Lu Ze stopped him, saying, "Your sister-in-law added those red dates especially to help replenish your energy and blood. Don't give them away."
At that moment, Liang Wanqing also arrived. She looked at Wenrui and said, "Your Uncle Qin is still weak. Right now, there's no meat or medicine, so don't be greedy."
She wasn't a bad person. Earlier, she thought Qin Ming, like the other three villagers, wouldn't survive, and that helping him would be pointless, which led to arguments with her husband. But now, seeing him slowly recovering, no longer in a dazed state, Liang Wanqing, even knowing her family's food stores were running low, still wanted to offer some help.
Little Wenrui obediently nodded, blinking his big eyes. "Uncle, you should eat. Get better soon. I'm not hungry anymore."
But Qin Ming couldn't bring himself to eat. He insisted on feeding the dates to Wenrui. His heart felt heavy, and he knew he had to explore the forest soon. Though deeply grateful to the couple, Qin Ming didn't express it in flowery words. Instead, he asked about the current situation outside the village.
Liang Wanqing stayed to chat briefly, then left as there was still a two-year-old at home who needed her care.
"Lately, some enormous creature has been roaming the forest. Several people have died." Lu Ze told him. It was too dangerous to go out alone now.
Qin Ming nodded, listening intently. No one knew whether the commotion outside was due to heavy snow making it hard for mountain beasts to find food or for some other reason, but the wilderness had become unusually active.
What particularly disturbed him was the place where he had contracted the strange illness. He remembered seeing a pair of eyes, brighter than sunstones, cutting through the mountain's darkness, plunging the forest into sudden silence.
This inevitably reminded him of the perilous encounter a month ago.
That night, in the pitch-black mountains, he and three companions had suddenly lost their footing and fallen into a deep crevice. What lay underground was bizarre—first extreme darkness, then blinding light that made their eyes sting and water.
What frightened him most was the way his heart began pounding furiously, like war drums beating inside his chest, the sound so loud it echoed outside his body.
Recalling that moment still made his heart race.
He couldn't move, and his blood surged through his veins. In a daze, he thought he heard the roar of a waterfall.
Qin Ming thought he would die; certain his heart was about to explode. Eventually, the glaring light faded. He saw strands of silver light, like silkworm threads or spiderwebs, interwoven in dizzying patterns that distorted his sense of space.
His mind grew hazy, while his companions all fainted. Only when the silver light vanished and darkness returned did his heartbeat slowly calm. Regaining some movement, he managed to carry each of his companions out of the crevice. It was a long time before they woke up.
During that time, he also found several corpses nearby. All well-dressed and seemingly dead not long ago. Out of a frugal instinct not to waste anything, he quickly checked the bodies. That was when he found the small crystal vial filled with the blue liquid.
Qin Ming never told Lu Ze about the vial. The dead came from influential backgrounds—trouble he didn't want. The mountains were full of beasts. He figured that place would soon be wiped clean of all traces.
On the way back to the village, he and the others began to feel unwell. They staggered, minds growing fuzzy. His three companions died the day they returned—their bodies blackened. Only Qin Ming managed to survive after a month of illness.
After eating the coarse rice, Qin Ming and Lu Ze chatted for a long time. Wenrui sat quietly by their side, listening like a little adult. Eventually, the atmosphere lightened. Qin Ming looked at the slightly shy boy and said, "Wenrui, once I'm fully better, I'll make sure you get your fill of red dates and hazelnuts."
"Will there be meat too? I... I haven't had any in a long time," little Wenrui asked softly, swallowing a bit of saliva. His red cheeks glowed with hope, reminiscing about past flavors.
"There will be!" Qin Ming replied, affectionately patting his head.
As the night deepened, Lu Ze got up and left with Wenrui. Inside the room, the flame of the sunstone in the copper basin had dimmed. Qin Ming sat quietly with his eyes closed, visualizing his figure and mentally rehearsing various specific movements—a form of consciousness training—until his mind was finally quiet.
When he opened his eyes, he caught a faint flash of silver light.
"Was that an illusion?" Qin Ming froze. Though it had only lasted a second, he was sure he hadn't imagined it. A faint silver ripple had shimmered across his skin before vanishing.
He had practiced this special form of training for years without results, and now, something had happened. He noticed a fine layer of sweat on his skin, as though he had just completed intense physical exertion, but he felt invigorated.
He stepped out into the courtyard, his eyes shining, and began executing the sets of movements with complete focus. Before long, his body heated up, and a vibrant energy began to surge, like gentle rain falling on a long-parched desert.
After a long session, Qin Ming was drenched in sweat. White steam rose from his head, and he felt at ease, as if the last traces of his illness had been flushed out. When he finally stopped, exhausted, he saw it—faint silver light glimmering on his skin before quickly fading.
"It's different now," he muttered. He felt a refreshing warmth circulating through his body, gently nourishing him. His spirit and energy had grown stronger than ever. After a brief rest, he wanted to continue practicing, but his stomach growled. He was hungry, even though he'd already eaten dinner.
He immediately stopped, afraid to burn any more energy. He could not bring himself to ask Lu Ze for more food.
His clothes were soaked, so he went to boil water and clean himself. Looking into the washbasin, his face no longer looked pale, it had color again. He whispered to himself, "I've mostly recovered. I'll set out tomorrow morning."
He didn't want to burden anyone or be a liability. Now that he could move again, he was determined to solve the food issue and break free from the current hardship.
Qin Ming returned the extinguished sunstone to the Fire Spring and brought back just a small piece to light the way. One by one, the light in each house dimmed, and the whole village sank into darkness. A cold winter wind swept through, lifting the snow from the wilds. It swirled white through the village, burying many courtyards.
"So hungry!" It wasn't even bedtime yet, but Qin Ming was starving. His stomach felt like it was burning. At this point, even a field mouse would look delicious. But in a year like this, even the mouse holes were deserted. He tried to hypnotize himself to sleep early, but hunger made his heart uneasy. It was impossible to sleep.
He forced himself to think of something else, to think of the beautiful people and things, such as those blurry faces in his memory. Then he thought again about his strange form of training. Something had changed. That faint silver ripple... what other transformations might follow?
His thoughts drifted to the sweet berries buried under forest snow, and the golden, oily leg of lamb roasting over a fire.
"Stop it! You're crossing the line!" He pinched himself hard. He decided to set out at Shallow Night, all for the sake of fulfilling little Wenrui's wish. Just thinking about it made him salivate again.
And with that longing for food, for hope, Qin Ming finally drifted to sleep.