Chapter 30

Chapter 30

To store the collapsed ice and snow into the tenth spatial slot, they couldn’t wait until the next day when they would go out to dig snow.

In broad daylight, she wouldn’t dare be so bold.

Gu Ran thought for a moment and actually came up with a plan: Hadn’t she previously lied about finding a rabbit?

When they ate the rabbit, the officers divided the two hind legs and enjoyed them quite a bit. Later, when they heard about the rabbit’s nest, they even allowed Ma Er’s father and son to feel around for it, though they came up empty-handed.

If she said that when she went to the wild mountain ridge yesterday, she also found a rabbit’s nest, and if the officers allowed her to search for rabbits ahead, it should work, right?

So, Gu Ran went to find Officer Li.

Of course, to convince Officer Li, Gu Ran also brought Ma Er’s mother along.

As soon as Ma Er’s mother heard that Gu Ran had also discovered traces of rabbits on the wild mountain ridge, she fully agreed to accompany Gu Ran as a witness, without any doubt. After all, Gu Ran had previously treated their family to rabbit meat.

Today, Officer Chen had taken his officers and prisoners to dig the snow route. The one left in charge of the camp was a deputy officer under Officer Chen and Officer Li.

When Gu Ran mentioned going to catch rabbits, Li Si, who had eaten the rabbit legs with Officer Li, immediately brightened up. “Uncle, I’ll go with them.”

Li Si was a nephew from the same clan as Officer Li.

Officer Li glanced at Gu Ran, then at his nephew, and finally at the snow ridge where an avalanche had occurred.

It wasn’t that he wouldn’t allow them to go, but in this situation, if something happened to them while they were feeling for rabbits, it would be a big loss over something small.

“Uncle, don’t worry. With me watching, nothing will happen to them,” Li Si guaranteed, tempted by the thought of meat.

“Officer Li, besides catching rabbits, we won’t do anything dangerous, and we won’t run away,” Gu Ran also promised. “Also, if we find a rabbit’s nest this time, we won’t touch it. We’ll let young Officer Li catch the rabbits. If we catch any, we’ll offer them to you first, alright?”

Officer Li waved his hand, and the matter was settled.

Ma Er’s mother was very happy and grabbed Gu Ran’s arm, patting it vigorously. “Oh my, Gu Erniang, we’re in for a treat! Let’s go, let’s quickly catch some rabbits.”

Li Si grinned. “Let’s go, Gu Erniang. We need to hurry before it gets dark. Once we get the rabbits, we’ll have meat for dinner tonight.”

Gu Ran followed suit.

As they walked towards the mountain ridge, she explained to Ma Er’s mother and Li Si how to find traces of rabbits on the snow. As they got closer to where the officers were working, Gu Ran remembered what the Gulu system had said about the tenth spatial slot and other slots that would be unlocked in the future. As long as they were within about ten meters of the target and the object was whole, they could be stored remotely.

She didn’t know how much snow and ice blocked the mountain path or how long the blockage was, so she had to get as close to the ridge as possible. Also, she couldn’t remove all the snow and ice at once, or the officers and prisoners would be shocked to see the snow disappearing into thin air.

Gu Ran planned to leave at least three meters of snow, so when their team of prisoners dug the snow the next day, it would appear that Officer Li’s team had cleared the path.

However, since Officer Chen and the officers hadn’t finished their shift yet, and the prisoners were still working hard, Gu Ran first led Ma Er’s mother and Li Si to search for rabbits in the woods on the mountain ridge.

Gu Ran’s experience in finding traces of rabbits in the snow was genuine. In her previous life, when she was a cultivator, her family was poor. When her father wanted to get some meat for her and her mother, he had taken her to the snowy woods to find rabbits.

Rabbit nests were usually in tree hollows, grass burrows, or earth holes. Although snow often buried these holes, an experienced hunter could still find them by carefully observing the surroundings, looking for clues on tree trunks and dry grass.

Since rabbits were not hibernating animals, even on snowy days, when they were hungry, they would come out of their nests to find food.

At these times, they often left traces of their movements, and on snowfields where few people walked, the traces were clearer.

By following these traces, one could quickly find the rabbit’s nesting place.

