The daylight hours were already very short, and Rurik felt that only three or four hours had passed from the time the sun rose to the time it set.

The daylight hours are shortening sharply every day, and eventually polar night envelopes the world.

Are you really going to run to the Arctic Ocean in the polar night? Is it too crazy?

Having already reached Haikou and having made promises to his men and new allies, he found that he was in a difficult position and could only go one way to the end.

Now the question arises, what kind of path should we choose? Is there a clear path in the vast snowfield?

A group of people built a camp in the pine forest on the edge of the frozen lake (Lake Kemi). Some small pine trees were cut down suddenly, and the trunks were built into supports and covered with linen to serve as tents to shelter from the wind.

Everyone peeled off the deer skin, and the steaming leather quickly became hard.

The bloody venison was poked with pine branches, grilled over the fire, and sprinkled with salt.

The deer blood was not processed well, so the deer meat was really bad. Rurik could only bite the bullet and eat it while holding a lump of oily barbecue. He comforted himself that at least it was better than those hunters in more ancient times, or those who ate raw meat.

Nomadic deer herders do not count themselves as eating hair and drinking blood.

He was thinking about the way forward, and everyone was thinking the same thing.

The sons of the two leaders of Balmok, they did not dare to back down since they had decided to see the "Northern Sea". To back down would mean that they were cowards and would definitely be despised by the Russians.

In a sense, precisely because both parties in the alliance are supervising each other and flaunting their bravery, there is no room left.

The hungry Biyongni gnawed a deer calf, and he realized that he could never eat it again. He wiped his greasy hands with snow casually, and shouted: "We go all the way north and follow this glacier, and we can reach the sea."

"This is impossible." Rurik said casually, tilting his head slightly.

"Why? We are right on the lakeside, and the river from the north obviously flows into this lake."

"Because water can only come from high places. We will continue to move forward on the glacier and reach the source of the water, but we cannot directly reach the sea. We also need to find a real waterway leading to the north."

Rurik's words should have been easy to understand, but Biyoni didn't understand them for a while, "It doesn't matter. When we reach the source of the river and can't find a new ice road, we will go north in the wilderness. We will definitely be able to see that

An ocean. If it really exists... No! It must exist!"

"Of course the sea exists, but we have to find the glacier." Rurik raised his head, and the flames of the bonfire reflected in his pupils: "I can guarantee with my reputation that there is a harbor that will never freeze in the north of us.

It’s pure. I want to find it and occupy it!”

"Well. I hope there are bears out there...Listen, my brother." Biyonni smiled slightly, "We are still interested in bear hunting."

"You can rest assured about this. We will definitely hunt a lot of white bears that catch seals. If we don't catch a lot, we will definitely catch a lot of seals. That's the only thing I'm worried about."

"Say it."

"Will we enter pure night, a very long night? We will have to rely on starlight, moonlight and Aurora to continue our progress. Will we be forced to endure extreme cold? Or we may encounter severe snowstorms. Maybe in winter

It’s not a good time to explore.”

"The long night?" Biyongni looked at his brother Floki, and both of them laughed. "What is that? We Balmok are used to the complete night in winter. Odin divided the year into twelve parts.

? Designing one of them to be pure night is a test for us. We dare to march at night, and I hope you Russians can too."

"This is best." Rurik nodded and felt a sense of security.

The next morning, the luxurious sunshine shone on the vast snowfield, but the veterans of the expedition were already moving forward on the ice.

The reindeer were fed some wheat? They gnawed some grass roots freely? After gaining strong physical strength, they continued to move forward under the driving of humans. These eight domesticated deer simply ignored their killed wild kin, even on the sled

Also pulling were a batch of pre-made meat skewers that were frozen as stone and threaded on tree branches, and a batch of deer skins that were stretched out and were frozen as hard as wooden boards. They didn't feel anything at all.

The Rus and the Balmoks? Everyone is huddled together again? They continue to move north in the increasingly cold climate.

The people on the sled were laughing and bragging to kill the boredom of the journey, and at the same time they were observing the woods around the glacier. If a bear, wolf or other animal appeared at this time, they would not hesitate to jump off the sled and start hunting.

In the current situation, hunting is no longer just for leather. People believe that their lives are facing a huge threat from extreme cold. Does hunger mean the body is cold? It even means freezing to death.

There must be a tribe of herding deer herders in this area. Once they are discovered? The expedition team will not hesitate to launch an attack. Now that Rurik is in an extreme environment, he understands one thing? For himself and his brothers

If they can live safely, then let the exposed deer herder tribe die. He really doesn’t want to be a big evil person? He can only hope that those guys will not be exposed.

Is the day disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye? Is it another evening? The team encountered a problem.

"What to do now?" Biyongni asked doubtfully.

The velvet hat covered Rurik's frown: "A fork in the road. Damn it!"

"Should we go this way? Left or right? You make up your mind."

"Then go to the right."

"Why? Oh, I'd like to ask more..."

Rurik muttered with a calm face: "I remember that the harbor is in the northeast of Ellenburg. Now we must go east and take the river on the right."

The team chose a path recognized by Rurik. Most people didn't care. Biyoni didn't care at first. He just thought about what Rurik just said. The more he thought about it, the more amazing he felt. Just like Rurik himself.

It seemed like he had been to the "freezing harbor" he mentioned. If Odin really gave him the warning, then the team is now on the right path.

No one knows the name of this new glacier, or any river has no natural name, and anyone can give a river a strange name.

