Early morning, two days after the night attack. Birds soared through the sky, flapping their delicate-looking wings and chirping. Below them was a frozen forest that was a sight to behold. The robust trees resembled giants, slumbering in a frozen land. Their lush greenery, replaced with crystalline ice that covered the massive tree trunks and sturdy wood limbs.

Not many animals were active within the forest, for most were still hibernating, waiting for spring to bring warmth and life back to the forest.

One of the several active animals in the forest was an obscenely large reddish-brown sparrow. The fluffy fat on the bird jiggled like waves as it struggled to fly several meters above the forest floor, searching for its third morning meal. Tired from flapping its wings, the chubby bird landed on a low-hanging tree twig covered in a thick layer of ice. If the tree branch could speak, it would have screamed countless obscenities at the fat bird. The tiny branch had already been struggling to support the weight of the ice. So, it began swaying as it received the full weight of the chunky bird. 

Startled, the plump bird took off, flapping its small wings as hard as it could. It then fell with a plop into the snow a distance away from the tree. 

Meanwhile, the icicles hanging from the branch made cracking sounds as they broke off. They rained down at a man and a goat who were unfortunate enough to walk beneath the tree.

It seemed like it would be the end of them as the frozen spikes hurtled toward them. But then the man turned his head and faced the icicles. An invisible power emerged from his body and swept the falling icicles away.

‘That was more taxing to use than I thought it would be.’

Yan Chen’s mind felt drained from using the skill he recently gained. After replenishing the energy he used from the night attack and absorbing the last blue crystal, his mind had expanded and strengthened.

The breakthrough allowed him to sense the surrounding energy more clearly. The energy within the forest felt cold and harsh, but filled with vitality. Along with being able to sense energy, Yan Chen could manipulate objects at will—if he tried hard enough.

Yan Chen had replaced his old clothes with the tunic and trousers he got from the bandits. Shanyang wore several layers of blankets, enjoying the warmth they provided. They had traveled for two days and could finally see the edge of the forest. Right outside of the forest laid a village comprising a couple of hundred wood houses. A frozen river ran through the middle of the village, splitting it in two.

Yan Chen estimated that it would take another three hours to arrive, so he took out some food to eat. Shanyang’s nose twitched as the goat smelled a familiar fishy smell. The goat approached Yan Chen with an innocent look on his face. Amused, Yan Chen patted the begging goat and gave him a few strips. Shanyang bleated happily as he savored the fishy strips.

It was almost noon by the time Yan Chen and Shanyang arrived at the town. They could see people moving around in the village, attending to tasks. Villagers were cutting firewood, tending to their livestock, and performing maintenance on structures. Some even appeared to be fishing at the banks of the frozen river with holes drilled through the ice.

Yan Chen took in the sights with a smile as they walked into the settlement. The locals stared at the pair, surprised at the sight of an unfamiliar man and a goat in their small village. But they didn’t spare another glance at them. Everyone too busy tending to their own matters to care about harmless-looking strangers.

Yan Chen looked around, searching for anyone that seemed like a threat to him. He believed that the bandits could have originally been from the village since this was the closest settlement to the forest—if not the only one. So, it was likely that there would be relatives or friends of the bandits that could recognize his clothes.

The best decision for him would be to buy supplies and head to the nearest city as soon as possible, before anyone became hostile toward him.

‘Now, as long as no more obstacles appear—’

“Ah!”

A small child that had been running tripped in front of him. As Yan Chen helped the child back up, he noticed that they were a girl.

“Are you okay?” He asked her, concerned that she had gotten injured.

“I’m okay. Thanks, mister!” The child appeared to be around six or seven years old. She had a bright smile on her face, unfazed by her sudden fall.

She curiously stared at the tall man in front of her. She felt like the man looked familiar, even though she had never seen him before. Then she fixed her eyes on Shanyang, who was munching on a strip of salted meat.

“Is he your goat, mister?”

Yan Chen smiled. He rubbed Shanyang’s head. “Yes, this is Shanyang. He’s my best friend.”

The girl’s face was green with envy. “Wow! I want to have a goat, but my mom won’t let me.”

Yan Chen laughed. “I’m sure your mother has a good reason.”

Noticing the eager look in her eyes, Yan Chen asked the girl, “Do you want to pet him?”

“Sure! Thank you, mister!” The girl squealed with delight. She inched toward Shanyang and pet the goat’s neck with a gentle touch, afraid of him running away from her.

Shanyang ignored the girl and nudged Yan Chen, bleating to remind him of his current goal. “Yes, I know. I didn’t forget that I need to buy supplies.”

“Are you trying to buy stuff, mister?” The little girl looked up with visible interest on her face.

“Why yes, I am.”

“I can help you. I know everyone in the village!” The girl spoke, unwilling to part from Shanyang.

Yan Chen took a few moments to consider the pros and cons of the little girl’s offer. He was unfamiliar with the village layout. So, it would take more time for him to gather necessities if he did not have a guide. Also, the villagers may also be friendlier toward him if they saw someone familiar with him. It didn’t seem like there would be any disadvantages since it was unlikely for the girl to harbor any ill intentions toward him.

So, he accepted the proposition. “I guess we could use some help.”

“Yay! Let’s go!” The girl cheered, excited to help the pair.

Yan Chen followed his young guide all around town, purchasing supplies and gathering information. Yan Chen had put the little girl onto Shanyang’s back, afraid that she would trip and fall again. The girl had a merry time riding the goat, grinning the entire time. A pleasant surprise for Yan Chen was that the girl was such an excellent guide. It had only been an hour and he already gathered most of the necessities.

As he was about to leave the largest shop in the village, the shopkeeper came out to greet the girl. The shopkeeper was a plump man with a rotund stomach that strained against the seams of his clothes.

