71 Hillside
◎Circle after circle◎
Bear?
Qi Qiuxue stood up silently and looked outside the cave. There was indeed a series of footprints in the snow extending into the distance. Judging from the size and shape, it was definitely a large wild animal.
But whether it was really attracted by the aroma of roasted rabbit as the two men said or something else remains to be seen.
Qi Qiuxue carefully examined Ah Chuang's body parts and found traces of being torn by sharp teeth.
“…”
Being eaten alive is an extremely painful way to die.
The NPCs who came over after hearing the news were all scared to death when they saw this scene. They opened their mouths wide but could not make any sound. The dim cave was silent, with only the crackling sound of flames burning firewood.
So many things have happened right at the beginning, and now they are at least two-thirds of the way to the top of the mountain. What will happen in the future is still unknown.
"Why do you want to hide the food?" After a while, Dali was the first to react. He was taller and stronger than the others, and the wild fruits for dinner were not enough for him to fill his stomach.
He was grieving over the death of his companions, but could not tolerate their concealment and deception: "If you had shared the food with everyone, perhaps this wouldn't have happened!"
Faced with his anger, the two men felt they were in the wrong and did not dare to say a word.
"Forget it." After a while, the team leader, Sister Yang, stepped forward to try to persuade them. It was still several hours before dawn, and continuing to stalemate was not a solution. "It's already happened. There's no point in saying more now."
"Go back and rest first. We'll bury Ah Chuang right here when the sun comes up."
"Sister Yang!" After something like this just happened, the two men simply didn't want to stay here anymore. "Is there any other place to sleep? Someone just died here. We really don't have the courage to stay here anymore."
"There are no more spare caves." Sister Yang looked around at everyone, finally stopping her gaze on Xiao Liu and Dali. "How about letting them squeeze in with you?"
"That's fine." Xiao Liu had no objection.
"Come here if you don't want to be beaten to death by me!" Dali spat angrily and left the cave first.
"Hurry up and follow me." Xiao Liu sighed and called the two men to leave together.
After the few people left, the rest of the NPCs also dispersed. Qi Qiuxue checked the scene again out of concern, but did not find any clues worth paying attention to.
"Let's go back too." Li Yiqing called her and the three of them turned back together.
-
That night, everyone slept uneasily for fear that another large animal would attack.
In Musoglu, where it snows all year round, the dawn comes relatively late. It is around 7:30 when it gradually becomes bright outside.
Everyone simply boiled some snow water for washing, and then at Sister Yang's call, they buried A Chuang's remains on the spot. The atmosphere today was different from yesterday, and it was extremely heavy and depressing.
But unexpectedly, no one mentioned going back. Even Qi Qiuxue couldn't help but become curious about what kind of tempting treasures were hidden on this mountain.
Today's breakfast is still just some simple wild fruits.
After the meal, everyone set out on the road again. It was not easy to tell the direction in the mountains covered with white snow and dead trees. Fortunately, Sister Yang still had the compass she carried with her. Everyone walked and stopped, relying on the guidance of the compass to identify the route with difficulty.
The higher they went, the more desolate it became. Not only did the number of trees and weeds decrease dramatically, but there was no other sign of life besides them.
"Sister Yang..." Shen Jia was nervous and worried, "Are you sure there really is a village in a place like this?"
"Records indicate this place did exist." Sister Yang couldn't guarantee that at this point, "but it's unclear whether anyone still lives here or whether the village has been buried by the snow."
"We can only leave everything to fate." There was a small hill ahead, not long but very steep, and there was no other way around. After thinking it over, Sister Yang said helplessly, "Let's climb up."
"Everyone, look around for any tools you can use. Then, those who are physically strong will go up first, and when the rest of you start climbing, they will support you from above."
"Okay." Everyone nodded, and swiftly searched around for any "tools" they could use. Then some people in the team began to climb up, using their hands and feet to climb the hillside.
"Axue." Li Yiqing seemed to have good athletic ability. While those men were still trying to climb, she had already reached the top of the slope.
She leaned over, lying flat on the cold snow, and reached down with all her might: "Grab my hand, and I'll pull you up!"
"Why don't I do it?" Without waiting for Qi Qiuxue to respond, Dali, who was a little slower than her, also successfully landed. He reached down like Li Yiqing, "Can you pull it off?"
"What a joke." Li Yiqing frowned in dissatisfaction. He was too lazy to talk nonsense with him and waved his hands quickly, "Axue, come on, come on!"
So Qi Qiuxue cooperated as she wished and grabbed Li Yiqing's hand.
Her body was naturally agile and light, and with Li Yiqing putting in a lot of effort, the two of them coordinated well, and Qi Qiuxue reached the top of the slope with almost no effort.
On the contrary, Dali almost slipped because the ground was too slippery and he leaned too far downward.
At the critical moment, Li Yiqing grabbed his coat and pulled him back.
"I'm sorry." Dali thanked her awkwardly, "Thank you."
With mutual help, everyone climbed to the top of the slope.
The terrain here is higher and seems to be colder than below. After Sister Yang stood firm, she took out the compass again, but found that the compass had lost its function, perhaps because of the disordered magnetic field. The needle swung back and forth rapidly and irregularly, circle after circle.
"Maybe it was broken during the climbing just now." Sister Yang paused and had to put the compass away again.
"Where should we go next?" someone in the crowd asked.
Sister Yang looked into the distance, remained silent for a while, and finally said, "Let's go that way."
"We made some road signs along the way and tried to remember the more distinctive scenery around us." In such freezing weather, getting lost is a very dangerous thing, not to mention that they have been walking for such a long time while being hungry. Their condition is not good to begin with, and they should avoid unnecessary physical exertion.
So everyone stepped on the white snow and continued on their way. In order to prevent the markings on the ground from being buried, everyone made road signs on dead trees and stone walls...
Before they knew it, they had walked a very long way. Qi Qiuxue remembered this journey clearly. They had never turned a corner and had always been walking in a straight line with unwavering determination.
"Let's take a break." Hanhan was exhausted and started to discuss with Sister Yang, "Let's take a break before we go. We are really exhausted."
"Alright." Passing through the dead woods, they saw a wider area ahead. Sister Yang clapped her hands to encourage everyone, pointing forward. "Let's take a few more steps and rest in the area ahead."
"Okay." Hanhan nodded, took a few deep breaths to cheer himself up, and several people walked out of the woods one after another and came to the wide area.
And then... they were stunned.
What appeared before them was an extremely familiar hillside, the one they had just climbed.
【Author’s words】
Here we come!
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