"Go ahead, take them. Are you going to strip the clothes off them?"

The man froze. He glanced into the cellar again and still couldn’t help but vomit.

"I’ll take them." It was disgusting, but staying warm was more important. It wasn’t like it was bad luck or anything. They were already dead, after all.

He went into the cellar and stripped the clothes off all of them. After he came out, he threw up for a long time.

"Um... are you still giving me the horse? If that’s not possible, an argali sheep that I can ride would be fine too. I’ll use this to trade with you."

The man took two boxes of painkillers out of his bag. Evelyn Ford watched him for a couple of seconds, then took only one box.

"I’ll trade you one horse."

He couldn’t believe it. "You’ll really give me one?"

"Yes." Evelyn Ford nodded solemnly.

The three of them returned to the courtyard with the items. The moment the others saw the supplies, they knew the matter was resolved.

"Get him a horse in trade. He’s leaving immediately."

Hearing this, Officer Graham personally went to the stables, led out a horse, and even fitted it with a saddle and reins.

The man tied his two duffel bags onto the horse and bowed solemnly to everyone.

"Thank you. My name is Donovan Irving, and my home is in Serena. If we’re fated to, we’ll meet again." Serena was in the Northwest, a long way from here.

He mounted the horse and was about to leave when Taylor Vance noticed he had no food. In the end, Taylor couldn’t bring himself to be cruel and stuffed a pack of Dried Meat into his hands.

"Thanks."

Donovan Irving’s eyes reddened. While it was true that his initial motive had been to get the people from the courtyard to deal with those men for him, the gratitude he felt in this moment was completely sincere.

He rode away from the courtyard, quickly disappearing into the vast expanse of snow. Everyone began boiling water to butcher the wild boar, and the courtyard returned to its usual tranquility, as if nothing had happened at all.

"I was so on edge just now, terrified it was a trap."

Wyatt Vaughn looked at the supplies Evelyn Ford had given her and let out a huge sigh of relief. "Thank God Donovan Irving wasn’t lying to us."

Evelyn Ford smiled. "Feeling better now?"

"Yeah. At first, I felt bad about giving him a horse, but thinking about it now, I guess there’s no reason to."

"Well, I have some more good news for you. Two of the mares are pregnant. They’ll give birth in about two months."

"Really?"

Evelyn Ford nodded. "Of course. I noticed when I went to the stables earlier. It’s probably going to be a tough journey for Donovan Irving, returning to Serena all by himself. It’s still snowing, too. I doubt he’ll be able to keep riding once he reaches the county seat."

Wyatt Vaughn shrugged. "From the looks of him, he seems to have what it takes to survive."

Just as Evelyn Ford had predicted, by the time Donovan Irving rode into the county seat, a wintry mix of sleet and snow had begun to fall. The wind was bone-chilling, and he was forced to stay and find shelter.

That evening, the wild boar they had brought back was served for dinner. As they were eating, Quincy kept pestering Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick about how they had dealt with those men.

"I’d advise you not to ask," Evelyn Ford said, trying to be kind. But Quincy wasn’t having it.

"What, did you chop them into pieces or something? By the way, where were they hiding?"

Evelyn Ford gave Quincy a dark look. He had actually guessed correctly.

"There’s nothing to talk about when it comes to killing. If something like this happens again, you can handle it and find out for yourself."

Quincy’s eyebrow shot up. "What’s so hard about that? Fine. I’ll handle it from now on."

No one took him seriously. Only Evelyn Ford knew that the second time they had met, Quincy had killed the two muggers who tried to rob him. He’d slit their throats with a single cut, without even blinking.

After dinner, Evelyn Ford went to the greenhouse to check on the seedlings. The temperature was just right, and the vegetables were growing extremely well. Both the corn and peppers had sprouted.

Later that night, after everyone was asleep, Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick slipped out of the courtyard. Ronan Kendrick’s clothes were stained with too much blood to be worn anymore.

