It was only ten minutes; if anyone asked, she would just say she had an upset stomach and was using the bathroom here. What could anyone possibly do to her?
After hearing Flandre finish, Wei Yenwu on the other end of the phone breathed a sigh of relief. "Then just act like this never happened. Play however you want to play, and I'll handle the rest."
"Then I'll thank you, Uncle Wei," Flandre replied politely and hung up the phone.
She looked around; she couldn't go south, and it was definitely best not to go east either. In that case, she might as well go play in the north. The continuous snow-capped mountains she had seen from the car earlier looked quite beautiful, so she decided to go take a closer look. Having made up her mind, Flandre began walking toward the north.
This time she didn't fly off directly, but instead walked out through the north gate openly, even greeting the Lungmen Guard Department Operators on duty at the gate. This way, the news others would have was that she had left through the north gate. After leaving Flower Village for a distance, Flandre gave a light leap and took flight. She flew all the way toward the snow-capped mountains, arriving at the foot of the mountains about two or three hours later.
"Wow, what a beautiful mountain!" Flandre stood at the foot of the mountain and looked up at the massive peak before her. She flew directly to the summit. Just as she poked her head out and before she could even stand firm, the wind from the north blew so hard she nearly rolled back down the mountain.
Looking up, the wind blowing from the north looked like a sheet of white gauze floating in the air after passing over the mountain top. It felt ordinary at the bottom of the mountain, but the wind up here was strong enough to make her whole body take flight. She struggled to stand firm on the summit, looking out at the endless expanse of white.
Looking north, she realized this mountain blocked a vast amount of wind and snow coming from that direction. It could be said that while there was snow to the south, it was nothing compared to the north side of the mountain. At least looking south from here, other colors could still be seen on the ground. But looking north, there was nothing left but white.
Wait... is that a person in the snow?
Flandre noticed traces of human movement at the northern foot of the mountain. In such cold weather, even small animals wouldn't come out for a visit. Why would someone be running around? Driven by curiosity, she jumped down. Upon reaching the bottom, she saw clearly the appearance of the person struggling through the snow and couldn't help but be startled.
She knew this person; he was a doctor from Rhodes Island who had previously participated in the rescue of Yelena. He seemed to be called Dropper. Why was he here, and why was he all alone? Regardless, Flandre only knew one thing: this guy was about to die.
Dropper had already lost the ability to think; he was merely following his subconscious and will, continuing to take steps. A week ago, the Reunion Movement received news that a group of Infected in Chernobog wanted to join them. Talulah arranged for Red to lead a squad to intercept and assist them. He had volunteered to come and help. Considering it would be convenient to have a doctor along for rescues and treatment if accidents occurred while meeting the Infected, Talulah agreed to his request.
Everything went smoothly while heading to Chernobog. But when they left, their movements were somehow leaked, and they were eventually caught by the Ursus Patrol. Because there were many elderly people and children among the Infected, they couldn't move fast at all, so they had to fight while retreating. Fortunately, the Reunion Movement had upgraded their equipment, so they weren't crushed in one fell swoop.
However, internal disagreements arose among these Infected. Some regretted it halfway and believed that following the Reunion Movement would only lead to being hunted down by the increasing number of Ursus Patrol members behind them, so those with weak will began to scatter and flee. Their thinking was simple: compared to catching a single person, the Ursus Patrol would surely prefer to take a bite out of the big bone that was the Reunion Movement. So as long as the Ursus Patrol was focused on the Reunion Movement, they would be safe.
Faced with this situation, the Reunion Movement naturally tried their best to persuade them, saying that as long as they reached the Reunion Movement's sphere of influence, the Ursus Patrol would naturally withdraw. But these Infected didn't believe it at all. Dropper was separated from the main force while chasing a group of departing Infected. Then, while trying to take a detour back, he encountered a blizzard. He lost his way in the snow, and when he finally encountered people, they turned out to be the Ursus Patrol. After another chase, he was completely lost in this snowy wasteland.
He didn't even know that he had not only shaken off the Ursus Patrol but had even walked into Yan territory. By now, his dry rations were gone, and hunger and cold had caused his consciousness to blur. Suddenly, he stepped into empty air, fell into the snow, and lost consciousness.
Flandre, landing nearby, saw the scene of Dropper collapsing in the snow. She quickly used magic to lift him up, only to find his face was purple and blue; he had fallen into a complete coma. Flandre didn't know the first thing about saving people, so she could only carry him and fly toward Flower Village. There were many people there; there would surely be a way to save him. Considering that he was freezing cold, Flandre also used magic to conjure several balls of fire to float around him so he would feel a bit warmer.
