In the depths of the wind and snow, the old hunter's silhouette carried the mencholy of a hero in twilight.

  Once a man who could hunt tigers alone in the mountains, Hunter Zhang now found himself reduced to eating frogs from the muddy ground. Staring in the direction where Hunter Zhang had disappeared, Wen Chaoshen was finally awakened by the cold in the wind. He shook himself off and hurried back, using the st rays of the setting sun.

  In his arms, wrapped in deerskin among the hay, were three frozen frogs.

  The hay was filled with the cold that seeped in from the snow, and Wen Chaoshen's pitifully thin body heat couldn't awaken them from their hibernation. They were unaware of their impending fate as soup.

  ***

  Back at the abandoned temple, Wen Chaoshen gathered some firewood from the side, used hidden flint and dry grass to start a fire, then dragged over a broken pot, threw in some snow, and pced it on a makeshift stone stove.

  As the snow melted, he tossed the three frogs into the water. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something. Wen Chaoshen stood up and walked around, seeing some neatly stacked firewood beside the statue's pedestal, and his body trembled slightly.

  Moments ter, a thought crossed his mind, and he went to the northeast corner of the temple, crouching down to inspect.

  —In the gap between the bricks, there should have been a sharp, well-polished hatchet.

  But it was gone.

  A chill ran through Wen Chaoshen's heart. Just as he was about to reach out and search, he heard soft footsteps behind him.

  He turned around; it was A Shui.

  A yer of white covered her thin frame, her right leg limping, her left arm holding a pile of chopped wood, and her right hand holding the sharp hatchet that had been hidden in the temple wall.

  With a ctter—

  A Shui gnced at him indifferently, walked slowly to the fire, and threw the wood onto the ground, then sat cross-legged.

  Wen Chaoshen also sat by the fire, his eyes fixed on the hatchet in her hand.

  The fmes danced dangerously along the bde, hinting at a hidden menace.

  "Is this the hatchet you hid there?" A Shui asked Wen Chaoshen, her disheveled hair casually framing her face.

  Her appearance was ordinary, but her brows carried a heroic spirit uncommon in women, giving her an unusual allure.

  Wen Chaoshen stared at the hatchet, his eyelids twitching with the firelight:"Touching other people's things without permission is not a good habit."

  At his words, A Shui reversed the bde, handing the handle to Wen Chaoshen. He took it and examined the bde closely in the firelight, his gaze deep and contemptive.

  A Shui said:

  "You hid a murder weapon. Who do you pn to kill?"

  Wen Chaoshen chuckled, retorting:

  "It's just a hatchet for chopping wood. Who would I kill?"

  A Shui replied calmly:

  "A hatchet wouldn't be sharpened so finely. The bde is too thin for chopping wood... and I can smell the intent to kill on it."

  Wen Chaoshen remained silent, lost in thought as he gazed at the bde. When the water in the pot boiled, he set the hatchet down, picked up a stick, washed it with snow water outside, and stirred the pot.

  A fragrant aroma immediately spread with the rising steam.

  "Aren't you looking for your parents? Why are you still here?" Wen Chaoshen asked.

  As for A Shui's question, he had already buried it in the snow outside, blending it with the vast whiteness, and A Shui didn't pursue the matter of the hatchet further, saying:

  "The constables won't let me in."

  Wen Chaoshen looked at her, ughing:"Are you a refugee too?"

  A Shui: "I wasn't before, but I am now."

  Wen Chaoshen took a chipped bowl from the dry grass by the wall, served himself a bowl of soup, blew on it a few times, and drank it slowly.

  "Interesting... The wind outside was so fierce, yet it couldn't kill you overnight. You must not be an ordinary person.

  I sharpen the hatchet in the wall every few days; it's very sharp. If you take it, the two constables guarding the county city shouldn't be able to stop you."

  A Shui didn't spare the hatchet a gnce, instead speaking to herself:"After more than ten years, I've finally returned. I don't want to bring a blood debt to my homend."

  Wen Chaoshen finished a bowl of soup, warmth spreading through his limbs, and he could even feel the hot flow surging through his veins.

  Leaning against the broken statue's pedestal, he handed the bowl to A Shui:"You're lucky. I found eight frogs today, gave Hunter Zhang five, and still have three left.

