Tang Xin whispered in Lin Xinghe’s ear, “They don’t seem to smell it…”
Lin Xinghe asked for confirmation, “Have you smelled any strange fragrance?”
Chai Yong and the others paused and looked at Lin Xinghe. Fang Ziyue asked in a weird manner, “Do you have a dog’s nose? I don’t smell anything.”
Lin Xinghe said, “You may have been marked. Be careful today.”
Chai Yong snorted coldly, “Stop trying to scare people ”
When Fang Ziyue saw that Tang Xin was sticking to Lin Xinghe’s pug* group, she was very disdainful and said, “When you face the Snow Maiden, I’d like to see how Lin Xinghe, a little girl with no strength, can protect you.”
Lin Xinghe glanced at her lightly and said, “Suit yourself.”
After speaking, she and Tang Xin left.
Fang Ziyue felt that maybe she would come to regret what she had said, especially because Lin Xinghe got down the mountain five or six hours earlier and might have uncovered some crucial clues. But when she thought about it again, the exam objective was to kill the Snow Maiden without using magical devices—Lin Xinghe couldn’t pass the test without following a person who had physical strength and fighting skills.
Fang Ziyue comforted herself, turned her head and continued to flatter Chai Yong.
She sniffed discreetly.
There was no smell at all, it must have been Lin Xinghe trying to scare them!
The weather after the blizzard was exceptionally sunny, and the winter sun was warm and bright.
Yesterday, the village had been completely deserted, but today, it was different.
On the street, people could be seen in twos and threes. The doors of the shops were wide open, and the street market stalls were open, selling everything from toiletries to fried chicken.
Lin Xinghe also realized that there were male people out and about. She saw several little boys building snowmen in an empty alleyway.
Lin Xinghe found a few candies in her backpack and went over to talk to the little boys.
She squatted down, looking them in the eyes, raised her eyebrows, and asked, “Do you want some candy?”
The kids looked at each other, hesitant to say anything.
Lin Xinghe stretched out her palms and said in a soft voice, “There are soda flavors: Coke, Sprite, and Fanta**. Which one do you prefer?”
The little boy who seemed to be the leader of the group couldn’t resist her bribe. He took a cola-flavored candy and lisped, “Thank you, sister.”
When the other children saw this, they also took candies.
Lin Xinghe asked with a smile, “Yesterday’s snow was also very thick, why didn’t you guys come out to build a snowman?”
“Mom and Dad wouldn’t let me out of the house. If I came out, the bad guys would take me away.”
“Why did you come out today?”
“Mom said I could play today.”
“Has anyone been caught by bad guys?”
“Yes.”
“Baby, come over here to Mom.”
The little boy answered loudly and got up from the snow.
Not far away, a middle-aged woman had been standing for who knows how long. Nervously, she bent down slightly and picked up the little boy. Out of the corner of her eyes, she glanced at Lin Xinghe. She said nothing and beckoned the other boys to go with her.
Lin Xinghe took the initiative to say, “I have no ill intentions, I just couldn’t resist their cute little mugs and wanted to play with them for a while.”
The middle-aged woman coldly ignored her.
Lin Xinghe said again, “I’m from out of town. Do you have any interesting attractions here?”
“All the tourists like the ice sculpture park and the winter-themed amusement park.”
“Okay, thank you.”
When the middle-aged women left, Tang Xin said, “They don’t seem to like tourists very much…”
Lin Xinghe asked her, “Have you found anything?”
Tang Xin: “Uh, maybe the Snow Maiden can be found in the ice sculpture park or the amusement park?”
Lin Xinghe said, “That’s possible.” After a while, she added, “Have you realized? The men in the town, including the little boys, have pale skin, especially the little boys, and they look like they never go outside. Yesterday, the streets were still empty, but today there are big crowds. The only difference between today and yesterday is the appearance of tourists. Chai Yong and the others were obviously marked, and they probably became the prey of the Snow Maiden. It explains why all the people in the town came out today—because the Snow Maiden has new prey, they are temporarily safe.”
Tang Xin said, “If we follow Chai Yong and the others, will we be able to find the Snow Maiden? We can kill the Snow Maiden while the Snow Maiden attacks them.”
Lin Xinghe shook his head: “In theory, it should work, but we can’t carry this plan out well. We are ordinary people, while the Snow Maiden is not. It’s easy for her to kill us but difficult for us to kill her. We must first find out the weakness of the Snow Maiden and start from there.”
Lin Xinghe said: “The people here have mentioned the ice sculpture garden and the winter-themed amusement park multiple times, so there must be something there. Chai Yong and the others will definitely go to one of them, so we will follow them. Before that, I have to go buy something…”
Tang Xin said in shock: “You… Do you have money?”
“Nope.”
“How are you going to buy things?”
Lin Xinghe said: “This is indeed a problem, but it is not a big problem. There is always a solution. I used to be very lucky, even when I was alive. Every time I was short of money to spend, Lao Tianye would always use various ways to give me money.”
“Uh…like?”
“I picked up a lottery ticket that someone else had thrown away and won the lottery. When someone robbed me of my bag, I chased the thief, who turned out to be a wanted criminal, so the police gave me a large bounty. When I bought some products, it turned out they were expired, so the mall compensated me with a sum of money for the sake of my peace of mind…”
Tang Xin: ? ? ?
TL Notes:
* Pugs are usually well-bred, domesticated, quiet, and a little bit dumb. Here, Fang Ziyue is describing Lin Xinghe and Tang Xin as doormats with those characteristics.
** The original text says orange soda, but Fanta is more of a common candy flavor.
Want to read more chapters and support us? Please consider becoming a patron to read up to 2 chapters in advance!
