Ren Yingying felt that it was rare for her to be so calm, which showed that a person's potential is truly brought out by being forced.
She began to plan how to pack her things.
Before you can find Dog Meat, you must first protect yourself.
Although the weather has cleared up, the icy and snowy conditions mean that staying outside for extended periods can easily lead to hypothermia.
Keeping warm is the most important thing; in addition, there needs to be food for people and horses, as well as tinder, shovels...
She picked up her pen and added details as she remembered them.
Footsteps could be heard outside.
When Ren Yingying looked up, she suddenly realized that Dog Meat and go to the door for her, barking arrogantly.
A pang of pain shot through her heart, and she bit her lip hard to force herself to calm down.
Qu Nian lifted the curtain and came in, carrying a bowl of porridge.
He bent down and placed the porridge on the table. "Drink it."
Ren Yingying looked closely and saw that it was a bowl of golden pumpkin porridge.
This wouldn't have been a big deal in the past.
But after marching and fighting for so long, it's not easy to find pumpkins.
Although she had no appetite, she still picked up the bowl of porridge.
Qu Nian seemed relieved to see her drinking porridge, her gaze falling calmly on her scribbles.
"Is it good?"
"Mmm... It's sweet..."
It's warm and sweet, but my heart is filled with bitterness.
Dog Meat, Qu Nian...
For them, the separation came so suddenly.
Perhaps Qu Nian really did dig up her family's ancestral grave in her past life.
Qu Nian looked at the little bit of porridge on the corner of her mouth, couldn't help but purse his lips, and silently stood with his hands behind his back.
His idea is really inappropriate...
Ren Yingying suddenly scooped up some porridge and placed it in front of him, saying, "Try it."
This surprise caught Qu Nian completely off guard, and for a moment, she didn't even have time to react.
"Oh, and have someone send over a spoon as well," Ren Yingying said.
For some reason, she always had this feeling that if Dog Meat was gone, there would probably be no future for her and Qu Nian.
Absurd, yet so real.
My heart feels like it's starving, slowly decaying.
No sooner had she finished speaking than Qu Nian bit down on the spoon.
Ren Yingying suddenly had a feeling that Dog Meat had returned.
"Delicious." Qu Nian felt extremely satisfied. "You eat."
He watched as Ren Yingying finished her bowl of porridge.
"Is this what you're planning to bring?" Qu Nian picked up the "scribbled symbols" on the table. "I'll have someone prepare them right away."
"Wait," Ren Yingying called out to him, "This is food and supplies prepared for twenty people. Could you check if it's enough? If not, please get some more. I have no experience..."
"It's not quite enough..."
What's missing?
"One person is missing." Qu Nian looked at Ren Yingying.
The two were so close that Ren Yingying could clearly see her own face reflected in his dark eyes.
Pale, bewildered...
The meaning behind his words shocked Ren Yingying even more.
"Don't understand?" Qu Nian reached out and pinched her small earlobe. "You're acting silly today. When Dog Meat comes back, he won't recognize you as his silly mother."
"No." Ren Yingying lowered her gaze. "Qu Nian, I understand what you mean. But you can't stay."
"Is there anyone who can control me?" Qu Nian raised an eyebrow.
I am the best in the world, and nobody can stop me.
"You promised the Prince of Jin, you can't go back on your word. You brought the person out, you must bring him back."
"Shang Meng and his son are so powerful, I think it would be better to take them back with us," Qu Nian sneered.
"You..." Ren Yingying was speechless, unsure whether he truly knew or was bluffing.
"Whose family are you with?" Qu Nian used a little force with his fingertips, Ren Yingying held back her words.
Qu Nian was reluctant to let her go, and gently rubbed her earlobe, unable to resist scolding, "Why did you hide this from me? Shang Ke find you."
So he already knew.
"I didn't mean to hide it from you," Ren Yingying said. "He reminded me, and I'm actually very grateful to him."
"Thanks my ass! Why don't you thank me?"
Qu Nian disliked Ren Yingying's current state at all.
"Thank you too. But..."
"No buts, I'm staying." Qu Nian had a "what can you do about it?" look on his face.
Seeing that Ren Yingying remained silent, he couldn't help but say, "Others may not know, but do you think I don't know how important Dog Meat is to you?"
If anything happens to the Dog Meat, Ren Yingying will lose half her life.
"Besides, what business is it of yours what happens to the Prince of Prince of Jin's empire? If it falls, it falls; it's not ours anyway. We should just focus on doing well!"
Qu Nian reached out and tucked a stray hair behind Ren Yingying's ear, then hugged her and said, "The Dog Meat will be fine, let's go find it."
Ren Yingying then burst into tears, "Qu Nian, I'm scared, I'm so, so scared..."
I'm afraid I'll never see Dog Meat again; I'm afraid what I'll find is a cold corpse.
Even, it is broken and incomplete.
"Don't be afraid, I'm with you. There's nothing to be afraid of."
In Qu Nian's heart, she had already made the worst preparations.
If this is a calamity, then he will accompany her through it.
He has already sent someone to Nanyue to find some more dogs, hoping to distract Ren Yingying from her grief.
But we'll have to figure out the specifics later; better safe than sorry.
The army set off as scheduled.
Qu Nian left two hundred people to help with the search.
"Don't overthink it. These are all my Tiger and Leopard Battalion's personal guards; they have absolutely no connection to the Prince of Jin's Residence."
We're one of their own; use us if you want.
Ren Yingying nodded.
She has been noticeably quieter these past few days.
Let's go.
Two hundred men split into eight groups and began searching in the snow.
After two days of clear skies, the roads began to become muddy. Walking through the mud pits, one step at a time, one had to change shoes, socks, and clothes every hour.
In the evening, the temperature dropped sharply again, and the road surface became icy, making it easy to slip and fall.
Qu Nian kept supporting Ren Yingying, and as a result, the two of them ended up falling together.
Most of the time, Qu Nian used his body as a human cushion for Ren Yingying, so he fell more violently, while Ren Yingying was alright.
At night, the two squeezed into a makeshift tent. Qu Nian took off his shirt, rolled up his trousers, and lay down on the straw mat. Ren Yingying applied medicine to his elbows, back, legs, and ankles one by one.
He was covered in bruises from the fall, which was distressing to see.
Qu Nian, however, said carelessly, "I'll apply the medicine for you in a bit, okay?"
Ren Yingying: "... I'm not injured."
"I was thinking," she said, rubbing the medicated oil onto his lower back, "That I'll climb the mountain tomorrow and take a look."
"It's no use. There's only so much Dog Meat; you wouldn't even see it from the mountaintop," Qu Nian said. "Stop overthinking it. Just keep looking tomorrow."
As time goes by, the chances of finding Dog Meat are becoming increasingly slim...
Ren Yingying knew this all too well.
But how can one so easily utter the word "give up"?
"Ten days, let's search for another ten days..." Ren Yingying said through gritted teeth.
Don't think too much, just get some rest.