Hmph. Shui Lianying’er pointed towards the small woods just outside. “There are zanzi to eat in there, and quite a bit of jerky and flatbread stashed in a tree hollow.”

“Jerky? Flatbread?” Gan Jin looked at Shui Lianying’er with surprise. “You guys… have been in here before?”

Shui Lianying’er’s expression darkened. She nodded softly. The friends she had started out with—all of them—had died just over a vein of Dou Stone. If she had known the outcome would be like this, she truly shouldn't have dared to enter the Four Seasons Valley searching for any Dou Stone vein.

Seeing Shui Lianying’er’s reaction, Gan Jin understood why the Dou Stone vein, a concept long dismissed by countless scholars who asserted the Sunset Mountain Range absolutely could not contain one, had been overturned by the Fire Regret Adventurers’ Group.

It turned out the Dou Stone vein wasn't in the Sunset Mountain Range, which people deemed a relatively safe zone. They had found the vein within the Four Seasons Valley—a place frequented by magical beasts—risking their very lives! That was why Shui Lianying’er knew about the jerky in the tree hollow.

“How many servings? How long will it last?”

Gan Jin snapped out of his contemplation and quickly asked about the question most pressing to him.

Shui Lianying’er managed to pull herself back from her grief and said quietly, with a hint of sorrow in her voice, “If we ration it, the three of us can last about ten days.”

“Ten days.” Gan Jin pondered for a moment. “If just the two of you eat it, it should last more than ten days.”

Shui Lianying’er suddenly stepped back half a pace, staring at Gan Jin with a guarded look. Her Level Six Dou Energy channeled into both fists.

Gan Jin paused at her reaction, then smiled faintly. “Don’t worry, I’m not planning to kill you two to monopolize the food. Lingering here for a few more days has no meaning. Even if I killed you and turned you into food reserves, it wouldn’t guarantee we survive this winter in the Four Seasons Valley. Nobody knows how long this winter has already been going on.”

Shui Lianying’er felt a wave of numbness creep up her scalp, and for the first time, fear flickered in her eyes toward Gan Jin. For such a young, first-year warrior student to speak of killing people for food reserves without the slightest change in expression—even knowing he was probably just saying it—sent an icy current drilling into the very marrow of her bones.

“Are you familiar with this area?” Gan Jin didn’t look at Shui Lianying’er, his gaze fixed on the woods not far away. “Did you encounter any wild beasts or magical beasts on your previous trips inside?”

Shui Lianying’er silently nodded once, her gaze also shifting to the modest patch of woods. She spoke slowly, laced with a touch of reminiscence, “We came twice. We didn't encounter any wild or magical beasts in the woods either time, but—”

Gan Jin nodded, indicating he understood. Not encountering them the first two times didn't guarantee the same luck the third time. The magical and wild beasts of the Four Seasons Valley weren’t creatures that stayed home every day. No one could guarantee they hadn't wandered into the woods today.

Careful! Careful! And even more careful! Days of rigorous training in the Endless World, having suffered countless losses due to carelessness, had taught Gan Jin that extreme caution and giving his all in every situation was the best course of action.

“I’ll check it out first. You two wait here.”

Gan Jin gave his instruction, gripping his Zhanmadao, and moved into the woods with the nimble, cautious steps of a wild cat in Shui Lianying’er’s eyes.

With her arms crossed over her chest, Biluo muttered a low chant under her breath, mobilizing every bit of her limited mental power, striving desperately to arrange the magical elements to construct a Slow spell. Should Gan Jin encounter any ferocious beast, a well-placed Slow spell might just turn the tide of the entire battle.

Biluo was still struggling to align the troublesome magical elements for the Slow spell, tirelessly trying to control fragments that simply wouldn't obey, and she still hadn't managed to complete the spell.

Gan Jin entered the woods, squinting as he surveyed the area. His mind was filled with curiosity. How was this Four Seasons Valley different from what the books described? Shouldn't it be fraught with danger, with beasts and monsters at every turn? Yet, in the woods, aside from a few rabbits and fat mice, there was no trace of any fierce beast.

The patch of woods wasn't vast—about two hundred meters long and one hundred fifty meters wide—but it was devoid of any fierce predators.

Gan Jin beckoned the other two over from the edge of the woods. Shui Lianying’er entered and headed straight for a relatively thick pine tree, quickly climbing up and fishing out two leather pouches from a hollow. Jumping down, she saw Gan Jin crouched beneath another tree, his hands busy with something. “Found it! It really is here.”

Shui Lianying’er noticed Gan Jin’s happy mutterings and soon saw the more than two-foot-long, hibernating green snake coiled in his hand.

The tip of the Zhanmadao sliced gently beneath the snake’s belly, opening the body of the hibernating creature. With a gentle squeeze of his fingers, a deep green spherical object popped out of the abdomen—a snake gall!

“Do you eat this?”