  The snow outside is heavy; tonight, the frog soup will be plentiful."

  A Shui didn't mind, serving herself a bowl of hot soup, gently swaying it twice before taking a sip.

  With his body warmed, Wen Chaoshen opened up, asking:"Your father's surname is Yun, so you should be Yun too. Why aren't you called Yun Shui?"

  A Shui shook her head: "I don't take my father's surname, nor my mother's."

  Wen Chaoshen frowned: "Why not?"

  A Shui looked up, gncing at Wen Chaoshen, her tone as calm and deep as a dead ke: "Anyone who asks about this dies."

  Recalling the moment A Shui opened her eyes that morning, he knew she wasn't joking and shook his head:

  "Then I don't want to know. It's not worth losing my life for a secret."

  A Shui took another sip of soup, expining: "...You're right about one thing. I do have a huge problem, and some words are like a guillotine hanging over my head. Hearing them could mean losing my life someday.

  So the less you know, the safer you'll be. Though your life is a mess, you're a good person. I don't want to harm you."

  Then, as if recalling something, her eyes flickered, and she set down the bowl:"Today, the constables in the county city told me that on the third day of each month, refugees can enter the County Office to apply for Qi Kingdom citizenship. Why do you struggle outside instead of going into the city?"

  Hearing this, Wen Chaoshen fell silent for a moment before simply saying: "I'll go next month."

  A Shui carefully observed the slight ripple in his expression, her tone rising slightly: "You didn't go this month?"

  "I did."

  "Last month?"

  "I went too... I've gone every month for the past three years."

  A Shui stirred the frog soup with a stick, speaking slowly: "Then I know who you want to kill."

  Wen Chaoshen looked at the woman stirring the soup, smiled, and asked skeptically: "Who do I want to kill?"

  A Shui stared at the boiling soup, her words soft yet like thunder:

  "You want to kill the Magistrate of Kuhai County."

  Upon hearing this, Wen Chaoshen's smile gradually faded, and the fire in his eyes began to flicker with murderous intent.

  A Shui served another bowl of soup, calmly handing it to Wen Chaoshen, her fingers tapping the bowl's edge, the crisp sound pulling him back to reality.

  "Why do you want to kill him?"

  Wen Chaoshen stared at the soup in front of him, took it, and drank two mouthfuls, feeling the scorching heat in his chest and stomach.

  After a long silence, he told A Shui about his three-year agreement with the Magistrate.

  After finishing, Wen Chaoshen lowered his head, his words filled with an unprecedented stillness and coldness: "Every time I go to the County Office, the constables look at me like I'm a stray dog on the roadside. Their eyes are full of mockery, disdain, and the satisfaction of toying with a fool... But I have to accept my fate.

  I've lived outside the county city for three years, eating dog food, gnawing on tree bark, eating bugs, even worms..."

  He looked up at A Shui, grinning: "You haven't eaten that stuff, have you?

  That stuff, one bite, and it's all the stench from the deepest earth, even stray cats and dogs can't eat it.

  But I did, and I ate a lot. These three years, I've lived more wretchedly than a dog, sometimes even thinking I might really be a dog.

  Many times, I felt I couldn't go on and wanted to end it all... but I wasn't willing.

  I know Liu Jinshi made a three-year agreement with me just to get rid of me, using any excuse to brush me off.

  But people... should always hold on to hope, especially someone like me with a messed-up life.

  Hope is the most precious treasure for us; it's more important than anything.

  I don't want to be a dog, so if there's even a slight chance of living as a human, I'll hold on to it tightly."

  The firelight lingered on A Shui's face, her eyes rippling slightly.

  "If that's the case, why are you sharpening the hatchet?"

  Wen Chaoshen added wood to the fire, his movements decisive and resolute.

  "Three years of hardship have given me many illnesses, but I've gritted my teeth and endured because I'm young. If this continues, I won't live much longer.

  The three-year agreement is nearing its end. If he breaks it... I'll use this hatchet to fight him to the death.

  A wretched life for a good one, it's worth it."

  At this point, he met A Shui's gaze, the fmes in their eyes bright and intense.

  Wen Chaoshen spoke with unprecedented seriousness, word by word: "I've lived like a stray dog here for three years. Before I die, I want to be a person."