Han Changmu narrowed his eyes.
It was footsteps, and it sounded like there were quite a few people coming.
Han Changmu quickly put out the bonfire, blew out the lantern, and winked at Xie Mengxia, who had already woken up.
When Xie Mengxia built the entrance to the cave, he carefully piled up a few piles of dead branches on the outside to block the entire entrance, and then built up the inside with stones. He also piled them up in an unorganized manner and deliberately concealed them. human traces.
The panicked footsteps were getting closer and closer, making a crunching sound on the snow, lingering crisply in the silent mountains.
Han Changmu quickly set up a crossbow next to the entrance of the cave, with the tip of the arrow shining coldly, pointing directly outside.
A girl's delicate voice sounded in the cold night: "Hurry up, catch up, we'll be fine once we enter the mountain."
Following the sound, a tall and thick man ran over. His beard was covered with snow, which was about to melt, and his footsteps were hitting the snow solidly.
Han Changmu's eyes narrowed, it turned out to be him.
There is no one else but Li Yushan who has a girl's voice.
His expression gradually became serious, and he looked outside with a good look.
Behind Li Yushan, there followed a team of camels and horses. Although the number of people was smaller, the goods were not reduced at all. Even the hooves of the pack horses were deeply sunk into the snow.
These people ran in a hurry, as if there were many pursuers behind them, breaking the silence of the forest in an instant.
Li Yushan and his group ran through the cave. Sure enough, they didn't notice the hidden entrance of the cave and ran all the way towards the mountainside.
Behind them, a deafening howl sounded.
Han Changmu was stunned. Li Yushan and his party were so frightened that they panicked and ran away desperately. It was actually a pack of gray wolves.
Countless pairs of green light spots flashed in the cold night, and just one look at them would make you shudder.
The alpha wolf looked particularly familiar. He was much larger than the other gray wolves. His pair of green wolf eyes made him look particularly humane.
And in the torrent of wolves behind them, there were always two thin wolves protecting them.
When running through the cave, the alpha wolf stopped for a moment, staring at the messy dead branches with his green wolf eyes.
Han Changmu drew the string of his bow to full length, the tip of the arrow trembled slightly, and he pursed his thin lips.
The alpha wolf just turned his head and glanced, looked up to the sky and howled, arched his body, and quickly rushed towards the mountainside.
On the plain white snow, there are paw prints of different shades, neat and orderly, not messy at all.
It wasn't until the last gray wolf disappeared into the vast night that Han Changmu took a deep breath and put away his crossbow.
Xie Mengxia also gasped, patting his heart and feeling scared: "Why are there so many wolves? Jiuchao, are they the same wolf pack we met last time?"
Han Changmu nodded: "It looks similar."
There was a rustling sound from behind. It was Yao Yao who sat up and said with difficulty in a hoarse voice: "Master, are there Li Yushan and the others?"
Han Changmu hurriedly lit the bonfire and the lantern. He retreated to Yao Yao and touched her hot forehead. He was worried: "Why are you up? If you sleep for a while, you still have a fever."
Yao Yao took a breath and shook his head with a wry smile: "I feel much better, sir, isn't it? Li Yushan just passed away."
Han Changmu didn't understand why Yao Yao cared so much about Li Yushan, so he nodded: "Yes, he took the camel team to the mountainside."
Yao Yao said no more and closed his eyes slightly, as if he was extremely tired.
She was struggling fiercely in her heart.
Xie Mengxia looked at Han Changmu and Yao Yao with a blank expression, and asked in confusion: "Who is Li Yushan?" He suddenly slapped his thigh: "Is it that sissy?"
Yao Yao burst into laughter, choked with laughter, and coughed weakly a few times: "Your Highness, cough, your Highness is right, it's that sissy."
Xie Mengxia asked curiously: "Jiuchao, Ayao, how do you know them?"
Han Changmu patiently told Xie Mengxia about everything that happened on the boat.
Xie Mengxia slapped his thigh and hummed: "Okay Jiuchao, you two went out to have fun, but you didn't take me with you."
"..."
Han Changmu choked for a moment, stopped paying attention to Meng Xia, and turned to ask Yao Yao: "A Yao, do you still remember where they are going?"
Yao Yao nodded: "I heard that Li Yushan mentioned that he wanted to go to Qiuci Guoluntai."
Han Changmu thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to Gaochang first, and then Luntai to see what Li Yushan and the others are doing."
After saying that, he turned against the light and couldn't see clearly the expression on his face, he just looked at Yao Yao as if unintentionally.
Yao Yao seemed to struggle in pain before nodding: "Okay."
"Qiuci country, Qiuci country is great." When Xie Mengxia heard these words, he suddenly became energetic, clapped his hands and said with a smile: "I heard that the Qiuci national song is wonderful and beautifully staged, and there are many musicians, all of whom are amazingly talented. Absolutely gorgeous, I can finally go and feast my ears.”
The campfire gradually became fainter, and there was not enough firewood, but no one dared to risk going out to collect firewood. After all, Li Yushan and the wolves had just passed away, and who knew whether they would come back with a fight.
