Chapter 7: The Old Woman in the Snow

Amidst the heavy snowfall in the forest,

Lindsey sprinted, frequently zigzagging between the trees.

One moment he was behind a birch tree, and a few seconds later, he was in front of a similar-colored maple tree.

Lindsey chose this exhausting way of running.

Naturally, the purpose was to avoid the dangerous ice spikes being shot from behind.

The effect of this was that every fifteen seconds or so, he would hear a thud as an ice spike hit a tree nearby.

If he had been just a step slower,

That dent would not have appeared on the tree trunk, but on Lindsey himself!

Lindsey glanced at his status panel.

Below the constitution attribute, there was a yellow bar representing stamina, which was depleting at a rate ten times faster than when he was jogging!

At this moment, Lindsey was grateful for the efforts of his human ancestors, which had endowed him with exceptional endurance among animals.

Otherwise, with such a rate of consumption, he would have run out of energy long ago!

A few minutes later, Lindsey had a rough understanding of the situation.

At the beginning, the monster was faster than him.

In the first ten seconds, the distance between them, which was over twenty meters, had narrowed to within ten meters.

But from this point on,

The monster's speed decreased, matching Lindsey's, and even lagging slightly behind.

However, Lindsey's brows were furrowed because he didn't have the time to gradually expand his slight advantage and eventually shake off the pursuer.

It wasn't clear from his physical sensations,

But in just a few minutes, the stamina value on his status bar had dropped by a third!

The remaining stamina was not enough to ensure he could shake off the monster.

If caught,

A single ice spike would mean certain death!

Lindsey could stake his life on his own efforts, but he couldn't rely on the unknown endurance of a monster!

In times of danger, one must think of change.

In this life-or-death race, Lindsey began to consider his chances of survival.

In the food-scarce winter, beasts would not likely give up on such a plump piece of meat.

Since running away wouldn't solve the problem, he had to find a way to eliminate the source of the problem.

Lindsey's eyes immediately turned calm, and a murderous intent surfaced.

At this moment, he recalled a Sherlock Holmes-themed game he had played before, where the great detective had encountered a similar situation, being chased by a hunter with a gun in the wild.

Being pursued by a monster that shot ice spikes, wasn't this the same treatment?

Games are games,

But some of the experiences in them were definitely useful.

In the following escape, Lindsey began to avoid shrubs as much as possible.

These would severely hinder a human walking upright, but had less impact on a monster moving on all fours.

On the contrary, if he encountered a path near rocks, Lindsey would not hesitate to dart into it.

This terrain allowed him to use his palms for support,

And rocks and trees were the best cover to protect his body.

The monster's ice spikes lacked the power to penetrate these obstacles and then injure Lindsey.

Additionally, due to the monster's cautious nature,

When it couldn't see Lindsey around corners, it would cautiously slow down, giving Lindsey a brief moment to pause.

Not much, just a few seconds,

During which the yellow bar representing stamina on his panel would slightly increase, allowing Lindsey to continue his escape.

The longer this went on, the more opportunities he had to find a solution.

After a while, the monster, realizing Lindsey had no means of resistance, became less cautious at corners and other obstacles.

It was like a skilled athlete,

Starting to sprint in the final moments, preparing to claim the precious winter food before it.

But coincidentally, Lindsey was like a skilled hunter!

His breathing had become rapid during the chase,

But this life-or-death gamble finally paid off at this moment.

Ahead on the escape route, Lindsey saw a large, slanted bluestone exposed on the ground, covered by snow, with moss and weeds all around.

Even more coincidentally,

Through the angle of the stone, Lindsey saw a dense thicket growing beneath it.

The large stone formed a slope,

And the moss and weeds made it slippery all the way down.

Together, they formed a natural trap, and the thicket below was Lindsey's last hope for survival.

In an instant, Lindsey organized his plan in his mind.

So he changed direction without hesitation and charged directly onto the large bluestone.

Swoosh—

Sure enough, the stone was extremely slippery.

Lindsey's foot landed on it, and the next second, he slid down the slope. However, he was prepared and managed to control his body, so he only suffered minor scratches from the thicket, with no life-threatening injuries.

There was no time to cry or complain.

He endured the pain and immediately began to work, using all his strength to break off a sturdy branch from the thicket, then planted one end in the ground and pointed the sharper end up the slope.

Lindsey tightly gripped the branch, controlling its sharp end.

This was a life-or-death gamble!

"Roar—"

Sure enough, the monster, feeling confident of victory, pursued without hesitation.

The place where Lindsey had slid down was even more slippery, and even with its agile movements, the monster couldn't stop its sudden slide down.

What awaited it was a sharp wooden point!

Thud—

The sliding monster was immediately impaled by Lindsey's makeshift spear.

However, the momentum of the fall was not yet spent, and the next second, both Lindsey and the monster collided and rolled into the thicket.

Crack! Crack!

Sounds came from the thicket.

A few seconds later, the monster's body was pushed aside, and Lindsey, with his body scratched by the thicket, crawled out.

"Cough, cough!"

Lindsey coughed a few times, exhausted.

The excessive physical exertion made his chest burn painfully.

But a strong emotion was brewing in the pain, making him want to laugh out loud.

However, Lindsey did not do so.

He didn't want to attract other "little animals" with his laughter, so this laughter turned into a fierce kick, sending the dead monster to the side, revealing red spots under the thicket.

"Cloudberries?"

Lindsey recognized these wild berries, which were edible and nutritious.

Already exhausted, Lindsey immediately grabbed a handful, and the sour and sweet juice filled his taste buds.

"Is this a reward for defeating the enemy? They taste great."

Lindsey sat on the ground, savoring the fruits of victory.

He didn't dare to linger, though.

He quickly crawled out of the thicket, pulled out the splinters from his body, and then reoriented himself, limping westward.

The struggle with the monster had severely drained his stamina.

If it weren't for the berries giving him strength, he wouldn't even have the energy to brush the snow off his head under the heavy snowfall.

Gradually, Lindsey's body temperature began to drop, and his perception of time became numb.

Lindsey looked at the stamina bar on his status panel.

The yellow bar's rise and fall seemed to be the last pulse of his life.

After an unknown amount of time,

Finally, Lindsey saw a place with smoke rising.

It was a clean and tidy town, not small in size!

At this moment, on Lindsey's status panel, the foot area of his human figure had turned yellow, marked with the word "frostbite."

But Lindsey no longer cared about this.

Because right in front of him was a cemetery at the edge of the town.

He mustered all his strength and came to a small white church at the entrance of the cemetery.

He plopped down at the church door and used all his strength to knock on it.

Bang, bang, bang—

This action drained his last bit of energy.

Lindsey paused, waiting for his stamina bar to rise a bit, before shouting,

"Is anyone there? Help!"

"..."

The door did not open.

But Lindsey heard the sound of footsteps in the snow from the cemetery to the left of the church.

He was excited and fixed his gaze on that direction.

The next second, amidst the falling snow,

A dark figure emerged from behind a gray wall.

It was an old woman in deep black robes, her wrinkled face showing confusion at Lindsey's appearance. The thick snow had turned her shoulders white, and her slow, shuffling steps were even slower than Lindsey's weak breathing.

But this did not stop the old woman from approaching Lindsey.

She emerged from the cemetery, symbolizing death, and with her dark, cloudy eyes, she stared at Lindsey, who was leaning against the door.

The old woman stood between the snow and Lindsey.

Finally, she tremblingly opened the wooden door of the church and extended a withered but hopeful hand to Lindsey.

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(End of Chapter)