Volume 11: The Lingering Warmth of Melting Snow
Chapter 9: A Cold Night
An abrupt gunshot split the night sky. Wolves are rational creatures, almost to the point of cowardice. Once they determine that the energy expended in a hunt will be greater than the reward, the alpha wolf will abandon the hunt. By the time Zhu Xi fired her third shot, the plains wolves had already begun to retreat. They wouldn’t give up immediately but would follow them for a while, until these two two-legged sheep collapsed in the snow from hunger and cold.
Zhu Xi’s marksmanship was very accurate. By the time she had fired her fifth shot, there were already two wolf carcasses on the snow. The hot blood flowed from the wolves’ bodies, rising as a misty vapor in the cold wind.
Lu Li, his soul still shaken, leaned against a rock and panted heavily. The down jacket on his left shoulder was completely torn, and blood was continuously soaking the goose down. Generally speaking, the larger the predator in nature, the less likely it is to carry toxins, but a wolf’s mouth carries a large number of bacteria and even viruses. If the wound is not treated in time, the consequences will be endless.
Zhu Xi dragged her broken leg over to him. “You with the surname Lu, can you still breathe?”
“Barely.” Lu Li swallowed. He was a little thirsty.
“We have to leave this place and find a safe stronghold.”
Lu Li knew what she meant. The wolf pack was still circling on the periphery, waiting for them to fall asleep before swarming in and tearing them to pieces. But once they left this place and entered the forest, it meant that the difficulty of the rescue team’s search would increase exponentially.
But at this point, there was no choice but to keep moving forward.
After tonight, another week-long blizzard would arrive tomorrow. If they slept in the wild, they would freeze to death. They could only pray to find a stronghold like a cave.
Lu Li gritted his teeth and supported the cripple, moving forward along the edge of the cliff. This time, his steps were not as hurried as before, and the consumption of his stamina had slowed down a lot. After walking for a while, Lu Li felt dizzy, and his consciousness was already a little unclear. He looked down and saw that Zhu Xi’s head was also drooping listlessly. Both of them had reached their physical and mental limits.
I can’t fall asleep… Lu Li slapped his own face and raised his voice. “Hey, Zhu Xi!”
Zhu Xi forced her eyes open. “…Don’t be loud.”
“Why didn’t you take out the gun earlier? You even tried to persuade me to leave you behind several times…” If Lu Li were truly a coward who feared death, he would probably have been the first to be devoured by the wolves.
“I am a woman first, and then a princess.” Zhu Xi roused herself a little. “I must use every means possible to protect myself. This gun was not originally for the wolf pack, but for you.”
A chill ran through Lu Li’s heart.
“The fear of death, on the contrary, stimulated your desire, didn’t it?” Zhu Xi said, as if telling someone else’s story. “I could feel your gaze, and your body was also very honest.” She pressed the muzzle of the gun against little Lu Li.
The originally erect little Lu Li, after being pressed by the dark muzzle through his pants, instantly wilted.
“If you dare to make any move, I will not hesitate to…” Zhu Xi’s tone was colder than this bone-chilling wind. “…blow you away.”
That killing weapon was still hidden in her bosom, making her chest hard and unyielding. “This is an Akita 1931 tactical version. There are a total of nine bullets inside. Five were given to the beasts, and four are left for you and me.”
“I can understand leaving one for me, but why leave one for yourself?”
“If you also die, and I have no hope of escape, I will leave the last bullet for myself. It’s that simple.” Zhu Xi’s flat tone made Lu Li a little horrified. Every time he thought he knew Zhu Xi well enough, Zhu Xi would always shatter his perception.
Lu Li gave a dry laugh. “It’s a physiological reaction. I can’t control it.”
“I know. You can’t control it, so I will help you control it.”
“Is the bullet count correct?”
“What?”
“The number of bullets you told me, is it real?”
“Maybe it’s real, maybe it’s fake. Who knows.”
Lu Li’s left shoulder ached faintly. Supporting Zhu Xi’s half of the body was a bit too much for him. He let out a slight grunt. The most terrifying thing was not having a monster or something else placed in front of you, but not being told the goal, not being told the direction, and no matter how hard you tried, it was all in vain. They were in this predicament now. Lu Li didn’t know where this road would lead. Maybe they could find a small mountain village and be rescued, maybe they could find a cave to barely survive, or more likely, they would die in the wilderness, gnawed to pieces by the wolves trailing behind.
Perhaps Zhu Xi heard Lu Li’s grunt. She raised her arm slightly, lessening the pressure she was putting on him. When Lu Li looked at her, she had her head down, looking at the road.
“Do you have any satellite equipment on you? Like in the movies, a satellite phone that can be used anywhere, or some satellite headset.” Lu Li began to talk nonsense.
Zhu Xi said, as if dealing with a fool, “You should watch fewer movies.”
“When you shoot, can you not shoot me in the face?”
Zhu Xi was at a loss for how to answer the jump in topic.
“I’m afraid Baili and the others won’t recognize me when they identify the body.”
“…I’ll try my best.”
Lu Li smiled. “Perhaps I really do owe your Yan family a bullet. It missed last time, so it has to be paid back sooner or later.”
“It would be fine if you just behaved yourself,” Zhu Xi said helplessly. “I don’t want you to die either. In this situation, if you die, I won’t live much longer either.”
The sky grew darker. Lu Li could see points of green light in the darkness when he looked back. So wolves’ eyes really did glow at night. As for whether it was green light or yellow light, he had no mind to distinguish.
His feet were already numb. He could only mechanically repeat the motion of stepping forward, his pace becoming more and more stiff and slow. If he could look in a mirror, he would find that his face and hair were covered in a layer of frost. His bloodshot eyes shone frighteningly in the white frost, like a vengeful ghost from a horror movie.
Zhu Xi was rustling around with something. In a little while, she handed something to Lu Li’s mouth. “Open your mouth, ah.” Lu Li couldn’t be bothered to care what Zhu Xi was feeding him. He would have eaten it even if it were poison. It was sweet in his mouth. It was chocolate.
After feeding Lu Li a bite, Zhu Xi also took a bite herself, then handed the half-eaten chocolate to Lu Li. “Open your mouth.”
Lu Li glanced at her. This time, he took a smaller bite. Zhu Xi huffed and also took a shallow bite herself. For the next stretch of the road, Lu Li supported Zhu Xi as they hurried on, and Zhu Xi alternately fed herself and Lu Li. That small bar of crushed chocolate, the two of them managed to make it last the whole way.
“Do you have water? I’m thirsty.” Lu Li remembered that Zhu Xi was carrying the two bottles of water.
“It’s in my coat. I’ll warm it up a little more for you.”
“Mm.” Lu Li licked his hard, purple lips and numbly continued forward. He didn’t know if they would survive the night.
