Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

This Inuit man seemed honest and trustworthy, but also a little guilty. He did not come to Li Du out of curiosity or just because he had nothing to do, which Li Du could see at a glance.

Therefore, he subdued the middle-aged man in the conversation, making him feel restless, and exposed his true intentions.

He got what he wanted, and with little effort, the middle-aged man told the truth.

Hearing his words, Li Du felt a little nervous and asked, “What letter are you talking about?”

“Actually, it’s a verbal message.” The middle-aged man said. “Steve Tussenberg gave me a message. He asked me to tell you…”

As he opened his mouth, every word he uttered made Li Du’s heartbeat race, but when it came to the moment of truth, the man stopped speaking and simply shut his mouth.

Li Du, who was on tenterhooks, was irritated. Steve was indeed associated with the place, and he was associated with this Inuit too!

Li Du put a lot of effort in order to find Steve, this time without the help of the space-time bugs. He had to search like any common mortal this time, which physically and mentally taxing.

He had been at the lake for more than two weeks, and he was beginning to feel some resentment.

He felt it especially strongly when he thought of Sophie, who was pregnant and far away. He could not go back to accompany his wife and had to camp in the open air here, which was about the last thing he would have preferred to do just then.

He was so angry at the Inuit for keeping secrets that he subconsciously reached for the dagger he was wearing around his waist and glared at him as he said, “Tell me, what is it? Speak quickly!”

The Inuit was taken aback by his uncontrolled reaction, and said quickly, “I can’t tell you right away. You have to give me a promise. You have to promise that you will leave this place as soon as you hear his message.”

Upon hearing this, Li Du understood more clearly that there was something fishy in the lake and that it had something to do with Steve and the Inuit.

He took a deep breath and said, “I have to find Steve and the others. I can’t leave this place without them. This was my promise.”

The Inuit shook his head firmly. “No, absolutely not. You have to get out of here.”

Li Du looked at him and said, “You know something about Steve? You know something and you are not telling me? Don’t you think I have ways to make you speak?”

The Inuit’s facial expression changed and he said, “Are you going to torture me?”

Li Du smiled and said, “No, I am not a barbarian. I won’t torture you. But I have many ways to make you open your mouth and talk.”

The Inuit was not afraid. He hummed and groaned, “If you do that, you would regret it. You would not get any message if you did so!”

Li Du did have a way of dealing with people, like using vertigo, which he was a master of.

However, the Inuit’s behavior made him refrain from making any moves. The other side seemed to have a lot of confidence, so Li Du restrained himself.

Li Du’s facial expression was neither happy nor angry. The Inuit looked at him and said, “You are not like Steve Tussenberg said. He said you are a very smart and nice gentleman. It doesn’t seem to be that way.”

The other side was calm and not afraid, and this made Li Du calm down too.

He said, “If your wife was pregnant and you had to leave her in order to look for a friend in the wilderness thousands of miles away from her, here on the shores of this lake, you would become even worse tempered than I am.”

The Inuit shrugged and said, “It sounds challenging, but why don’t you want to go home? Go back to your wife and child?”

Li Du said, “Because I have to find my friend. He has a family, too.”

The Inuit shook his head and said, “No, Steve Tussenberg has no one.”

“But what about the others?” Li Du asked him. “Many of the people he was with had wives and children, didn’t they? I should find them, shouldn’t I?”

The Inuit looked at him in embarrassment and said, “You can’t find them, most of them anyway. No, you can’t find them, it is very, very difficult…”

Li Du was nervous. He asked, “What do you mean? They… are they dead?”

The Inuit shook his head again and said, “No, I don’t know. Who knows? Perhaps only Tonasak knows…”

Hearing this, Li Du said, “Tonasak? The sky god? Are you from that Inuit village that disappeared from this lake over eighty years ago?”

The Inuit did not answer, but said earnestly, “Tonasak is not the god of the sky. He is the god of time and space!”

Li Du mumbled, “The god of time and space? You mean he controls time and space? Damn it, I am a little confused. Tell me, what did Steve ask you to tell me?”

The Inuit asked, “Do you swear you will leave when you get this information?”

Li Du shook his head and said, “No, I must find him. At least I have to hear him tell me the truth himself. Only then I can give up, or how can I answer to those who care about him?”

Seeing his firm attitude, the Inuit retreated slowly and said, “I can’t talk to you anymore. I’ll come back to you when you are willing to accept my terms.”

Young Markelov gave Li Du a look and asked if he wanted to make the man stay.

Li Du shook his head and said, “He will come again. There is no need to trouble him. And I can see that he is a friend, not an enemy.”

The Inuit man laughed. “Of course, we don’t make enemies of anyone, especially if you are our benefactor. And we actually have some history between us. You should thank us that you came here.”

The words he said at the end did not make any sense, so Li Du subconsciously asked, “What do you mean by that?”

Without any explanation, the Inuit turned and walked back with a mysterious smile.

Young Markelov went up, gave him a hand and said, “Be careful.”

The Inuit man was startled. “What?”

“You almost stepped on the box on the floor, the box with Ah Ow’s toys in it. Oh, Ah Ow is the fierce-looking wolf over there,” said Young Markelov.

Li Du saw the Inuit off and sat in a chair in a daze.

Things were gradually getting beyond his control, with everything becoming mysterious and sinister. The whole thing was shrouded in a layer of fog, full of mystery and unpredictability!

After sending the Inuit off, Young Markelov hurried back. He opened the software on a computer and said, “Boss, let’s track him down.”

“When you touched him, you put a tracker on him?” asked Li Du.

Young Markelov grinned and said, “Yes.”

A bouncing red dot appeared on the tablet, gradually moving away from the camp, and they quietly followed, keeping a distance and maintaining the connection between the computer and the tracker signal.

At some distance from the camp, the red dot turned a corner and approached Lake Angikuni.

Li Du, Brother Wolf, and Young Markelov looked at each other. As they guessed, this matter had something to do with the lake!