From yesterday’s conversation between the pursuers, Qin Yining analyzed several points.

First, from these people’s accents, she could determine they were northern Great Zhou people.

Second, they were following orders from a “Marquis” to intercept and kill people surnamed Qin.

Third, these people remained to search the mountains, and if they didn’t kill the Qin-surnamed people, they probably couldn’t account for their mission.

Fourth, these people’s martial skills, when fighting against the Huben Army that escorted the surrendering officials, though not completely victorious, were not much inferior either.

So the question arose: this tightly organized group of men whose martial skills were not inferior to the Huben Army—exactly which military unit were they from?

And this “Marquis” who ordered the interception and killing of the Qin family—what kind of person was he?

Which other marquis in the Great Zhou Dynasty had the ability to lead two to three hundred skilled soldiers out to intercept and kill them?

Qin Yining would not suspect these people were sent by Emperor Zhou.

Emperor Zhou wanted the surrendering officials from the Yan Dynasty to help him balance the two factions in court. If he didn’t want the surrendering officials, he could have simply not urged surrender from the beginning—there was no need to send people to kill them midway.

Therefore, this interception must have been done by a “Marquis” of high position and authority who controlled military power, deceiving the Emperor of Zhou.

An answer was already emerging in Qin Yining’s mind.

Could it really be the Marquis of Dingbei who had once sworn brotherhood with Pang Xiao and Emperor Zhou?

But shouldn’t the Marquis of Dingbei be stationed at the border between Great Zhou and the Tatars with the Longxiang Army? How could he have people appear here at this time?

If the assassins were targeting only the Qin family, then why would those fake bandits kill so many innocent people at the front of the convoy?

If they weren’t targeting the Qin family, then why did she happen to overhear the conversation between those two assassins?

All these thoughts couldn’t be sorted out at once, but Qin Yining could now be certain of one thing: she needed to hide well for the next few days and absolutely couldn’t go down the mountain immediately.

Those assassins came under orders. If they couldn’t bring back some heads, they wouldn’t be able to account for their mission, so they would definitely appear again.

She was alone and couldn’t fight them, so she could only hide.

Fortunately, she had experience surviving in the mountains and forests. Although it was winter when nothing grew, Qin Yining was still confident she could hold on.

However, thinking that Lian Shengjie must be beating his chest and stamping his feet right now, Qin Yining felt quite pleased.

Lian Shengjie had been ordered to receive the surrender documents and submission memorials. Since he was bringing the Yan Prince and the Great Yan surrendering officials back to the capital, he naturally should have taken protective measures.

Now that such a tragedy had occurred on the road, not only would Emperor Zhou be furiously enraged if he knew, but most importantly, Lian Shengjie’s old face would have nowhere to hide.

Lian Shengjie and Pang Xiao had never gotten along. This time, he first served as a secret envoy, using her to lure Pang Xiao into a trap. After that plan failed, he then brazenly came to snatch away Pang Xiao’s chance to enjoy honor.

Now he still had a hundred men from the Huben Army left to him, yet he still managed to be ambushed halfway by a group of bandits, with so many surrendering officials and their families dead and wounded.

This time, even if Lian Shengjie had ten mouths, he wouldn’t be able to explain clearly before Emperor Zhou.

Since that “Marquis’s” subordinates came disguised as bandits, they must have ensured that Emperor Zhou couldn’t catch him by the pigtails.

The scandal of Lian Shengjie’s poor escort duty, being overwhelmed by “mountain bandits”—that rabble—with no ability to resist, definitely couldn’t be covered up.

Thinking of all this, Qin Yining came to terms with her current situation, and the depression in her heart could finally dissipate somewhat.

Having made up her mind, she immediately went out to look for food.

Without tools, she searched for suitable branches as substitutes and found many withered grasses to weave grass ropes and make traps to catch some small animals.

However, without tools and wanting to catch prey in the snowy mountains during winter was truly not an easy task.

Qin Yining spent an entire day searching for food.

In winter, there were no wild vegetables or fruits to forage. To catch birds, she had neither nets nor bait. To rely on her simple little traps to catch some small animals was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

She endured hunger and searched very carefully in the forest. She didn’t catch any prey but instead discovered four corpses.

Those four people had already turned to white bones. From their clothing, she could vaguely tell that three of them wore Great Zhou military uniforms, while the other wore commoner’s clothing. From their fallen positions and postures, as well as the severed arms and heads, Qin Yining could determine this should be a story of one against three, ending in mutual destruction.

There had been years of chaos, and such tragedies could be found everywhere. She hadn’t expected to see such a scene even in these remote deep mountains where few people ventured.

Qin Yining sighed endlessly.

But fortunately, there were weapons to use beside these corpses!

Qin Yining picked up a cleaver, a short sword, two daggers, a coil of rope, an empty water pouch, and a small bag containing several pills of unknown medicine.

Qin Yining gathered all the useful items before continuing to search for food.

Fortunately, before long Qin Yining found a water source—a small stream that hadn’t yet frozen. With great difficulty, by evening she managed to catch a hibernating frog and returned to her “little nest” to roast and eat it.

No wonder people in the world would use any means to fight for power and money.

Only with these two things could people live comfortably.

However, though such days were uncomfortable, Qin Yining accepted them gladly. Smelling the rich meaty aroma when roasting the frog, Qin Yining optimistically thought: her luck wasn’t bad today—maybe tomorrow she could catch a wild rabbit. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about starving to death.

Just as she was lost in thought, she suddenly heard the “crunch” sound of footsteps on snow.

Qin Yining was so startled she almost threw away the frog. She quickly grabbed one of the short swords she’d found and held it in her hand, warily watching the direction the sound came from.

Just then, a strong wind blew, the shrubs swayed, and something furry about three feet tall suddenly ran away.

What kind of animal was it?

Qin Yining concentrated and stared in that direction for a while longer. Finding no wild beast, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Qin Yining thought: fortunately she hadn’t encountered wolves, or it would have been even more dangerous.

Just eating one frog that actually didn’t have much meat and wasn’t very tasty, Qin Yining felt much warmer all over.

She began spreading dry straw inside her little nest.

Just then, she seemed to hear another slight rustling sound, and from the corner of her eye saw a figure dart past.

This time Qin Yining became serious.

What kind of small animal was this? Why was it so fast, moving like an agile leopard!

Qin Yining remained calm, placing all the weapons she’d found within reach, then quickly grabbed a torch she’d prepared by the fire. If there were small animals, they should be afraid of fire.

She stood in that tense standoff for quite a while, but the small animal didn’t appear again.

Qin Yining breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the little thing must have run far away.

She continued using dry grass to line her little nest.

Just then, Qin Yining suddenly sensed something behind her.

She spun around abruptly and saw a figure approaching.

It was a child of about seven or eight years old, wearing thick animal fur, with a dirty little face and messy hair. At this moment, he was placing a wild rabbit whose fur had been half-singed by fire beside her bonfire.

Perhaps not expecting her to suddenly turn around, the child was startled, his eyes immediately widening.

Qin Yining said in amazement, “Hey, you…”

But before she could finish speaking, the child turned and ran, fast as the wind.

Qin Yining suddenly understood—the “small animal” she’d seen earlier was this child!