Tangtang had never once stepped outside the camp's main gate since arriving with her parents as a child.
Of course, she had no intention of going out now. Outside the camp was a vast expanse of white; she had no idea where to even begin looking for him.
She knew her little brother was very strong now. He would definitely come back…
She just had to wait for him at the gate.
Suddenly, a familiar figure appeared in her sight.
"Xiaowen!"
Tangtang jumped up, waving her hand. Then she saw the person opposite her raise a hand in response.
Once she was absolutely sure she hadn't made a mistake,
she burst out the gate.
"What are you doing out here? You should have just stayed at the gate."
"Hehe... Give me the bundle."
Tang Wen was carrying a live sheep in a basket on his back, and another sheep was wrapped in a white cloth in his hands.
"It's heavy. I'll carry it. Go check our old shack and see if anyone's moved in."
"Okay, got it!"
Without asking why, Tangtang immediately turned and ran back to the camp gate.
The shack was in a corner right next to the gate. It was completely empty—forget people, there wasn't even a single mouse.
A few minutes later, the two siblings returned to the shack together.
Tang Wen put down the basket and unwrapped the white cloth.
"Sheep? Why is their wool yellow?"
His big sister was both surprised and intrigued.
Tang Wen didn't answer, just pointed outside. "There are a few more in the woods. Sis, you watch them here. I'm going to make a couple more trips."
"Mm-hmm, okay. Be careful."
The heavy snow had helped Tang Wen. He had covered the other sheep with snow, making them completely invisible from a distance.
One trip, two trips, three trips...
It took a total of four trips to move all seven sheep into the shack by the camp gate.
The sky turned completely dark. Next, he still had to get the sheep home.
"Let's rest a bit first. I'll go home and make you dinner. We can move them after we eat."
Tang Wen shook his head. After a brief rest, he made several more trips to move them home.
The snow fell heavier and heavier. Shortly after he got home, the heavy snowfall completely covered his footprints.
"Phew!"
Lying on the heated kang bed, Tang Wen finally relaxed completely. The sweat in his hair had frozen into tiny icicles, but the warmth of the room melted them, and they began to drip, drip, drip down.
"Hurry up and wash!"
Tangtang brought over a basin of hot water and handed him a towel.
Seeing her brother didn't move, she urged him repeatedly, "Wash up, quickly! You absolutely can't get sick!"
Hearing this, Tang Wen froze for a moment, then quickly scrambled up from the kang bed.
'That's right. This world lacks doctors and medicine. If you get sick, there's no clinic or hospital downstairs to go to. You can only tough it out.'
If you pulled through, you pulled through. If you didn't, the people in the camp would just say: it was fate.
"Sis, I'll go make dinner. You should wash up later too."
"Okay."
The night was pitch-black.
Tang Wen quickly skinned a sheep, butchered the meat, and took it out to the courtyard to freeze.
After a flurry of activity, late into the night, the two of them finally sat down to a fragrant pot of mutton and potato stew.
After the meal, Tangtang contentedly rubbed her belly, not wanting to move.
Tang Wen also rubbed his stomach. 'Hmm, I'm getting abs.'
Outside, the north wind howled and snow swirled.
In this kind of weather, what could possibly be more comfortable than eating mutton and sleeping on a warm kang bed?
Tangtang looked at her little brother, feeling that their life was almost too good to be true.
Originally, she had already prepared for the worst: selling herself to get some food for her brother so he could survive the winter.
Of course, the more likely scenario was that no one would buy her, and then the two of them would freeze to death together this winter.
"Brother."
"Hm?"
Tangtang gave him a smile. "Go to sleep."
Tang Wen was speechless. 'If you hadn't called me, I'd have already been asleep.'
When he woke up, the sky outside was still gloomy.
The moment he opened the door, a knife-like north wind carrying snowflakes rushed at his face.
Tang Wen shivered. The snow in the courtyard was already a foot deep!
There was no way to go hunting in this weather.
He felt a surge of relief. 'Good thing I went out yesterday.'
Since he couldn't go out, he would practice his techniques:
[Eight Vajra Techniques, Master (399→407/3000)]
[Eight Vajra Techniques, Master (399→415/3000)]
[Eight Vajra Techniques...]
The snow fell continuously for three days. Aside from braving the blizzard to clear the snow from the roof and sweep the courtyard, he practiced his techniques from morning till night.
Morning, afternoon, and evening, he practiced the Eight Vajra Techniques.
In the afternoon, he would practice while teaching Tangtang the Wind-Breaking Blade Technique.
Three days passed.
[Eight Vajra Techniques, Master (1075/3000)]
[Wind-breaking Blade, Master (331/1000)]
With no need to worry about food, he trained bitterly for more than ten hours a day, and the results were gratifying.
