"Hmm?"
Ye Feng frowned slightly, then quickly said to Xiao Xiao, "Xiao Xiao, the sun has set and the temperature has dropped further. Let's go inside the house quickly~"
"Okay~"
...
At night,
As the sun set, the entire frozen snowy land became even colder, and snowflakes began to fall from the sky.
However, this had little impact on Ye Feng and Xiao Xiao inside the wooden cabin.
Because Ye Feng had specially reinforced the cabin for insulation against the cold before.
And in a corner of the wooden cabin, a solar-powered heater that Ye Feng had recently purchased from the [Shop] was also turned on.
At this moment, Ye Feng and Xiao Xiao were eating hot pot and singing songs...
The only drawback was that Ye Feng's previous white light flashlight was damaged, and only a red-colored light was used for illumination.
...
Not too far, but not too close, from Ye Feng's wooden cabin, a team of explorers was looking at the cabin with expressions of horror.
"Am I... hallucinating? Why did a wooden cabin suddenly appear there?"
"Are we lost?"
"But it shouldn't be wrong. I've walked this road many times. The supply point is about 5 kilometers ahead..."
"Then what do you make of this suddenly appearing wooden cabin?"
"That red light looks like a haunted house!"
...
A group of explorers whispered amongst themselves as they looked at the wooden cabin emitting red light.
"You once told me, meeting is a song..."
At this moment, Xiao Xiao's melodious voice drifted out from the wooden cabin, slightly distorted by the howling snow wind.
"A ghost!"
"A ghost... a haunted house..."
"Meeting... meeting... a female ghost is going to catch us!"
"Ah, I don't want to meet a female ghost..."
"Run!"
...
Originally, this group of explorers was already a little scared because they couldn't make it back to the supply point in time.
Seeing a wooden cabin inexplicably appear by the roadside they were familiar with, emitting red light, they were even more terrified.
And upon hearing Xiao Xiao's voice from the cabin, they were instantly scared and fled.
...
The next morning,
"Achoo~"
"Big brother, what is this soup? It's so bitter and smells strange~"
Xiao Xiao sneezed and looked at a bowl of potion she was holding, looking at Ye Feng with some confusion.
When she went to sleep last night, Ye Feng had made her drink a bowl.
"Oh, that's the 666 Cold Relief Granules. Judging by your sneezing yesterday, you might have caught a cold~"
Xiao Xiao's constitution was not as good as Ye Feng's. Yesterday, she was wearing summer clothes and had twice transitioned from a hot environment of 30°C to sub-zero temperatures. It was very likely she had caught a cold.
"Oh, okay~"
Xiao Xiao nodded and began to drink the bitter cold relief granules.
...
Because Xiao Xiao had a cold, Ye Feng waited for the sun to come out and the temperature to rise before continuing on their way.
Xiao Xiao was wrapped up tightly, and Ye Feng had also put on a long-sleeved hoodie. He carried the solar-powered heater, charging it as he continued to head in the direction indicated by the arcane pointer.
...
An hour later,
The two passed through a snowy area, and Ye Feng suddenly stopped.
"Big brother, what's wrong?"
Xiao Xiao, who was walking happily, looked at Ye Feng with confusion.
"It's the smell of blood!"
Ye Feng frowned slightly and looked in one direction.
"Smell of blood?"
Xiao Xiao twitched her nose, but due to her cold, her nose was a bit stuffy. After a while, she smelled it, "It seems to be that way!"
"Such a strong smell of blood... Let's go and see!"
After a moment of thought, Ye Feng walked in the direction from which the smell of blood was coming.
"Ah!~"
After rounding a large rock, Xiao Xiao suddenly screamed, her face pale.
Because a bloody corpse was abruptly presented before them!
The corpse's facial features, along with its entire facial skin, had disappeared. The cuts on the skin and muscles were very rough. The corpse was spread out like a cross, nailed to a large tree, dripping with blood...
Below the faceless corpse, large and small pieces of corpses were scattered haphazardly. Judging by the wounds, they appeared to have been cut by some extremely sharp weapon...
"Ugh!~"
A large amount of blood dyed large swathes of the snow, and the strong smell of blood assaulted their senses, making Xiao Xiao gag.
"These people should be explorers... and they were instantly subdued without any ability to resist..."
"Did the killer of the exploration team go in that direction?"
After observing the scene, Ye Feng's expression was quite serious.
Because he found deep footprints at the scene, and the other party was likely carrying something very heavy while moving...
"Xiao Xiao, what's wrong?"
At this moment, Ye Feng saw Xiao Xiao running to the side and sniffing intently, as if trying to smell something.
"What's going on?"
Ye Feng was a little puzzled.
Logically, Xiao Xiao should have covered her nose or something after being stimulated by the smell of blood and running away. Why was she sniffing so hard?
"Big brother, there's a very unpleasant smell around here!"
"It smells like fragrance, but also not quite, it's very strange, faint and elusive!"
"It's very light, very light, and it gives me a chilling feeling!"
Xiao Xiao trotted over to Ye Feng, saying with a little fear.
"Fragrance?"
Ye Feng inhaled deeply like Xiao Xiao, but the result was only the smell of blood, which made him feel nauseous.
"Big brother, danger!"
Suddenly, Xiao Xiao rushed towards Ye Feng and forcefully pushed him aside.
"Xiao Xiao, are you okay?"
"Danger, what danger?"
Ye Feng, who had retreated several steps to stabilize himself, looked at Xiao Xiao with confusion. He hadn't seen anyone or anything attack him just now!
If there was anything, it could only be the cold wind mixed with the smell of blood that was drifting over...
"I... I just sensed danger heading towards you... so I pushed you away~"
"But the danger seems to be gone now? But it also seems to be beside me!~"
Xiao Xiao's small eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and her expression was full of confusion.
"Geez, don't tell me she has a fever from her cold!"
Ye Feng quickly ran forward and took Xiao Xiao's temperature again with a mercury thermometer.
Five minutes later,
"She's not feverish~"
Looking at the 36.7°C on the mercury thermometer, Ye Feng was puzzled.
He had thought Xiao Xiao was hallucinating due to a cold and fever...
"Forget it, Xiao Xiao, let's leave here first~"
After thinking about it, Ye Feng, who had gained no significant insights, decided to leave with Xiao Xiao.
Although he was not afraid of the bloody scene just now, for some reason, the corpse with its entire face peeled off gave Ye Feng a very uncomfortable feeling...
That feeling was very strange, as if the corpse's facial skin wasn't cut off by a knife, but rather the face itself had detached.
...