Shui Lianying’er and Biluo watched the snake gall in Gan Jin’s hand, feeling a bizarre prickling sensation all over their bodies, and shook their heads repeatedly, watching instead as Gan Jin swallowed the gall.

“You…” Shui Lianying’er struggled to comprehend. “How?”

“The books say so,” Gan Jin replied casually. Carrying the Zhanmadao and the dead snake, he ambled around the woods again, digging up twelve more green snakes, each about two feet long, from the ground. After swallowing all their gallbladders, he tossed the carcasses to Biluo, who was already shivering slightly in the snow. “After skinning these, roasting them should last a few meals.”

Biluo, who usually appeared timid in the face of any challenge, showed unexpected boldness this time. She held the dozen dead snakes in her hands without any fear. Her experiences accompanying Gan Jin in the Sunset Mountain Range, where they ate all sorts of bizarre things, included eating snakes. After so many experiences, she naturally wasn't afraid anymore.

Gan Jin looked at Shui Lianying’er, who was also rubbing her hands together. “It’s quite cold out here. You two should head back first.”

“What about you?”

Shui Lianying’er looked at Gan Jin with a touch of worry. In this Four Seasons Valley, which had seemed safe after several local checks, losing Gan Jin’s presence immediately stripped away any feeling of security.

“I’ll scout around a bit.” Gan Jin’s eyes brightened. “Oh, since you’ve been here before, have you ever gone near that stone forest ahead?”

Shui Lianying’er’s cheeks, already slightly red from the cold, instantly paled. A flicker of sheer terror flashed in her eyes before she quickly smoothed her expression and repeatedly shook her head. “No, never gone there.”

Gan Jin watched Shui Lianying’er’s slightly shifty words and expression, and his eyebrows gradually knitted together. He silently tried to decipher the meaning behind that momentary panic. It clearly indicated she had been to the stone forest. Why lie?

Under Gan Jin’s gaze, Shui Lianying’er felt guilty and tried to lower her head, but exerted herself mentally to raise it and meet his eyes. She had already made up her mind: no matter what, she could not reveal the truth this time. The life-and-death bond forged over three years with her companions couldn't withstand the temptation of a Dou Stone vein in the stone forest. And this young warrior, whom she had just met—if he learned of the vein, who could guarantee he wouldn't raise his Zhanmadao and kill them to possess it alone?

Could it be? A flicker of realization sparked in Gan Jin’s mind, and his body trembled slightly. Could the Dou Stone vein be in the stone forest?

The moment he thought of the Dou Stone vein, Gan Jin’s heart couldn't stop trembling.

Even the smallest Dou Stone vein would cause someone like Auckland’s Guardian, Fabres, to employ every possible means to seize it.

For a warrior, a Dou Stone vein was like fresh blood and delicious meat to a beast. It wasn't something one could face calmly just because they possessed a non-greedy heart.

While Dou Stone couldn't guarantee a warrior would become powerful, a warrior with the prospect of Dou Stone, under the same aptitude, would undoubtedly be stronger than one without it. Sometimes, a Dou Stone vein, if located in a relatively populated area, could incite armed conflict among several surrounding powers.

At that moment, even the laws of the True Strategy Dynasty seemed to lose their authority. The winning side, provided they later processed a Dou Stone collection permit from the True Strategy Dynasty's offices and turned over a portion of the collected stones, would not face repercussions for the life-and-death armed struggle that occurred beforehand.

Faced with a Dou Stone vein, even large factions couldn't withstand the temptation, let alone a young man whose goal was to become a great warrior.

Gan Jin looked at Shui Lianying’er’s expression and gave a wry, two-part laugh. “I more or less guessed why you're so wary of me. Something like a Dou Stone vein holds immense attraction for me, but I wouldn't go so far as to kill you for a mere vein.”

“I have other things to do. The food here might not be enough to help us through the rest of our time in the Four Seasons Valley.”

Gan Jin’s receding back, moving cautiously while carrying his Zhanmadao, soon vanished into the small woods.

A gust of cold wind barely managed to slip into the woods, adding a touch more chill to the two remaining figures. Biluo hugged herself, looking at the somewhat dazed Shui Lianying’er, and whispered timidly, “You misunderstood Gan Jin. If he wanted you dead, he wouldn't have risked his own safety during the avalanche to save you.”

A trace of astonishment crossed Shui Lianying’er’s blue eyes. She suddenly realized she had forgotten that just yesterday, during that earth-shattering avalanche, if Gan Jin had only kept running while carrying Biluo, he might never have encountered any danger; yet, he had risked danger to hold her tightly as well.

Shui Lianying’er walked silently out of the woods with Biluo. She looked at Biluo’s slightly small figure leading the way and asked quietly, “Are you… really not worried he’ll kill us to keep the information about a vein secret? That’s a mine of Dou Stone! Just as valuable as a magic crystal mine for your mages.”

“No!”

Biluo turned back, her large mage hood flipping back as her soft, dark hair swayed gently with the movement. “I trust Gan Jin.”