They walked a little further away before Evelyn Ford took out the RV and told Ronan Kendrick to go take a shower.

Evelyn Ford took out a thermometer. It was currently negative sixty-seven degrees—cold enough for boiling water to freeze instantly the moment it was brought outside.

She took her phone out of her dimensional space. It used to take only thirty seconds to boot up, but now it took a full three minutes.

After Ronan Kendrick came out, Evelyn Ford went to take a shower as well. During dinner, Taylor Vance had brought up the issue of bathing. They needed to build a bathing tub so everyone could wash up. Even though no one was sweating, it was still uncomfortable to go so long without a bath.

Evelyn Ford’s hair was now thirty centimeters long. After washing it, it immediately fluffed up with volume.

Ronan Kendrick sat on the RV’s bed, wearing just a red sweater. He looked particularly docile, and Evelyn Ford decided to give his hair a trim.

"The Mid-Autumn Festival is in two months."

Evelyn Ford looked down at Ronan Kendrick. "And right after the Mid-Autumn Festival is our birthday."

"I remember."

Evelyn Ford held up a mirror so he could see his trimmed hair. "How’s my handiwork?"

"It’s perfect."

Evelyn Ford smiled, pressing her lips together. "I have a surprise for you."

From her dimensional space, she took out the milk tea she had made while he was in the shower. The rich, fragrant, milky aroma made Ronan Kendrick’s eyes light up.

"It’s sweet. Go on, try it."

He took the cup and had a sip. "It’s delicious."

Evelyn Ford took out her phone and snapped several pictures of him.

After finishing the milk tea, they returned to the courtyard. Snow had piled high on the roofs again, and the fierce wind howled—WOOOOO—sounding like a vengeful ghost come to claim a soul.

Opening the door to their partitioned room, Mina lifted her head to glance at them before closing her eyes and going back to sleep.

The sound of Quincy talking in his sleep drifted over. Evelyn Ford couldn’t help it and burst out laughing.

The heated kang bed was cozy, and the blankets were warm too. The moment she lay down, Ronan Kendrick pulled Evelyn Ford into his embrace, gently patting her back to lull her to sleep.

Evelyn Ford muffled a laugh against his chest, but less than two minutes later, she was fast asleep.

At ten in the morning, Wendy came knocking. She told Evelyn Ford that the Snow Rabbit had given birth to six kits.

Evelyn Ford got out of bed. Outside, the wind and snow had both stopped. A sliver of light broke through the hazy gray sky.

It was the legendary Tyndall effect. It looked as if the sky had been torn open in several places, with white light pouring down from the fissures.

Evelyn Ford took off her mask and gently exhaled. Her breath instantly condensed into frost.

"Is the sun coming out?"

"It’s possible."

"The sun can come out even when it’s snowing?"

"Of course it can. It might even start raining fireballs for all we know."

Evelyn Ford and Ronan Kendrick exchanged a look, and both of them smiled.

To celebrate the Snow Rabbit’s new litter, they had roast beef for lunch. The newborn kits were tiny, no bigger than little mice.

Wendy named all of them. Evelyn Ford sighed. ’Once you name them, how can you bear to eat them?’

"Miss Ford, this one’s called Little Snow. It’s for you. You can eat it when it grows up. You can braise it or steam it."

Evelyn Ford was speechless. ’Well, I guess I worried for nothing.’

The vegetables in the greenhouse grew better and better. Another half-month went by, and Evelyn Ford picked a large basin of bok choy, planning to simply boil them. These days, whenever people saw greens, they reacted like sheep spotting fresh leaves.

She wasn’t sure if it was because of the variety, but the vegetable seeds brought back from Westeria were all growing exceptionally well. Evelyn Ford suspected they were a special type of seed, cultivated for the post-apocalyptic world.

It reminded her of the wheat from the safe zone, the kind that could mature in just two or three months.