Fortunately, the main targets of these wolves were those two people, and there was still a bit of distance from them, otherwise, the brothers might not have been able to break through the wolf pack and escape. Despite dispersing and fleeing, there were still a few wolves chasing them.
He fought desperately, killed two wolves, injured several others, and ran far with his full strength, ultimately losing consciousness and remembering nothing.
"So you escaped from the wolf’s mouth," Hua Chengtian looked at him with a complicated expression.
He was indeed lucky, but it was because he was implicated by others, people he didn’t even know, it truly felt frustrating.
"Don’t worry, for now, focus on recovering, and consider other things later. I believe in Brother Sun’s and Brother Sun’s abilities, they should be fine."
Among their brothers, the fourth one was indeed the weakest, but they all managed to escape from the wolves, so perhaps Brother Sun and others were really okay.
Moreover, the wolves’ targets were not mainly on them, there was still a great survival chance.
"Thank you, Brother Chengtian," Sun Laosi understood his meaning, hesitated for a moment, and swallowed the words he wanted to say.
Being rescued had already made him extremely grateful, he couldn’t be so selfish as to bring trouble to Sister Xiu’s husband.
Especially given that it’s already late at night, saying something wouldn’t help.
Hua Chengtian could also see Sun Laosi’s hesitation, and roughly guessed what he wanted to say.
If it were someone else, Hua Chengtian might save them in passing, but not more than that.
However, the Sun family had a good relationship with his wife, especially the two elders of the Sun family who truly treated their daughter-in-law like their own daughter. The brothers had always taken great care of their daughter-in-law since childhood, and they had a special place in his wife’s heart. Because of this, Hua Chengtian couldn’t just ignore it.
He quickly said, "Don’t rush, rest first. Tomorrow morning, tell me the place where you got separated, and I will take the brothers out to look for clues, or is there a way to communicate between you guys?"
"Yes, yes..." Sun Laosi couldn’t wait for tomorrow, he said eagerly, then explained the special contact methods among the brothers, meant to find each other if unexpected events separated them.
After speaking, he realized his urgency and looked at Sister Xiu’s husband with embarrassment, unable to say any polite words, after all, he really worried about his Big Brother and Second Brother.
As for those two people, it’s best if they’re buried in the wolf’s belly, otherwise, his resentment is hard to dissipate.
"Alright, take good care of yourself, I’ll go early tomorrow morning to look for them."
"Hmm, thanks to Brother Chengtian," Sun Laosi looked at Hua Chengtian gratefully, his eyes reddened. He truly didn’t know what else to say.
The mountain is so dangerous, going out to find people because of him is a favor the brothers might never repay in their lifetime.
"Don’t think too much," Hua Chengtian said, bringing over a torch, and began to undo Sun Laosi’s clothes for another check-up.
Despite some surface swelling, it looked fine for now; there wasn’t any sign of pus or infection, likely thanks to the anti-inflammatory medicine he took. Hopefully, this kid can hold on, otherwise, his wife will be very upset.
After Hua Chengtian applied the medicine, Sun Laosi once again fell into a sickly sleep.
In the middle of the night, Hua Chengtian was woken up by Sun Laosi’s moans, noticing his flushed face even without touching it, he knew the fever was back.
After giving him medicine, Hua Chengtian took out a jar of alcohol from his space and carefully wiped Sun Laosi all over. Perhaps due to the cold weather or the medicine working, the high fever finally passed with no danger, and by dawn it had reduced to a slight warmth.
Having been up for so long, Hua Chengtian no longer felt sleepy, and seeing that dawn was approaching, he got up to prepare breakfast.
Hua Chengtian wasn’t skilled in much, but he could make meat porridge and soak the bread they carried, solving a breakfast.
Although simple, it was food many people desired but couldn’t obtain.
Nowadays, the lives of many people, apart from those with power, influence, or villages sufficiently united to store food, were hanging by a thread, relying on tree leaves, roots, bark powder, just waiting for the warmer weather and the earth’s recovery.
After breakfast, daylight began to break. After giving Sun Laosi anti-inflammatory and fever-reducing pills and arranging someone to care for him, Hua Chengtian selected twenty strong men, equipped with weapons, leaving others to rest in the cave, and he led the group away from the cave.
Upon stepping outside, there was an immediate difference in feeling. The temperature had risen slightly, limbs seemed to stretch better, and the biting cold wind seemed less fierce.
A whole year of extreme cold was finally ending, though Hua Chengtian didn’t know if this was good or bad news.
"Brother Chengtian, it seems it’s warmer again," Tie Wa took his hand out of the sleeve to feel.
"It is warmer," Hua Qiang nodded.
"Great, the temperature is finally rising," everyone was delighted; they had been hoping for this for so long, finally seeing hope.
"Hmm," Hua Chengtian nodded, brows furrowed, not sharing in the group’s relaxation, observing everyone’s joyous expression without dampening their spirits.
However, once Sun Laosi’s matter was settled, there should be no delay in quickly returning.
The gradual rise in temperature also meant the ice and snow would start melting, their time was limited, they must quickly bring people back to the valley.
Once the ice and snow melted, mobility would be even harder for a while, the flood post-melting would be difficult to recede immediately, and failing to prepare earlier, plans to move to the valley might need to be postponed, pushing back the time for crop sowing, which was Hua Chengtian’s biggest worry.
During the extreme cold in his daughter’s dreams, there’s only a few months of transition afterward, he must make good use of this time, without wasting a single moment.
"Let’s go, we’ll go and come back quickly," Hua Chengtian allowed himself only a day to search, doing his utmost duty to the Sun family.
The benefit of the temperature increase was unhindered movement, they climbed two mountains at a quicker pace than yesterday, reaching the place where Sun Laosi’s incident was discovered. Here, it was a mess, with animal scratch marks everywhere, and the bloodstains in the snow had disappeared.
However, there wasn’t a complete lack of clues; finding sporadic bloodstains was possible, following these traces along, and no tree was ignored, searching for possible marks.
Unfortunately, nothing was found, leading all the way to the place Sun Laosi described where the incident occurred.
Here it was similarly chaotic, visible proof of the fierce battle.
In a patch of blood-stained snow, several clumps of hair connected to the human body were found, frozen stiff, but these were the only discoveries, within a radius of ten feet, nothing else, truly leaving no bones.
However, everyone did not give up and continued searching.
"Uncle Chengtian..." From afar, Hua Shuisheng shouted to Hua Cheng, "Look at this, is this the mark we’re looking for."
"Where?" Hearing this, the others immediately ran toward Shuisheng’s location.
Having searched for so long, impatience grew, and finally, there were some findings.
"There seems to be something here too," someone else exclaimed upon discovery, unable to hold back a shout.
Hua Chengtian quickly ran toward them, with identical marks carved on two trees, exactly matching the signs described by Sun Laosi for their communication.
Judging by the marks, Brother Sun Da and Brother Sun Er had returned, but did not find Sun Laosi, thus leaving a sign.