Luo Huayin didn't come, but a polar bear did.
Polar bears have incredibly keen senses of smell. It's said they can detect the scent of a man and a woman interacting intimately from dozens of kilometers away.
"Oh god!"
Murong Mingyuan wailed, turned, and sprinted south with her long legs.
She had no confidence in her ability to curse a polar bear.
But after running dozens of meters, she suddenly realized she'd forgotten something.
Oh, oh.
It was Li Qianfan!
Li Qianfan was sitting on the sled, watching her quietly.
He didn't hold any grudge against her for instinctively fleeing alone in her panic.
Li Qianfan felt—
He would never forget the moment Murong Mingyuan, pulling the sled, looked ahead with stubborn eyes and softly commanded, "Li Qianfan, I'll take you home."
What Murong Mingyuan did for Li Qianfan was more important than cursing Luo Huayin and others to rescue him from the clutches of danger.
Therefore, Li Qianfan hoped that when an irresistible crisis arrived, she would escape quickly.
And forget about him!
Murong Mingyuan had no idea what Li Qianfan was thinking.
As soon as she realized what she'd done, she immediately ran back, grabbed the rope on the ground, and said, "Lie down!"
Li Qianfan didn't waste words and lay down immediately.
This was because he knew that wasting time by saying things like "You go quickly, don't mind me" to buy time for the polar bear to catch up would be idiotic.
At worst—
When the polar bear caught up, Li Qianfan, with his limbs incapacitated, would rouse the last potential within him to buy time for Murong Mingyuan to escape.
"Let's go!!"
Murong Mingyuan let out a sharp cry and yanked the rope hard.
*Bang!*
The rope tightened, but the snow sled didn't move.
The sled was frozen solid to the snow.
Damn it.
Murong Mingyuan cursed, turned, knelt before the sled, and desperately dug at the snow with her hands.
However.
As the polar bear got closer and closer, even with eight hands, Murong Mingyuan couldn't possibly unearth the sled before the bear pounced. Moreover, she couldn't outrun the bear while dragging the sled.
Li Qianfan finally couldn't help but say softly, "Murong Mingyuan, don't mind me anymore, just go!"
Murong Mingyuan, without looking up, asked, "What did you say?"
Li Qianfan urged again, "I said, don't mind me anymore, just go!"
Murong Mingyuan stopped digging, looked up at him, and asked, "You want me to abandon you and escape alone?"
Li Qianfan nodded—
Murong Mingyuan suddenly raised her hand and slapped him hard.
*Woah.*
Li Qianfan was stunned by the blow and then furious!
But before he could say anything, Murong Mingyuan sharply commanded, "Shut up."
Li Qianfan shivered and obediently closed his mouth.
Murong Mingyuan grabbed her backpack and threw some cooked meat and other items on the ground.
Then she took out a knife, tucked it into her waist, and slung the backpack around her neck.
Only then did she hoist Li Qianfan onto her back.
Li Qianfan's wound was aggravated and it hurt badly (especially the bone injured by the wire, which was excruciatingly painful).
But it wasn't the time to cry out in pain. All he could do was grit his teeth.
Murong Mingyuan cradled his backside with her hand, bent over, and sprinted south.
The advantage of her long legs was fully displayed at this moment.
As she ran, she kept looking back.
She hoped the bear would be interested in the food she'd thrown and wouldn't chase them.
If it did chase—
She would have to fight to the death and use her curse powers.
Fortunately.
After running several hundred meters, panting heavily, Murong Mingyuan saw the polar bear stop in front of the sled and begin to eat the meat products on the ground.
The crisis was temporarily resolved.
However, Murong Mingyuan didn't dare to slow down her running speed at all.
She wouldn't even dare to hope that the polar bear would eat its fill and then she could go back to retrieve the sled.
Even though the blankets and other supplies were on the sled.
Finally.
When Murong Mingyuan's forehead was steaming with sweat and her legs could no longer move, she slowly stopped, carried Li Qianfan, and slowly collapsed to the ground, leaning into his embrace.
But just as she was about to close her eyes to rest, she heard the roar of a bear from the north in the distance.
That polar bear was lingering not far behind them.
It was fortunate that it had eaten a lot, so its motivation to hunt was not very strong.
Yet, it was reluctant to let them go, trailing them from afar.
