King of the Wilderness

Chapter 398: Chapter 231: Homeward Bound Under the Polar Night

Lin Yu’an took the program team’s plane and first arrived at the nearest city, Gusby.

There, as directed, he underwent a comprehensive physical examination lasting a whole day at a hospital.

The doctors were amazed that after fifty days of extreme survival, his core health indicators remained so good, with only slight malnutrition and severe fat depletion, advising him to consume more high-calorie, nutritive food to restore his body.

The next day, he declined all the celebration banquets arranged by the program team and boarded a commercial flight to Alaska’s Fairbanks alone.

On the plane, he felt for the first time in a long while the soft seats and warm, steady airflow of the civilized world, yet he couldn’t sleep. His body was already accustomed to being vigilant, and his thoughts had long flown back home.

He hadn’t told anyone, as he wanted to give Aliya and Emily a huge surprise.

When the plane landed at Fairbanks International Airport, it was already 2 PM local time.

The edge of the polar night had arrived; the sun had long sunk below the horizon, leaving only a brief and brilliant glow in the southern sky, like a twilight drawn out infinitely. The entire world was enveloped in a layer of tranquil and profound blue hues.

As soon as he stepped out of the terminal, a familiar, dry and bone-piercing cold wind surrounded him instantly, letting him feel the ”warmth” of Alaska’s winter.

The temperatures here were a few degrees lower than even Labrador, with dense ice crystal snowflakes drifting in the sky.

He didn’t linger in the city but directly dialed a familiar number.

”Hank? It’s me, Lin.”

On the other end, a rough and surprised voice came through: ”Lin! My goodness! From which hell did you crawl back? How are things? Did you win?”

”Yes, I won, just got off the plane in Fairbanks. I’m sorry for disturbing you on Christmas, it’s getting dark soon, I wonder...”

”What does dark matter?” Hank interrupted him cheerfully, with the sound of metal clashing in the background.

”Did you forget what my plane is for? Not just in the dark, even with my eyes closed in a blizzard, relying on instruments, I can fish you out from hell!”

Lin Yu’an heard this and completely relaxed, and a genuine smile appeared on his face: ”Then I’ll bother you, Hank.”

”Of course! But you’ll have to wait for a bit.” Hank’s voice sounded somewhat noisy.

”It’s too cold, I need to attach a heater to the airplane engine, the preheat takes at least an hour to ensure safe takeoff. Including the flying time, it’ll take about two hours to reach you.”

He added, ”There’s no problem taking off from Fairbanks, but that broken place, Wiseman, doesn’t have runway lights.”

”I’ll call Old George on satellite phone and have him gather some mates to drive snowmobiles and pickup trucks, using their headlights to roll out a ’welcome home’ illuminated carpet for me. Without that, even God couldn’t pinpoint the runway.”

”Stay in the airport’s cafe and wait for me, have them prepare the hottest coffee and a freshly baked cinnamon roll for you, you surely need that! Prepare to go home, Lin!”

Lin Yu’an smiled, warmth rising in his heart: ”Alright, I’ll wait for you.”

In the warm airport cafe, Lin Yu’an savored the steaming hot coffee and the excessively sweet cinnamon roll, feeling the sugar and heat rapidly enter his body, the food he always thought was unpalatable remarkably delicious at this moment.

Nearly two hours later, he received Hank’s call, informing that the plane was about to land. Lin Yu’an left the cafe, arriving at the appointed private runway. The night had long fallen, the piercing cold wind, the indicator lights on both sides of the runway extended far into the dark.

Soon, Hank’s familiar, red and white Cessna 206, came steadily toward the runway in the bright beams of the searchlight.

With the plane stabilized, Hank jumped out of the cockpit; when he saw Lin Yu’an approaching him, his smile froze abruptly, replaced by shock.

”Oh... my God... Lin... you look like a junkie who’s done PCP for two years.”

Hank looked at Lin Yu’an’s sunken eye sockets, knife-like cheekbones, and the unhidden traces of wind and frost over him, and gave him a cautious hug, afraid of scattering his ”skeleton”.

”Come on, get on the plane, I’ll take you home! Aliya would be heartbroken if she saw you like this.”

Lin Yu’an laughed, throwing his luggage into the cabin.

The plane took off into the pitch-black night, flying towards the world’s end further up north, Wiseman Town.

Below was the needle-leaved forest covered endlessly with snow and the frozen river channel. Without sunlight, the Earth didn’t completely sink into darkness.

An awe-inspiring green curtain, like the sash of the Divine Spirit, silently danced and stretched across the northern sky, pouring its soft glow onto the land, causing the snowfield to reflect a dreamlike phosphorescence.

”Honestly, Lin, you’ve kept us waiting pitifully this time.”

While skillfully piloting the plane, Hank turned his head and shouted: ”You’ve gone for almost two months, without a trace, people in town kept talking about you non-stop.”

”Old George started a gambling pool at the bar, betting on when you would come back this time, barely anyone bet on you taking longer than fifty days. Now it seems, those few folks made a killing!”