between steps, moving forward and back, or swaying blindly from side to side.
Hank’s shout seemed to scare it. The deer had better eyesight than humans, and as it looked in their direction, it ran back.
However, it did not take more than two steps back. It seemed to be frightened and jumped up and down again.
The deer attracted everyone’s attention, and they looked forward in surprise, Steve turned around, and his face suddenly turned pale. “F**k!”
Li Du looked at him and said, “What’s wrong?”
Even as he spoke, he looked from side to side, and he thought he saw a few tentacles with big red eyes appear in his peripheral vision.
Steve grimaced. “I, I, I… damn it, I thought I saw something weird…”
The northern deer suddenly cried out. Li Du hurriedly turned his head to look and then saw thick tentacles with red marks on the deer’s neck!
This scene shocked Li Du so much that he could not even react. The fog was so thick and vast that they could not see very well, but the tentacles on the deer’s neck could still be seen, as well as the struggle of the unfortunate animal.
The deer called out in anguish and struggled, but was quickly dragged into the fog, disappearing in the milky whiteness.
Li Du’s skin was cold. He rubbed his face and muttered, “Damn, this is crazy!”
Little Ford looked at Steve and said, “Man, what do you have to say?”
Steve’s face was pale and his eyes were dull.
Brother Wolf looked back and around in suspicion. He glanced at Li Du and asked, “Boss, what had happened?”
Li Du gulped and said, “Didn’t you see? Weren’t you looking?”
Brother Wolf said, “Did anything drag the deer away?”
Firecracker said angrily, “Why do we need to be afraid? Feminine, Madman, follow me. We will go forward and take a look at whatever is hiding there!”
Andrey quickly pulled him back and said, “Be careful, there’s a swamp ahead!”
Li Du rubbed his eyes and said, “Don’t rush into things. Let’s go back to the car.”
Brother Wolf said, “What did you see?”
Surprised, Li Du asked, “Didn’t you see it? Those were tentacles with red eyes that dragged the northern deer away!”
Brother Wolf silently nodded, looked at the people around him said, “Take good care of the boss, everyone.”
Li Du’s mind was troubled. He had seen the tentacles with his own eyes, several times. He was almost certain that they were real.
So, what was it? What land animal could have such tentacles? Were there really some strange, unknown beasts in the Arctic Circle that science has not yet found?
A series of questions came to his mind, making him feel very confused.
Steve and the others were on the verge of insanity too. Andrey said in a hurry, “Let’s return to the path and go back to the village, there really are deep sea devils here!”
