Wen Chaoshen stared bnkly at the congealed blood on the ground and said, "Well, there goes the only pce we could make a fire and cook.

  After killing him, his accomplices will probably trace it back to me soon."

  A Shui suggested, "Bury him while it's still fresh; only heaven, earth, you, and I will know."

  Wen Chaoshen pulled open his colr, revealing bits of torn cloth and dry grass inside. "Can't bury him. With the wind and snow outside, I'd die if I stayed out for half an hour.

  If the snow doesn't stop, the body will have to stay here."

  He paused, then ughed at himself, "The good news is, he won't stink."

  A Shui looked at the body on the ground, frowned, and said to Wen Chaoshen, "Give me the knife."

  Wen Chaoshen tossed the knife to A Shui, who caught it steadily, then dragged the Man in Bck's body into the vast snow with one hand holding the knife.

  ***

  About a quarter of an hour ter, A Shui limped back to the abandoned temple. Wen Chaoshen was still there, shoveling snow from outside into the temple, slowly cleaning the bloodstains on the ground.

  Wen Chaoshen turned his head to look at her and asked, "Did you bury him?"

  A Shui replied, "No, I broke the ice in the channel, chopped him up, and threw him into the ditch."

  She handed the knife back to Wen Chaoshen, the bloodstains cleaned off, looking as good as new.

  "You can come anytime in the future. I'll be staying at the abandoned temple for a while."

  Wen Chaoshen paused his wiping of the bloodstains and looked up at A Shui, "On the third of next month, I'm going to see Liu Jinshi for the st time. Whether it works out or not, I won't be coming back here."

  That was indeed his pn.

  If it worked, he could live in the county in the future.

  If not, both he and Liu Jinshi would die.

  A Shui didn't respond to this, and Wen Chaoshen stopped cleaning the blood, as she had clearly decided to face the mess head-on, leaving traces didn't matter anymore.

  Before leaving, he asked A Shui, "By the way, you weren't around these past few days. Did you go looking for your parents? Did you find them?"

  A Shui poked the fire with a stick, remained silent for a long time, and answered evasively, "Come to the temple at noon tomorrow, I'll treat you to a drink."

  She turned her head to look at Wen Chaoshen, "Will you come?"

  Wen Chaoshen met her gaze and after a moment said, "I'll come."

  ***

  He returned to the treehouse, wrapped himself in the tattered quilt, his hands still trembling uncontrolbly.

  In two lifetimes, this was the first time he had killed another human being.

  Though it was for self-defense, the thrilling sensation of the bde slicing through flesh made Wen Chaoshen's blood boil, and it taught him a profound lesson.

  —In this world, to protect oneself, the knife in hand is far more real and effective than the w.

  ***

  The night passed, and the next morning, Wen Chaoshen and the old hunter dug up four frogs, taking none for himself, only saying he hadn't finished yesterday's food. As Wen Chaoshen was leaving, the old hunter called out to him, and when he turned back, the hunter said, "I have a heated brick bed in the house at Qingtian. My wife said if you can't endure it, you can come stay."

  Wen Chaoshen nodded in thanks, and the old hunter added, "Liu Jinshi is not very reliable... don't take his words too seriously."

  Wen Chaoshen was silent for a moment, then replied, "Got it, Old Zhang."

  Without looking back, Hunter Zhang watched his retreating figure, his weathered eyes filled with complexity, the wrinkles on his face deepening. In the end, he just sighed and returned to the wooden house in Qingtian.

  Standing at the door, he shook off the snow before entering. Lying on the bed, the Old Woman Mi Qiu asked him, "Old Zhang, didn't Chaoshen come back with you?"

  Hunter Zhang dled clean snow water into a pot to melt, his voice heavy, "He's not coming."

  Mi Qiu was taken aback, then murmured, "That boy... with such heavy snow, how can he endure living in a treehouse with just a tattered quilt! Sigh, counting the days, it's almost the third."

  Hunter Zhang's grip on the dle tightened unconsciously. He turned to stare at his wife, making Mi Qiu uncomfortable under his gaze, "Old Zhang, why are you looking at me like that?"

  Hunter Zhang snapped back to reality, restraining his gaze, not daring to voice his thoughts.

  When he parted with Wen Chaoshen at noon today, Hunter Zhang sensed a murderous aura from him, feeling that something had changed in Wen Chaoshen.

  And after he reminded Wen Chaoshen about Liu Jinshi, Wen Chaoshen showed no surprise at all.

  Hunter Zhang's keen intuition told him that if Liu Jinshi didn't keep his promise on the third, something bad might happen.

  But he didn't share this concern with his wife.

  Mi Qiu's health wasn't good, and it was better for her to have one less worry than one more.

  "Before I leave this afternoon, I'll make some porridge. Keep an eye on the fire in the room, don't let it get too big, or it will burn the pot dry," he instructed his wife.

  ***

  In the abandoned temple, Wen Chaoshen arrived as promised. A Shui had indeed brought two jars of wine. She had already opened one and seemed to have been drinking for a while, her usually lifeless eyes now sharper.

  Seeing Wen Chaoshen, she greeted, "Can you drink?"

  Wen Chaoshen sat cross-legged across from her, indifferent, "I'm almost dead anyway, what can't I drink?"

  He opened the seal of the wine jar, a fragrance of osmanthus-infused wine wafting over, making his mouth water.

  "This wine must not be cheap. Where did you steal it from?" Wen Chaoshen asked casually. A Shui pointed at herself with a slender finger, her eyes slightly tipsy, and said seriously, "Wen Chaoshen, how much do you look down on me?

  Steal? I took it openly and boldly!"