The four of them got off their mounts, which Chu Lian then led to one side. She told Urihan to stand at a position where they would be shielded from the wind before taking out some of the food they had packed into the cloth bags hanging on the horses.
They leaned against the horses and tried to warm themselves with the horses’ body heat. After distributing the food, they forced themselves to eat it to preserve their energy.
Chu Lian gulped down some goat’s milk and explained her idea to them while they were eating.
Myeryen had been eating peacefully at first, but after hearing Chu Lian’s solution, his eyes widened in astonishment.
He said anxiously, “Sister Chu, we can’t do that! These two horses are the last thing we can count on. Without them, we’ll never be able to walk out of these plains on our feet alone!”
Chu Lian knew that Myeryen was speaking the truth. She sucked in a deep breath of the bracing cold air around her and rubbed the flank of the horse she was leaning against before sighing. “Myeryen, take a good look at this horse. Even if we don’t use my solution, these two horses won’t be able to live till the next morning.”
Furthermore, the horses needed food. In their rush to leave the hill and due to Urihan’s mistake in estimating the distance they could travel, they hadn’t brought any feed for the horses at all.
Without food, the horses wouldn’t be able to go on for much longer. The condition of the two mounts they had hadn’t been very good in the first place.
Myeryen turned to look at the horse behind them. He reached out to touch the horse and found that its body was trembling and that it was in low spirits. It wasn’t a good sign. He was a man of the plains and he herded goats for a living so he definitely loved the animals he took care of. Unless he had no other choice, he would never hurt a horse.
Myeryen shut his eyes, looking pained. Finally, he nodded. He knew too that killing these two horses was probably their best chance at survival at this point. They would only be able to survive in the deadly cold night by doing so.
Chu Lian let out a breath of relief after successfully convincing Myeryen. Horses seemed to have human-like intelligence, so she wouldn’t have chosen to do so either except in extenuating circumstances.
She looked up at the endless horizon of white snow. As the day’s light slowly faded into darkness, she stuffed the last bite of jerky into her mouth and said, “Let’s start after we’re done eating.”
Myeryen nodded with his fists clenched. While eating, he explained Chu Lian’s idea to his mother and brother.
Urihan was more cool-headed than her son. Even though Chu Lian’s idea was just a short term solution and they would be facing an even more troubling situation the next morning, they would freeze to death this very night if they didn’t do so.
Once everyone was in agreement, they started preparing everything they needed. Luckily, there were already two swords inside the sacks hanging off the horses. Chu Lian would have gone mad if they only had her tiny dagger to kill the horses with.
Naturally, it was Urihan and Myeryen who handled the actual killing. They had lived with livestock and horses for years so they were familiar with slaughtering animals. They knew how to kill a horse with the least amount of suffering.
Once the two horses were lying motionless on the snow, even Chu Lian couldn’t help but shed tears for their plight.
It was getting darker and darker now, and the temperature was dropping. Chu Lian had to hurry up.
She and Urihan dug out all the organs from the horses’ abdomens and piled them up to one side on the snow. They laid the two horses on their sides. Once all the innards were gone, Chu Lian and Urihan first helped the youngest Narisong into the horse’s body. Myeryen then entered the body himself, setting his back to the opening while hugging Narisong.
Chu Lian pushed the pile of innards over the opening, covering the two boys.
The other horse was to be her resting place for the night, along with Urihan. Luckily, she and Urihan were both small in stature and slim. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to fit into one horse together.
Chu Lian and Urihan gestured at each other for some time before she finally persuaded Urihan to lay on the inside.
After Urihan had entered the horse’s body, Chu Lian squatted down and pushed her way in. Luckily, she still had her fox fur cloak around her so it wasn’t too cold for her even though she was on the outside.
It smelled terrible inside the horse’s belly. Blood and other fluids dripped onto her face. However, for the sake of survival, she had to bear with it.
He Changdi’s heart sank even more the further they travelled while chasing the traces of Chu Lian and her party.
It was already completely dark by now. All of the men who had come out with He Changdi were hiding inside the warm pen of the snowboat.
He Changdi opened up the flap a little to look out into the darkness with a grave expression.
Damn it, it was already night!
Out on the plains in winter, without anything to keep them warm, the dark of the night was the harbinger of death.
They had a specialised guide with them who was an old barbarian who had lived on the grasslands for decades.
The abnormally serious Xiao Hongyu turned to ask the old guide, “Is there any place to rest nearby?”
The old guide pursed his lips and spoke honestly, “There isn’t any place to rest for five kilometers or so from here. It will take at least two days or more to get out of these endless plains.”
Hearing that made the expression on He Sanlang’s face turn even more icy.
A guard on the outside reported, “Young Master, there are some tracks ahead.”
He Changdi’s voice came out a little rough, “Keep following the tracks!”
After the guard made a sound of agreement, he passed down the orders.
If not for the snowboat and the warming pen, even trained elite guards like them wouldn’t be able to travel normally in these dark and snowy conditions.
He Changdi had checked the traces that Chu Lian and her party had left back at the hill. After questioning the owner of those tents, he knew exactly what Chu Lian had with her when she had escaped.
How were four people and two horses going to survive out in this kind of night?!
