Chapter 17
On the low slope, where the ground was originally covered with layers of snow, three pairs of footprints appeared. In the woods below the low slope, there were also footprints and traces of scratching for objects.
Everything that was supposed to be hidden by the snow has now been uncovered and is about to reveal its truth.
Gu Ran was frightened and couldn't help but turn his head to glance at Pei Liuniang. He found that she was also biting her lip with a gloomy expression.
"What are you looking at?" One of the postmen noticed Gu Ran's actions and shouted.
Li Jieguan and the other two officers at the bottom of the hill heard the noise and looked up the hill.
"I……"
Before Gu Ran could explain, the officer who was guarding him pushed him and said, "Behave yourself."
Gu Ran quickly lowered his head, and when he saw the slope down out of the corner of his eye, he was stunned.
The snow was turned over, and Feng Duojin's body, which should have been next to the dead tree, was gone.
How could that be?
Gu Ran was both surprised and delighted, and then he said to the officer behind him, "Sir, it's very cold up here. Could you please let me wait at the back of the hill?"
The two officers in charge of escorting the prisoners shivered in the biting east wind. After hearing what Gu Ran said, they looked behind the short slope and found that it was indeed a good place to block the wind. They shouted loudly to Li Jieguan at the bottom of the slope, and took Gu Ran and Pei Liuniang down the short slope.
"Why, it is indeed much warmer here."
The two constables stood on each side, Gu Ran and Pei Liuniang stood in the middle, and the four of them couldn't help but rub their hands.
I didn't notice it when I was walking just now, but when I stopped, I felt cold to the bone.
"Where the hell is Feng Duojin at this hour? How can he be nowhere to be seen?"
"Why is this Mr. Feng always causing trouble for our post station?"
Gu Ran listened to the official and the postman complaining, rubbing his hands, but he couldn't help but ignore Pei Liuniang, thinking about the rabbit hole on the other side of the wall.
The place she had dug earlier was filled with snow again.
How can I get the rabbit out later?
I must not let the police know, otherwise the rabbit will belong to them and I will definitely not be able to touch a single hair of it.
So this matter had to be done without the knowledge of the officers, and when they were not paying attention.
If I don’t catch him this time, I’m afraid I’ll never have the chance to come here again.
Time will never come back, so you must cherish it so that you can secretly eat meat in the future.
Gu Ran racked his brains to think of how to transfer the two officers, but when he saw Pei Liuniang's big feet wearing wool felt boots, he found it even more difficult.
By the way, this time not only do we have to transfer the officers, but we also have to avoid Pei Liuniang.
We have to find a way to have the best of both worlds.
Although standing on the low slope could shelter him from the wind, he was still outdoors and surrounded by snow. Gu Ran was wearing thin clothes, and his body temperature slowly dropped in the cold environment.
After a while, Gu Ran could no longer hold on and slowly squatted down.
“What are you doing?
"Sir, it's cold."
"It's cold, but I'm getting up."
"Sir, it's really cold." Pei Liuniang also squatted down and begged, "Please let us squat for a while and get up after we warm up."
The two officers' faces turned pale from the cold. They looked at each other and simply squatted down.
"Just a little while. You have to get up before Lord Li comes back."
"Hey! Thank you, sir."
The four of them squatted on a low slope, rubbing their hands and breathing out white air. After waiting for who knows how long, Gu Ran suddenly heard an unusual sound. At first, he thought he had misheard and didn't pay much attention to it. But when the sound grew louder, he stopped rubbing his hands and asked, "Did you hear anything?"
"Master Li is back?"
The two officers immediately stood up. One of them quickly climbed the hill, looked around, and shouted down the hill, "I don't see anyone!"
"Did you hear it wrong?" Another officer looked at Gu Ran and rolled his eyes.
"No, really, there were footsteps, and..." Gu Ran remembered that he had extraordinary hearing and vision that others didn't know about, and hesitated whether to continue. However, the footsteps he heard in his ears were very messy, and there was also the sound of hooves chasing on the snow.
Probably, animals.
As a talisman master, in order to obtain the talisman skin for mid-level talismans, he would hunt some animals in the mountains or secret realms just to skin them.
She had heard the sound of four-legged animals running quickly on the snow, so now she could distinguish the footsteps of humans and the sounds of four-legged animals.
At this time, what kind of four-legged animal would chase people on the snow?
Gu Ran remembered the wolf disaster that Aunt Mai and her daughter had mentioned, and his face changed. Could it be that there were wolves?
Just as he was thinking this, the howling of wolves was heard in the woods. Gu Ran's heart tightened, and Pei Liuniang beside him slowly stood up.
The other officer also quickly climbed down the hill and drew his swords together with another officer: "It's a wolf!"
"They met a wolf!"
Soon, the footsteps on the low slope came closer and closer.
Gu Ran couldn't help swallowing his saliva. He just felt cold, and he didn't know if it was because of the cold or fear. He was trembling slightly with excitement.
“Ahhhhhh!”
“Help!”
A figure, two figures, tumbled down from the low slope.
Then, a wolf caught up, then two, and then three.
Seeing their colleague being torn and chased by wolves, the two officers guarding the prisoners roared and raised their swords to chop at them. However, because they were caught off guard, they each hit two wolves with their swords.
The wolf howled even louder, turned around and pounced on them with its fangs bared.
Seeing that their colleagues were helping them, the two officers stopped and returned to capture the three wolves.
Gu Ran was still squatting at the foot of the low slope, his body curled up into a ball.
If I were a cultivator, I could use my spiritual power and talismans to help. But now I am in the body of Gu Er Niang, sick and weak, with no weapons at hand, so I just hope I don't cause more trouble.
