Heaven never bars one's way out!
With this piece of land warmed by the underground spring, she didn't have to worry about not being able to cover her tracks!
Qin Yining ran along the snowy road for a while, deliberately leaving a trail of footprints in another direction. Then, she stepped on a bush and jumped onto the black soil covered with pine needles, carefully taking a few steps forward.
There was a steady stream of white steam rising from the ground, warming up the soles of her feet. Qin Yining was afraid of leaving footprints, and there would be more snow if she continued forward, so she simply tucked her cloak into her belt and climbed up a thick and tall pine tree. She chose a spot with dense branches and leaves and sat down on one of the sturdy branches.
As she moved, the tall canopy swayed slightly. Snow rustled down, but it melted as soon as it touched the ground.
Only then did Qin Yining dare to quietly take a few deep breaths.
At this moment, the sound of footsteps could be heard.
Qin Yining hurriedly held her breath, her whole body stiffening like a piece of wood. She didn't dare to move at all, pretending that she was part of the big pine tree.
Two masked bandits walked not far away, one holding a steel knife and the other holding a wooden stick as thick as a wine cup. They both lowered their heads to look at the footprints on the ground, then immediately followed the footprints that Qin Yining had deliberately left behind.
Not long after, perhaps because the footprints had been cut off, the two returned. They searched for a while on the ground covered by the warm spring, but didn't find any other footprints. Moreover, the two of them had wandered around aimlessly to investigate, and their own footprints had already destroyed the scene. For a while, there were no more clues.
The two of them looked at each other and cursed.
"A little girl can actually run so fast!" The person who spoke had a northern accent, obviously from Da Zhou.
The other person said, "The Marquis ordered us to find the Family Qin and kill them all. I don't know if the one we're chasing is the one with the surname Qin!"
"No matter if it is or not, since we've caught up with her, we can't let her get away so easily."
"I don't believe that she can really disappear. Let's keep searching. Maybe she's hiding in some tree hole?"
…
The two of them then began to search for tree holes, natural caves, and underground caves nearby.
In the end, they really did find traces of a collapse in the snow not far away. Hidden under the snow was a large puddle. That puddle should be the underground warm spring. The water had a faint stench, and they did not know how deep it was. They could only see the dense fog that turned the surrounding snow into smooth ice.
The two of them didn't dare to move forward, fearing that the snow under their feet would loosen and they would accidentally fall into a puddle of unknown depth. This mountain was really full of dangers. This place was already deep in the mountains and forests. Even hunters wouldn't come here to hunt.
Thus, the two of them circled around this dangerous area and began to search nearby.
Qin Yining was not in a hurry to leave. He continued to hide in the tree and waited for two hours. After confirming that the two of them had no intention of returning, he carefully slid down the tree.
She didn't dare to stay here for long, so she deliberately ran into the depths of the uncultivated forest. She even broke off a branch with dead leaves hanging on it. Along the way, she paid attention to cleaning up the traces of her footsteps.
In this way, she carefully ran into the mountains until the sky turned dark. Qin Yining really couldn't run anymore.
She forced herself to support herself against a tree and panted heavily. Looking around, the scenery was the same. The only thing she could tell was whether she was "going up" or "going down".
The night wind in the north was bone-chilling. Once she stopped, her body would start to feel cold. Qin Yining's sweat-soaked back was blown by the wind. It was so cold that she couldn't stop shivering.
She looked around and dragged her tired body to a slope against the wind by the roots of a large tree.
This place was in a semi-concave state. Above her head, there was a "shelter" made of tree roots. Beside her, there were two large rocks that could provide some shelter from the cold wind. Moreover, there was no snow on the ground.
Qin Yining went to look for firewood, hay, and pine needles. With trembling hands, she took out a lighter from her bosom. First, she lit the hay and pine needles. Then, she chose a dry tree branch and made a small bonfire for herself behind the large rock.
Qin Yining's body had just recovered from a serious illness and was extremely tired. She couldn't help but cough.
However, she knew that she could only rest for a short while. If she didn't take any precautions and just stood there by a bonfire that could burn out at any time, she would definitely freeze to death.
Qin Yining hugged her knees and wrapped herself tightly in her cloak. After warming herself for a while, she felt that her limbs were more flexible. Then, she went to look for firewood, pine needles, and dried grass. Afterwards, she went to look for some shrubs and spent a tremendous amount of effort to remove many branches from the shrubs.
Qin Yining couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Compared to when she was eight years old, when she went up the mountain, at least she had some handy tools in her hands. She didn't have to rely on her bare hands to do anything.
Fortunately, she was quite experienced in dealing with these things.
Qin Yining busied herself for a full two hours. She used the branches of the shrubs to weave a curved shelter for herself. It was big enough for her to sit in while hugging her knees. Then, she started a bonfire.
She dragged the shelter to the ground behind the large rock that was slightly warm from the bonfire. Then, she took off her towel and an overcoat. She used these two things to wrap the snow and dry it over the fire.
The snow melted and wet the overcoat and towel. Qin Yining hurriedly covered the simple shelter that she had made. It just happened to cover the shelter.
Qin Yining didn't dare to delay. She immediately went to fetch snow. While the overcoat and towel were still wet, she sprinkled a layer of snow on top of them.
When the snow came into contact with the wet cloth, it immediately stuck tightly and was frozen into ice by the low temperature.
Qin Yining used an hour to firmly cover the shelter made of tree branches with snow. After sprinkling a layer of snow, she took out some very hot branches from the bonfire and placed them on top of the shelter. When the snow came into contact with the hot branches, it melted into water, and the water turned into ice. Slowly, it formed a very sturdy Xiao Xue shelter.
Qin Yining rubbed her hands that were red from the cold and were about to lose feeling. She covered her mouth and coughed a few times. She thought about how it was already late and that it was impossible for her to hunt in the mountains with her bare hands. She might as well starve for a night. She wouldn't starve to death, so she didn't think about anything else. She also gathered a lot of dry firewood and pine needles nearby. She added pine needles to the bonfire outside the cave and started a bonfire inside the shelter.
Finally, Qin Yining took off her cotton-padded jacket and hung it vertically at the entrance of the cave. It was just the right size.
She wrapped herself tightly with the cloak and wrapped her cotton skirt around her feet. Qin Yining faced the bonfire and hugged her knees as she leaned against a tree branch and dozed off peacefully.
Although there was still wind coming in through the cracks and smoke coming from the fire inside the shelter, the smoke just happened to come out through the cracks. Even if it was a little choking, it was still better than sleeping in the open and freezing to death.
Qin Yining wrapped herself in the cloak and slept lightly for a night. As her hands and feet gradually warmed up, she felt that even if she were to starve, it wouldn't be so unbearable.
At night in the mountains, danger lurked everywhere. She could faintly hear the howls of wolves in the distance.
Qin Yining didn't dare to relax, but she also didn't treat herself unfairly. She had a pretty good night. When she woke up early the next morning, other than her body feeling a little sore from sleeping while sitting, everything else was fine.
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