As night deepened, the flames in the fireplace gradually diminished, but they still emitted enough heat.
Lin Feng put down his phone and stretched.
He walked to the window and looked out again.
The wind and snow were raging, showing no signs of abating.
He could even see huge chunks of snow, whipped up by the gale, crashing against the wall like cannonballs with a chilling thud.
The spikes at the top of the wall were already covered with thick icicles, which gleamed menacingly in the faint moonlight that occasionally pierced through the clouds.
He smiled contentedly, turned around, and walked back to his warm bed.
Lin Feng lay on the bed and quickly fell asleep.
For him, the blizzard was nothing more than a slightly long vacation where he could enjoy some personal time.
Meanwhile, in a simple cave about a mile away from Lin Feng's "paradise," Qin Lan and her five companions are undergoing a real test of life and death.
The arrival of the blizzard was nothing short of a catastrophe for them.
Although their caves had been reinforced to some extent, and the low walls and straw curtains at the entrances provided some cover, these rudimentary defensive measures seemed utterly insignificant in the face of such terrifying natural forces.
The gale, like countless invisible hands, tore at the low walls they had built with stones and mud, making unsettling creaking sounds, as if they were about to collapse at any moment.
Snowflakes and ice crystals, carried by the gale, poured in wildly from the gaps in the curtains and even from the cracks in the rocks, quickly forming a thin layer of white frost on the cave floor.
The temperature inside the cave dropped sharply, and even though they burned the only campfire they had, it was not enough to ward off the biting cold.
"It's so...so cold..."
Tang Bao, the youngest girl in the team, was huddled tightly together with Qian Xiaoxiao and Ruan Mengtian, her teeth chattering uncontrollably, her little face turning purple from the cold.
They were wrapped in every piece of clothing and animal skin they could find, but a chill clung to them like a leech, constantly eroding their body temperature.
Qin Lan and Su Wanqing sat by the fire, their expressions solemn.
Their eyes scanned every corner of the cave, alert to any potential danger.
"The curtain... the curtain is about to give way!"
Su Wanqing suddenly called out, pointing to the cave entrance.
The curtain, woven from withered branches and straw ropes, had been ravaged by the fierce wind, and more snow and wind were pouring in through the holes.
Without saying a word, Qin Lan grabbed a relatively intact piece of thick animal hide from the side and, together with Su Wanqing, braved the biting wind and the blizzard to cover the torn part of the curtain with the animal hide, and weighed it down with several heavy stones.
But this was only a temporary measure, as the power of the gale was simply too great.
"We must find a way to seal the opening even more tightly!" Qin Lan wiped the snow off her face and said loudly.
They had so few things at their disposal.
Almost all the movable stones in the cave were used to reinforce the low walls at the cave entrance.
"Snow...we can use snow!"
Suddenly, Qian Xiaoxiao had a flash of inspiration and pointed to the snow that had already accumulated inside the cave, saying, "We can pile the snow behind the curtain to form a snow wall!"
This is a work in progress, but it's not a truly effective solution. While snow can offer some protection, it is itself a source of cold.
However, under the current circumstances, they couldn't think of a better idea.
So the six women set to work. With their hands, with broken pottery shards, with anything they could find, they gathered the snow from inside the cave, piling it up inside the curtain.
The biting cold quickly caused them to lose feeling in their hands, but the will to survive sustained them.
After an unknown amount of time, a snow wall, about half a meter thick and as high as the door curtain, finally took shape.
Although a cold wind still seeped in through the cracks, the situation was better than before.
However, a new problem arose – fuel.
Their stockpiles of dry branches and manure were consumed very quickly in this weather.
To keep the fire burning, they had to constantly add fuel. But their reserves were already low, and at this rate, they probably wouldn't last more than a few days.
"Fuel... our fuel probably won't last more than three days."
Su Wanqing looked worriedly at the small pile of firewood that was left beside the fire, her voice tinged with despair.
Qin Lan frowned. She knew Su Wanqing was telling the truth.
Once the fire went out, their fate in this icy, isolated cave was predictable.
Use it sparingly.
Qin Lan said in a deep voice, "From now on, keep the fire small, just enough to keep it burning. Everyone should try to huddle together for warmth. Food should also be strictly controlled, with only one meal a day to maintain the most basic physical strength."
No one objected.
They all understood that they were now at a critical juncture of life and death, and any waste could have devastating consequences.
They took out all the animal skins they had and wrapped them tightly around their bodies. Then the six of them huddled around the fire, back to back, trying to minimize heat loss.
The cave was dimly lit, with only the faint glow of the fire illuminating their pale and tired faces.
The gale continued to rage outside the cave, emitting terrifying sounds like the wailing of ghosts and wolves. With each violent gust of wind, their hearts clenched involuntarily.
They didn't know how long the blizzard would last, or whether they could hold out until it stopped.
Time seemed to slow down dramatically amidst the extreme cold, hunger, and fear.
"Will...will we die here?"
Ruan Mengtian asked softly, her voice trembling with tears.
"No way!"
Qian Xiaoxiao immediately retorted loudly, though her voice trembled slightly: "We will definitely survive! Mr. Lin is so capable, he must have a way! Once the snowstorm stops, we'll go find him and trade what we find for food!"
Her words were less about comforting others and more about encouraging herself.
Tang Bao buried her head in Qian Xiaoxiao's arms and sobbed softly.