Gu Ran explained the precautions and noticed the officers blowing the whistle to signal the end of the work. She pretended to be in a hurry and said to Ma Er’s mother and Li Si, “If we follow what I just said, we’ll definitely catch the rabbits. I saw rabbits running in the woods ahead yesterday. Let’s search separately.”

“Search separately?”

“Young Officer Li, didn’t you hear that they’ve finished today’s work? It’s getting late, and we can’t afford to waste time. Searching separately will increase our chances of catching them.”

“This…” Li Si was troubled.

He had promised his uncle to keep an eye on these two under his watch. If they searched separately, how could he keep an eye on them?

“Young Officer Li, we won’t run away.”

“In this freezing snow, we don’t even know the way. How could we escape?” Ma Er’s mother added.

“Besides, my family is all in the camp!”

Hearing their reasonable arguments and tempted by the desire for meat, Li Si finally nodded. These two women were still wearing leg irons; even if they ran, they wouldn’t get far. Moreover, officers were all around, so it wouldn’t be easy to escape.

So, Gu Ran ceremoniously pointed them in different directions and headed into the mountain path near the official road.

Soon, the three figures disappeared into the woods.

After a while, the officers returning to the camp led the exhausted prisoners past the woods where Gu Ran had just been.

The officers Officer Chen had sent out for help yesterday had returned, bringing back some farming tools and manpower from the nearest village, as well as a doctor and medicine.

As a result, the efficiency of digging the snow route today was much higher.

After the officers’ shouts and the sounds of iron chains faded away, Gu Ran, who should have been in the woods, quickly returned and hurried towards the snow that had been worked on.

The collapsed snow and ice had been dug into pits, presenting Gu Ran with a straight path.

Walking along the path, she reached the pile of snow waiting to be dug at the end.

Since it had been a long time since the snow had collapsed from the mountain, much of it had turned into ice blocks.

Gu Ran estimated the distance and stored all the snow piles that could fit into the spatial slot. Then she looked up at the snow-covered mountain ridge and, to prevent another avalanche when they left, stored all the snow on the mountain.

After a while, Gu Ran didn’t linger and hurried back.

As she reached the woods where they were searching for rabbits, she saw Li Si happily emerging from the woods with three rabbits in his hands. He shouted, “Hey, Gu Erniang, you were spot on! I followed what you said, and we really found a rabbit nest. It was hard to catch three, but the rest got away!”

“That’s great!” Gu Ran hadn’t expected Li Si to catch rabbits. It seemed that Li Si indeed had some skill.

“Oh, you’re all here!” Ma Er’s mother also emerged from the woods, with snow and dried grass on her head and two rabbits in her hands. She grinned happily. “Look, I caught two as well.”

“Hey, well done!” Li Si exclaimed happily.

Gu Ran was a bit dumbfounded that even Ma Er’s mother had a harvest.

Li Si and Ma Er’s mother looked at each other, smiled knowingly, and then looked back at Gu Ran. “Gu Erniang, why don’t you have any harvest?”

“My skills aren’t good enough,” Gu Ran said with a smile. “I must have embarrassed myself in front of you.”

“It’s alright, alright. We were lucky because of Gu Erniang. We were able to catch rabbits,” Ma Er’s mother said with a smile, bumping Gu Ran’s arm. “Last time, you treated our family to meat. This time, I’ll treat you.”

“Indeed, if it weren’t for what you said, we wouldn’t have known there were so many precautions about catching rabbits. If we come up empty again, we’ll be able to catch them next time.”

Happy with the rabbits, Li Si didn’t notice that Gu Ran’s return direction was wrong. He turned and said, “Let’s go, quick! Let’s show everyone our catch.”

That night, the entire camp knew that Li Si and the prisoners had caught rabbits in the woods.

That night, the officers under Officer Li received two rabbits—the third one was given to Officer Chen and his team. They roasted the rabbit meat over the campfire, and Gu Ran and Ma Er’s mother did the same.

Initially, Ma Er’s mother was reluctant to eat both rabbits, planning to save one. But her husband immediately objected. “With so many people around, if we don’t finish both tonight, someone might steal them. Do you believe me?”

Ma Er’s mother had no choice but to give up. However, Xu Langjun spent fifty coins to buy half of one rabbit and sat with them.