By the time she floated back to Flower Village with him, it was almost evening. Fortunately, the Guard Department Officer she had met when leaving was still on duty here. Flandre flew back with the man and said, "Quick, help me look at him. I saw him collapsed on the ground in the north. He seems almost frozen solid."
The other person quickly performed an inspection. "Such severe frostbite. Bring him and follow me. The Guard Department has a doctor here specifically responsible for handling injuries and illnesses."
The man took the lead, guiding Flandre and the injured man into Flower Village. As he ran, he contacted the doctor via walkie-talkie. By the time Flandre and the others reached the medical point, the doctor was already prepared. Upon seeing Dropper's purple-black frozen hands and legs, even the doctor was startled. While helping with the treatment, he grumbled that he had been a military doctor here for decades, but this level of frostbite was a first even for him.
After learning that Flandre had picked him up from the foot of the snow mountain, he said, "Then it's not surprising. Probably some young person who watched a few episodes of 'Secret Garden' and decided to challenge the snow mountain. Look at him; although he's dressed quite thickly, that's only okay for ordinary regions. On the snow mountain, it's just asking for death. Being alive is already a stroke of luck for him."
Neither of them found it strange that he was dressed in a very Ursus style. After all, Lungmen was not far from Ursus, and many Lungmen people liked to wear clothing imported from there during winter. Though not pretty, it was truly warm. Especially most ordinary people who had to operate outside the city would choose Ursus clothing because it was the cheapest clothing they could purchase that offered the best warmth. This also saved Flandre from having to explain.
Once the doctor had treated him and set up an IV drip, several of them sat there chatting while waiting for him to wake up.
"I really envy you, Flandre. Flight is indeed a convenient ability." If one were to walk from here to the snow mountain Flandre mentioned, it might take a whole day and they still might not reach it. Driving would also take several hours because of the detours, but flying could get you to the destination in two hours. This was the legendary shortest distance between two points being a straight line.
"Indeed, indeed! Flying is very convenient!" Flandre nodded in agreement. Then they started talking about the sudden thunderstorm to the south earlier.
"Sigh, don't mention it. The cause of the thunderstorm hasn't been identified yet. They say the experts arranged by Lungmen are still on their way. The people who were originally scheduled to visit next week have all canceled their rooms. It's estimated that our local tourism industry will be affected until the end of the year." The doctor's information was clearly very well-informed.
"Has no one gone to check it?" Flandre asked intentionally.
"Of course they have! Half an hour after the thunderstorm vanished, we cordoned off that area and arranged for personnel to go in and inspect the situation."
"And the result?" Flandre remembered that she hadn't taken the corpse away; if they checked, they would surely find it.
"Nothing at all!" The other person shook his head.
"Nothing at all? That's impossible!" Flandre almost let it slip.
"Hmm, Flandre, do you have any thoughts?" The doctor looked at Flandre and asked.
"Don't you think that lightning coming and going so quickly feels like those martial arts movies where a heavenly phenomenon means a divine weapon is being born?" Flandre's eyes darted around as she immediately thought of a very plausible explanation.
Sure enough, after she spoke, the other two were speechless. It was true that just as Flandre said, Yan martial arts dramas often featured such plots. When Flandre gave this answer, they actually felt a moment of strong agreement. However, they quickly threw this absurd idea to the back of their minds.
"Flandre, you're joking. Where in this world would there be divine weapons or miraculous tools..." The two shook their heads, taking it as the wild imagination of a child like Flandre. After all, as adults, they had long since stopped having these unrealistic thoughts. But it also dispelled the two's suspicions about Flandre's curiosity regarding the thunderclouds.
After sitting for two minutes, the morning Officer who had brought Flandre over stated he was going back to duty. If there was any trouble or need for help, she could find him at the Guard Department office here. After he left, only Flandre and the doctor remained. The doctor looked at the patient and then pointed to a television not far away.
"This one will probably take another hour or two to wake up. I have a TV here, do you want to watch?"
"Will it affect him?" Flandre indicated she wouldn't compromise a patient's health just for her own entertainment.
The other person shook his head. "His coma has many factors, but the biggest ones are fatigue, severe physical exhaustion, and hypothermia caused by the cold. The IV I'm giving him can replenish his lost physical strength, the temperature in this room can let him quickly restore his body temperature, and this sleep while unconscious can relieve his mental exhaustion. So as long as he wakes up, there won't be much of a problem after that."