Flip the table and divide the family property! Take his wife and daughter into the mountains and eat

Li Baotian stuffed the remaining tiger teeth, tiger tail, and the bag of top-quality items into his canvas bag, slung the Type 56 semi-automatic sled behind him, strode to the front of the sled, and gripped the rope made of twisted vines tightly.

Old Sun stood directly behind the sled, holding the wooden lever in one hand and gripping the old-fashioned rifle in the other.

"Baotian."

"Why!"

"The downhill road is all black ice, don't run. Step by step, make sure the snow under your feet is firm before you go any further. If you slip, immediately throw yourself into the mud. Don't let go of the rope, even if it kills you."

Li Baotian sniffed his nose, which was red from the cold, and tightened the rope around his shoulder: "Uncle, don't worry, even if I'm rubbing my skin and flesh against the stone, I won't let go!"

After saying that, he suddenly pressed his waist down and roared.

The makeshift sled made a sickening screech as it slid slowly forward across the frozen mud and gravel.

Going down the mountain is a hundred times harder than going up.

Especially considering they were dragging a half-dead strong man, a seriously injured old dog, and a large, fresh item weighing dozens of kilograms.

Li Baotian was pulling ahead, his cotton-padded coat completely soaked, sweat dripping down his neck, which was quickly frozen into a layer of white ice by the mountain wind.

When encountering a steep slope, Old Sun had to wedge his heels firmly into the frozen ground, his shoes worn down until they were smoking, which forced the sled to slow down.

Qinglong, limping, followed beside him, falling several times on the muddy surface and sliding several meters away, only to tumble and crawl to catch up, managing not to fall behind.

When they reached about halfway up the mountain, Zhao Shanhe woke up once.

He struggled to open his eyes, his vision filled only with the gray, withered branches overhead and the swaying, pale sun.

He turned his head slightly and saw Li Baotian hunched over like an old ox, the thick vines on his shoulders had torn his cotton-padded coat, and bloodstains were seeping out.

Zhao Shanhe's dry Adam's apple bobbed up and down: "Baotian..."

Li Baotian stopped abruptly and turned around hurriedly: "Brother Shanhe, you're awake?"

"Don't stop!"

Old Sun, yelling in his hoarse voice from behind, shouted, "Once you lose your breath, you can't pull it up anymore!"

Startled, Li Baotian quickly turned around and continued pulling forward desperately, his voice hoarse: "Shanhe, I'm here!"

Zhao Shanhe looked at his still bleeding shoulder, closed his eyes, and whispered, "You've worked hard."

Li Baotian's eyes instantly reddened. His feet pounded on the icy ground, and without turning around, he yelled at the top of his lungs, "Stop talking nonsense! Save that for when you get back safe and sound, and tell my sister-in-law! I'm a bachelor, I won't listen!"

Zhao Shanhe tried to smile, but the moment his chest tightened, a sharp pain made his vision go black.

Old Sun kicked the sled's side: "What are you laughing at! If you laugh any longer, you'll break bones and send them piercing your lungs, even a god would be helpless! Shut your mouths, save your energy, we'll see the medicine shed after we get over that next ridge!"

As soon as that harsh, vulgar remark was uttered, the string in Zhao Shanhe's mind, which had been stretched to its limit, finally loosened by half an inch, albeit very slowly.

I don't know how long I endured it.

The stench of blood in the wind was completely dispelled by the dry, cold smell of cooking smoke drifting from the foot of the mountain.

Li Baotian was the first to wade out of the dense forest. His bloodshot eyes were fixed on the rooftops of the houses at the foot of the mountain. He knelt down on one knee in a snow pit with a thud, breathing in the cold air into his lungs.

The familiar house at the foot of the mountain stands alone on the leeward slope.

Hot white smoke was billowing out of the chimney.

Old Sun loosened his numb fingers, strode across the fallen branches, and dragged his heavy steps to the closed wooden door.

He raised his rough, large hand, smeared with dried tiger blood, and slammed it twice against the door.

"Bang! Bang!"

Old Sun, his voice hoarse and strained, roared into the house, "Open the door! We're back!"

There was a loud "bang" from inside the room, like an iron basin hitting the blue brick floor.

Then came a flurry of hurried footsteps.

The wooden door was suddenly yanked open from the inside, and a blast of cold air mixed with the heat from inside rushed out.

