Chapter 83: Mountain Avalanche
In the early morning, it started to snow lightly. The cold wind carried salt-like snow and hit her face, scratching her skin painfully. Qin Xiangnuan looked at the gloomy sky. She was afraid that the sun would not come out. The thick clouds blocked the light. People could barely see a few meters away. If she didn't leave now, it would be too late! Feeling a little uneasy, Qin Xiangnuan naturally did not delay, "Second Uncle, Third Uncle! We should go!"
With the help of Xu Jian and Anliu, the people in the General's Mansion could move much more easily.
Madam Qin and Ading sat securely on the cart, while the others, carrying various supplies, slowly made their way down the mountain path. After about half an hour, the snow began to fall heavily, the strong wind whipping the flakes around, making it nearly impossible to open your eyes, forcing you to squint. The mountain path was difficult to navigate, and the snow quickly accumulated into a thick layer. By the time they reached the halfway point, the snow was already above your calves.
Qin Xiangnuan's hands were frozen red. She covered her ears and followed Xu Jian and Anliu with one foot deep and one foot shallow.
Two men scouted the path ahead, breaking off dead branches from trees. With each step, they used them to poke a hole in the snow ahead, testing the height to avoid a fall. The pace of movement slowed, and everyone's physical condition began to deteriorate. Old Madam Qin would cough periodically, each one sounding as if she was coughing up her lungs. Lady Liu, dressed lightly, felt nearly frozen, her steps stiff.
"This is not a solution."
Qin Xiangnuan thought to herself, planning to find a place to rest for a while. But as soon as the idea came up, she rejected it. If the mountain was blocked by heavy snow, with their current stockpiles, they would not be able to survive until the mountain was opened. They had to leave! "Second uncle, hurry up! Give me the things in your hand." After she said that, she wanted to take Qin Yi's bag. As soon as she stretched out her hand, a pair of strong arms passed over her head and snatched the bag away.
"How can you be so strong? Leave this matter to me."
Qin Feng's ears were cracking from the cold, but he still wore a naive smile as he swung the bag vigorously, heaving it onto his shoulder. His breathing was rapid, and the breath from his mouth drifted upward as he spoke, coating his eyelashes with ice crystals. "Dad always says I'm not as smart as you. That's true, but I'm stronger than you!" Qin Feng took off his hat and put it on Qin Xiangnuan's head.
The fox fur hat with his body temperature brought a burst of warmth to Qin Xiangnuan. She pressed it with her hand and whispered, "Thank you, cousin."
"Little girl, why are you being so polite to me!" Qin Feng raised his eyebrows complacently, but the next second he bent over and sneezed. Two lines of green water flowed from his nose. When the cold wind blew, they instantly turned into two small icicles. He hurriedly brushed them off with his hands and looked at Qin Xiangnuan awkwardly.
This brother's pretense was broken in less than two seconds!
Why is he always in such a mess? Qin Feng complained in his heart, but Qin Xiangnuan keenly heard a subtle crackling sound in the air. She stopped and turned back to look for the sound. When her sight fell on the top of the mountain, her face suddenly changed. Without caring about her calmness, she pulled Qin Feng's arm and shouted to the people behind her, "Run! There's an avalanche!"
Damn it, I didn’t expect the worst to happen!
Qin Xiangnuan held onto the cart, pushing it desperately with Qin Feng and Qin Yi. Qin Yi looked back and saw that a large area of snow on the top of the mountain had tilted and fallen. "This..." He had only heard Qin Guang say that during the war, an avalanche had buried countless soldiers, leaving no trace of their bodies in the deep mountains. But the geology of Phoenix Mountain was solid, so how could this happen? Although Wang Qiang had a disabled leg, he still ran at a fast speed. "It's those rocks!"
"Yeah." Qin Xiangnuan nodded and said as she ran, "When I was fighting with the assassins while pushing away those rocks, I didn't notice that cracks had appeared in the rocks and crevices between the cliffs at the top of the mountain, and there were signs of collapse. Brother Wang warned me, but I didn't pay attention. The snow fell too heavily today, piling up on the cliffs that were about to break, pressing them down."
The snow will roll down, and the snowballs will chase them at a very fast speed.
"This won't do! Sooner or later we'll be caught up, and then we'll all be crushed." Xu Jian roared in a tense voice. He tried to find something that could stop the snowball, but looking around, Phoenix Mountain was full of dead trees. Even if it could stop it temporarily, there was no way to completely resolve the danger.
Anliu narrowed his eyes, looked at the bend at the foot of the mountain, and looked back to calculate the route of the snowball's fall.
"Get there! As long as we can hide there, everything will be solved!" Anliu's words undoubtedly brought hope to the people in the general's mansion. Everyone gritted their teeth and ran desperately, but the tremors caused by their running accelerated the speed of the avalanche, a vicious cycle. Seeing that the snowball was about to catch up with them. This can't go on! Qin Xiangnuan didn't care about anything else. With her agile and light body, she grabbed a branch and jumped up. She took out the soft whip wrapped around her waist and hooked it on the branch in front of her. Her eyes scanned Phoenix Mountain, looking for a place to hide.
Please! Give me a way out!
Qin Xiangnuan grew anxious, mentally praying. Xu Jian and Anliu simultaneously looked up, their eyes changing as they saw the Third Young Lady of the General's Mansion, whose movements could practically be described as swift and unrestrained. They exchanged a glance, then fell silent.
"Hey, Nuannuan! Be careful, come down quickly!"
"This girl, she didn't even learn these skills when she was a child, how could she..."
When Madam Qin and Madam Zou saw her, their hearts jumped into their throats, and they shouted and urged her in a tense voice. Only Madam Liu looked at Qin Xiangnuan's back quietly, an idea emerging in her mind, but she was not sure.
Now that things have come to this, let's talk about the explanation later! Qin Xiangnuan had only one thought in her mind, which was to protect this group of people. The white snow made people's vision blurry. Qin Xiangnuan clenched her teeth. A second before her eyes turned dark, she saw a cave at the bottom of the mountain that could pass two people. She wondered where it led to and how many people it could accommodate?
But other than this, there is only one way to go, which is death.
"In front! Twenty steps, on the left, get in! Hurry up, everyone, move quickly!" Qin Xiangnuan was the first to rush to the cave entrance and called on everyone to hide in. At first, it was smooth. The men in the general's mansion protected Zou and Liu and ran in. Qi didn't need their help at all. She carried Qin Xiangsong and trotted to the deepest part of the cave. However, the cart carrying Ading and the old lady was stuck at the door, which delayed their efforts.
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