Chapter 137 In the freezing cold, her chances of survival are slim.

Just as Wang Jianjun wrapped the scarf around his neck and freed his hand to straighten his hat, Jiang Wanxia pounced on him and yanked the dog-skin hat down hard, instantly covering Wang Jianjun's entire head and obscuring his eyes!

"Damn it! What are you doing..."

Before Wang Jianjun could even utter his curses, a tremendous force came from behind him. Jiang Wanxia used all her strength to push him frantically toward the edge of the cliff.

"ah--"

Wang Jianjun screamed in terror, but his foot had already slipped, and he fell straight down like a broken sack!

The cliff wasn't high, only a dozen meters, and there was a thick layer of snow at the bottom.

Jiang Wanxia lay on the edge of the cliff, listening to a muffled thud and a man's painful groan from below. She knew that this fall wouldn't kill him.

Without the slightest hesitation, she turned and ran to a not-too-steep slope not far away, where she practically tumbled and crawled down the slope.

In the snow, Wang Jianjun was indeed still struggling. He was clutching his leg, howling in pain: "My leg! Fuck you, my leg is broken! I'll kill you..."

Jiang Wanxia was panting heavily, her chest heaving, her eyes searching anxiously in the darkness. Soon, she found a stone about the size of a human head, with sharp edges.

She picked up the stone and walked step by step toward Wang Jianjun.

"What are you trying to do? Don't come any closer! You..."

Wang Jianjun stared in horror, but Jiang Wanxia said nothing. She simply raised the stone in her hand and smashed it down on his head with all her might, again and again.

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

The warm liquid splashed onto her face, but she didn't care. Only when the man beneath her was completely still did she throw away the stone, slump down in the snow, and gasp for breath.

After a long while, she finally calmed her heart, which was pounding in her chest, and staggered to her feet, heading in the direction of Jiang Wanqiu.

Sure enough, on the other side of the cliff, she saw Jiang Wanqiu.

Jiang Wanqiu was holding onto a small, thin figure tightly; the child was Ping An.

Ping An was only wearing a thin cotton-padded jacket. His little face was blue from the cold, his lips were bloodless, and his eyes were unfocused. He was obviously hallucinating due to hypothermia.

If Jiang Wanqiu hadn't noticed and pulled him back in time, he probably would have lost his footing and fallen.

"Ping An! Wake up! Come home with your sister-in-law! It won't be cold at home!" Jiang Wanqiu's voice was loud, but Ping An seemed not to hear her, still struggling and shouting incoherently, "Mother... I want to find my mother... I don't want to go back..."

"Sister! I'm here to help you!" Jiang Wanxia ran over, looking anxious.

She squeezed between the two, trying to persuade Ping An with kind words while reaching out to pull him: "Ping An, listen to me! Look, your sister-in-law is almost crying!"

She said she would help, but she was actually using a hidden force, seemingly pulling Ping An inward, but in reality she was pulling him step by step toward the edge of the cliff.

Jiang Wanqiu's attention was entirely focused on Ping An, and she didn't notice anything unusual about her younger sister.

Suddenly, Jiang Wanxia's hand slipped, and she pretended to exclaim in surprise, then shoved Ping An hard!

Ping An was already unsteady on his feet, and with that push, his whole body crashed straight into Jiang Wanqiu!

"ah!"

Jiang Wanqiu was knocked backward, her feet slipping and her heel sinking into the ground. A panic gripped her, and she instinctively glanced back—behind her lay a dark, bottomless abyss!

Before she could turn her head, an even stronger force suddenly pushed her from behind!

Jiang Wanqiu felt as if she had been hit hard in the back of the heart with a hammer, and she instantly lost her balance.

The wind howled in my ears, and all I could see was a swirling darkness.

She instinctively tried to grab something, but her fingertips only brushed against the cold air and a few withered branches bent under the weight of snow. Her body tumbled down, like a discarded rag doll.

It's over.

The thought had barely crossed my mind when my body slammed heavily into something soft with a "plop."

The cliff wasn't as deep as she had imagined, nor was it a sheer drop.

It was just a steep slope, with snow piled up at the bottom over the years, thick enough to bury a person. The thick cotton-padded coat I was wearing became my best protection, absorbing most of the force.

Jiang Wanqiu was so disoriented from the fall that she almost couldn't catch her breath, and a metallic taste rose in her throat.

She lay on her back in the snowdrift, feeling as if all the bones in her body were falling apart, and she grimaced in pain.

Through the clouds torn apart by the wind, a few pale stars could be seen, chillingly cold.

On the cliff, Jiang Wanxia was lying on the edge, holding her breath and listening down.

The wind was so strong that she couldn't hear anything below. But she was certain that with that push, even if the person didn't die, they would be crippled.

In this freezing cold, a half-crippled woman and a frozen baby were practically dead.

She straightened up, her chest heaving with excitement and lingering fear.

Once Jiang Wanqiu and Wang Jianjun, those two troublemakers, are dealt with, Zhao Wenchang... that tall and handsome man, will be hers sooner or later.

And there's that huge sum of ten thousand yuan in my sister's hands!

