76 different
It was her own heartbeat.
Li Yiqing's tone sounded sincere and patient.
There was a hint of anxiety and grievance in her eyes, as if she didn't understand why Ah Xue would change her usual self and question herself in such a tone after just a few hours of sleep.
But she did not complain about it, but explained to her word by word: I am Aqing, I am Aqing who has been with you through so many copies.
“…”
After a while, Qi Qiuxue withdrew his hand from her chest.
"Axue." Li Yiqing called her name tentatively, "Are you okay?"
"It's okay." Qi Qiuxue raised her eyes calmly and met Li Yiqing's eyes again. Once the seeds of doubt were planted, they were bound to take root and sprout at some point. She knew that Li Yiqing was lying to her.
But when facing someone who is determined to hide everything, no amount of questioning or pestering will be in vain. Qi Qiuxue missed the opportunity to uncover the truth, but that doesn't mean she will miss the next one.
Next time, she would definitely see clearly who the person in front of her was.
"You will always protect me, right?" Qi Qiuxue asked softly, as if she suddenly thought of something.
"Yes." Li Yiqing nodded with a firm tone.
"Okay." Qi Qiuxue raised her lips slightly and said deliberately, "So, Ah Qing, what is your wish?"
She really wanted to know what the reasons were behind Li Yiqing's concealment, approach, following and protection, but she also knew that at this moment, the other party would definitely not answer truthfully.
So she didn't wait for Li Yiqing's response, but skipped the topic and slowly sat up: "Let's go, let's go out and take a look."
"Look where we are."
-
The two men, neatly dressed, pushed open the door in front of them and walked out of the house.
What appeared in the field of vision was a very spacious hall with several huge square tables. There were residence-like rooms on both sides of the hall for tourists to stay in.
This seems to be a B&B, but judging from the furniture and surrounding decoration, it has been abandoned for a long time.
"Axue, Aqing!" At this moment, a group of NPCs were sitting around a square table, eating the hot noodle soup placed in front of them. Seeing the two of them appear, Liu Ge quickly waved to them, "Come over here."
"Okay." This scene inexplicably reminded Qi Qiuxue of what happened in the first copy. She and Li Yiqing came to the table and sat down side by side. Before she could ask anything, a woman with a simple smile came forward.
"Are you hungry, ladies?" she said in her not-so-fluent Mandarin, a kind smile on her face. "Wait a moment, I'll cook noodles for you right away."
"I heard from others that you've been hungry for a long time. For the sake of your health, it's not advisable to eat too much after being too hungry. So this time, can I cook half a bowl of noodles for you?"
"Of course." Qi Qiuxue smiled, "Thank you."
"You're welcome." The woman turned and left. Qi Qiuxue quickly looked away and asked others what was going on.
"We were rescued by a woman named Luosang," team leader Sister Yang answered her question. "The hurricane happened to carry us right in front of her guesthouse. She couldn't bear to see us starving and freezing, so she called on the villagers to come and help, and they carried us all in."
"Village?" Qi Qiuxue recalled what Sister Yang had said. "Is this the village called Buge that people say?"
"Yes." Sister Yang nodded, reluctantly eating the last noodle in her bowl, and then said, "It's true that there is always a way out. I thought we would all die in the hurricane, but unexpectedly, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise and happened to come to this village."
"Hurry up and eat." As they talked, the noodles for the two of them were quickly cooked. Luosang very considerately brought them over. "After you finish eating, go back to your room and have a good rest."
"Sorry to bother you." Qi Qiuxue lowered her eyes to look at the bowl of noodles in front of her. The soup base was a slightly bland clear soup. Apart from noodles and an egg, there were no other side dishes in the bowl. The seasoning was also very simple. But perhaps because she had been hungry for too long, Qi Qiuxue felt that this bowl of noodles smelled surprisingly good.
"No problem." Li Yiqing beside him whispered to Qi Qiuxue after confirming that the food was non-toxic. Qi Qiuxue then picked up the chopsticks and ate the noodles in the bowl under Luosang's expectant gaze.
“It’s delicious.” Then she said, “It’s very delicious.”
"That's good." Luosang smiled sincerely. Her weather-beaten face bore traces of time, making her look simple and gentle. "Eat slowly."
"Since the snowstorms in the mountains have gotten stronger, we haven't had any tourists here for years," Luosang said. "Your arrival has brought a lot of popularity to my place. Please stay here for a while. How long is not a problem."
After she finished speaking, she didn't stay any longer and turned to leave.
