The temperature completely changed from hot to cold. There was a layer of condensed white frost on the ground, and tiny snowflakes were swirling in the cold wind.
Meili wrapped herself tightly in her cloak, put on a thick coat, and wore leather boots. The boots were warm but did not fit her feet. They were a little too big. After all, they were temporarily snatched from the Templars who were chasing them. There was nothing she could do if they did not fit.
Her shoes made the frozen grass stalks creak as she stepped on the ground. She walked beside Murray, her face slightly red and her breathing a little faster.
She had been walking for so long that she was inevitably tired.
The further they went, the more monotonous the scenery became, without even any extra colors. It wasn't even at the polar regions yet, but it was already too cold to bear.
Meili walked forward laboriously, following closely in Murray's footsteps. She slightly pulled back the cloak covering her mouth, trying to speak to distract herself.
"Muri, why did you leave the polar regions?"
"When the temperature in the polar regions is slightly higher for a few months, some people will go in to hunt monsters. They are the people from the Holy Temple. They are so annoying." Muri came back here and felt the cold air. He felt like a fish in water and walked more vigorously. However, his tone was full of unhappiness when he talked about this. "I ran away to avoid them."
He added: "I have been in the polar regions since I was born, and I want to go out and see them."
Meili took a breath and said, "So do you like the world outside?"
Murray said simply: "I don't like it."
Meili: "Does the outside world disappoint you?"
Murray: “What a waste.”
"Waste?" Mary didn't quite understand.
Murray: "In the polar regions, the prey I kill are all eaten as food. Outside, most of the prey I kill are humans, and humans cannot be eaten, so it is a waste."
It's really... a simple view of hunting.
Mary saw the white steam coming out of her mouth, she smiled, and suddenly tripped and fell to the ground.
She held her breath and walked forward, but she fell and was too weak to stand up.
Her body lightened, and Murray picked her up, "Are you tired?"
Meili: “… Yeah.”
Murray: "Then I'll just carry you away."
Seeing that he didn't seem to dislike her, Mary slowly relaxed her back and nestled in his broad arms to calm her rapid breathing.
In Meili's opinion, she was traveling with Murray, but in Murray's opinion, he was just walking with her. Such a short distance was not even a warm-up for him.
He let her walk so slowly beside him because he didn't feel the Templar warriors chasing him.
After calming her breathing, Mary felt the sweat from the long journey gradually turning into coolness. She couldn't help but get closer to Muri. Even though there was a layer of clothes between them, the heat from his body could still be felt on her. It was so warm.
She let out a quiet sigh of comfort.
"There's a rabbit over there." Murray said, looking not far away.
Meili struggled to get up, "Where?"
The ground was all white, and she couldn't find a white rabbit.
Murray didn't let her go, but changed his position, with one arm across his chest, letting her sit on it, and the other arm blocking her chest, "I'll get closer and you'll be able to see."
Mary quickly took out her bow and arrow and readied it, looking ahead for a while, and finally she saw something moving.
"There!" She lowered her voice, closed her mouth and aimed carefully at her prey.
The arrow was shot, but it didn't get within three meters of the rabbit and stuck into the ground crookedly.
Meili was not surprised. She sighed, rested the back of her head on Murray's chest, and looked up at his chin. "You missed again."
Murray, without any sense of guilt, said, "You never hit the target."
The rabbit was frightened and ran into a small hole. Murray carried her over and picked up the arrow, "Let's shoot next time."
Meili: "Okay, I will practice hard!"
I hope it can help with hunting in the future.
They walked and stopped for the rest of the journey. When Mary had rested, she would get off the car and walk for a while. When she was tired, Muri would carry her. Whenever they encountered small animals on the way, he would stop and let Mary try out the bow and arrow.
The area near the poles is a desolate frozen soil and frost zone. Walking in the unchanging scenery for a long time can easily drive people crazy. Muri doesn't like such places either. He prefers the snow in the poles.
But this time, with one more human being, he felt that this distance was even shorter than the time it took him to run fast in the past, and it was over in a flash.
"We've reached the pole." Muri pushed away the skull cap on his head and looked up, letting the wind blow all the snowflakes onto his head.
There was some excitement in his tone, as if he was a wanderer who had left home for the first time and couldn't wait to return home.
Meili leaned against him to absorb the warmth, and stood up to look around. She asked curiously, "There are no signs or boundary markers around. How do you know that this is already within the polar region?"
Murray: “Feeling.”
As he spoke, he pulled his cloak forward, wrapped it around Mary in his arms, and ran forward faster.
His cloak was torn by the Templars, leaving many holes on it. Meli looked out through one of the holes and heard him shouting to express his emotions as he ran quickly, and his shouts echoed between heaven and earth.
After this roar, the snowflakes from the sky fell even faster.
Mary felt the feeling that Muri described. The feeling of the polar regions can be summed up in one word - cold.
