Brian screamed in agony! He immediately reached up to tear the hand away! But the Severed Hand clutched his face with relentless force, its nails nearly peeling his face off!

“AAAHH! AAAAAHHHH!!…”

He screamed again and again. Driven beyond all endurance, he thrashed and rolled across the floor. Blood sprayed in all directions! His right eyeball was gouged out entirely!

Ed recoiled in horror to one side, watching as blood poured from Brian’s face like a tap had been opened—a torrent of red!

The Severed Hand dropped to the floor and tried to crawl upright for another attack.

But Brian had become something like a madman. With one hand clamped over his right eye and the other seizing the iron rod, he brought it smashing down toward his feet with savage force!

BANG!!!

The Severed Hand scrambled aside just in time. The iron rod came crashing down again! It swung wildly in all directions like a headless fly!

Brian roared: “Bastard! Get over here! I’m going to kill you! BASTARD!!!”

Ed screamed in fright: “Brian! You’re going to knock over the fire pit!”

Brian paid him no heed at all, lashing out madly at the ice around him, intent on smashing the Severed Hand to pieces!

His vision was a sea of crimson. His right eye was completely blind, and his left was smeared with filth and blood—he could make out nothing clearly, and could only use the warmth to locate the fire pit.

Cheng Weicai’s flower seedling was right beside that fire pit!

If he couldn’t take the flower, then he would destroy it!

Brian raised the iron rod and brought it swinging wildly toward the fire pit! Sparks flew! Burning wood scattered in all directions, and the flower pot was sent tumbling!

The Severed Hand lunged forward and shielded the seedling tightly within its palm!

“Brian! Stop! STOP!!!” Ed screamed in terror. “If the fire goes out, we’ll all freeze to death!”

“Where is that hand?! Where is the old man’s seedling?! Tell me where it is!!!” Brian howled, slamming the iron rod into the ground again and again!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

He struck the ice floor, struck the Severed Hand, struck the red-hot burning wood—

Burning embers and sparks flew up and scorched Brian’s face! He cried out in pain again and staggered backward several steps—his feet found nothing beneath them, and he plunged headlong into the circular pool!

There was a splash, and he was gone.

The ripples spread outward. The water’s surface gradually stilled…

Ed walked tensely to the edge of the pool and called out a few times: “Brian?… Brian?”

No response.

Brian had sunk…

Ed cradled his own flower pot, surveyed the wreckage around him, and cursed under his breath: “That bastard.”

The firewood was scattered across the ice. Most of it had gone out. Only one or two of the thicker logs still carried a faint flame.

Ed had no choice but to set down his seedling, pick up the now-cooled fire pit, and carefully coax the remaining burning wood back into it, then add more logs until the fire burned bright again.

He was still busy with this when—without warning—there was a tremendous splash from the pool behind him!

Ed startled, spinning around, and saw a figure pull the upper half of its body up from the pool and slowly drag itself ashore.

Ed instinctively assumed it was Brian who had fallen in. He let out a long breath. “Damn, nearly gave me a heart attack…”

The words died in his throat. The rest of the sentence lodged there, frozen.

Because he realized that the person who had emerged was not Brian—it was Cheng Weicai.

Cheng Weicai’s upper body was bare. Both arms gripped the ice as he hauled himself up. Layer upon layer of scales reflected the shimmer of the water across his skin. The thin membrane around his neck rose and fell with each breath, like a water lizard.

Ed was utterly stunned. He shrank back, trembling, and asked in a shaking voice: “Old man… you—are you still human?”

Cheng Weicai said nothing.

He seemed exhausted to the very core—every movement looked grueling, achingly slow. He dragged his utterly spent body forward, little by little, until he reached the fire pit. There, he saw the Severed Hand curled among the dirt scattered across the floor, its palm barely sheltering a small half-leaf of green.

Cheng Weicai let out a sound of anguish. Then the tears came.

“Why did it have to be like this… why…” Grief swelled in his chest. He shook his head, weeping. “All dead… why… all of them dead…”

Ed kept his distance, but hearing those words he couldn’t help but speak: “…What’s dead? Old man, what are you talking about?”

—