Outside the ruined temple, the late autumn wind howled like a dull blade.
It tore through the cracks in the earthen walls, producing a chilling, mournful whistle.
There was no fire inside the temple. It was as cold as an ice cellar.
Lin Wan carefully wrapped an arm around Lin Yulong’s frail shoulders, letting him lean against her.
“Yulong, open your mouth. Drink this.”
She held the bowl of Spirit Spring water, its surface covered with a faint white mist, and brought it to her brother’s cracked lips.
Lin Yulong was burning with fever and completely unconscious. His teeth were clenched tightly together.
Lin Wan didn’t dare force his mouth open, afraid of hurting his fragile gums.
Instead, she gently massaged several pressure points on both sides of his cheeks with her fingers.
The trick worked.
His tightly clenched jaw instinctively loosened just enough.
Lin Wan quickly tilted the bowl and slowly fed the warm Spirit Spring water into his mouth.
The water slid down his dry throat.
A miracle quietly unfolded.
In less than fifteen minutes, Lin Yulong’s ragged, bellows-like breathing gradually became steady.
The unnaturally flushed redness on his forehead, hot enough to fry an egg, visibly faded.
A fine layer of sweat appeared across his forehead and the tip of his nose.
The sweat even carried traces of grayish-black impurities, along with a faint sour odor.
Lin Wan knew the Spirit Spring water was taking effect.
It was cleansing the weak body that had endured years of abuse and malnutrition, driving illness out from within.
Even the old purple bruises on Lin Yulong’s wrists—left by Zhang Shi’s beatings with a vine whip—began fading before her eyes until they disappeared completely.
“Mmm…”
The little boy let out a faint murmur.
His long eyelashes fluttered as he slowly opened his eyes.
The fear and confusion that had always clouded them were replaced with a rare clarity.
“Big Sister…”
he called weakly, his voice filled with dependence and confusion.
“I’m here.”
The weight pressing on Lin Wan’s heart finally lifted.
She hugged him tightly.
Resting her chin on his soft hair, something deep inside her heart softened.
Lin Yulong stared blankly at the drafty roof.
“Big Sister… did we die? Did we go to Heaven?”
He moved slightly, his little face full of disbelief.
“My body doesn’t hurt anymore. I feel so light… like I’m floating.”
Unable to help herself, Lin Wan gently flicked his forehead.
“Don’t talk nonsense. Even the King of Hell thinks we’re too poor to bother collecting.”
“We’re going to live well. One day I’ll let you eat the finest food and drink the best wine. We’ll make the Lin family repay everything they owe us—with interest.”
She silently swore that this child would never suffer another injustice.
Just as the warm moment settled in…
A thunderous rumble shattered the silence.
Grrrrrr…
The loud growl came from Lin Yulong’s stomach.
Immediately afterward, as if answering him—
Grrrrrr…
Lin Wan’s stomach let out an equally embarrassing growl.
The two siblings stared at each other.
Since they had been locked inside the woodshed by the Lin family yesterday and then left the family with nothing…
They hadn’t eaten or drunk anything substantial for nearly two full days.
Earlier, the tension had distracted them.
But now that they had relaxed, the hunger returned in full force.
It gnawed at their stomachs like countless tiny claws, making them dizzy.
Lin Wan reached into her clothes and took out the half piece of coarse cornbread that Aunt Wang had secretly given her.
It was cold and hard as a stone.
She crumbled it into pieces inside a chipped bowl.
Then she poured in the little Spirit Spring water that remained.
Using her finger, she stirred it into a thick paste.
The coarse flour mixed with bran scratched the throat.
But with the Spirit Spring water, it carried a faint natural sweetness.
“Here. Eat this first to fill your stomach.”
She held the bowl to Lin Yulong’s mouth.
His eyes locked onto the food.
His throat bobbed as he swallowed repeatedly.
But he stubbornly shook his head and pushed the bowl back toward Lin Wan.
“Big Sister, you eat. I already drank that sweet water. My stomach feels full. I’m not hungry at all.”
His lie was painfully obvious.
His stomach immediately growled again, exposing him.
Lin Wan’s eyes became slightly moist.
The poor child had been oppressed by the Lin family for so long that whenever there was food, he never dared eat first.
“When I tell you to eat, then eat. Stop arguing.”
Lin Wan deliberately put on a stern expression and pushed the bowl back into his hands.
“I already ate some wild fruit while you were sleeping. I’m so full I can’t eat another bite.”
Lin Yulong looked at her doubtfully.
Seeing how firm she was, and unable to resist his hunger any longer, he finally accepted the bowl.
He devoured it, wolfing it down so quickly that he even licked every last crumb from the bottom.
After eating, a little color finally returned to his pale face.
But half a cornbread was nothing for two people who had been starving for days.
Instead of satisfying them, it only awakened an even fiercer hunger.
Lin Wan stood and brushed the dust from her pants.
Half a cornbread wouldn’t keep them alive.
If they wanted to survive the coming winter, they needed high-calorie food.
Meat was the only answer.
“Yulong, stay here on the hay. Wrap yourself tightly and don’t go anywhere.”
Lin Wan turned and searched through a corner of the ruined temple.
She pushed aside a pile of rotten wood and found half of a thick wooden door bar.
The wood was solid and just the right length.
Carrying it over to the altar, she knelt beside a cracked stone slab and began grinding one end against it.
Scrape… scrape… scrape…
The harsh grinding echoed through the empty temple.
Before long, one end had been sharpened into a deadly point, becoming a crude wooden spear.
Then she grabbed the hem of her coarse skirt with both hands.
Rip!
She tore off a long strip of cloth.
Wrapping it tightly around the spear’s handle, she firmly bound it to her right hand.
It was an old assassin’s habit.
The wrapping ensured the weapon wouldn’t slip from her grip during combat.
Watching his sister perform the entire process with frightening skill…
Lin Yulong nervously clutched the tattered jacket around himself.
“Big Sister… where are you going?”
His voice trembled with tears.
He was terrified she would leave him behind.
Lin Wan gave the spear a few practice swings.
Satisfied with the sharp whistle it produced as it sliced through the air, she nodded.
Then she turned and gently patted his head.
“I’m going to get you some real meat.”
Straightening up, Lin Wan looked beyond the broken doorway.
Night had completely fallen.
Her gaze settled directly on the endless Wolong Mountain behind the temple, lying beneath the darkness like a giant sleeping beast.
The villagers of Apricot Blossom Village all believed that man-eating beasts lurked inside those mountains.
But to Lin Wan…
It wasn’t a mountain of monsters.
It was an unlocked natural pantry.
The cold autumn wind scattered her hair.
But it couldn’t shake the razor-sharp determination burning in her eyes.
“Yulong, drag that broken door panel over here and block the entrance tightly.”
She gripped the wooden spear firmly, her tone leaving no room for argument.
“No matter what you hear outside, and no matter who knocks on the door, do not open it. Do you understand?”
Looking toward the pitch-black mountain, Lin Yulong’s face turned deathly pale.
“Big Sister! Village Chief Li said there are man-eating tigers in those mountains! If you go at night, you’ll die! Please don’t go!”
“Tigers?”
Lin Wan let out a cold laugh as she weighed the sharpened wooden spear in her hand.
A bloodthirsty gleam belonging to a true apex predator flashed through her eyes.
“Tonight…”
“It’s still uncertain who’s going to eat whom.”