CH 10

Tang Xin whispered to Lin Xinghe, "It doesn't seem like they smell it..."

Lin Xinghe asked to confirm, "Do you guys smell something weird?"

Chai Yong and the others stopped talking and looked at Lin Xinghe.

Fang Ziyue asked mockingly, "Do you have a dog's nose? Why don't I smell anything?"

Lin Xinghe said, "You might have been marked. Be careful today."

Chai Yong snorted coldly, "Alarmist talk."

Seeing Tang Xin clinging to Lin Xinghe like a dog, Fang Ziyue disdainfully added, "I'm waiting to see how this small and weak girl can protect you from the Snow Woman."

Lin Xinghe glanced at her indifferently and said, "Pray for yourself instead."

After saying that, she left with Tang Xin.

Hearing this, Fang Ziyue became a bit nervous. Lin Xinghe did, in fact, go down the mountain five or six hours earlier than they did. She might have discovered some important clues already. But on second thought, the exam question is to kill the Snow Woman and Lin Xinghe can't use magical items. It's practically impossible for her to pass the exam without following someone in charge of dealing damage.

Fang Ziyue reassured herself and turned back to flattering Chai Yong.

She sniffed.

... There was no smell at all. It must be Lin Xinghe's alarmist talk!

After the snowstorm passed, the weather was exceptionally clear and the winter sun was warm and bright.

Yesterday, it was a deserted town; today, it is completely different.

Groups of people could be seen in two's and three's on the streets. Stores were wide open for business. A small street was particularly lively. Many stalls were set up temporarily, forming a small marketplace. While they sold all kinds of things, they mostly offered daily necessities.

Lin Xinghe finally spotted men on the streets and in the small alleyway, several little boys were building a snowman.

Lin Xinghe retrieved some candy from her backpack and went over to talk to the little boys.

She crouched down so she was at eye level with the kids. With a kind expression, she asked, "Children, do you want candy?"

The children looked at each other hesitantly.

Lin Xinghe opened up her palm and said in a soft voice, "I have soda flavours. There is Cola, Sprite, and orange soda. Which one do you want?"

One of the boys couldn't resist anymore and took one of the Cola-flavoured candies. In a childish voice, he said, "Thank you, Sister."

Seeing this, the rest of the children took a piece of candy one after another.

Lin Xinghe smiled and asked, "The snow was very thick yesterday too. Why didn't you come out yesterday to build a snowman?"

"Mommy and Daddy didn't let me go outside. If I went outside, the bad guys would take me away."

"Why did you come out today?"

"Mommy said we can play outside today."

"Has anyone been taken away by the bad guys?"

"Yes."

"Little Treasure, come to Mommy."

The little boy answered her loudly and got up from the snow.

There was a middle-aged woman close by. She bent down and picked up the little boy. There was a bit of nervousness in her expression. She glanced at Lin Xinghe out of the corner of her eye and without saying anything else, she beckoned to the other boys to leave with her.

The middle-aged woman's expression became frosty.

Lin Xinghe added, "I'm from out of town. Do you have any interesting attractions here?"

"Tourists like the Ice Sculpture Garden and the Snow Park."

"Okay, thank you."

Once the middle-aged woman left, Tang Xin said, "They don't seem very friendly to tourists..."

Lin Xinghe asked her, "Did you find anything?"

Tang Xin: "Uh, maybe we can find the Snow Woman at the Ice Sculpture Garden or the Snow Park?"

Lin Xinghe said, "That's a possibility." After a brief pause, she added, "Have you noticed? The men in this town have very pale skin, especially the little boys. Pale like they haven't seen the sun for a long time. The streets were empty yesterday, but today, there are people in groups of two's and three's. The only difference between today and yesterday is that there are new people in town. Chai Yong and the others were clearly marked. They probably became the Snow Woman's prey. This would explain why everyone from town came out today—it's because the Snow Woman has new prey, and so, they are safe for the time being."

Tang Xin said, "Will we find the Snow Woman if we follow Chai Yong's party? Should we try to kill her while she's attacking them?"

Lin Xinghe shook her head, "In theory, yes. But it won't work with the way things are. We're just ordinary people. The Snow Woman is not. It's very easy for her to kill us, and it's very hard for us to kill her. But the exam question must be solvable. Just like we did with Little Xue Ji, we have to start with finding out the Snow Woman's weakness and go from there."

Lin Xinghe said, "The people here must have a motive for getting us to go to the Ice Sculpture Garden and the Snow Park. Chai Yong's party will definitely go to one of these places so let's follow them. Before that, I have to do some shopping..."

Tang Xin said in shock, "You... You have money?"

"I don't."

"Then how are you going to go shopping?"

Lin Xinghe said, "Money is indeed a problem but it's not a big problem. There's always a way. I was really lucky when I was alive. Whenever I was short of money, God would stuff me with money using all kinds of ways."

"For... For example?"

"Winning the lottery after finding a lottery ticket that someone lost; Getting my purse stolen. After catching the person, I found out they were a wanted criminal and was given a big reward; and buying something that turned out to be an expired product. The mall paid me a large settlement..."

Tang Xin: ? ? ?

Lin Xinghe said, "So the lack of money is not a problem. When we get to the mountain, there'll be a way through. If there are no roads, then you can carve your own."

Tang Xin: "How... How do we carve?"

Lin Xinghe: "It depends on the situation, but since I was born, I've never had a situation where I needed to carve my own road... Maybe..." Her words came to an abrupt halt. Lin Xinghe stifled a groan and asked : "What did I just kick?"

Tang Xin picked it up and said, "It's a tin box."

Lin Xinghe said, "Open it and take a look."

Tang Xin opened the box and was again reminded of the difference between a European Emperor and an ordinary person. Right when Lin Xinghe said she was lacking money, a stack of bills fell from the sky. The box was full of money scattered about. There were both large bills, in the form of one hundred yuan, and small bills, in the form of ten yuan.