If you have paper and pen at this time, Rurik will write down a log record.

He is currently unable to do so, so he can only bite the bullet and go on.

In fact, the glacier the team is traveling on is the Tennie River, which originates from the Murmansk region.

The team advanced under the glow of the Northern Lights. Everyone marveled at the magnificence of the Aurora and thanked the Valkyrie in the sky for guiding them. The sky was clear, and the world under the night was very bright, but the air was really cold...

…

The bonfire drove away the severe cold and potential prey. Of course there were polar bears in this area, but these ferocious beasts were instinctively afraid of fire, and the sudden appearance of light on the earth also made them instinctively avoid it.

They encountered another fork in the road in what is now known as the Savukosky Swamp. Apparently the wider river channel made everyone feel that walking along it was the right path.

The team passed a big turn and continued northward, traveling for two days on an almost purely north-south river. An even worse situation was faced by Rurik.

There may only be two hours of daylight left, and Rurik knows that he is about to enter an even more extreme polar night zone.

It was at this juncture that three frozen rivers appeared in front of us!

Biyongni asked again: "Choose a new road! The river in the middle is too narrow, it must be wrong. The left and right are both wide. Which one should we choose? Or the right?"

Rurik was a little undecided, and he didn't want to show his hesitation. Since Biyongni said this, his worries should be put aside.

"You're right! Just go to the right."

On the right is the river heading east, but the situation increasingly makes Rurik feel that something is wrong.

The team camped under night again. They skillfully used bows and drills to drill wood to make fire. After the campfire dispelled people's fear of the extremely cold night and darkness, they began to cook wheat and roast pre-made meat skewers. However, due to the actual situation,

Rurik issued an order to leave more wheat for the reindeer pulling the cart. After all, once the reindeer cannot eat these high-energy foods, they will never be able to pull the entire team of people and goods.

People woke up at night, and the team began to move forward again. The woods in this area unexpectedly became sparse, and Rurik guessed that everyone had entered the tundra area.

This is both a bad and a positive sign, because only a few of the toughest trees can live near the Arctic Ocean, a vast area that can tolerate extreme moss growth.

The sky gradually brightened, and people who continued to go north along the river clearly felt that the river was rapidly narrowing. They had no time to be afraid, and saw the sun lazily breaking through the horizon, and everyone saw the snow-capped mountains in the north!

Biyongni on the sled stood up directly: "I didn't know there were mountains here! Rurik, could we have been going the wrong way? If we climb over this mountain, maybe we can go home."

"Brother, you are stupid." Floki complained; "The direction pointed by the stars is correct. Look at the sun again. Could it be that the sun will rise from somewhere else?"

Biyongni felt embarrassed. He hurriedly sat down and asked Rurik again: "The river is about to disappear. How can we go without the glacier? The front is not the sea, but the mountains."

Things became very difficult, and Rurik panicked for a while.

With the attitude of having come, he simply made up his mind: "Let's keep rushing! When we reach the hill, we will climb over the mountain. From a high place, we will definitely be able to see the vast sea in the north."

Unfortunately, the arrogant Rurik underestimated the complexity of the geographical structure. What appeared in front of the team was essentially the remnants of the Kola Peninsula Mountains. In summer, there are large areas of Arctic wetlands on both sides of the mountains, which are partially fed into the fresh water of the Gulf of Bothnia.

Its source is here. The place where Rurik is located is the largest water source of the Airon River (Kemi River), but now it is determined how significant this point is.

The so-called adventure is to risk your life to explore the unknown world.

Rurik estimated that a tribe of deer herders would pass by here grazing in winter. He did not find any conclusive traces. He could only hope that the team would rush up to the bare hills and stand on a high place to see the nearby scenery.

The sea is so close.

But even standing on the top of the mountain, he never expected to see the sea.

The Arctic Ocean is indeed in the north, and the nearest coastline is nearly 200 kilometers away from this hill. No matter how strong the viewer's vision is, no matter how clear the air is, no one can ignore the curvature of the earth and see the ocean blocked by the horizon.

People were exploring cautiously. As the saying goes, there must be a road before the car reaches the mountain. When everyone was ready to jump off the sled and climb the mountain to look into the distance, a very obvious glacier appeared in front!

It is not an ordinary glacier, but a glacier with a very wide channel!

The river is nearly a hundred meters wide, with clusters of cedar forests on both sides, and more areas are tundra.

The team still found no traces of deer herders' activities. Perhaps this place has been a no-man's land since ancient times. Rurik suddenly wanted to do an experiment by cutting ice and inserting small pieces of wood. Everyone watched the experiment and confirmed that the river was flowing to the east. But

What exactly does this mean?

"This river is definitely heading towards the sea! I swear!" Rurik seemed to be very calm when he spoke, but people were excited.

"So, if we walk along this new glacier, we will definitely be able to see the harbor and the sea you mentioned?" Biyoni shook Rurik in excitement and kept asking.

"It can only be like this. I hope we can see the sea when it gets completely dark. Biyongni!" Rurik said extremely seriously: "It seems that we all have to be mentally prepared. We have to wait for the pure beauty at the beach.

The night is over..."

"It doesn't matter! The priest said that there is a sea at the end of the world in the north, but no one has ever seen it. I can stand on the coast of the sea at the end of the world, maybe I can meet the Valkyrie, and I can talk to the heroic spirits of my ancestors..."
To be continued...