Bai Youwei and Shen Mo circled the cottage once more, examining it closely, and discovered even more silver nails.

These nails had been driven from inside outward, leaving only a short sharp tip exposed, catching the sunlight and gleaming with a cold sheen.

In the pitch black of night, they would likely be quite inconspicuous.

“Look over there.” Shen Mo pointed out another cottage not far away. “The door there also has a row of nails.”

Bai Youwei thought for a moment, then swept her gaze over the surroundings and said quietly, “It looks like many villagers know this method. To avoid being attacked by the werewolf at night, one needs to line the door and windows with silver nails to stop the werewolf from breaking in. But where are they getting the silver nails from?”

Shen Mo said, “We passed a bakery and a leather shop on the way here. If the village has everything else, there should be someone like a craftsman silversmith. Let’s go look.”

Bai Youwei nodded, and the two continued wandering through the village. Along the way, they casually observed several more cottages — all of them had silver nails.

“That village chief is sneakily vicious.” Bai Youwei curled her lip in disdain. “Every one of the vacant cottages he arranged for us has no silver nails. He’s trying to use us as sacrificial lambs — no wonder he was so warm and welcoming~”

Shen Mo’s brow creased slightly. He said evenly, “If every household has silver nails, but the rules require a werewolf to attack someone every night — what would the werewolf do?”

Bai Youwei stopped in her tracks, startled. “If every household has silver nails… the werewolf would still have to choose one house to attack. So the protection… is useless?”

“Yes.” Shen Mo nodded. “It seems that even if we find silver nails, we can’t let our guard down. There must be other methods to avoid the werewolf in this village. Let’s go look for the silversmith first.”

The two continued roaming the village, asking several villagers along the way. They didn’t find a silversmith, but they did find a blacksmith.

The blacksmith’s shop sold tools the old blacksmith had forged himself — hammers, shovels, blades, and various other implements — and he occasionally helped people repair silver items.

So the blacksmith’s shop held a small reserve of silver.

Just as Bai Youwei and Shen Mo entered the blacksmith’s shop, Hans and his group were walking out.

Hans saw Bai Youwei and Shen Mo, and a smile immediately spread across his face. “So you found your way here too.”

Shen Mo’s expression remained neutral; his eyes dropped to the leather pouch in the other man’s hand.

Hans said with a smile, “You’ve come too late. Think of another way — otherwise tonight might not go well for you.”

The men behind him laughed, eyes full of unrestrained mockery, and then followed Hans out of the blacksmith’s shop.

Shen Mo frowned, watching them walk away, and said, “He has changed quite a lot.”

At first he had been warm and courteous. But after entering Zone B, his words and manner were saturated with provocation and contempt.

“Perhaps he’s trying to provoke us.” Bai Youwei scoffed. “After all, showing aggression during the day is what gets a villager seized and burned alive.”

Shen Mo thought about it, looked away, took Bai Youwei’s hand and said: “Let’s go inside.”

…

Inside the blacksmith’s shop, the old blacksmith was repairing a broken pot handle — hammering away with a steady, clanging rhythm.

Hearing footsteps, he said without looking up, “If you’re here for silver, there’s none today. Come back in three days!”

Three days?

Bai Youwei was taken aback. Three days would be far too late!

“No silver left?” Shen Mo asked the blacksmith.

“All gone. A group of people came earlier and bought up every last bit!” The blacksmith set down his hammer, turned to look at them, and waved them off. “Go on, go on — there’s no silver to sell you here!”

Bai Youwei and Shen Mo looked at each other.

How much silver could a few nails use up? Even with four people on Hans’s side, each taking ten or so, there’d be no need to completely clean out the blacksmith’s stock.

Their intention was clear — they wanted her and Shen Mo dead.

—