"Sister Yang, what are our next plans?" Shen Jia spoke quickly after Luosang completely disappeared from sight. The village was located at a high altitude and might not be too far from the top of the mountain. In other words, with the help of this hurricane, everyone was getting closer and closer to the treasure.
"Let's rest here for a few days." Sister Yang thought for a moment, "Once everyone is fully adjusted, we'll head to the top of the mountain."
"Okay." Everyone had no objection.
After dinner, everyone went their separate ways. Some went back to their rooms to rest, some gathered together to chat, while Qi Qiuxue, Li Yiqing and Liu Ge took a quick walk around the village to get a more detailed understanding of where they were.
The village covers a very small area and there are not many houses. Most of the villagers are old, weak and sick, and there are almost no young people.
This group of people hadn't seen any foreign tourists for many years. When they saw the three people walking on the street, they all looked at them with kindness and curiosity. Qi Qiuxue casually found a few old people to chat with and learned that many years ago, the young people in the village had gone out to work and had not returned for so many years.
"How do you usually get food and drink?" It's difficult to grow crops or raise livestock in such a cold environment. Li Yiqing asked with some confusion, "Where does everyone's food come from...?"
"Our village chief is a very responsible woman. She's the youngest of all our village chiefs, a university graduate from outside," an elderly woman said with deep emotion. "Every summer, before Musoğlu got as cold as it does now, she would take some people out to bring back food and supplies."
"Not only that, she also contacted many suppliers in advance. Every once in a while, she would come to the foot of the mountain to deliver things for us. She would pick them up personally and then distribute them to us door to door."
"The village is covered in snow all year round, making it difficult for us to do anything. We used to be okay, barely making a living by entertaining tourists from afar. But then the number of tourists decreased, and we gradually lost our source of income. So she started taking on a lot of manual labor outside to keep us occupied and to make some money."
That's really responsible.
"Where is the village chief now?" Qi Qiuxue asked.
"Unfortunately, she's been out for the past two days," the old lady said. "She should be back in a few days. You should stay in the village for a while and you'll see her."
"Okay." Qi Qiuxue smiled when she heard that, "Thank you."
After saying goodbye to the old men, there was nothing worth noting in the village, so Qi Qiuxue and the other two turned back. Since there was someone in the village who was so familiar with the terrain, they could seek her help when they wanted to leave in the future, as long as they paid her enough commission.
Although they are penniless now, everything will be different after they return from the top of the mountain.
Before I knew it, it was getting dark.
Qi Qiuxue and Li Yiqing returned to the room, washed up briefly, and lay down on the bed.
In previous copies, the two had never had the experience of sleeping in the same bed like this. Even though they had done it once in the morning, it was still a bit awkward to be so close to each other suddenly.
Qi Qiuxue silently moved inward, turning her back to the person behind her: "Go to sleep."
"Okay." Li Yiqing responded obediently, leaving most of the bed to Qi Qiuxue, and only occupying a small space himself.
Because of the two people's actions, a space was left in the middle of the quilt, and a cold wind blew through, bringing a bit of coolness.
Qi Qiuxue felt cold and curled up subconsciously. Li Yiqing behind her obviously discovered something. After hesitating for a moment, he approached cautiously.
"Axue, I'm a little cold." She whispered to her, with a somewhat flattering tone, "Can I get closer to you?"
"...Whatever." After a moment, Qi Qiuxue's voice came.
So Li Yiqing took her consent and moved closer and closer. Li Yiqing's body temperature quickly dispelled the coldness and continuously came from the place where the two of them were close to each other.
For fear that Qi Qiuxue would feel uncomfortable, Li Yiqing did not make any unnecessary moves. Like a loyal big dog, he stood motionlessly behind his master.
Unconsciously, the sky seemed to have grown darker. Outside, the wind and snow continued to blow, like the howling of wild beasts. But tonight, at least at this moment, the wind and snow had nothing to do with her.
Qi Qiuxue closed her eyes and silently counted her heartbeats.
"Bang, bang, bang..." The heartbeat was getting faster and faster, obviously different from what she heard in the morning.
But Qi Qiuxue didn't feel happy.
Because this was not Li Yiqing's heartbeat, but her own.
【Author’s words】
I didn't update yesterday, so I'll give everyone a small red envelope in this chapter before updating tomorrow. Hugs~
Thank you for the overlord ticket and nutrient solution, thank you for leaving comments and reading, jiu mi jiu mi
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