Chapter 894 Castling of the King's Car

It was getting dark outside the window, but the firelight was still shining in the window of the hunter's cabin. Through the snow-stained glass of the window, a wooden table could be seen.

On the wooden table, the 'horse' carved from birch wood was placed into the chess board with one hand, and next to the 'rook', it filled the last empty space on the sandbox battlefield.

The female hunter retracted her hand, and every scattered chess piece on the ground was picked up and placed where they should be. The firewood burning in the fire cast their shadows on the chessboard. The shadows of the chess pieces pointed at the enemy before they went out to fight. Camp, the crackling sound of firewood is like the sound of golden drums flying when the chess pieces are moved.

This chess set is very old, probably more than ten years old. It is purely handmade. From the strokes on the chessboard to the wood-carved chess pieces, the effort required to make such a complete chess set far exceeds The value of chess itself.

But no one would laugh at the person who made it and the meaning of its existence. Just like the neat toys standing in the corner, this chess piece has its own unique meaning.

But at this moment, no matter how meaningful the chess set is, it cannot attract the attention of other people in the wooden house. Even if it is carved from ivory and jade, it is definitely not as good as the pot of boiling stew roasting on the front of the stove.

In the iron pot licked by the flames, after opening the lid, you can see the red eleuthero shoots floating on the boiling soup. Under the white foam, you can vaguely see a few mushrooms tumbling, but it is the most mouth-watering one. The big head was still a piece of meat-colored eel, which was undoubtedly meat, and it was also the last meal of meat in the wooden house.

The glass jar contains the snake's internal organs and scales. It can be guessed that the meat in the stew pot comes from the Arctic viper. The snake's head was chopped off by the female hunter and the snake's venom was squeezed out. In the end, it did not escape and was eaten dry. The fable of the farmer and the snake is finally out of date, this time it is time for it to use its own flesh and blood to provide warmth to the victims in the wind and snow.

"You're not feeling well yet?" Dusha's voice was weak. She must have been so hungry that her chest pressed against her back. She regretted that she had wasted too much energy by yelling to vent her emotions during the day.

Her physical fitness is at the top level among the group of people in the cabin. What's interesting is that the little girl who has been carrying her brother on her back seems to be much stronger than her.

"Don't worry, the snake meat needs to be cooked longer." Vika, who was squatting next to the stew pot, patiently comforted his sister. Compared to Dusha, who didn't like to use his brain very much, he knew very well that parasites in snake meat can easily cause diarrhea and high fever. This is true.

The berries in the cloth bag brought back by the female hunter have been eaten, and there is simply not enough food for eight people. This pot of stew is a life-saving meal, but it may also become a life-threatening meal. In this situation, he must be patient.

He kept turning over the snake meat and the bright red and green buds in the stew pot with his dagger, until Dusha asked for an unknown number of times, Vika finally moved the stew pot away from the stove, grabbed the handle of the stew pot and weighed the contents. Pour evenly into wooden bowls.

Originally they thought that there might not be enough tableware due to the number of people, but after the old hunter woke up and followed his instructions, they actually dug out a few broken wooden bowls from the corners of the cupboard.

The huntress took the bowl handed over by Adam and took a look at the pieces of snake meat and mushrooms inside. In terms of sharing the food, although Vika might have some selfish intentions and poured more into his sister's bowl, overall she still didn't have any big intentions.

After all, everyone who found the stew in the wooden bowl knew clearly that if they still couldn't find a way to leave tomorrow, they might have to rely on the female hunter to go deep into the coniferous forest if they wanted to have another meal.

Now these wooden bowls were filled with stew and distributed to everyone's hands. There was no Catholic or Christian prayer before the meal. Everyone bowed their heads and ate as soon as they picked up the bowl.

"This stew is such a beautiful thing." After Adam let out a heartfelt sigh, there was only the sound of chewing soup and chewing in the whole wooden house. He really wanted to bite all the snake bones together and eat them.

