The thick layer of snow on the road impeded the carriage wheels, slowing their progress.

Due to the slow pace, the air inside the carriage became stuffy.

Jiang Si lifted the thick cotton curtain, allowing the biting cold wind to rush in, instantly clearing the stale air.

Elder Hua, sitting against the carriage wall, opened her eyes and observed Jiang Si.

Though disguised as her granddaughter, the disguise couldn’t be perfect. That it could fool familiar people at a glance was already quite good.

Silently watching Jiang Si, Elder Hua recalled her cold command to “put it down” when the Northern Qi man had grabbed the roasted rabbit leg in the ruined temple.

Elder Hua understood: that this girl had a personality that wouldn’t tolerate being taken advantage of. She wasn’t one to be trifled with.

Jiang Si sensed Elder Hua’s gaze but didn’t turn back, instead gazing into the distance.

As far as the eye could see, the world was wrapped in silver and white, as if only one color remained in heaven and earth.

Apart from their carriage, there were no other vehicles or horses to be seen.

Suddenly, Jiang Si’s eyes narrowed, and she leaned out further.

A moment later, she called out, “Stop for a moment.”

Old Qin pulled the reins, and the carriage immediately halted.

Long Dan came to the carriage window: “Do you have any instructions?”

Jiang Si pointed, “Look over there. Isn’t that someone lying down?”

Long Dan looked in the direction she was pointing.

In the snow, far from the main road, there was a blue-green shadow that vaguely resembled a human figure.

Long Dan’s expression turned serious: “Please wait a moment. I’ll go take a look.”

Jiang Si nodded: “Go ahead.”

Long Dan ran quickly towards the spot. As he got closer and could see the blue-green shadow clearly, he was slightly startled.

It was a person lying at the edge of a snow pit, wearing a blue-green jacket. From behind, it looked like a young man.

Long Dan hurried over and turned the person over, revealing the face of a youth, blue and pale from the cold.

In that instant, Long Dan’s eyes widened.

This youth was someone they had just met – the grandson from the grandfather-grandson pair who had stayed in the ruined temple last night. He was one of the corpse transporters Elder Hua had mentioned.

Had this youth frozen to death? Where was his grandfather?

With these questions in mind, Long Dan reached out to check for breath.

He couldn’t detect any.

Long Dan quickly began to remove the youth’s padded jacket.

Because the youth had been lying face down, the front of his clothes was frozen. It took some effort to open them. Long Dan put his ear to the youth’s chest and listened. He could faintly hear a weak heartbeat.

Long Dan’s eyes lit up, and he called out, “He’s still alive!”

A voice interjected, “Bring him into the carriage first.”

Long Dan looked up to see Jiang Si standing nearby. He hesitated slightly, “Into the carriage?”

The carriage was for the Princess Consort and Elder Hua. To put this frozen corpse transporter youth in there—

“Hurry, any more delay and he might freeze to death,” Jiang Si urged.

Although she could be ruthless towards her targets, big or small, she had never lost her sense of compassion.

As a human being, the decision to help a fellow human on the brink of death was the simplest thing.

Long Dan hesitated no longer and immediately carried the youth into the carriage.

Elder Hua, who had remained in the carriage, had to step out to make room.

Standing outside the carriage, Jiang Si instructed Long Dan: “Remove all his clothes, wrap him in blankets from head to toe, then try to give him some hot water.”

Long Dan responded with a “Yes” and set to work.

Old Qin didn’t go in to help.

Of the four in their group, his and Long Dan’s most important task was to ensure the Princess Consort’s safety. Now that Long Dan was busy saving someone, Old Qin’s job was to stay close to the Princess Consort to prevent any accidents.

Jiang Si stood by the snow pit, examining it for a while before suddenly asking Old Qin, “Old Qin, where do you think the youth’s grandfather is?”

This seemingly ordinary question caused Old Qin’s expression to change slightly as he looked at the snow pit.

To call it a snow pit wasn’t quite right; “ice hole” would be more accurate.

Snow covered the top, but the edges of broken ice were visible underneath, along with traces of where the youth had been lying.

Old Qin observed for a moment before speaking, “This must be a water hole. It’s hard to say how big or deep it is, as it’s been covered by yesterday’s heavy snowfall. The youth’s grandfather… he might be under the ice—”

He paused, then looked at Jiang Si and offered his opinion: “I don’t think there’s any need to attempt a rescue.”

If the youth’s grandfather was indeed down there, he was long dead.

Although Jiang Si was compassionate, she wasn’t a pushover. Hearing this, she nodded, “Let’s see if Long Dan can revive the youth.”

During this time, Elder Hua hadn’t spoken a word, as if bringing Jiang Si back was the only thing that mattered to her. Everything else seemed to be outside her sphere of concern.

After a while, Long Dan’s voice called out with a hint of joy, “He’s awake!”

Jiang Si walked over and looked into the carriage window.

The youth, wrapped in blankets, was looking at Long Dan with confused eyes.

Long Dan, slightly excited, patted the youth’s face, “Young man, you’ve finally woken up. You’re lucky we found you; you’ve been pulled back from the brink of death.”

The youth rolled his eyes and suddenly struggled to sit up.

Long Dan quickly held him down, “What are you doing? Your limbs are still stiff; you haven’t fully recovered yet.”

Ignoring Long Dan’s warning, the youth turned his head towards the window and called out, “Grandfather—”

As he called out, he met the eyes of the young woman outside the carriage.

The youth paused, seeming embarrassed to shout in front of a young woman. He tugged at Long Dan, pleading, “Please, save my grandfather…”

“Where is your grandfather?”

“My grandfather fell into an ice hole—” At this point, the youth seemed to realize something and lowered his head dejectedly.

Perhaps due to his work as a corpse transporter with his grandfather, the youth was more rational than others his age. After the initial excitement, he regained his composure and looked at Long Dan pleadingly, “Please let me get out of the carriage.”

Long Dan raised an eyebrow, “Why do you want to get out now?”

The youth’s eyes were red, but he didn’t cry, “My grandfather is still in the ice hole. I need to get him out.”

“He’s certainly long gone—”

“I know,” the youth sniffled, his voice choked, “but I can’t leave my grandfather here. I need to take him home.”

Long Dan glanced at Jiang Si, and seeing no objection from her, he sighed, “First, tell us how you fell into the ice hole.”

“My grandfather and I were traveling. He was walking in front, and I was following behind. On what seemed like normal snow-covered ground, my grandfather took a step and suddenly sank. I tried to pull him back, but then everything went black. When I woke up, I was already in this carriage…”

“Alright, it seems the ice hole is quite deep. Young man, you stay here and wait. I’ll see if we can retrieve him. Don’t get your hopes up; it depends on luck.”

Long Dan got out of the carriage and walked towards the snow pit.

The youth painfully moved to the window, anxiously looking out.

Time passed slowly. When the youth felt he had regained some strength, he finally saw Long Dan and Old Qin working together to pull out a frozen, stiff body from the hole.