She remembered the warmth of Lin Feng's wooden house, the delicious food, and Wangcai... The stark contrast made her feel incredibly wronged and desperate.
Qin Lan sighed softly. She knew that what she needed most right now was confidence.
She reached out and gently patted Shen Jiaqi's shoulder, who was closest to her, and said softly, "Don't be afraid. We've overcome so many difficulties, and we can definitely do it this time too. Do you remember when we first came here? We had nothing, but we still survived, didn't we? Now we at least have this cave, fire, and each other."
Although her voice was not loud, it carried a convincing power.
Su Wanqing chimed in, "Yes, we still have each other. As long as we stick together, there's no obstacle we can't overcome. Think about Yang Li and the others; they're definitely in a worse situation than us right now."
Mentioning Yang Li eased the atmosphere in the cave slightly.
Compared to that group of selfish, scheming women, their small group at least maintained basic unity and mutual assistance.
"They...they may already be..."
Shen Jiaqi hesitated before speaking, not finishing her sentence, but everyone understood what she meant.
In such a blizzard, the chances of Yang Li and her group surviving were extremely slim.
No one responded. Although they had long since broken ties with Yang Li and the others, the thought of their possible tragic fate still left them with mixed feelings.
Don't think about it too much.
Qin Lan interrupted everyone's thoughts, "The most important thing now is to conserve our energy and stay alert. Take turns keeping watch, keep an eye on the fire, and watch the cave entrance."
So they devised a simple night watch system.
Two people were assigned to each group, taking turns tending the fire and keeping watch on the snow and wind at the entrance of the cave.
The rest huddled together, trying to conserve their energy.
Inside the cave, there was a faint fire, a tenacious life force, and a small yet indomitable soul struggling in despair.
Their food reserves are being depleted at an alarming rate.
The dried meat strips and sweet potatoes that were originally planned to last for ten to fifteen days became a tight supply under strict rationing.
Each day they were only given a small piece of dry, hard meat or a few pieces of charred sweet potato.
Water also became a problem. The ice they had stored up was quickly used up, and the wind and snow outside the cave were so strong that it was impossible to go out and fetch water.
They could only carefully collect the occasional meltwater dripping from the cracks in the rocks at the top of the cave, or melt the relatively clean snow blown in through the entrance for drinking.
They had no idea what kind of luxurious life Lin Feng was enjoying at that moment, and they dared not even think about it.
Their only thought was to survive.
They lived until the snow stopped, until they could leave the cave again, until... they saw that powerful and ruthless man again, using everything they had to buy a chance at survival.
If Qin Lan and her group's cave was the edge of hell, then the small cave where Yang Li and her followers lived had now completely transformed into the deepest layer of hell.
Their situation was a hundred times more tragic than Qin Lan's.
The already cramped and dark cave was no match for such a fierce blizzard.
On the first night of the snowstorm, the few tattered animal hides and withered branches they had used to block the cave entrance were completely torn to shreds by the fierce wind. Snow and ice rushed into the cave like a tidal wave, quickly turning the entire cave into an ice cellar.
Their fire had gone out completely the day after the snowstorm began, because the fuel ran out.
Without fire, they completely lost their last line of defense against the bitter cold.
Hunger tormented them like a demon. They had no decent food reserves to begin with, and before they could occasionally scavenge some leftovers from wild animals in the snow, or pick some unknown plants that could barely fill their stomachs.
But now, the blizzard has covered everything, and they have been completely cut off from their food supply.
The body of the companion who died on the eve of the snowstorm still lies in a corner of the cave.
At first, they felt fear and nausea. But as hunger intensified, a terrible thought began to quietly take root in the minds of the remaining few.
"Yang... Sister Yang Li..."
A woman, so thin she was just skin and bones, spoke in a hoarse voice, her eyes gleaming with a chilling green light: "I...I can't take it anymore...I'm starving to death..."
Yang Li wrapped her already worn-out designer coat tighter around herself. Her body was trembling uncontrollably, whether from the cold, fear, or... the same hunger, she didn't know.
Her lips were chapped, her face was sallow and swollen, and her eyes had become somewhat unfocused.
The once glamorous and sharp-tongued independent woman on the stand-up comedy stage now looks more pathetic than the most humble beggar.
"What...what do you want to do?" Yang Li's voice was equally hoarse, tinged with a hint of wariness.
"She...she's dead..."
Another woman chimed in, her gaze also fixed on the corpse, a gulping sound escaping her throat as she swallowed: "Keeping it... is a waste... We... we have to live..."
The last woman didn't speak, but her greedy and crazed eyes said it all.
Yang Li's heart skipped a beat. She knew what they were thinking.
She was hungry, so hungry she was going crazy, so hungry she even started hallucinating.
She seemed to see steaming rice, fragrant roasted meat, and all sorts of junk food that she had once looked down upon...
"No...no..." Yang Li used all her strength to squeeze out these two words through clenched teeth.
Her last shred of sanity was a dying struggle against that primal, beast-like desire.
Why not?
The first woman to speak suddenly screamed, her emotions running high, "We're all going to die! What are you pretending to be, playing the saint!"
As she spoke, she and another woman stumbled and lunged toward the corpse.
"Stop!" Yang Li screamed, trying to stop them. But she was already too weak from hunger to stop the two women who had been driven mad by starvation.
What happened next was enough to completely break any rational person.
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