The old hunter was lying on his side on the fire bed and could basically scoop out the stew and eat it by himself. The little girl beside him still chose to feed his brother first and then consider whether he was hungry. Dusha, who was holding the bowl beside him, was eating and sweeping. The bowl of stew was still sitting on the fire bed. She looked a little weak. Weaker than everyone else, her eyes were a little green, but in the end she didn't dare to go over and do anything. She could only resist the thought and turn around and walk elsewhere.

The huntress was sitting in front of the chessboard on the wooden table, eating stew and looking at the chess pieces in a daze. She was probably thinking about how to escape. When she was thinking about it, she heard the sound of chess pieces moving and falling. She looked up. A glance at the other side of the wooden table revealed that it was the KGB Lieutenant Colonel who had moved the white 'pawn' on e2 two spaces away.

She spit out the snake's bones and drank the soup without thinking too much. She casually moved her opposing 'soldier' ​​forward two spaces. The lieutenant colonel probably guessed her next move. When the sound of the chess piece falling was heard, his move was completed, and White's 'Queen' flew directly to h5.

The female hunter paused and subconsciously moved the pawn closest to White's 'Queen' forward one space. According to the rules of chess, chess pieces such as "Pawn" can only move one square at a time except for the first step in the game, but the way to capture a piece is to move straight and diagonally.

The lieutenant colonel raised his head and glanced at the huntress, "You don't know how to get off?"

"Only a little." The huntress said honestly.

The lieutenant colonel nodded, probably indicating that he fully recognized what the huntress said, and then in the next step, the queen moved sideways and ate the hunter's first 'pawn' that advanced two spaces.

The huntress raised her hand, looked at the chessboard, was stunned for a moment and then put it down again, because the lieutenant colonel had taken her general's rook in two simple steps. If she didn't want to lose in the next step, she would have to lose a rook. This kind of opening was basically fine. Damn it, if both sides are equal in strength and one side makes this kind of mistake, there will be basically no play in the future.

"The Queen is just a bait." The huntress nodded as she looked at the 'Queen' who was driving the car, and casually pushed down her 'Emperor', "Awesome. People from the KGB also learn chess?"

"I just had a very good teacher." The lieutenant colonel reset the chess pieces, moved them again, moved two 'pawns' forward, and started another chess game.

"You still have time to play chess now?" Adam came over with a stew bowl and was a little dumbfounded when he saw the chess set on the table.

"It's just fun in suffering." The female hunter twisted the chess piece and dropped it. "Being anxious will not help you except to waste your energy in vain and eat more like a pig."

Dusha, who was licking the bowl not far away, raised her head and glanced here.

"Actually, I feel like I can last for a while even if I eat wild vegetables like this every day. I'll save the snake bones to make soup for the next meal." Adam stared at the buds floating on the soup in the bowl and licked his lips with interest.

"It's not that easy." The female hunter sighed while waiting for the lieutenant colonel to make her move. "Do you think there is an inexhaustible supply of wild vegetables? Maybe we won't have that much to eat for the next meal, or even we won't be able to find anything to eat at all. of."

"No way? Is there still time to pick all the wild vegetables? It's such a big forest." Adam was stunned, and even Dusha who was not far away pricked up her ears and looked here.

"It's not that I have finished picking, but that I can't pick it. Today I went out for a walk and found that the snow in the coniferous forest after the snowstorm was too deep. The wild vegetables growing on the ground were buried, and the berries of some shrubs were also beaten. Falling into the snow. The physical exertion of digging through the snow to find wild vegetables far exceeds the calories we can replenish from wild vegetables and berries. We may not be able to find a way out of here tomorrow, and we will have to eat local materials from the trees. It’s skinned.”

"Tree bark. Can that thing be eaten?"

"People will eat anything when they are very hungry. Maybe the only good news for us is that there will be no shortage of water. After all, there is snow everywhere in Siberia."

"Drinking water is not a problem." Adam carried the cooled water bottle and walked around the house to pour water for everyone.

Before Vika took the water glass, she saw that her sister had finished drinking it. She shook her head and handed her water glass over to her sister's eager eyes.

The little girl on the hot bed also took the initiative to come over with two cups. Adam, who was carrying the kettle, glanced at the old hunter on the hot bed.

