Chapter 601 - 397: Falling into the Water (2)

Chapter 601: Chapter 397: Falling into the Water (2)

Natasha and Feng Mountain refused to back down. She loudly shouted directions, while he constantly cheered Tyson on.

The two sleds jockeyed for position, one pulling ahead only to be overtaken by the other, their metal runners screeching against the snow.

This was no longer just a sled race; it was a battle for pride.

The smell of gunpowder grew thicker in the air. No one knew which way the scales of victory would tip in the next moment.

The snow track snaked forward in the twilight.

The tavern was close at hand. The dim yellow halos of the streetlights blurred into hazy orbs in the snowy mist.

Mountain knelt on the River Beach, listening as the screech of metal drew closer behind him. He glanced back hurriedly and saw the Peter the Great was now only half a meter from the tail of his sled.

Tyson suddenly slowed his pace, his broad back swaying slightly.

As if sensing the danger, he deliberately positioned his body across the middle of the snow track.

Whenever Ivan tried to overtake from the side, Tyson would shift his position with precision, using the body of the River Beach to block their path.

Natasha’s knuckles were white as she gripped the reins. Watching the sled ahead of her constantly changing its path, she realized she couldn’t overtake it. Her gaze suddenly swept to the frozen Melting Ice River down the slope to her right. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

The Melting Ice River encircled the entire River Beach Camp.

Under the biting wind, the surface of the river’s ice gave off a faint glow. In Natasha’s eyes, the thick ice was strong enough to bear the weight of the sled.

But Natasha didn’t know that, under the influence of the tribe’s Fire Seed, the Melting Ice River had already changed.

Beneath the seemingly calm ice, the river water had already awakened. A powerful undercurrent churned restlessly below.

Now, the ice was merely a fragile facade, not even ten centimeters thick—like a sheet of paper struggling to maintain the illusion of a calm surface.

"Ivan, to the ice! We’ll take a detour!"

Natasha’s shout pierced the biting wind, laced with do-or-die determination.

Her golden hair was whipped into a mess by the wild wind, but she held the reins in a death grip, her eyes burning with a fire that refused to accept defeat.

Before the words had even left her mouth, Ivan’s muscles tensed instantly. Its massive body twisted sharply, its four paws digging deep gouges into the snow.

The Peter the Great, carried by inertia, carved a beautiful arc. The metal sled screeched against the snow, and amidst a spray of powder, it shot down the slope straight for the Melting Ice River.

Feng Mountain, who was sprinting at full speed, heard the commotion behind him. He turned to look, and his face instantly went pale.

’Crap!’

He immediately yanked the reins tight and shouted, his voice cracking, "Tyson, stop!"

Tyson also sensed something was wrong. It braked abruptly, its claws making a grating sound on the snow.

Feng Mountain was so anxious he stomped his feet, waving frantically at Natasha. "Don’t go on the ice! Come back! That ice..."

But Natasha misunderstood.

She thought Feng Mountain was stunned by her brilliant maneuver, and she smugly gave him a thumbs-up.

Before Feng Mountain could shout again, she suddenly turned her thumb upside down, a provocative smile on her face. The meaning couldn’t have been clearer.

’You’ve already lost!’

Feng Mountain gritted his teeth in frustration. Seeing that shouting was useless, he steeled himself and yanked the reins.

"Tyson, turn around! After them!"

Tyson let out a low growl and dragged the sled, racing wildly toward the Melting Ice River.

The cold wind whipped pellets of snow against Feng Mountain’s face. At that moment, victory and defeat were completely forgotten. He had only one thought.

’I can’t let anything happen to Natasha!’

Just as Natasha drove the sled onto the ice and let out a triumphant cheer, a sickening CRACK sounded from beneath her feet.

Ivan also sensed the danger and let out an uneasy growl. It wanted to back up, but it was too late.

The tiger’s three-hundred-kilogram weight, plus the sled and Natasha, was far too much for the ice, which had already been weakened by meltwater.

The ice surface tore apart as if ripped by an invisible hand. A fine web of cracks spread rapidly outward.

Natasha’s pupils contracted. An icy chill shot up her spine to the crown of her head.

She was just about to let go of the reins and jump from the sled.

With a tremendous CRASH, the ice shattered. Bone-chilling water surged upward, swallowing the Peter the Great in the blink of an eye.

Natasha only had time to let out a single scream before she was dragged into the frigid current.

In the past, falling into the river was no big deal. The water wasn’t cold, and Feng Mountain would even go for a swim in the Melting Ice River from time to time.

But now, the river water had turned into a deathly cold pit.

The melted ice and snow from the tribe’s Fire Seed, mixed with the polar cold snap, was so cold it could turn your bones brittle. If splashed on the ground, it would form icicles in the blink of an eye.

SPLASH!

Ivan burst out of the hole in the ice, its mane crusted with ice. White plumes of breath escaped its mouth as it let out a terrified roar.

Its front paws clung desperately to the edge of the cracked ice while its hind legs thrashed in the turbulent current. The splashing water instantly froze into ice crystals in the air.

Ivan whined in distress, its tail slapping frantically against the water’s surface.

But in the churning, icy water...

...where was any sign of Natasha?

"Natasha!!"

Feng Mountain didn’t bother unhitching the reins. He leaped straight off the River Beach, unbuttoning his animal-hide coat as he ran.

Reaching the edge of the broken ice, he only had time to take a sharp breath of cold air before plunging headfirst into the churning, icy water.

A bone-chilling cold instantly enveloped his entire body, like countless ice needles piercing the marrow of his bones.

The water of the Melting Ice River was unnervingly clear. Dim light penetrated the ice sheet, illuminating the broken ice at the bottom of the river with an eerie translucence.

Treading water, Feng Mountain turned his head and immediately spotted a struggling dark shape below.

Natasha’s animal-hide coat billowed in the current.

Her legs were bound tightly by the tangled reins.

Her limbs thrashed desperately in the water, but the bubbles from her struggles were instantly scattered by the undercurrent.

Every struggle only caused her to sink deeper, farther and farther from the light of the surface.

Her once vibrant and beautiful face was now tinged a faint blue-purple. Her long, golden hair fanned out in the water, drifting slowly with the current like a clump of dark seaweed.