Song Hongsheng had only made it halfway back when he encountered Yang Zhiwei coming toward him.
Handing over the medicine, Song Hongsheng repeated Lu Yao’s instructions word for word.
Yang Zhiwei accepted it with endless gratitude before hurrying away.
By now, it was close to midnight, and it was time for the patrol teams to change shifts.
Song Hongsheng glanced toward Madam Li’s sleeping area.
Seeing that she was already buried beneath her blanket and fast asleep, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
At least he wouldn’t have to invent an explanation tonight.
As the second half of the night wore on, most people fell into deep sleep.
None of them noticed when snow began to fall from the sky.
The patrol guards saw it, but they didn’t think much of it.
After all, everyone had blankets.
As long as people didn’t freeze outright, it seemed manageable.
Besides, even if they woke everyone up, there was nowhere in the forest to shelter from the storm.
As the temperature continued to drop, many people grew colder and colder in their sleep.
Some families woke up from the chill and hurriedly roused their relatives.
They gathered branches and built crude lean-tos against the snow.
Then the entire family huddled together inside, hoping to survive until dawn.
Lu Yao woke the moment she sensed the sudden drop in temperature.
Opening her eyes, she saw snow falling heavily outside.
Fortunately, the tarp above them blocked most of it.
Even so, the temperature was still dropping rapidly.
Afraid the children would become cold, she quietly took another quilt from her space and spread it over the first one.
The frown on Song Ziyu’s sleeping face gradually relaxed as warmth enveloped her.
After making sure all three children were tucked in securely, Lu Yao climbed down from the hammock.
Pulling on her shoes, she inspected the area around their shelter.
Finding nothing unusual, she turned her attention toward the main camp.
The snowfall was heavy.
In only half an hour, snow already covered the ground above ankle height.
The entire forest had turned white.
The reflected snowlight made the night strangely bright.
Looking toward camp, Lu Yao noticed the fires had all gone out.
More troubling still, only about one-third of the families had awakened to build shelters.
A bad feeling settled in her chest.
Ordinarily, she preferred not to meddle in other people’s affairs.
But she couldn’t ignore this.
The values instilled in her over decades—protecting the people, helping those in need—made it impossible for her to stand by and watch innocent civilians freeze to death.
With a sigh, she headed toward the patrol team.
The guards themselves were shivering miserably.
Their cotton clothing had become damp from the snow.
If this continued, they would likely come down with serious illnesses.
Lu Yao found the current patrol captain.
He was a young man from Songyang Village whom she didn’t know personally.
His name was Yang Dajin.
He was the eldest son of the Yang family.
“Captain,” Lu Yao said seriously, “the snow is falling heavily.”
“Aren’t you going to wake the people still sleeping?”
“Adults might survive.”
“But the children may not.”
“Some of them could go to sleep and never wake up.”
Yang Dajin had already heard all the stories about Lu Yao during the day.
He had also witnessed her capabilities firsthand.
Deep down, he greatly respected her.
Upon hearing her warning, his expression immediately changed.
Without delay, he organized the patrol teams and began waking every family still sleeping on the ground.
The commotion soon spread throughout the camp.
People groggily woke up, but many were unhappy.
Although they felt cold, exhaustion weighed heavily on them.
Some had barely closed their eyes before being shaken awake again.
Complaints immediately erupted.
“I was sleeping perfectly fine!”
“Why wake me up?”
“It’s just snow!”
“What are you making such a fuss about?”
“We were up half the night already!”
“We finally got some sleep, and now you’re disturbing us again?”
“We still have to travel tomorrow!”
“Do you want us dead?”
“Your job is to patrol, not babysit us!”
“Mind your own business!”
Listening to the endless complaints, Yang Dajin’s anger began rising.
Just as he was about to lose his temper—
A heartbreaking scream tore through the camp.
“Shitou!”
“Wake up!”
“Shitou, look at Mother!”
“Open your eyes!”
“Shitou!”
“AHHHHH!”
“My Shitou!”
The cry instantly silenced everyone.
All heads turned toward the source.
As patrol captain, Yang Dajin immediately rushed over.
“Auntie!”
“What happened to Shitou?”
The woman screaming was his younger aunt, Li Guihua.
Shitou was her youngest son—the child she cherished most.
Seeing Yang Dajin, she grabbed his arm desperately.
“Big Nephew!”
“Look at your little cousin!”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“I keep calling him but he won’t answer!”
“His body’s so cold!”
Yang Dajin’s expression tightened.
He crouched and checked the boy’s pulse.
Nothing.
Not even the slightest movement.
The child’s body was already stiff and cold as stone.
Yang Dajin’s face turned white.
“Auntie…”
“Shitou…”
“He’s gone…”
He couldn’t continue.
Turning away, guilt filled his face.
If only he had woken everyone sooner.
Maybe Shitou would still be alive.
Li Guihua descended into hysterics.
Clutching her son’s body, she repeatedly called his name.
The sight terrified everyone.
Parents immediately rushed to check their own children.
And then the true horror emerged.
Several elderly people couldn’t be awakened.
Nor could a handful of children.
A few women had also frozen to death during the night.
The camp instantly exploded into chaos.
Those who had been complaining moments earlier now stood frozen in shock.
Fortunately, their own families remained safe.
Not another word of protest could be heard.
Everyone scrambled to their feet and began building makeshift shelters against the snow.
Although Lu Yao felt sorrow for the innocent lives lost, she also knew there was little she could have done under such circumstances.
The camp filled with cries of grief.
Turning away, she focused on preparing for the next day’s journey.
Given the temperature, the snow would likely reach knee height by morning.
Traveling through those conditions required proper equipment.
Especially for someone caring for three children alone.
Seven-year-old Song Zixuan could walk by himself.
But four-year-old Song Ziyang would certainly need carrying.
She also had supplies to transport.
Without some kind of tool, moving through deep snow would be nearly impossible.
The snowfall made it difficult to judge the hour.
Everything was covered in white.
Using the remaining vines from the previous day, Lu Yao wove a square net roughly one meter by one meter.
Then she cut several arm-thick branches from nearby trees.
Using one of the sabers taken from the barbarians, she shaved and smoothed the branches into sturdy poles.
Digging through her space, she found a coil of hemp rope.
She tightly bound the poles together to form a flat wooden platform.
Next, she secured the woven vine netting across the top.
Afterward, she cut several thicker poles to serve as supports.
These were fixed upright around the platform.
Two additional poles were lashed diagonally across the top to create a frame.
Once the skeleton was complete, she retrieved a waterproof tarp from her space.
Cutting it to size, she draped it over the frame.
The result was a simple hand-pulled sled cart.
All that remained was to lay down a waterproof liner and a quilt inside.
Then the children could ride comfortably while she pulled them through the snow.
By the time Lu Yao finished building the cart, dawn had begun to lighten the horizon.
Snow continued falling steadily from the sky.
No one in Songyang Village dared sleep again.
They sat awake until morning, fearful that if they closed their eyes, another loved one might quietly slip away during the night.