It was completely different from the frozen land she had been in before, it was deep in her bones, pure cold. She nestled in Muri's arms, but she could still hear her teeth chattering from the cold, so she had to raise her hand and press her fingers against her teeth.
She had also experienced many winters and heavy snow in her own world, but compared to here, the winters she had experienced were gentle, with snow gently covering her garden, nearby forests and fields. Flowers and plants were about to bloom under the heavy snow, and trees were also sleeping under the white snow. Occasionally, there were many small animals running in the snow.
But it was not like that here. The snow here was sharp and cold, like a knife. The coldness penetrated through every crack, trying to assimilate her with the coldness here and extinguish the warmth in her body.
As Murray walked forward, not only did Mary's teeth chatter, but her body also began to tremble unconsciously.
Murray noticed it, stopped and looked down at her.
"Is it really that cold?"
“… I’ll take you back.”
Meili rubbed his chest and shook her head violently, her voice trembling: "No, no, wait until I get used to it, it will be fine once I get used to it."
This was her choice, even if she really froze to death here, she would not feel pain. She didn't want many things, she just wanted to have a choice.
She was shaking uncontrollably, and Murray could sense it clearly; she was like a poor dying animal.
The red hair in his arms was the brightest color in this white world. Murray reached out and touched her head, suddenly opened his clothes and stuffed her into his clothes.
Meili's perception was a little slow. She pressed tightly against his chest and felt a little itchy on her face. Then she realized that what she touched was no longer rough cloth, but soft white fur. She touched it unconsciously for a while and then hugged it with both hands.
Muri felt so uncomfortable being touched by Mary, who was curled up in her arms, that she subconsciously wanted to throw her away and run away. However, she knew she couldn't do that. Not only could she not throw her away, she had to hold her tighter, otherwise she would freeze to death.
His palm was open and placed on the bulge in his arms, opening and clenching with every movement of Mary.
Mary regained consciousness under the heat. She moved her head and heard Muri hum twice, hugging her tighter. His fur was too warm. After experiencing the cold, she just wanted to hold this warm Muri.
Thank you for your hard work, she said to herself sheepishly.
"That Warcraft hybrid has entered the polar region. Should we still chase it?" A group of Templar Knights stopped in the permafrost area outside the polar region, and the leading knight turned his head and asked.
The black-robed priest in the team, wearing thick monster fur, shook his head slowly: "That's it, just drive it back."
Some people expressed a different opinion, "If we don't chase it and kill it now, what if it gets out again later?"
"Come on, the polar region is so big, can you find it if you run in? Besides, it's almost winter, and you can't go into the polar region in winter. Going in is seeking death. If you want to go, go alone." Another person blocked him without any hesitation.
There are no four seasons in the polar regions. Apart from the long winter, there are only three or four short months when it is slightly less cold. The Templar Knights enter the polar regions to hunt monsters during these months.
When winter comes in the polar regions, they will not enter the regions easily, not only because of the extreme cold, but also because of the tides in winter. The monsters in the polar regions will be more frenzied than usual. Some of them will take the initiative to leave the polar regions and approach human cities. The Templar Knights can hunt monsters without entering the polar regions.
The knights argued for a while, but finally listened to the priest's advice and turned back.
But they returned empty-handed, and everyone looked unhappy.
During this period, almost all the knights from the temples in several cities went out to chase and intercept him, but no one could stop the Warcraft hybrid at all, and he robbed them several times. They were fooled for so long in vain.
"Don't let me see it again, or I will skin it and make clothes!"
The companions beside him heard him swearing and muttered, "That's a good thing to say, but can you beat him?"
The knight who had spoken the harsh words choked, glared at him angrily, and remained silent out of frustration.
Although I don't want to admit it, but... I really can't beat him.
Murray had already brought Meili back to his home. This place was not deep in the polar regions. Even during the war hundreds of years ago, it was a border battlefield where human warriors hunted monsters. However, humans had long since withdrawn from the polar regions, and this area had become a dangerous area in the polar regions.
His home is a lighthouse standing in the snow, a relic of an old battlefield.
The aura he left here became a little weaker, but no other monsters or wild beasts came to occupy his territory.
I pushed the door open and walked in. In an instant, the sound of the wind and snow outside became much quieter. The whistling wind faded away, and the bright light suddenly dimmed.
The tall lighthouse is not very big, but it is high and spacious. There is a narrow staircase against the wall that spirals up to the top, where you can look out into the distance. But the staircase is too narrow. When Murray was a child, he could climb up, but when he grew up and became so tall, he could no longer climb up.
A beam of light shone in from the tall window, falling obliquely on the wall.
Muri put one hand on his chest and searched around, finding a pile of monster bones. He threw them onto the fire pit in the middle of the lighthouse and lit a fire.
The orange flame flickered, illuminating the surroundings, and the temperature inside the lighthouse slowly rose.
Muri sat in front of the fire, his clothes moved on his chest, and Mary poked her head out from his arms.