The next morning, before dawn, Luo Bu and Luo Luo got out of bed. The equipment and supplies needed for entering the mountain had already been prepared the night before. The guide, Khosan, knocked on the door of their room.
At this time, it was still dark outside the window. Rob hung Starfall on the back of the pack horse, which was wrapped in a cotton cloth to keep out the cold.
Kosan had a baby face, but he was already a father of two children. He waved his hands in the cold wind and nodded. "I know your goal. It shouldn't be too difficult. Recently, not many people have entered the mountain.
"Please," Rob said, "people in the town say that you are better at tracking footprints than hounds."
Cosan smiled, a little shy. "It's not that exaggerated. It's just that I have brought people into the mountain many times, so I am more familiar with Anarep than others. If you are ready, let's go now."
The three arrived at the foot of the snow-capped mountain before noon. The sun shone on the rocks, and the snow did not look so cold. Along the way, they occasionally saw some animals and plants. Cosan looked up, observed the shape of the clouds in the sky, and tested the wind. "Good luck. At least it has been sunny for the past week, and there is no strong wind."
Then he knelt on one knee and carefully examined the footprints on the ground.
According to Kosan, the three of them were now on the only way to enter the mountain, so there were many footprints on the snow. These footprints looked the same in Luo Luo's eyes, but Kosan could distinguish the height, weight, gender, age, and even the time they had passed through here from these incomplete footprints.
It took Cosan less than a quarter of an hour to eliminate most of the footprints. Only the last seven sets of footprints were left. His expression became solemn, and he took a longer time to think.
After a while, Cosan raised his head again, but said, "I didn't find the girl you were talking about."
"Huh?" The answer was a little surprising.
Cosan pointed to the seven sets of footprints below. "In the last three days, there are only two sets of footprints of women who have passed through here. One of them is between 30 and 40 years old, fat, and does not match your previous description. The other set of footprints matches the age, but it is likely to be a profession like a thief, and it has a bit of a bowleg."
"This isn't her." Lolo shook her head. The two of them had interacted with Avril before, and they knew that the girl who grew up in the Sith Abbey was just an ordinary person. She did not have a bow-legged problem, so the footprints could not have been hers. The girl could not help but ask, "Could it be that we missed it?"
"I've already looked three times. It hasn't snowed in the past few days, so it's unlikely that I missed it." Cosan's words were tactful, but his tone was firm. He had his pride when it came to tracking footprints in the snow.
Rob hadn't said a word until now. "They rented two donkeys before entering the mountain. Is it possible that they had a falling out at the foot of the mountain and Avril was tied to the donkeys?"
Kersang's eyes lit up when he heard that. He walked around the footprints again, but this time, he paid special attention to the footprints of livestock.
"Here." Cosan stopped halfway and pointed to a series of footprints. "This donkey's weight is different from before and after. From here, the hoof prints are obviously much deeper than before. It should have weighed about 60 to 70 kilograms more. This weight … is almost equal to that of a girl."
"So, as long as we chase this donkey, we will be able to find them," Lolo said happily.
The three of them were lucky to find important clues before entering the mountain, which paved the way for the following pursuit.
With Cosan around, it was almost impossible to lose them. He had the eyes of an eagle, the nose of a fox, and the tenacity of a yak. On the first night, the three of them found traces of their target's campsite. What was even more exciting was that there were footprints left by Avril in the snow outside the cave.
Marvin put her down here, and they ate and rested together. The next morning, he tied her to the back of the donkey again.
This discovery confirmed Rob's previous speculation, and it also lifted the spirits of the three of them.
After a discussion, the three of them sped up their pursuit after a night's rest. In the afternoon of the second day, they found a second campsite. They also found a shoe in the snow next to the campsite, which was a distress signal left by Avril.
However, on the fourth day, the three of them ran into trouble. There was an avalanche along the way, and the heavy snow that rolled down from the mountains covered all the footprints. Everywhere they looked, there was a vast expanse of white.
Cosan did not have a good idea, so he could only try his luck. The three of them walked around for the whole afternoon before they found the hoof prints again. But this way, the time they had spent on the road was returned.
This was something that couldn't be helped. The pursuers were already at a disadvantage, and in such a harsh environment, it wasn't easy for them to keep up.
On the seventh day, the altitude reached more than 6,000 meters. The good weather that had lasted for a week was finally over, and a strong wind blew at the top of the mountain. It was difficult to see two meters in front of them, and it became more and more difficult to distinguish the footprints in the snow.
But at this point, the three of them could roughly guess where Marvin's final destination was.
Luo Luo raised her head and looked at the mountain peak not far away. The cold caused her nose to turn red. She asked in confusion, "What is he doing there?"
The peak of Anarep, Ogamil, was more than 8,000 meters above sea level. The air at the peak was thin, and cold air raged. Birds could not fly through it, and it was a veritable forbidden zone. No one could live there for a long time.
Kersan, a man who had been making a living on the snowy mountains, changed his expression when he heard the name. It had nothing to do with courage. It was not cowardice, but reverence for the power of nature. Even the locals living in Lamu Town rarely climbed to the top of Ogamil Peak, unless the weather conditions were perfect, in the right month, and with sufficient preparation and a little luck, it was possible to succeed.
At the 6,800 meter mark, a pack horse fell into a crack in the ice and broke its leg. The three of them had no choice but to abandon it. At the same time, they also abandoned some supplies. At the 7,300 meter mark, Kosang was unwilling to advance any further. Luo Bu and Luo Luo did not force him. The three of them parted ways amicably. Before leaving, Kosang marked the best route to the summit on the map.
Avril was still in the hands of the other party, but Rob and Lolo could not give up halfway.
In fact, even if Cosan did not mention it, Your Honor, the future Supreme Magister, would have let him go back first. Now that the direction was confirmed, his tracking skill was no longer needed. It would be more convenient for the two of them to move after he left.
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