Xie Mengxia was shivering from the cold, sneezed several times, and spoke with a nasal sound.
Han Changmu handed over a wine bag and said, "Drink some sorghum wine to keep warm."
Xie Mengxia took the wine bag and took a sip. The spicy wine went into his throat, and the heat swept through his limbs. He leaned against the cold stone wall and sighed happily.
Yao Yao trembled and said, "Sir, give it to me and take a sip too."
Han Changmu flicked Yao Yao's forehead gently, and said with a helpless smile: "What are you thinking about? You are still sick."
Yao Yao pouted.
But it was so cold, even the bones were feeling cold.
She shrank back, her hands and feet were stiff, and her face turned pale.
Han Changmu slowly leaned over and asked tentatively, "I'm so warm."
With a puff, Xie Mengxia choked on the sorghum wine and coughed, her face turned red, and she waved her hands jokingly: "It's okay, it's okay, you continue, continue."
Han Changmu was embarrassed. He lowered his head and saw that Yao Yao's expression was as usual. He also became more open-minded and continued to ask with a smile: "I'm so warm."
Yao Yao raised his eyebrows, shook off the sheep fur and handed it to Han Changmu, then leaned over.
Han Changmu was stunned, shook out the sheep fur, covered Yao Yao, and wrapped it with a felt blanket.
Yao Yao curled up and fell into a deep sleep.
That night, Yao Yao's fever persisted again. Xie Mengxia ventured out to collect dry firewood and came back to light a bonfire, make soup and medicine, but in the end, the fever did not stop her, and she eventually passed out.
Xie Mengxia shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I thought A Yao had some thoughts about you. After working on it for a long time, it turned out that the high fever was too uncomfortable."
Han Changmu's hands and feet were numb, so he moved around, not daring to make too much noise, and said nothing. He planned to climb over Tanhan Mountain and enter Gaochang Country to find medicine after dawn.
He was also afraid that the repeated high fever and coma would burn out Yao Yao's brain.
As soon as day broke, the two of them packed up their things, got on their horses, and hurried up the mountain against the cold wind.
When they reached the mountainside, the two noticed something was wrong.
The snow was trampled into a muddy mess, but one could still distinguish where were human footprints, where were hoof prints and wolf claws.
The blood spread and flowed on the snow, opening narrow and deep ditches, which were blown solid by the cold wind.
The two dismounted and walked along the direction where the blood flowed. They saw several people lying down under some dark rocks on the edge of the cliff. The blood under their bodies had been soaked in the snow.
The snow covering the rock was peeled away, and there were bloody handprints scattered on it.
Han Changmu leaned forward and looked down the cliff.
The two horses rolled down together with their cargo, and the dead grass on the cliff fell. A baggage was hung on a dead branch protruding from the cliff. It was swaying and crumbling when the cold wind blew.
Han Changmu stepped back, peeled away the people lying on the snow, held their faces and looked at them carefully, and recognized that one of them was the escort from Li Yushan's escort team.
There was a fist-sized hole on the bodyguard's neck. It looked like it had been bitten by a wolf. The blood had solidified and turned black and purple.
He closed his eyes slightly and thought for a moment, then turned around and said, "Your Highness, you stay here while I go down and take a look."
When Xie Mengxia saw the bottomless cliff, his legs were spinning, and he said tremblingly: "There are rocks down here, what is there to see? Jiuzhao, let's leave quickly."
Han Changmu pointed to the bundle hanging on the dead branch and said simply: "There may be something I want over there."
Xie Mengxia asked again: "Then, how are you going to get down?"
Han Changmu said nothing, took out the flying claw from the bag, buckled it on the rock, and shook it vigorously, but the rock did not move at all.
He found a long nail as thick as his finger and drove it deep into the rock, getting stuck in the gap between the rock and the snow.
He tied one end of the rope to the spike and the other end to his waist. He held the rope under Feizhao tightly and walked slowly to the edge of the cliff.
The cliffs are full of protruding rocks and dry thatch, covered with snow, making them wet and slippery with nowhere to step.
Han Changmu looked down the cliff and found a foothold closest to the baggage. He grasped the rope tightly with both hands, stepped firmly on the rocks protruding from the cliff with his feet, and carefully descended down the cliff step by step.
Xie Mengxia took Yao Yao down and placed him against the rock. He lay beside the cliff and watched with fear as Han Changmu fell downwards, his figure getting smaller and smaller.
Falling into the middle of the cliff, the biting cold wind suddenly became much stronger than on the mountainside, whining and blowing crazily.
Han Changmu had just stepped on a rock next to the baggage, and was about to turn sideways and reach for the baggage when a gust of wind came unexpectedly and shook the rope violently.
His feet slipped and his body was blown uncontrollably by the wind.
Xie Mengxia was so frightened that he shouted: "Jiu Chao, Jiu Chao, catch it."
Han Changmu did not panic, and let his body drift back and forth in the wind. He only used his hands to protect his head tightly, and his body hit the cliff wall, causing severe pain to his bones and flesh.
