Chapter 166: Chapter 166: Got Lost Chasing a Sheep

Although An Ning was suspicious, she still couldn’t figure out what Jiang Xia was thinking.

In truth, Jiang Xia couldn’t figure out his own thoughts either.

An Ning changed her shoes. Copying Jiang Xia, she tied the laces of her cotton-padded shoes together and hung them around her neck.

With the help of their gear and a clear destination in mind, the two of them moved quickly.

Jiang Xia was in the front, with Da Huang pulling An Ning behind him. One after the other, they used the ever-deepening snow to speed toward the place Jiang Xia had seen that morning.

The heavy snow combined with the biting north wind, and for a moment, it was hard to tell which was more ferocious.

Without goggles, it was difficult for them to keep their eyes open.

Fortunately, they both knew the paths well. After about ten minutes, they arrived at the spot Jiang Xia had mentioned.

An Ning saw Jiang Xia point his arm toward the uphill path. She nodded from behind and followed him in that direction.

The snow was so heavy that it had concealed all traces.

An Ning got off the sled, cupped her hands around her mouth, and shouted loudly, "Li Chengze!"

"Li—Cheng—ze!"

"Li Chengze!"

"WOOF WOOF WOOF!"

Da Huang started barking along. The sounds of two people and a dog carried out through the wind and snow.

At that moment, Li Chengze was already feeling dizzy.

He was cradling a white mountain goat in his arms. The two of them, man and goat, were sitting in a deep pit—likely a hunting trap left by a hunter long ago.

The lower halves of their bodies were already buried by the heavy snow.

"Li Chengze—"

"Li Chengze—"

Convinced he was going to die, Li Chengze thought he was hearing the call of God.

’I don’t even believe in God, so why is he calling for me? Could it be Buddha?’

Li Chengze muttered, barely able to open his eyes. The goat in his arms had already gone stiff.

It hadn’t frozen to death, but had died from the fall.

"WOOF WOOF WOOF!"

"Da Huang—"

In his daze, Li Chengze saw a dog’s head appear above him.

’Is God a dog?’

"Li Chengze!"

An Ning caught up, and the moment she saw Li Chengze, she finally felt a sense of relief. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

She jumped straight down into the pit, the snow coming up to her waist.

"Be careful!"

Jiang Xia felt his heart skip a beat. "What if there were wooden spikes at the bottom?" he asked, his tone somewhat stern.

"It won’t happen again."

An Ning couldn’t very well say that she had already scanned it with her spiritual power.

"That’s not what I meant. Check on him. I’ll get the rope ready."

Jiang Xia, on the other hand, felt a little embarrassed. He was in no position to be saying such things.

’What’s wrong with me? I’ve been a little strange lately.’

Jiang Xia pushed those thoughts aside and took out a rope and an iron stake.

He cleared the snow with his hands, drove the iron stake into the frozen ground, secured the rope, and threw the other end to An Ning.

"An Ning, here’s the rope."

Down in the pit, An Ning used her spiritual power to protect Li Chengze’s heart. Once that was done, she took the stiff goat from his arms.

"An Ning—are you dead, too?"

"Dead? What are you talking about? I’m saving you."

An Ning slapped Li Chengze’s cheek, and not gently either.

"Wake up, wake up! If you see a light, don’t walk toward it."

Li Chengze laughed.

"Heh heh... I won’t. I don’t want to go anywhere."

An Ning grabbed Li Chengze by the shoulders and shook the snow off him.

"You’re lucky. After a fall from that high, you only twisted your ankle."

"I’ll send you up first."

Li Chengze had indeed sprained his ankle, but there were no fractures.

"The goat... the goat—"

"I’ll bring it up for you."

An Ning tied the rope around Li Chengze. Above, Jiang Xia gave a powerful tug and easily pulled the grown man up.

Next came the goat.

And finally, An Ning herself.

As for Li Chengze’s belongings, they only found a backpack. His suitcase was nowhere to be seen.

When An Ning got out, Jiang Xia had already wrapped Li Chengze in a quilt, put some sugar in his mouth, and placed hot water bags on his chest and back.

The snow still hadn’t stopped.

Jiang Xia shook the snowflakes from his head and said to An Ning, "Let’s cut some branches and make a simple stretcher. The two of us can pull him."

"Okay!"

Both of them were quick to act. An Ning took a running jump, grabbed a branch, and was up the tree in two moves.

She powerfully snapped off a dozen or so thick, relatively uniform branches and threw them down.

Jiang Xia took out the rope he had prepared, along with a coil of iron wire, and started lashing the stretcher together.

An Ning jumped down from the tree. Working together, they finished quickly.

"Li Chengze, lie down on the stretcher. Jiang Xia and I will pull you back. It’ll be faster this way."

Li Chengze still hadn’t fully recovered, but he was doing better than before.

He nodded, chilled to the bone.

An Ning and Jiang Xia made their preparations. Using four ropes, they linked the stretcher to An Ning’s sled and to Jiang Xia’s waist.

"Da Huang, take it easy. Match Jiang Xia’s pace."

"WOOF WOOF!"

Da Huang panted, his hot breath quickly mingling with the snowflakes.

"Let’s go!"

Jiang Xia and Da Huang did their best to maintain a steady pace. An Ning, on her sled, held onto one of the ropes connected to the stretcher with one hand while dragging the frozen goat with the other.

The journey back was obviously not as fast as the journey there, but it was much faster than walking.

Along the way, they ran into some villagers.

An Ning told them that Li Chengze had been found. Spreading the word, everyone began to head back to the village.

In that moment, An Ning decided she had to do something for this village.

They deserved it.

Once everyone was back, Sun Dazhuang went door to door to confirm that all had returned safely, only then did he feel relieved.

An Sancheng and Uncle An, each with their eldest sons, went to thank everyone individually.

Meanwhile, An Ning brought Li Chengze back to her home and took him to An Guoping’s room.

An Guoping and Jiang Xia were rubbing his body with alcohol to warm him up.

Lin Cuihua called An Ning away to warm herself by the fire.

"You must be cold. Hurry up and get warm."

"Those shoes—"

Lin Cuihua had immediately noticed the leather shoes on An Ning’s feet.

"Jiang Xia bought the wrong size, so he let me borrow them."

Lin Cuihua stared at An Ning’s face as she said this without batting an eye.

But she felt that something wasn’t quite right about it.

However, Lin Cuihua didn’t ask. Her daughter, at a glance, was clearly clueless about such things.

She had no intention of pointing it out.

’Still, what’s that boy Jiang Xia up to?’

’I’ll have a word with An Sancheng tonight.’

Lin Cuihua was the type of mother who was anxious for her daughter to get married, but the moment someone actually took a liking to her, she’d start to worry.

While An Ning warmed herself by the fire, Lin Cuihua carried a pot of congee to An Guoping’s room.

By the time Li Chengze came around, an hour had passed.

He was wearing An Guoping’s cotton-padded jacket and pants, along with a pair of very down-to-earth, thick cotton shoes, and came looking for An Ning.

"An Ning, thank you."

"Don’t mention it. I’ve already called your parents. They told me to tell you not to worry and that you can just call them back tomorrow."

"Okay, thank you, thank you."

Li Chengze really didn’t know what else to say.

"Have a seat. How did you get lost, anyway?"

An Ning pointed to a small stool on the side. Li Chengze sat down, and the flames from the stove pit drove away the chill he had just picked up outside.

"I... I was chasing the goat."