When the time comes, she can use the money to win over Zhao Wenchang's heart. Whether she wants to stay in the village as the battalion commander's wife, whom everyone envies, or run away to the city to live a good life, it's all up to her.

A gust of cold wind blew, and she shivered.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of bright red on the snow—it was the woolen scarf that Jiang Wanqiu had dropped during her struggle.

She walked over and picked up the scarf. It seemed to still retain the warmth of Jiang Wanqiu's body and the faint scent of soap.

Without hesitation, she wrapped the scarf around her frozen neck, and the soft warmth made her sigh with relief.

No, I have to go down and take a look to make sure before I feel at ease.

She groped for the military flashlight that had fallen to the side, turned it on with a "click," and a beam of dim yellow light pierced the darkness.

She had only taken a couple of steps when a rough male shout suddenly came from deep within the woods, piercing through the wind and snow and striking her ears directly—

Late autumn!

It's Zhao Wenchang's voice!

Jiang Wanxia's heart skipped a beat. Why had he come looking for her?!

Perhaps feeling guilty, she panicked and, without bothering to check the bottom of the cliff, turned around and tried to run down another path.

"stop!"

A sharp shout came from behind, followed by a large hand suddenly grabbing her arm.

Jiang Wanxia was pulled off balance by the force and stumbled. She turned around and met a pair of eyes that were as sharp as a hawk's in the darkness.

Zhao Wenchang stood before her, radiating an aura of coldness.

His military overcoat collar was turned up, his eyebrows were covered in frost, and his face looked particularly stern in the light of the flashlight.

"What are you doing here!" he demanded of the woman in a stern voice.

"Sister, brother-in-law..." Jiang Wanxia stammered in fright, her mind racing. "I...I got separated from my sister and Jianjun. I figured that the more people there were, the more help I would have, so...so I came here to look for them myself."

"Wanqiu?" he pressed. "Where did she go?"

"I don't know!" Jiang Wanxia shook her head innocently. "We split up to search not long after we entered the woods. It was dark and windy, and I don't know which way my sister went."

Zhao Wenchang frowned, his gaze slowly moving downwards until it finally settled on the bright red scarf around Jiang Wanxia's neck.

Why is her scarf around your neck?

Jiang Wanxia subconsciously gripped the scarf tighter, hurriedly forcing a smile: "Sister, brother-in-law, this is... this was specially found by my sister before I left home. She saw that I was dressed too lightly and was afraid I would get cold, so she put it on me. She said that as the sister-in-law, she is more robust than me."

There was nothing wrong with what he said, but Zhao Wenchang's doubts grew heavier and heavier.

The two militiamen who followed him also shone their flashlights over.

Zhao Wenchang stared at Jiang Wanxia silently for a long time, his gaze almost making her kneel down. Finally, he withdrew his gaze and said in a deep voice to the militiamen behind him, "You two, take her down the mountain first. Finding people is not something women need to do."

After saying that, he didn't look at Jiang Wanxia again, turned around and rushed into the vast night once more.

Jiang Wanxia was escorted by the militiamen and descended the mountain with a clear conscience.

That night, torches and flashlights lit up the mountain all night long.

As dawn broke and the snow subsided, the men, exhausted from their all-night search, finally descended the mountain one by one.

Everyone gained nothing.

An old hunter walked up to Zhao Wenchang, sighed, and patted him on the shoulder: "Wenchang, don't look anymore. In this weather, even an adult can't survive one night, let alone a child... I'm afraid he's probably dead."

People around him chimed in, saying, "Yes, Wenchang, everyone has things to do at home. We can't just stay on the mountain forever. If it gets any colder, even healthy people will get sick."

Zhao Wenchang stood on a relatively high hilltop, looking at the vast expanse of white forest before him.

He remained silent for a while, and then, in a hoarse voice, said, "Everyone... let's get out of here. Thank you for your hard work."

Everyone dispersed.

Zhao Wenchang dragged his heavy steps back home. Inside, Zhao Xiaohua and her grandmother Ma Jinhua were pacing anxiously, while Jiang Wanxia was sitting calmly by the stove, warming herself by the fire and slowly munching on a sticky rice cake.

Zhao Wenchang's gaze swept around the room, and his brows furrowed sharply: "Where is Wanqiu?"

Zhao Xiaohua was startled and quickly stepped forward: "You're back! Did you find Ping An?... What, wasn't Wanqiu with you? Didn't she come up the mountain with you? You didn't see her when you came down the mountain?!"

All eyes immediately focused on Jiang Wanxia.

Seeing this, Jiang Wanxia quickly put down the sticky rice cake in her hand. Her face immediately showed anxiety and grievance, her eyes reddened, and her voice was trembling with tears: "I don't know! Brother-in-law, you're asking me? It's dark at night, and I don't know where my sister went! Besides, my husband Wang Jianjun hasn't come back all night either. I'm so worried!"

After hearing this, Zhao Wenchang turned around and rushed out again without saying a word!

When Zhao Xiaohua heard that something was wrong, she was startled and, without thinking of anything else, took off after him.

Even the elderly Ma Jinhua was extremely anxious. Leaning on her cane, she muttered, "Oh, my daughter-in-law!" and followed him out shakily.