“Little Meiling, your mother let you out to play today?” The shopkeeper asked with a warm smile.

Meiling answered with great delight. “Uncle Bao, mommy rewarded me because I did a good job doing my chores.”

Uncle Bao ruffled Meiling’s glossy black hair affectionately. “Oh, what a good girl. Who’s that young man next to you?”

The child smiled. “This is Big Brother Chen! He has a goat named Shanyang who’s so fluffy.” Meiling hugged Shanyang tightly, gripping fur in her hands.

Shanyang wanted to express his annoyance, but stopped when he saw the child’s pure-looking eyes. He grunted and then stayed silent.

Meanwhile, Uncle Bao greeted Yan Chen warmly at first, but then his expression changed for a short moment before reverting. “Mister Chen, welcome to our humble village. I hope that Meiling hasn’t been bothering you. If you need any help, I can guide you around the village.”

Yan Chen’s heart skipped a beat when he caught the shopkeeper’s change in expression.

‘Odd, is this man trying to separate me from Meiling? Does he think I’m attracted to children? No, it’s more likely because I’m a stranger in the village.’

After tossing the ridiculous thought aside, Yan Chen thought of an even more absurd possibility that made him laugh in his mind and curse his luck.

Yan Chen shook his head in refusal of Uncle Bao’s proposal. “Thanks for your generous offer, but—”

He looked at Little Meiling, whose face had fallen at the thought of leaving her friends. She was having too much fun with her new friends. It was rare for her to get the chance to play around in the village instead of helping her mother with boring chores.

“Meiling has been a wonderful guide. It would be rude of me if I agreed to someone else taking over her job. Besides, I will leave the village soon after buying one more thing.”

Even if Yan Chen was suspicious, he could not just crush a child’s happiness because of a hunch. There wouldn’t be much danger anyway, since he was leaving sooner than he expected.

Meiling’s face brightened, but then fell once more after hearing that her new friends would leave so soon.

After Uncle Bao listened to Yan Chen’s polite refusal and saw how Meiling reacted, the shopkeeper knew that he could not change their minds. So, he left after saying a few parting words.

Yan Chen held up a strip of the reddish-yellow meat and asked Meiling a question. “Little Meiling, do you know where we can buy this?”

Meiling wrinkled her nose in disgust as she looked at the strip. “Yeah, my mommy and daddy buy salted fish from Grandpa Yu. I don’t like them. They taste too fishy. But my daddy eats it a lot whenever he goes out to hunt.”

“Oh? Can you take me to Senior Yu? I want to buy some for myself and Shanyang.”

The girl nodded with reluctance. Although she didn’t understand why her friends would want to buy such yucky things, the girl still led them to Grandpa Yu.

Grandpa Yu was a frail old man with a gaunt face and white hair sitting atop his head like a cloud. Wrinkles and age spots covered his gaunt face.

There were barrels of whole salted fish and salted fish strips in front of him, wafting out waves of a strong fishy aroma. Meiling pinched her nose and gagged, overwhelmed by the stench. Yan Chen and Shanyang inhaled the scent, salivating as they saw so much delicious food.

Grandpa Yu chuckled, delighted to see that his products were being appreciated by others.

“Greetings Senior Yu, I would like to buy some of your heavenly salted fish.”

Grandpa Yu smiled at the compliment. He opened his mouth and made sounds that were unintelligible to Yan Chen. Yan Chen felt surprised when he locked closer inside the old man’s mouth and realized Grandpa Yu was missing a tongue. He stared blankly for a few seconds before Meiling translated the unintelligible sounds into the common tongue.

“Grandpa Yu said that each kilo is a copper coin.”

Yan Chen paid Grandpa Yu ten copper coins and placed all the fish into a sack he had taken from the bandits. While he was shoving fish into a sack, a woman emerged from the house next to Grandpa Yu’s.

She was Meiling’s mother and she seemed shocked when she saw Yan Chen. Meiling’s mother looked like she had fallen into a trance after staring at his clothes.

‘Why is he wearing those clothes?’

“Mommy!”

Meiling’s voice woke her mother up. Her mother opened her arms to hug Meiling lovingly. “Mommy, this is big brother Chen and Shanyang.” Meiling excitedly introduced her new friends to her mother.

Yan Chen greeted Meiling’s mother politely. He waited for her to give a response, but she only stared at him.

“Where did you get those clothes?”

Yan Chen frowned, feeling that something was off, but he remained calm and answered. “I found them in the forest off of a dead body. There were three bodies total, but I don’t know what caused their death.”

He told most of the truth except for the parts about him brutally cracking their skulls in. The woman’s body trembled slightly and her lip quivered. Meiling’s eyes opened wide when she heard that her big brother found dead bodies in the forest.

“Big brother, was it scary seeing dead people?”

Yan Chen nodded and showed an expression of fear, pretending to feel frightened when he thought of the bodies.

“There was blood everywhere and their heads—” Yan Chen’s sentence was abruptly cut off when Meiling’s mother roughly grabbed his shoulders.

“Do you know where the bodies are!”

Yan Chen nodded and told her the general location of the bodies before she released him. Meiling’s mother profusely apologized after realizing what she had done.

Her tear-stained face was filled with embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

Yan Chen accepted her apology. He determined that he and Shanyang would need to leave the village before she had the chance to ask more questions.

After thanking Meiling for her help and saying a quick goodbye, Yan Chen and Shanyang hastily left the village for the nearest city.

Meiling held her mother’s hand, staring at the backs of her new friends slowly disappearing from her sight. Feeling like she had lost something inside of her, the little girl looked at her mother and asked, “Mommy, when is daddy coming home?”