The old hunter had fallen into a silent silence since he woke up. He did not roar to accuse Vika and Dusha, the two culprits who caused his injuries, nor did he seek justice from the KGB lieutenant colonel.

The old hunter seemed to have accepted his fate and would only drink water, eat and sleep repeatedly.

But even so, I'm afraid he won't be able to hold on for long. If he dies, no one will waste energy burying the body in the snow. So what will they do with the old man's body?

Adam had been distracted for too long, and the huntress reminded him softly. Only then did he react and lift the kettle, almost not pouring the boiling water on the little girl's hand.

Looking at his appearance, the huntress shook her head and sighed for an unknown number of times. She raised her hand and prepared to move the pawn. The little girl who was about to leave glanced at her hand holding the pawn, and then glanced at the chessboard. in another corner, but said nothing, holding the water glass and going back to bed.

Almost no one noticed the two glances of the little girl, yes, almost.

"Wait." The lieutenant colonel, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke.

The huntress paused while playing chess and looked at the lieutenant colonel. Then she realized that the lieutenant colonel was not calling her, but the little girl who was about to leave.

The little girl stopped and looked back at the lieutenant colonel.

The lieutenant colonel looked at the huntress and motioned for her to give up her position. The huntress was stunned for a few seconds and realized what the lieutenant colonel meant. She showed a strange expression and then slowly moved out and turned to look at the little girl.

The lieutenant colonel wants the little girl to sit on the table.

The little girl stood there without moving until everyone looked at her, then she walked over and then, guided by the lieutenant colonel's gaze, sat down at the table and in front of the chess set.

The lieutenant colonel stretched out his hand to push back the chess move played by the female hunter. He folded his hands together on the table and looked at the little girl, "You know how to play chess?"

The little girl met the lieutenant colonel's eyes, and after a long time she nodded slowly.

"How do you know she can play chess?" Huntress asked, looking at the Lieutenant Colonel.

The lieutenant colonel waved his hand and said, "Where did you learn it?"

The little girl didn't answer, just shook her head.

"Can you play a game of chess with me?" The lieutenant colonel's expression towards the little girl was not stern or solemn, only calm, a kind of calm that no one could understand, including his current request, which also made everyone in the wooden house touch it. Not clear in mind.

At a time when life and death were at stake, this man actually still had the heart to let a half-year-old child play chess with him?

The huntress looked at the lieutenant colonel again and raised her eyebrows, without making any comment on his "whim".

"What are you doing?" Dusha muttered, looking at the lieutenant colonel and then at the little girl sitting at the table. She wanted to say something but gave up. There was a look of exhaustion and discomfort on her face. She didn't know. Are you too tired from making too much noise during the day?

Indeed, no one could understand the lieutenant colonel's brain circuit, because he really played a game of chess with the little girl, without any communication, just moving and putting down the chess pieces again and again.

Huntress and Adam gradually discovered that the two of them played chess very quickly. It was probably the little girl who played chess very quickly. Every time the lieutenant colonel moved the chess piece, she would complete the move she responded to the moment the chess piece fell.

The lieutenant colonel also speeded up the speed of his moves in silence, and the sound of "tapping" of the chess pieces in the wooden house was endless.

Until finally, the lieutenant colonel stopped playing chess, took back his hand, glanced at the little girl, and nodded. After getting permission, the little girl put down her hand holding the 'Queen', got off the table and turned back to the fire bed.

They didn't communicate at all during the whole process.

The lieutenant colonel glanced at the little girl who had put on her coat and cup again on the fire bed, and he was convinced of something in his eyes.

"Is the game over now?" Adam was a little confused. He didn't know chess better than the huntress, let alone fast chess.

He didn't understand the chess game that ended in less than a minute. He didn't realize who won until the end, and the chess pieces on the table were restored by the lieutenant colonel.

The huntress stared blankly at the restored chess game for a long time, until finally she said abruptly, "I lost the 'King's Rook Castling' move."

Not many people in the wooden house understood what the female hunter meant. The lieutenant colonel didn't seem to have any intention of explaining the chess game that had just started inexplicably. The matter seemed to have passed by in such a blur, as if it had no meaning. nothing.

ps: One thing to say, I know that snake venom can only infect the blood.