The whole world was a vast expanse of white, with long, pointed icicles hanging from the eaves and rocks.
People must be very careful when walking underneath, as they can easily be pierced by icicles if they are not careful.
Even when the sun comes out, there is no warmth, only a biting chill.
The entire mountain forest was frozen over, and when the snow stopped, all was silent.
It's so quiet!
People dared not speak loudly, for fear of disturbing the thick snow on the slope and causing an avalanche.
The elderly and children are strictly forbidden from going out, as the consequences of catching a cold would be unimaginable.
Lin Yiheng, along with his two cousins and Lin Fu, Liu Jiye, and three others, persevered in training with the secret guards despite the freezing weather.
The situation after the New Year is still unknown, but the Yun family's training continues in an orderly manner.
The Yun family once held high positions, and their political acumen was unmatched by ordinary people.
Lin Yiheng kept a close eye on the Yun family's movements and, considering his own shortcomings, took the initiative to join them.
Moreover, his younger sister is so capable, and he wants to become even stronger so that he can protect his family when they travel south in the future.
Li Shulan felt sorry for her son and was anxious every day, fearing that he would get sick. She wanted to persuade him to give up, but she couldn't convince him.
Many people in the village were secretly watching the Lin family. Seeing Lin Yiheng and his group training with the Yun family's guards, several families secretly discussed it and decided to let their children and grandchildren also go to train.
Basically, they did whatever Lin Yinan's family did.
Lin Yinan had to give a thumbs up after seeing it; the homework was copied very well!
A small number of families, led by the village chief, felt that it was too cold to suffer like that, and that it was better to stay at home and warm themselves by the fire.
After Su Yunzhi recovered from his injury, he visited the Lin family several times. Each time, Lin Yinan was either staying in the house or happened to be away, and he never greeted him.
Although Su Yunzhi had some suspicions, she couldn't get anything out of Li Shulan and Lin Yiheng.
When he learned that Lin Yiheng and his group were training with the Yun family's secret guards, he disregarded Zhu Jinhui's objections and resolutely joined them.
Since learning she was pregnant, Lin Yinan has completely let loose, except for her daily exercise routine, and she can eat and sleep well.
Sometimes, she would secretly place her hand on her stomach in the middle of the night to feel the daily changes, but her abdomen remained flat and there was no movement.
Li Shulan was puzzled as to why she ate so much but didn't gain weight.
Lin Yinan could only brush it off by saying that the daily training was too exhausting.
Since the magistrate of Gudao County set up camp in the woods...
Every three to five days, Lin Yinan would go up to the watchtower to check on the situation outside.
The temperature has dropped sharply, and the woods are shrouded in mist every day.
Lin Yinan was from the South, so she naturally didn't understand why. She asked Yun Liu about it.
Yun Liu said that smoke has a heat-preserving effect; they use smoke to prevent frost and thus increase the ground temperature.
To withstand the harsh winter, the trees in the forest are decreasing at a visible rate.
The county magistrate of Gudao County frowned, his face contorted in worry. They were now caught in a dilemma; if things continued like this, they would all freeze to death here.
"Go and call Li Si over." He was wearing a thick leather hat and had his hands clasped together as he spoke to his men who were warming themselves by the fire inside the tent.
Li Si was brought in. He was wearing a felt hat, his face was red and cracked from the cold, his hands were tucked into his sleeves, his clothes were so dirty that their original color was unrecognizable, and he had an unpleasant smell about him.
He bowed deeply to the magistrate, nodding and scraping, and said, "Your Honor, you wanted to see me?"
The magistrate, overwhelmed by the stench emanating from him, took two steps back without batting an eye, his brow furrowing slightly. "Do you know of any other way into the mountain stronghold?"
His best archers had all perished at the main gate last time, so he had to find another way to attack the stronghold from another route.
Li Si thought for a moment and said, "Sir, I know a pass leading to the mountain stronghold."
The magistrate raised an eyebrow, delighted, and asked, "Really?"
“I am utterly loyal to you, sir, and will never waver.” Li Si raised his hands, which were covered in chilblains, as if to strike a pose.
"Speak quickly!"
"That pass is very dangerous and can only be reached by going around this mountain, but now the mountain is blocked by heavy snow, and the pass is probably blocked by snow."
Li Si's words were all in vain; by the end, the magistrate's face had turned ashen.
He shouted angrily, "Get the hell out of here!"
Before Li Si could say anything more, his men, with keen insight, pulled him out of the tent.
Cutting down trees and burning firewood every day would take half their lives. If they had to go around a mountain to attack the stronghold, they would probably have died on the way.
This is ridiculous!
Unable to come up with a solution, the magistrate had no choice but to order his men to cut down as many trees as possible and stockpile firewood while the snow had stopped.
Lin Yinan came down from the watchtower and saw many people running towards the opposite hillside.
So she stopped a villager and asked him.
What happened over there?
A villager said, "I heard that a house collapsed under the weight of the snow?"
Lin Yinan was shocked and looked up at the sky. "It's not snowing at all, so why did it collapse?"
"The Lin couple are lazy and greedy. While others are shoveling snow, he shirks his responsibilities. He is also not enthusiastic about chopping firewood. During this period of continuous snowfall, he removed the thickest beam from the roof of his house and burned it."
The villagers shook their heads as they spoke, "What a tragedy!"
Lin Yinan remained silent. In order to keep warm in the cold weather, the fire on the stove in every household was never extinguished, so a lot of firewood was needed to burn.
Just how lazy must this couple be to be so heartless as to dismantle the roof beams and burn them as firewood?
When Lin Yinan arrived, the entire house was buried under a thick layer of snow.
The neighbors shook their heads when they saw it. With such a thick layer of snow piled up on the roof, how long had it been since Mr. and Mrs. Lin had swept it?
"It snowed for seven days, and I never saw the couple go up to the roof to shovel snow."
“When it wasn’t so cold before, the village chief would ring a gong to remind them, but they wouldn’t just go through the motions and come out to shovel snow.”
"That's right. My husband and I go out to shovel snow twice a day, and I haven't seen them go out at all."
“…”
The village chief is already organizing the villagers to clear the snow first, and then dig out the Lin family who are buried in the rubble.
Even with dozens of villagers digging at the same time, it still took nearly an hour to pull the family of five out of the rubble.
But they had already passed away, leaving behind three poor children under the age of ten.
They didn't even have a chance to escape. The children were covered with quilts full of patches, and their clothes were patched upon patched. They slept peacefully with their eyes closed.
Lin Yinan gently stroked her belly, and couldn't help but sigh that her three children had been born into the wrong family.
Such a lazy couple doesn't deserve to be parents!
With snow this thick on the roof, you're sure to die!
Back home, Zhang and Qianxia, who had just returned from work, sat in front of the stove in the main house, watching Old Mrs. Zhao cook while talking about how Lin Da's family had been crushed to death by snow.
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