The officer who had fallen to avoid the wolf's attack fell in front of them, then immediately stood up and rushed forward again with the knife in his hand. Then, another thin body blocked Gu Ran.
It’s Pei Liuniang.
"As soon as we see a gap, we will run immediately," she said to Gu Ran.
At this time, the officers were busy with their own affairs, and as prisoners, they just had to escape back to the post station.
Gu Ran nodded and watched the fight between man and wolf, which was full of danger. Then he saw Pei Liuniang staring at the field, her attention not on his side. Amid the howling of wolves, he turned around and quickly climbed up the snow wall. After digging out a hole, he suddenly reached in.
It's a pity that she acted as fiercely as a tiger but didn't catch a single rabbit.
She could only sigh in her heart that the saying "a cunning rabbit has three lairs" was indeed true.
Pei Liuniang urged, "Hurry, now..." Then she glanced at Gu Ran and saw that she almost collapsed to the ground. She was stunned and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
"My feet are weak." Gu Ran half-turned his body to block his hand that was reaching into the rabbit hole, then pulled it back and wiped it on the snow.
"While the wolves' attention is on the officers, let's escape quickly."
"Escape, which direction to escape to?" Gu Ran asked, propping himself up.
"Take a detour and return to the post station!"
As Pei Liuniang spoke, she pulled Gu Ran up and pushed her up the slope.
Pei Liuniang was very strong. She didn't need to climb up by herself. She almost lifted her up the slope by herself. Before she could stand firmly on the slope, Pei Liuniang jumped up.
The movements were so smooth that she almost forgot that this person, like her, had iron chains on his feet.
Just as Gu Ran was about to stand up, he heard footsteps and the sound of four-legged animals running.
Is there a wolf behind?
Is it coming from the side of the low slope?
Sure enough, a figure was already rushing towards this side on the snow in the jungle.
"Pei Liuniang."
It's too late to escape.
Gu Ran looked down the slope, gritted his teeth, and threw Cui Liuniang, who had just stood up, to the ground.
"What are you doing?"
Pei Liuniang was surprised. Just as she asked this question, she heard the howling of wolves from the woods. Then she felt her body being flipped over and she rolled down the slope in Gu Erniang's arms.
It would have been better for them to continue squatting at the bottom of the hill. The wolves in front of them would only focus on the four officers, and the wolves chasing them from behind might not be led here by the officers.
But they were on a low slope, exposed to the elements, and the wolves could see them at a glance when they came after them.
There is not just one wolf.
The officer must have provoked a pack of wolves, no less than six of them.
Gu Ran didn't know whether the wolves would attack them when they caught up with them and discovered them, so she made a quick decision to avoid the wolves.
There is no way to escape, the best option is to hide down the slope.
So, I had no choice but to leave.
Gu Ran was originally holding Pei Liuniang in her arms. As they rolled down the slope, Pei Liuniang's arms also wrapped around her waist and hugged her tightly. Her big hands subconsciously protected her head until they rolled down the slope and lay on the snow.
Hearing the sharp howl of a wolf, the two looked up and saw the shadow of a wolf leaping past. Just as they were about to breathe a sigh of relief, Gu Ran heard footsteps coming from the woods below the slope.
"Master Li."
"There are wolves up there, attacking people."
The two of them saw who was coming and shouted together.
Adjutant Li, who was running back, had a pale face. He strode past them, quickly climbed the steep slope with the two officers, and jumped down.
Listening to the howling of wolves and the sound of swords clashing, Gu Ran felt uneasy.
The sound lasted for a long time before it slowly died down.
"What should we do?"
Pei Liuniang admired Gu Ran's quick thinking and ability to avoid the wolf, so she took the initiative to ask questions, which was unusual for her.
The two were still hugging each other. Gu Ran quickly let go of Pei Liuniang, stood up, patted the snow off his body, and stood up unsteadily. By the way, he took a look at the place where Feng Duojin's body should have been, and sure enough, it was gone.
Pei Liuniang did the same as her and glanced at the dead branches and leaves beside the tree stump.
"Wait a minute, or we can go around this slope and walk up from the side."
After waiting for a while, there was no sound from above, so Gu Ran and Pei Liuniang took a detour and went up.
Fearing wolves, they did not dare to appear rashly. After calling out "Sir" and "Mr. Li" twice and getting a response, they dared to walk back to the foot of the hill and saw a mess on the snow.
Blood, hair, fallen icicles and dead branches.
And several dead wolves collapsed on the ground.
As for Li Jieguan and the officers, they all lay down at the foot of the low slope. The seriously injured groaned in pain, while the lightly injured bandaged their wounds hastily and then helped the seriously injured to treat their wounds.
When he saw them coming, he immediately shouted, "Where have you been running to? Come and help us."
Gu Ran said nothing and went forward to help the officers.
The same is true for Pei Liuniang.
The one with the least bite wounds on his body took a sip from the wine bag and sprayed it on the exposed wounds bitten by the wolves. The injured official was biting a branch in his mouth, his teeth bared and his expression was ferocious, with red eyes.
After Li Jieguan quickly disinfected him, he applied the medicine he had with him and bandaged it with the torn inner cloth.
Judging from his movements, it seems that he has shown injuries to others many times and is very skilled in handling them.
Moreover, he was well prepared when he went out, and even brought with him some common medicines for injuries and bruises that might be used when walking outdoors.
After cleaning all the wounds of his men and emptying a whole wineskin of wine, Li Jie asked, "How did you provoke the wolves?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
