Chapter 36
Chapter 36: An Old Horse Knows the Way
Speaking of this, Alatan’s expression didn’t look right.
They exchanged glances with each other, hesitated for a moment, then steeled themselves to speak.
“They… didn’t want to keep going.”
When Suhe left, he’d said he was going to find a winter pasture and would come back to notify them once he found one.
Usually when Suhe was around, he was the one who got everyone moving.
With the continuous snow and extreme cold, the livestock could barely move.
Everyone had struggled forward for a while, then gradually stopped.
It wasn’t that they were being lazy—it was just that with Suhe gone and not returning, they felt uncertain.
From time to time, Erdun would call for rest.
“Later, when it got dark, Erdun refused to go any further.” Alatan sounded very frustrated talking about it. “When he wouldn’t go, the pasture chief said they might as well rest and wait until dawn to continue.”
At first Alatan had tried to coax and persuade them to keep moving forward. After all, even if Suhe found a place, he couldn’t immediately bring them all there.
Both sides needed to work toward each other.
But without Suhe around, he couldn’t convince the others.
And Erdun got annoyed with his nagging and directly set up a tent.
“In this snowy weather, they set up tents?!” Sangtu blurted out.
It wasn’t their first time traveling during aoter—what good would tents do in this weather?
Weren’t they supposed to huddle in the ox carts, doing whatever was convenient, and set off quickly at dawn?
What a waste of time!
“That’s just how Erdun is—he insisted on setting one up.” Alatan shook his head helplessly. “Later I got into a fight with him, and he couldn’t beat me…”
But he was a sore loser—when he couldn’t win, he started cursing, and the people supporting each of them immediately started arguing too.
Good grief—starting internal conflicts during aoter was like courting death.
Qiaoba and the others said nothing, just exchanged glances.
It had to be said that the more dangerous the situation, the more likely people were to become unsettled.
People like Erdun who were basically looking for death—generally speaking, they didn’t want to get involved.
But a young man behind Alatan still gritted his teeth: “Where’s the winter pasture located? I’ll go tell them and let them follow on their own!”
Since Qiaoba and the others had already ridden so far to get here, they couldn’t possibly have them turn back to notify everyone before coming back again.
Therefore, after hesitating for just a second, Alatan gritted his teeth and agreed: “Alright, you go.”
The young man gave a whistle, and his horse trotted over with clicking hooves. He leaped onto its back and rode off just like that.
Watching him disappear into the distance, Sangtu couldn’t help but feel concerned: “Is that really… okay?”
“It’s fine—he brought a rifle.” Alatan was very calm, waving his hand. “The main thing is, we can’t leave right now anyway.”
“…Hmm?” Qiaoba thought he was being soft-hearted and waiting for Erdun and the others.
But Alatan pointed helplessly behind him and sighed: “Our ox cart is stuck in the mud.”
Right at the bend, where the wind and snow weren’t as fierce, the ground underneath hadn’t frozen solid. There was a lot of mud, and the ox cart had gotten stuck in it. They’d been trying to get it out for a while.
As they walked back, he explained: “When you shouted earlier, we got too excited and just ran over…”
But they couldn’t abandon the ox cart—it had so many things loaded on it.
Xie Changqing and the others followed along and indeed saw an ox cart stuck in the muddy ground.
The other livestock were trailing behind, and in the dark night, they were already drowsy.
The cart was heavy with many items—Xie Changqing went over to look and frowned.
It was indeed tricky.
If they unloaded everything before pulling, there were too many items on the cart with nowhere to put them.
If they pulled it directly, the wheels were completely buried in mud, sunk quite deep. If this were early autumn, with lush grass growth, they wouldn’t worry about getting stuck.
Thinking this, Xie Changqing suggested: “Let’s get some dry grass and stuff it under the wheels—padding it should help us pull it out.”
“Alright.” Alatan immediately adopted his method, efficiently going forward. The ox cart had dry grass right on it that they could pull out and use.
Right now, there was no time to consider that this was the livestock’s future fodder.
Everyone pitched in together, some lifting, some pulling.
But this spot happened to be at a bend with a small hill on the right. Now covered with snow in a high layer, they couldn’t step on it or stand on it.
With too many people crowded together, they couldn’t apply force properly.
With too few people, they couldn’t pull it at all.
The key issue was that the rope was only so long—adding another section wasn’t realistic either.
“Ugh, move over a bit…”
Everyone pushed against each other, quite frustrated.
Unable to watch anymore, Hailetu stepped forward: “Let me pull—you all go push from behind.”
Alatan poked his head out from behind, looking somewhat anxiously at Qiaoba: “Ah? Qiaoba, this…”
“It’s fine, listen to him.” Qiaoba remembered Suhe being thrown aside and couldn’t help laughing. “He can do it.”
Sure enough, with fewer people in front, there was more space.
Xie Changqing didn’t lend a hand but quietly observed.
He kept feeling that the horse pulling the ox cart in front seemed to be in poor condition.
“One, two, three, pull!”
Everyone shouted in unison, giving it everything they had.
With grass padding underneath, the wheels rolled and were actually pulled out.
Mixed with mud and snow water, the ox cart was finally freed.
“My goodness, that wasn’t easy.” Alatan wiped his sweat.
Looking at Hailetu, he said with considerable amazement: “Hey? This kid’s got quite some strength!”
If Qiaoba hadn’t said it was okay, he really wouldn’t have dared let Hailetu pull alone in front.
The others also praised Hailetu’s strength, envying his extraordinary power.
But Hailetu paid no attention to their praise, only staying close to Xie Changqing.
Because before they set out, they’d all agreed that he had to ensure Xie Changqing’s safety.
“Hmm? What’s wrong?” Qiaoba and the others also looked toward Xie Changqing.
“This horse has a problem.” Xie Changqing looked and carefully compared the horse’s hoofprints by torchlight. “Look, these prints are deep and shallow, and the right front hoof here is being placed very lightly.”
The ox cart was loaded with too many things—it had to bear a heavy load moving forward.
But it should have a sore foot, causing it to become increasingly unable to keep up the more it ran.
“Its foot is injured?” Alatan was somewhat surprised, saying in disbelief, “That can’t be right? It was fine earlier.”
Xie Changqing made a sound of agreement, unable to be certain: “I need to take a look.”
He went forward to feel the horse’s leg, slowly examining down