Qin Yining analyzed a few things from the conversation of the people who chased after them yesterday.
First, from their accent, he could tell that they were from Da Zhou in the north.
Secondly, they were ordered by a "Marquis" to kill Qin Haodong.
Third, these people stayed behind to search the mountain. If they didn't kill Qin Yining, they wouldn't be able to report back.
Fourth, these people's martial arts skills were comparable to the Tiger Army's. Although they couldn't win, they weren't far behind.
Then there was a problem. Which army did these men, who were well-organized and were as skilled as the Tiger Army, belong to?
Who was this "Marquis" who gave the order to kill the Family Qin people?
Which other marquis in the Great Zhou Dynasty had the ability to lead two to three hundred skilled soldiers to intercept and kill them?
Qin Yining didn't suspect that these people were sent by the Emperor of Zhou.
The Emperor of Zhou wanted the surrendered officials of the Yan dynasty to help him balance out the two powers in the imperial court. If he didn't want the surrendered officials, he could have not persuaded them to surrender in the beginning. There was no need to send people to kill them halfway.
Therefore, this assassination must have been done by a "Marquis" with a high position and military power who deceived the Emperor of Zhou.
Qin Yining already had an answer in his mind.
Could it really be Marquis Dingbei, who was sworn brothers with Pang Xiao and the Emperor of Zhou?
But shouldn't Marquis Dingbei be stationed at the border between Da Zhou and Tatan with the Dragon Stallion Army? Why would he let someone appear here at this time?
If the assassins were only targeting the Family Qin people, why would those fake bandits kill so many innocent people in front of the group?
If it wasn't for the Family Qin people, she would have overheard the conversation between the two assassins.
Thousands of thoughts couldn't be sorted out in a short period of time. However, Qin Yining was sure of one thing, and that was that she had to hide well for the next few days. She couldn't leave the mountain immediately.
Those assassins were ordered to come. If they didn't bring back a head, they wouldn't be able to report back. They would definitely appear again.
She was alone and couldn't beat them, so she could only hide.
Fortunately, she had experience in surviving in the mountains. Although it was winter and not a single blade of grass grew, Qin Yining was still confident that he could persevere.
However, thinking about how Lian Shengjie must be pounding his chest and stamping his feet now, Qin Yining felt a burst of joy in his heart.
The Lian Shengjie was ordered to accept the document of surrender. Since he had brought the County Prince of Yan and the Dayan officials back to the capital, he naturally had to take precautions.
Now that such a tragedy had occurred on the road, if Emperor Zhou knew about it, he would be furious. Most importantly, Lian Shengjie would have no place to hide his old face.
Lian Shengjie and Pang Xiao had always been at odds. This time, he first acted as a secret agent and used her to lure Pang Xiao into the trap. After the plan failed, he brazenly came to take away Pang Xiao's chance to enjoy the glory.
Now, the Tiger Army had left him a hundred men, but he still had the audacity to ask a group of bandits to rob them on the way. Moreover, so many of the surrendered officials and their families were killed.
This time, even if Lian Shengjie had ten mouths, he wouldn't be able to explain himself in front of Emperor Zhou.
Since the subordinates of the "Marquis" had disguised themselves as bandits, they must have made it so that Emperor Zhou wouldn't be able to catch him red-handed.
The scandal of Lian Shengjie not only failing in his escort mission, but also being killed by the motley crew of "mountain bandits", would definitely not be covered up.
When Qin Yining thought of this, it was as if he had seen through the situation in front of him. He could finally release some of the depression in his heart.
Once he made up his mind, he immediately went out to look for food.
Without tools, he looked for suitable branches. She also found a lot of withered grass and used it to weave straw ropes to make traps to catch small animals.
However, without tools, it wasn't easy to hunt in the snowy mountains in winter.
Qin Yining spent a whole day looking for food.
In winter, there weren't any wild vegetables or fruits to eat. If she wanted to catch birds, there was neither a net nor bait. If she wanted to rely on her simple traps to catch small animals, it would be harder than ascending to the heavens.
She endured her hunger and carefully searched the woods. She didn't catch any prey, but instead found four corpses.
The four people had already turned into bones. From their clothes, it could be vaguely seen that three of them were wearing Da Zhou's military uniforms, while the other one was wearing ordinary civilian clothes. From the positions and postures of their bodies, as well as the broken arms and heads, Qin Yining was certain that this was a story of one person fighting three people and dying together.
After so many years of chaos, there would be such tragedies everywhere. She didn't expect to see such a scene in the remote mountains.
Qin Yining sighed.
Fortunately, there were weapons next to these corpses!
Qin Yining picked up a machete, a short sword, two daggers, a bundle of rope, an empty water bag, and a pouch with some unknown medicine inside.
Qin Yining picked up all the useful items before continuing to look for food.
Fortunately, it didn't take long for Qin Yining to find a water source. She found a small stream that hadn't frozen yet. It wasn't easy for her to catch a hibernating frog in the evening. She returned to her "nest" to roast and eat.
It was no wonder that people in the world would use any means to fight for power and money.
Only with these two things could one live a comfortable life.
However, although this kind of life wasn't comfortable, Qin Yining was willing to endure it. Smelling the rich meat aroma of the roasted frog, Qin Yining optimistically thought, "Today's luck isn't bad. Who knows, I might be able to catch a wild rabbit tomorrow. At that time, I won't have to worry about starving to death. "
Just as she was letting her imagination run wild, she suddenly heard the crunching sound of someone stepping on the snow.
Qin Yining was so scared that she almost threw the frog away. She hurriedly picked up a short sword and vigilantly looked in the direction of the sound.
At this moment, a gust of wind blew past, causing the bushes to shake. A furry creature about three feet tall suddenly ran off into the distance.
What kind of animal was that?
Qin Yining focused and stared in that direction for a while. When she didn't find any wild animals, she let out a sigh of relief.
Qin Yining thought, "Fortunately, I didn't encounter any wild wolves. Otherwise, it would have been even more dangerous."
After eating a tasteless frog that didn't have much meat, Qin Yining felt her body become much warmer.
She began to lay some dry straw in her nest.
At this moment, she seemed to hear a slight rustling sound. From the corner of her eye, she saw a figure scurrying past.
Qin Yining became serious this time.
What kind of small animal was that? Why was his speed so fast? He was actually as agile as a leopard!
Qin Yining remained calm and collected all the weapons she had picked up. Then, she hurriedly picked up a torch that was placed over the fire. If it was a small animal, it should be afraid of fire.
After standing there for a long time, the small animal didn't appear again.
Qin Yining let out a sigh of relief. She guessed that the small animal had run off into the distance.
She continued to use the straw to lay down her nest.
At this moment, Qin Yining suddenly felt something behind her.
She quickly turned around and saw a figure approaching her.
It was a child about seven or eight years old. He was wearing a thick animal hide. His face was dirty and his hair was messy. At this moment, he was placing a half-burned wild rabbit next to her fire.
Perhaps he didn't expect her to suddenly turn around, but the child was startled. His eyes immediately widened.
Qin Yining said in astonishment, "Hey, you …"
Unexpectedly, before she could finish speaking, the child turned around and ran off. He was as fast as a gust of wind.
Qin Yining suddenly realized that the "small animal" she saw earlier was this child!
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