Lin Xiu didn't even have time to put on her overcoat; she was only wearing a thin, close-fitting cotton coat, and she was gripping the door frame tightly.

Wang Xiulan hurriedly peeked out from behind her, still clutching half a fire poker that hadn't been put down.

Lin Xiu's gaze passed over Old Sun and landed directly on the makeshift sled parked a dozen steps away.

Ahead was Li Baotian, who was slumped in the snow, panting heavily and covered in blood.

On the sled, the edges of a huge, yellow and black tiger skin hung in the snow, inside which was a familiar figure, whose fate was unknown.

Lin Xiu felt as if all the blood in her body had been drained in an instant.

"Mountains and Rivers!"

That shout was so heart-wrenching that even the echo in the valley trembled.

Lin Xiu didn't care about the slippery black ice under her feet. She stumbled out of the medicine shed and rushed up the mountain like a madwoman.

Hearing the sound, Zhao Shanhe, who was on the sled, suddenly opened his eyes.

Visibility was extremely blurry, but Lin Xiu's stumbling figure was clearer than ever before.

Zhao Shanhe's eyes welled up with tears. He tried to lift his uninjured arm, but as soon as he moved, Old Sun slapped him hard and pressed him down under the tiger skin.

"Stop moving around like that! If you bleed again, I'll throw you in the ditch right now!"

Lin Xiu rushed to the sled, her legs gave way, and she knelt heavily in the muddy ground covered with ice shards.

She wanted to reach out and hug him, but all she saw was his blood-soaked cotton-padded jacket torn to shreds, his face smeared with black mud, and the blood-soaked knot at the base of his thigh. Her hands trembled violently in mid-air, and she dared not bring them down.

Looking at her tear-streaked face, Zhao Shanhe managed to squeeze out a barely audible voice: "Don't cry... I'm back."

Lin Xiu bit her pale lips tightly, shook her head like a rattle drum, and tears streamed down her face.

Wang Xiulan, who was following behind, also ran over with red eyes.

She spotted Li Baotian slumped in the snow, panting heavily. His cotton-padded coat was torn, his face was covered in soot, and his shoulders were covered in purplish-red bloodstains. She immediately went over and slapped his arm.

"You finally decided to come back!"

Li Baotian grimaced as he was slapped, but didn't dare to dodge.

Wang Xiulan's eyes reddened instantly, but she still scolded, "Look at the state you're in! Your cotton-padded coat is torn, your face is stained, and your shoulders are all chafed like this."

Li Baotian lowered his head, his voice hoarse: "I'm fine."

"fine?"

Wang Xiulan was both angry and distressed. She reached out and grabbed his arm, examining it from head to toe. "You say it's nothing, but I'm asking you, are your arms and legs still intact? Did anything bite you anywhere? Are any bones broken?"

Li Baotian grinned, trying to smile, but his eyes welled up with tears as soon as he opened his mouth.

"They're all there."

"The person has been brought back."

Upon hearing these words, Wang Xiulan burst into tears.

She raised her hand as if to hit him again, but her hand only landed lightly on his shoulder halfway up the air.

"It's good that you're back."

"It's good that you're all back."

Old Sun spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, yanked the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle off Li Baotian's back, and roared as he held it across his chest, "Stop arguing here! He's still hanging on by a thread! Xiulan, hurry inside and get the kang (heated brick bed) warm, and boil two pots of water! Baotian, go to the village and get a few people to bring the clinic's cart and all the anti-inflammatory medicine!"

The two women wiped away their tears and quickly offered each other assistance.

In the wind and snow, the heavy sled was pushed into the house by the combined efforts, and the wooden door slammed shut, shutting out all the cold air from outside.

The heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) in the room was quickly heated to a scorching temperature by the large firewood.

Lin Xiu knelt on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), her hands trembling uncontrollably. Finally, she dared to extend her fingertips and tightly grasp Zhao Shanhe's cold finger.

Zhao Shanhe lay on the steaming heated kang mat, with a thick leather smeared with tiger blood beneath him.

The familiar warmth emanated from my palm.

He twitched his eyelids slightly, but didn't open them. Instead, he gently clasped Lin Xiu's fingers with his other hand.

Lin Xiu froze for a moment.

The next moment, the tension that had been building up in Zhao Shanhe's chest finally eased.

Holding Lin Xiu's hand, he fell into a deep sleep.