Chapter 357

Especially after seeing that her uncles and elders around her were no longer alive, she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.

But after a moment, she still nodded resolutely to Maria.

"This time, I'm truly grateful for your help, sister. Without you, all this stuff in this truck would have been ruined..."

"... But do you have the strength to carry all these things away by yourself?"

"... No."

The girl was very honest.

Although young, she already bore a heavy responsibility and knew that any promises would ultimately go unanswered, especially from someone as powerful as Maria. She knew that Maria would definitely not be interested in what she had.

At this point, he could only gamble on something else.

I'll take a gamble... on Maria's kindness.

"Where are you planning to go?"

As it turned out, the girl's gamble paid off.

Since Maria was willing to step in to rescue the girl, it showed that she was not the kind of person who would stand idly by when others were in danger. After hearing that the girl was indeed in trouble, she did not leave immediately, but turned around, nodded, and asked the girl where she was going.

These supplies will definitely have to stay here for the time being.

Fortunately, it's freezing cold today, so there's no worry about the food inside spoiling.

After briefly confirming the direction the girl wanted to go, Maria quietly began to lead the way.

Throughout the journey, the girl behaved in a way that was completely unlike a child.

Maria discerned a great deal from Maria's calm and orderly demeanor.

At least in Maria's memory, the Twin Wolves she encountered when they were young were much older than this girl, but they were still lively.

The girl in front of me... seemed to have lost all her drive, quiet and still.

This is very unusual...

And it seems there's only one thing that can shape all of this.

Were your parents among those people?

As Maria walked, she kept glancing back at the little girl behind her, who was hugging her arms and looked a bit cold.

After hearing Maria's words, the girl paused for a few seconds before shaking her head slightly.

"My mother passed away shortly after I was born, and my father also passed away at the beginning of the snow this year... None of those people were my blood relatives."

"..."

Just as I thought.

Maria shook her head slightly and sighed again.

Obviously, a normal child would not have this mindset at this age. The reason why the girl has become like this is entirely because she has experienced far too many things that ordinary people might only experience over decades.

After a moment of silence, Maria continued to ask questions.

"And what about you now?"

"Now?"

Hearing Maria's question, the little girl paused for a moment, then shook her head.

"I'm the village chief now... Everyone takes good care of me and helps me out in various ways. I'm actually doing pretty well."

The girl smiled, and the smile on her face didn't seem forced.

Rather, it's a relieved smile that comes after utter helplessness and acceptance of reality.

She had come to terms with it; she couldn't bring people back to life, and what had happened to her parents had already occurred... Since that was the case, there was nothing to complain about.

Keep going; that's the choice a living person should make.

"But to be honest... this year has been really unlucky, we've encountered such a huge blizzard, it's really quite troublesome."

"Isn't this kind of snow common?"

"Snow is common, but this year it's been excessive. My uncles said the last time they saw snow like this was when they were children."

"... So, you're transporting supplies to help your village?"

Actually, no.

The girl shook her head.

"With such heavy snow, the village is definitely doomed, so we began our migration..."

"Sister, you may not know this, but in this place, almost every village has a few small, well-known spots where the environment is good and they won't be easily affected, or rather, where there's enough space for everyone to get through some particularly harsh days."

"This heavy snow is too dangerous, and the harvest is poor this year, so we have to evacuate. People and livestock will go first, while we will escort the large quantities of supplies."

"These things are less like backup and more like they were originally ours."

The girl spoke slowly, and suddenly, her eyes lit up.

"It's over there! I can already see the campfire!"

"Um?"

Maria followed the girl's gaze and saw, in the distance, on a slope surrounded by mountains, several faint black dots swaying at a crack...

"What?!"

Once Maria and the girl arrived at the camp, the girl gathered the remaining people and explained what had happened.

Almost immediately, someone broke down.

Many others chose to remain silent.

But many more people are confused.

"What... what should we do?"

They looked at each other anxiously.

"That's our winter preparation! If we lose it all... then this winter is doomed!!"

"This..."

Faced with everyone's panicked expressions, the girl was also somewhat at a loss.

Maria, however, simply stood aside and watched quietly.

In no time at all, several elderly people who were still quite energetic suddenly tapped their canes, signaling everyone to look at them.

"What's the rush? This little thing has made such a fuss. How are you going to live like this in the future?"

The old man spoke, clearly indicating that he still held considerable prestige.

His reprimands calmed many people down.

Without waiting for them to ask, the old man turned to look at the little girl.

Although the two were too old to be described as grandfather and granddaughter, the old man still respectfully addressed them as village chief.

The form of address is also the formal "you" (您).

"Do you remember where our truck is?"

"Remember."

The girl nodded seriously, looked at everyone present, and continued speaking.

"Although we were attacked, I was fortunate enough to meet this lady. She fought off the wolves, and the goods were undamaged; they just can't be delivered for the time being."

Upon hearing this, everyone present couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The goods weren't lost... that's good.

"In that case... let's all get ready today."

An old man is an old man after all; seeing that everyone's emotions had calmed down, he shook his head slightly.

"We have enough food here to last us a week. The snowstorm hasn't shown any signs of getting worse these past few days, so food isn't a problem. Everyone, just work a little harder tonight and bring back the bodies of our brothers and sisters. Don't let those beasts eat them."

The old man's words were quite valuable, and soon a group of strong and healthy young people stepped forward.

Maria, who was standing nearby, had just gotten up to lead the way.

But the little girl walked over and shook her head slightly.

"Sister, you've worked so hard, you should get some rest. I'm truly grateful for what you did this time."

"..."

After Maria didn't reply, but instead stood back up.

Soon, the girl selected a group of people who knew the way, organized them into a procession, and, carrying torches, slowly walked into the distance.

"This trip will probably take one or two hours. Everyone, please wait... They know this route well."

It was getting dark, and it could be easy to get into trouble if you didn't know the way. But with about ten strong young men, it was unlikely that anything serious would happen.

The crowd quickly dispersed, each going about their own business.

Some are setting up tents, some are cooking dinner, and some are reinforcing the campsite.

Everyone has something to do.

Maria stood quietly to one side.

The elderly man who had spoken earlier also slowly walked over, leaning on his cane.

"Speaking of which, that little girl left in such a hurry that she didn't even have a chance to say your name."

"Maria ..."

"Oh, Maria... Hmm, a good name, a good name."

The old man seemed to be a little hard of hearing, and he nodded weakly when he heard Maria's name.

The name sounds... well, the meaning is good, but it's a bit too straightforward.

"This time, we owe you a great debt. If it weren't for your righteous intervention, our little girl would probably be in grave danger."

The old man sighed softly as he spoke.

Maria, standing to the side, didn't seem to care about the name; she simply nodded slightly and then looked at the other person.

Don't you often encounter such heavy snow?

"Yes, this snow is a rare sight, perhaps only seen once every few decades."

The old man shook his head, somewhat wistfully.

"I never imagined that my old bones would actually see such a heavy snowfall while I'm still alive... I doubt the snow will even have melted by next March..."

But Maria was somewhat puzzled.

"So you come here every time you encounter a situation like this?"

"Yes."

Haven't you considered settling down here?

Maria simply couldn't understand.

Since they all knew that their original mountain village might be hit by a snow disaster, and also knew that this place would be less affected by the disaster due to its terrain.

Why not settle here permanently?

"Because that's home..."

The old man shook his head and chuckled softly.

But this simple sentence silenced Maria.

Home?

This word was somewhat unfamiliar to her.

Come to think of it, when she initially drove Ceobe away, wasn't it also to tell her to find a home?

Although they went through many twists and turns, the two of them met again.