Chapter 7: The Elderly Woman in the Snow
Chapter 7: The Elderly Woman in the Snow
Heavy snowflakes fell like goose feathers in the forest.
Lindsay sprinted, weaving frantically between the trees.
One moment he was behind a birch tree, and the next, he darted to another tree resembling a red maple.
Lindsay chose this exhausting way of running.
His goal was to evade the dangerous ice spikes shooting from behind him.
The effect of this strategy was that every fifteen seconds or so, he would hear a 'pffft' as the trees beside him were pierced, creating a small indentation.
But if he slowed down even a little, that indentation would appear on his body instead of the tree.
Several minutes passed, and Lindsay had a rough idea of the situation.
This beast had initially been faster than him.
In the first few seconds, the distance between them narrowed from over twenty meters to within ten meters.
But from that point on, the beast's speed decreased, matching Lindsay's pace, and even falling slightly behind.
However, Lindsay's brows furrowed as he didn't have the time to gradually widen his slight advantage and eventually shake off his pursuer.
Sensory-wise, it was still unclear.
But within these few minutes, the stamina bar on his status panel dropped by a third!
The remaining stamina was insufficient to ensure he could shake off this beast.
He was caught up to.
A single ice spike meant certain death!
Lindsay could gamble with his life, but he couldn't afford to bet on the stamina of an unknown beast.
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
In this race for survival, Lindsay began to think of ways to save himself.
In the food-scarce winter, beasts would hardly give up such a juicy prey.
Since running away couldn't solve the problem, he had to find a way to address the source of the problem.
Lindsay's eyes instantly calmed, and a murderous intent surfaced.
At this moment, he recalled a game he had played based on Sherlock Holmes, where the great detective had faced a similar situation, chased by hunters in the wild.
Being pursued by a beast that shot ice spikes was no different.
A game was just a game.
But some of the experiences from it were undoubtedly useful.
In the following escape, Lindsay began to avoid bushes as much as possible.
These bushes severely hindered upright-walking humans, while having less impact on four-legged beasts.
Conversely, whenever Lindsay encountered a rocky path, he would dash into it without hesitation.
On such terrain, he could use the rocks and trees to his advantage, providing the best cover for his body.
The beast's ice spikes couldn't penetrate these objects and then harm Lindsay's abilities.
Moreover, the beast was naturally cautious.
When it couldn't see Lindsay around corners, it would carefully slow down, giving Lindsay a brief moment to pause.
He didn't need much time, just a few seconds.
The yellow bar symbolizing stamina on his status panel would increase slightly, allowing Lindsay to maintain his pace.
The longer it went, the more chance he had to find a solution.
As they chased each other for a while, the beast behind Lindsay realized he had no means to fight back, so it cautiously slowed down at corners.
It was like a skilled athlete.
In the final stretch, it started to sprint, ready to devour the precious winter food before it.
But coincidentally, Lindsay was like a skilled hunter!
His breathing had become rapid during the chase.
But this bold plan, a gamble with his life, finally received a response at this moment.
Ahead on Lindsay's escape route, he spotted a large, slanted boulder exposed on the ground, covered in snow, with moss and weeds all around.
Even more coincidentally, through the boulder's slant, Lindsay saw a dense bush growing beneath it.
The large stone formed a slope.
The snowy moss and weeds created a natural slide.
The combination of the two formed a natural trap, and the bush below was Lindsay's last hope for survival.
In an instant, Lindsay organized his plan in his mind.
Without hesitation, he changed direction and dashed onto the boulder.
Swoosh—
As expected, the rock was incredibly slippery.
The moment Lin Sai stepped on it, he slid down along its angle, but he was prepared and managed to control his body, only getting scratched by the bushes without any threat to his life.
There was no time for tears or complaints.
Biting back the pain, he quickly snapped off a sturdy branch from a bush, using one end to brace himself against the ground while pointing the sharper end upwards towards the slope.
Gripping the branch tightly, Lin Sai controlled the direction of its sharp tip.
This was a life-or-death gamble!
"Arooo—"
As expected, the monster, sensing an easy victory, chased after him without hesitation.
The spot where Lin Sai had slipped was even more slippery than before, and although the monster was agile, it couldn't stop its sudden slide downwards.
And waiting for it was a sharp wooden tip!
Pfft—
The sliding monster was immediately impaled by the 'short spear' Lin Sai had set up.
The remaining momentum caused both of them to collide and roll into the bushes.
Crack! Crack!
Noises came from the bushes.
After a few seconds, the monster's body was pushed aside, and Lin Sai, scratched by the bushes, crawled out.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Lin Sai coughed wearily.
The excessive physical exertion made his chest burn painfully.
But amidst the pain, a strong emotion welled up, making him want to burst into laughter.
However, Lin Sai didn't do so.
He didn't want to attract other 'little animals' with his laughter, so he turned his joy into a vicious kick, kicking the dead monster aside to reveal the red spots hidden beneath the bushes.
"Cloudberries?"
Lin Sai recognized these wild berries; they were edible and quite nutritious.
Exhausted, he grabbed a handful, and the sweet and sour juice coated his taste buds.
"Is this a reward for defeating an enemy? It tastes really good."
Lin Sai sat on the ground, looking miserable as he enjoyed the fruits of his victory.
But he didn't dare to linger.
He crawled out of the bushes, pulled out the splinters from his body, and then reoriented himself, limping towards the west.
The confrontation with the monster had severely drained his stamina.
If not for the energy he gained from the berries, he wouldn't even have the strength to brush off the snow on his head.
Gradually, Lin Sai's body temperature started to drop, and his sense of time became numb.
Lin Sai glanced at his stamina bar on his data panel.
The yellow bar's rising and falling rhythm seemed like the last pulse of his life.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
Finally, Lin Sai spotted a place with rising smoke.
It was a clean and tidy town of considerable size!
At this moment, on Lin Sai's data panel, the human-shaped icon representing him showed yellow at the feet, indicating frostbite.
But Lin Sai no longer cared.
Because right in front of him was a cemetery on the outskirts of the town.
Mustering his strength, he made his way to a small white church within the cemetery.
Plopping down at the church's entrance, he knocked on the door with all his might.
Bang, bang, bang—
This action exhausted him.
Lin Sai rested until his stamina bar rose a bit, then continued shouting, "Is anyone there? Help!"
"..."
The door didn't open.
But Lin Sai heard footsteps crunching through the snow from the cemetery on the left side of the church.
His heart raced, and his gaze fixed on that direction.
The next second, amidst the swirling snow.
A pitch-black figure emerged from behind a dark grey wall.
It was an elderly woman in a deep black monastic robe, her wrinkled face filled with confusion at Lin Sai's presence. The thick snow had turned her shoulders white, and her slow, faltering steps were even slower than Lin Sai's.
But this didn't stop the old woman from approaching Lin Sai.
She walked out from the cemetery, a symbol of death, and stared at Lin Sai, who was leaning against the church door, with her dark and cloudy eyes.
The old woman stood between Lin Sai and the pristine snow.
Finally, she tremblingly opened the church door and extended a withered but hopeful hand to Lin Sai.
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(End of Chapter)
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