On the frozen lake, two reindeer panted heavily, pulling the sleigh behind them and galloping on the soft snow. In the distance, the Finnish artillery on the high ground tirelessly continued to suppress the enemies in the encirclement.
At this time, Wei Ran and the other three had returned to the location where the ruts forked, and pursued them along the traces extending southward without slowing down at all.
Not long after crossing the frozen Lake Niska and heading south, a truck stopped at the edge of the forest. Beside the truck, there was a series of messy footprints extending into the forest.
At the signal of the old hunter Ino, Weiran extinguished the kerosene lamp, while Mika took the initiative to get out of the car, strapped on his skis and explored the path in front of the people.
But as they moved forward, scattered corpses with their clothes removed appeared along the way! There were also explosion traces of various sizes on the snow and even on the surrounding tree trunks.
"They're from the Civil Guard!" Mika looked at each corpse carefully with a flashlight and said angrily, "I've met these people before, and we even took a sauna together a few days ago!"
"Don't touch those corpses!" Old hunter Ino called out to Mika and said nervously, "Go back the way you came, hurry up!"
Mika also I thought of something in hindsight, and cautiously stepped back to the side of the sleigh.
"It seems that the other party has an experienced hunter"
After Ino waited for Mika to get in the car, he shouted at the reindeer to stay away from the other party's footprints, "Mika, they Did you take the skis with you?"
Mika shook his head when he heard this, "Only two pairs were taken away."
"Then they can't go far, let's find a place to camp. Let’s chase after dawn!”
After finishing speaking, the old hunter Ino drove the sleigh several hundred meters deep into the forest, and then stopped at the edge of a pine tree. Ka, put up the camouflage tent, and Victor, light your kerosene lamp as brightly as possible and hang it in the tent."
The two immediately understood Ino's plan after hearing this, and moved quickly. A light-transmitting white camouflage cloth was set up around the pine tree, and then the relit kerosene gas lamp was hung inside.
After the two of them got on the car again, Ino moved the sleigh nearly a hundred meters away, and then motioned to the two of them to set up a deerskin tent.
After nearly half an hour of busy work, a fire was lit in the opaque deerskin tent. The three of them took turns sitting in the sleigh outside the tent, wrapped in wolfskin blankets, and used binoculars to monitor. He looked at the camouflaged tent with icy blue lights a hundred meters away.
The long, cold night passed quietly. When daybreak came, the kerosene gas lamp hanging in the camouflaged tent had gone out due to exhaustion of fuel, but the enemy the three of them expected never took the bait.
When Weiran and the two dismantled the two tents and loaded them on the sled, the old hunter Ino took advantage of Weiran to refuel the kerosene lamp and said, "There are only four hours until dark. , we must find those people as soon as possible before it gets dark, Mika, Victor.I followed the tracks on the sled, and you two followed behind on your skis. "
Before Mika and Wei Ran could say anything, the old hunter Ino patted his knees and said, "This is the best way. I can't move forward on skis now. Okay, get ready to go! ”
Before he finished speaking, the old hunter Ino shouted to the reindeer and kept a distance of more than five meters from the string of footprints extending deep into the forest.
Wei Ran They looked at each other, picked up their weapons, stepped on their skis, and kept a distance of more than 20 meters from the sleigh in front of them.
As the three of them went deeper into the forest. , the bodies of the Finnish Civil Guard also appeared near the footprints again, but unlike before, most of these frozen bodies were shot to death.
The old hunter Ino who was responsible for exploring the path was shot to death. They couldn't help but be more vigilant, always watching for signs of abnormality around them.
However, until they left the forest, they followed the footsteps and finally stopped at a wooden house located between the edge of the forest and the lake. In front.
The old hunter Ino, who was sitting on the sled, immediately raised the sniper rifle that had been placed next to him, while Wei Ran and Mika took off their skis in no particular order and took their hands on each other. He carefully walked to the wooden door of the house with his submachine gun.
He gently pushed the door open with the muzzle of his gun. The suppressed whimpers immediately reached his ears. The two looked at each other and walked in cautiously. He opened the door and saw a woman tied to a pillar and two children with their hands and feet tied back to back.
"Is there anyone else in the house? "Mika asked in Finnish while holding up a submachine gun.
Seeing the tied woman shaking her head quickly with tears streaming down her face, Mika immediately pulled out the Finnish hunting knife from her waist and cut the rope, then pulled out the rope. The ball of cloth came out of this woman’s mouth.
“What’s going on? "Mika asked while helping to untie the ropes on the hands and feet of the two children.
"Before dawn, a group of people wearing camouflage clothes broke into the house and took my husband and our children hostage. Sleigh ride! The woman held her two daughters in her arms and shouted, "They seem to be Soviets!" "
"Which direction did they run to? "Wei Ran, who had already checked other rooms, asked immediately.
"I don't know, I don't know. "The woman said with tears streaming down her face.
"What does your sleigh look like? ”
“Drawed by reindeer or pulled by dogs? "Mika also added.
"Red, the sleigh is red, with a white fox fur blanket on it. The woman replied, wiping her tears, "We repainted it just before Christmas, and it was pulled by a reindeer." "
"How many are there? "Wei Ran, who had already walked to the door, asked finally.
"Five people, they only have five people! "
Mika, who had also walked to the door, asked, "How long have they been gone?? "
"In less than two hours," the woman quickly replied, "they still changed into my husband's clothes. "
"Lock the door, your husband will be back soon. "After Wei Ran finished speaking, he helped the other party close the wooden door nailed with deerskin.
"Can I catch up? "
Outside the door, Wei Ran asked Mika and the old hunter Ino.
"Can't run away," Mika said confidently. A reindeer pulled six I can't run fast at all, and it will be very conspicuous.
"Sit tight! "
Old hunter Ino was more straightforward. He took the goggles handed to him by Mika and put them on. Then he shook the reins vigorously and shouted at the two reindeer to run. At the same time, he did not forget to explain, "They must be We ran towards Lake Vuokki. Only by running there and heading north can we bypass our blockade and meet another Soviet division. So as long as we hurry up, we can catch up soon! ”
“Is Lake Wuokki ahead? ”
Wei Ran’s eyebrows twitched, but he remembered clearly that the village where Akeem, the commander of the 163rd Division, who invited him to come over this time to help investigate, was located, but it was at the easternmost edge of Lake Wuoki. ! So we can see the missing teacher soon?