But the news they got from Li Xiang’s house was that after the three of them had delivered a load of firewood together, Li Xiang and Liang Xiaoyu hadn’t gone back, and they didn’t know if Sanni had returned to the mountain again.
"Dani, let me help you look for Sanni..." Li Xiang said with some concern.
"No need," Yang Ruxin shook her head. "Maybe she has already gone back." Then she hurriedly ran toward the mountains. Li Xiang was just a young girl too, and if something happened again, Yang Ruxin wouldn’t know how to explain to the Li family. Moreover, she had a premonition that Sanni was not in immediate danger.
Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, Yang Ruxin looked around and didn’t see any traces of wild animals, which calmed her slightly.
"Could this be the path that Sanni took when she left?" Yang Ruxin frowned momentarily but didn’t hesitate, following the trail on the ground.
The trail headed into the deep mountains and, on top of that, she saw other paw prints beside the marks, small ones that didn’t seem to belong to a beast, perhaps a rabbit or similar animal, which eased her mind somewhat. Sanni was a smart child and wouldn’t wander off carelessly. So the most likely possibility was that something had taken her into the mountains, and then she got lost.
She had reassured Erni that everything was fine, but in reality, her own heart was in turmoil. If something truly had happened to Sanni, she thought, she would feel guilty for the rest of her life.
But with Xiaocang Mountain being so vast, where should she start looking?
Just as Yang Ruxin felt utterly helpless and increasingly anxious, suddenly, it was as if a light flashed before her eyes, something flickered through her mind, and then, to her surprise, she realized that she could actually see a trail made by someone’s passing on the ground.
The path into the mountain was relatively smooth to begin with but after roughly half an hour, the forest became denser, and the terrain grew steeper.
And then, the trail on the ground suddenly disappeared.
"Sanni..." Yang Ruxin looked around, the trail was indeed gone, meaning Sanni had vanished in this vicinity. Without a choice, she could only shout at the top of her lungs and began searching earnestly.
At that moment, on a tree nearby, a dark green snake was slowly sticking out its tongue at Yang Ruxin, its round little head raised as if it could pounce at any time.
Yang Ruxin’s heart sank. Although she didn’t know much about snakes, as there weren’t any in the cities of her previous life, she had seen enough of them on TV to recognize that this one was a venomous snake, since its teeth were black when it opened its mouth.
If she were bitten...
Yang Ruxin dared not think further, but fortunately, she had her space. As soon as the creature moved, she would retreat into her space, determined not to leave her life behind there.
The little green snake eyed Yang Ruxin for quite some time, then suddenly coiled up and lunged at her with its mouth wide open.
Yang Ruxin was quick to react and whooshed into her space.
The snake bit the air, probably not expecting its prey to disappear so suddenly, and appeared confused. It fell to the ground from the tree before quickly slithering back up, seeming somewhat terrifying. You see, its speed was much faster than a cheetah’s, and honestly, not many animals could evade its attack. But now, a human had managed to escape, and it couldn’t find her? This...
Xiaolun, the little green snake, felt an unprecedented frustration. After searching around and finding no one, it reluctantly slithered away, but not before it memorized her scent, vowing that next time they met, it would not let her get away so easily.