If it got hungry—
It could instantly accelerate and pounce to hunt them!
"Damn it."
Murong Mingyuan cursed in pain and tried to stand up.
But after carrying Li Qianfan and running for so long, her legs were trembling. She didn't have the strength to stand, let alone run with someone on her back.
Li Qianfan watched her try to get up several times without success, and said again, "Put me down."
"Li Qianfan, can you just shut your mouth?"
Murong Mingyuan shouted irritably, "I know you're afraid of burdening me, and you want me to abandon you and escape alone! I want to do that too. But I can't! Because I said I would take you home."
Li Qianfan obediently shut up.
"Since I said I would take you home, then I must take you home! If I can't take you home, then I'll die here with you! I, Murong Mingyuan, may not be a good person, and I don't understand the suffering of the world, but I am a person of my word."
Murong Mingyuan spoke rapidly and glanced back.
The polar bear, having eaten its fill, was walking slowly towards them a few hundred meters behind.
It was obvious.
The polar bear's hunting motivation was truly not very strong.
But if the two of them didn't move, the polar bear wouldn't mind slowly walking over and hunting them.
"Li Qianfan, remember this, I truly hate you."
Murong Mingyuan said, untying the backpack straps and tying Li Qianfan to her back.
As she tied him, Li Qianfan felt his bones ache intensely.
Especially the bones in his lower legs felt like they were being sawed back and forth by a steel saw.
The pain made cold sweat bead on his forehead, and his vision blurred.
Yet he could hear Murong Mingyuan speaking.
"Do you know? Every time I take a bath and see the writing on my butt, I wish I could tear you to pieces. But the writing won't come off, so I have to follow you for life. If you die, I'll become a young widow. Waa, waa. Damn you, don't even think about leaving me."
As Murong Mingyuan spoke, she couldn't help but cry.
But through her sobs, she struggled to lift Li Qianfan onto her back.
Then, using her knees as feet and her hands to grip the snow, she crawled forward with great difficulty.
She crawled and cried.
And she muttered—
"As long as I can take you home, no matter how heartless you are, you should treat me better, right?"
"I don't ask you to be especially good to me."
"Just remember, the day a man comes along who isn't afraid of the writing on my butt and wants to marry me. Don't stop me from marrying him, don't kill that man."
"I like men like Lan Yunhai, mature, elegant, and refined."
"I don't like men like you at all, barbaric, rude, and cold-blooded."
"Even though I know Lan Yunhai is a spineless beast."
"But I just like that kind, just like you don't like my kind, it's the same reason."
"The women you like are rational ones like Su Ziyu, flirty ones like Chu Yazhi, gentle ones like Dai Paipai, and infamous ones like Su Nanyin."
"Right?"
"In your heart, I'm just a little mare."
"When you're happy and remember me, you can ride me."
"When you're unhappy and don't remember me, you can leave me to grow old."
"Okay, I'm just a little mare."
"You're riding me now."
"I'll carry you home."
"Believe me, I can definitely do it."
Murong Mingyuan crawled forward with difficulty, speaking nonsensically.
Her crawling speed was slow, but she didn't stop.
Not for a moment!
The wind picked up.
Snow began to fall again.
In the vast snowfield, amidst the biting wind, a little mare carried a person, slowly crawling forward in the snow.
The polar bear, which had been leisurely following them at a leisurely pace, had, at some point, disappeared behind them.
Li Qianfan tilted his head, lying on the "horse's" back, staring intently eastward, not saying a word.
The wind finally stopped.
The snow ceased to fall.
Murong Mingyuan, who had been struggling forward, carrying Li Qianfan, and had been crawling for an unknown amount of time, finally stopped her movements. Her forehead pressed into the accumulated snow, and due to severe exhaustion, she unconsciously fell asleep.
The temperature was still very low, and the aurora borealis flickered faintly in the distance.
Li Qianfan looked at the back of the girl's neck.
Four characters were tattooed there.
"Reserved for Qianfan"—
He stared for a long time, then slowly lowered his head and gently kissed those words.
This was the most real Arctic Circle!
This was the most real Murong Mingyuan!
(Murong Mingyuan's character is basically established. For this scene, I've suppressed her for too long, and Qianfan has suffered greatly through no fault of his own. I'm striving to make every character vivid and leave a deep impression on everyone. Still suffering from a headache, I'm truly fed up.)