Lin hadn't seen such good weather in a long time.

　　The wind had stopped and the snow had stopped.

　　 The warm sun hung in the sky, bringing warmth back to the earth, making the events of the previous night seem like nothing more than a trivial nightmare.

　　Lin, for once, lingered in bed with Ruan, chatting about poetry and philosophy, about life.

　　Finally, Ruan got hungry and urged Lin to find something to eat.

　　Lin went to the kitchen and saw that everyone was already up, eating breakfast and discussing the trip to the carpenter's later.

　　Chi saw Lin and greeted him. He then asked about Ruan.

　　"She's still in bed," Lin said. "She said it was too cold and didn't want to get up. I'm going to bring her some food."

　　Chi said "oh" and said they were planning to leave soon.

　　He suggested Lin come along.

　　If this were any other day, people might suspect that Lin and Ruan had done something, but after last night, if they still had the interest and energy for such things, it would be a testament to their incredible resilience.

　　Today's trip to the carpenter's was mainly to ask about filling the well.

　　They didn't know how to do it or when to do it.

　　But the most important thing was probably to find out why they needed to fill the well.

　　They had been here for a while, and Lin had confirmed that almost every household had a well.

　　Most of the wells were in the center of the yard, just blocking the way out.

　　This was structurally illogical, as if hiding some strange custom.

　　Yesterday, the carpenter's wrong information led to the deaths of two people, and everyone's mood towards him was not good.

　　 Even the usually kind-hearted Chi's expression was colder, but the old man didn't seem to care.

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　　He still held his pipe, squinting his eyes and puffing away.

　　"Old man, what do we need to do after we've prayed?" Chi asked.

　　"Naturally, you fill the well," the carpenter said. "Choose a night, put the dead things in the well, and that's it."

　　"Dead things? What kind of dead things? What do you mean?" Xiao felt that something was amiss.

　　Her tone suddenly became heavy. "What do you mean?"

　　The carpenter said, "The literal meaning."

　　"Any dead creature will do?" Chi quickly confirmed.

　　"Yes, any dead thing will do." The carpenter said. "Chickens, ducks, dogs, geese, anything you can find. Throw it into the well within three days, cover it with dirt, and the coffin can be made."

　　Hearing that any dead thing would do, Chi sighed with relief.

　　But before he could finish, Ruan, standing beside him, said: "We've been in this village for so long, and we've never seen any living creatures here. Where are we going to find any chickens, ducks, dogs, or geese?"

　　"But we ate eggs, didn't we?" Lin recalled the basket in their house.

　　"If there are eggs, there should be chickens."

　　"You didn't look closely at the basket, did you?" Ruan said. "No one from outside has come into our house, and no villagers have been here. The things in that basket appeared on their own."

　　Lin: "...So what laid those eggs?"

　　Ruan: "Who cares what laid them, they tasted good anyway."

　　Lin: "..."

　　He felt his stomach churning.

　　Reminded by Ruan, everyone seemed to recall that there were indeed no living creatures in this village.

　　It was the middle of winter, and there was no way there would be anything in the mountains.

　　Chi was smart and quickly caught onto a key point.

　　The blood drained from his face, and he started to turn pale.

　　"Old man, what exactly do you mean?"

　　The carpenter said, "I'm just a coffin maker. I can only say and do so much. I wouldn't intentionally harm you."

　　After he said that, someone couldn't help but slam his fist on the table and yell:

　　"What do you mean you wouldn't intentionally harm us? You made us go into the temple one by one to pray, and now anyone who went in alone is dead—"

　　The carpenter said coldly, "What are coffins used for?"

　　Everyone was stunned.

　　"They're used for dead people, aren't they? What would you do with a coffin if there were no dead people?" The carpenter laughed.

　　His wrinkled face looked very strange. "Besides, why didn't you listen to me...?"

　　Ruan: "Listen to what?"

　　The carpenter pointed at them.

　　"There are still so many of you left. She's not full yet."

　　"Full... ?" When Lin heard the word "full," he immediately thought of the body on the third floor that had been chewed into pieces.

　　He also remembered the details everyone had mentioned yesterday: the people who had been killed by the terrifying ghost seemed to have been dragged back into the temple.

　　Now he finally knew what happened to those bodies.

　　"What kind of thing is it?" Chi couldn't help but ask. "That woman..."

　　The carpenter waved his hand, unwilling to say more.

　　Ruan's eyes began to wander, finally settling on an empty corner.

　　She mumbled, "Why did you put the stick away?"

　　The carpenter almost laughed.

　　He thought to himself, "If I didn't put it away, would you threaten me with it like you did last time?"