When the weather finally cleared up, the snow began to melt.
Tang Wen made a trip to the blacksmith Li Daniu's house, bringing some mutton and two sheep's trotters, and traded them for three hundred pounds of potatoes and sweet potatoes.
"Brother Li, just how much stuff do you have stored in your cellar? It feels like you have an endless supply!"
Li Daniu chuckled. "Brother, I forge weapons for the Guards and tools for the farmers. You think they'd let me go hungry?"
"Makes sense."
As the blacksmith, he was definitely a big shot in the camp.
"But I don't earn that much either. The Guards bring me iron ingots, and I just forge them. It's just hard-earned money, that's all."
After some small talk, Tang Wen asked, "I see your wife and the others are all wearing cotton-padded clothes. Where are they sold?"
Li Daniu rubbed his bald head. "These were brought from the city. Brother, if you want some, two sets of thick cotton-padded clothes and two pairs of cotton-padded shoes would probably cost twenty pounds of meat."
"What about sheepskins? Are they valuable?"
"Of course! You brought mutton, so you must have sheepskins. One sheepskin would be enough. But, if you have Copper Coins for the city entrance fee, you could sell them in the city yourself. Hehe, Brother, you're getting more and more capable. You'll have to go to the city sooner or later. Here, let me get you a few Copper Coins..."
Before Tang Wen could say anything, Li Daniu zipped into the backyard, brought back 10 Copper Coins, and stuffed them into Tang Wen's hand.
The snow melted, but then froze into Ice under the continuous north wind.
Tang Wen wasn't in a hurry to go to the city. The siblings stayed indoors every day, practicing their techniques and doing their Sword Practice.
[Eight Vajra Techniques, Master (2392/3000)]
[Wind-breaking Blade, Master (753/1000)]
His training was brutal, and his consumption was massive. Every day, Tang Wen ate three to five pounds of mutton, plus a fair amount of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and Maize.
Although Tangtang would say, "My little brother has turned into a little pig, eating fifty pounds of meat a day! Even the big shots in the city wouldn't dare to eat like this."
But when it was time to cook, she would make mutton soup, stewed mutton, and roasted mutton, rotating through different styles every day.
When they finished the first sheep, another restless one in the woodshed was slaughtered.
This time, the sheep's blood wasn't wasted. It was poured into a wooden bucket with salt and clear water, and soon it coagulated.
The siblings' meals became a little more lavish.
The constant training inevitably left him feeling dizzy and mentally exhausted.
Tang Wen remembered something, carried a bowl of hot water outside, and threw it into the sky. The hot water turned into countless ice crystals, scattering in the air.
"Huh?" Behind him, his big sister's eyes went wide. She turned, went back inside, and also came out with a bowl of water to throw into the air...
Water thrown into the air froze instantly. And this was water that had just been boiled.
This meant the temperature was below negative twenty degrees Celsius.
Tang Wen climbed onto the roof, cleared the accumulated snow, and looked around with his binoculars.
Every household in the camp had its doors tightly shut. There wasn't a single soul on the main street. As far as the eye could see, there was only a vast expanse of white.
BANG BANG BANG!
"Brother Tang! Brother Tang!"
Someone was pounding on the door. From the sound of the voice, he knew it was the blacksmith, Li Daniu.
"Brother Li, what's wrong?" Tang Wen grabbed his blade and opened the door.
Li Daniu saw the blade in his hand and the dagger at his waist and froze for a second. He then said, "Your sister-in-law is about to give birth. I'm going to the city to get a doctor and a midwife, and I'm worried about leaving the house alone. Brother, could you go to my place and keep an eye on things?"
"Of course! Go on, Brother Li! Hurry back!"
With no time for pleasantries, Tang Wen and his sister went straight to the blacksmith's shop.
Cries of pain came from Eldest Sister-in-law Li, and the maid was wringing her hands in a panic.
Tang Wen had never been in a situation like this before. He could only ask his sister to offer comfort while he went to the kitchen to boil water.
This was something he'd learned from watching TV shows. For some reason, childbirth always seemed to require boiling water.
The doctor and the midwife arrived a little later than expected.
Fortunately, no disaster occurred. Mother and daughter were both safe and sound.
With a cry, the daughter was born. Li Daniu let out a sigh of relief, but the light in his eyes seemed a bit dim. Tang Wen comforted him, saying, "You'll just have to ask your wife to go through the trouble again. More children make a house lively. Surely you're not afraid you can't support them? Your wife just had a brush with death, go see her. I brought some sheep bones, we'll have sheep bone soup tonight..."
Li Daniu had a sudden realization. "Right, right! You're right, Brother! I wasn't thinking straight for a moment! I'll go right now."