Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Unbearable Cold

Mo Fangyuan spoke in a calm, detached tone, making it impossible for Zhang Lingyun to discern any emotion. Staring at the lifeless, frozen block-man before him, Mo Fangyuan felt something indescribable in his heart—anything but sorrow.

When he first arrived in this world, he was full of compassion for every living being, wishing he could protect everyone around him. But now, after all he had experienced, he had grown numb to the value of life. He understood, more than ever, that only by becoming strong himself could he protect those he wished to shield. The world was cruel; the law of the weak suffering at the hands of the strong was eternal. The block-men were weak, and so every monster dared to trample them.

“May you be reborn into a happier world in your next life…” Zhang Lingyun pressed her palms together, performing a gesture of prayer recognized across all worlds. Mo Fangyuan dismantled the wooden steps above the block-man’s head, letting the sunlight stream in. The warm, golden rays fell upon the one tormented by the cold. It was as if he found release, and under the watchful eyes of Mo Fangyuan and Zhang Lingyun, he gently dissolved into the sunlight, transforming into a luminous, transparent experience orb that flew into Mo Fangyuan’s body.

After searching the house, they immediately set off for another building. Though they prayed for the dead, they still needed to scavenge for supplies. Even now, with the Kingdom of Blocks increasing its production and supplies growing abundant, Mo Fangyuan couldn’t shake this habit.

“Let’s split up. You take the west, I’ll take the east.”

With it now almost certain the village had perished due to the harsh weather, Mo Fangyuan was no longer worried about monsters ambushing them. Splitting up would make their search more efficient.

“Bang, bang, bang!” Mo Fangyuan made his way to the first house on the eastern side, knocking on the door. When there was no response, he pushed it open and entered. The house was sparsely furnished, clean and tidy. On the bed not far away, a block-man lay curled up, enveloped in a blue particle effect. The figure clung tightly to a thin blanket, as if hoping to keep warm in his final moments.

Mo Fangyuan remained silent. He repeated the previous ritual, breaking the wooden block above the head to let sunlight touch the body. Then Mo Fangyuan continued his search.

He entered several buildings in a row, each yielding the same result.

“Any luck on your side?”

“Your Majesty, none… not even a single survivor…”

Both sides found little of value. As much as they wanted to believe otherwise, it was undeniable: every block-man here had frozen to death; not one remained alive. There was little to salvage—likely, when the village collapsed, the last survivors had burned everything that could be used as fuel.

“So this is how the village ended…”

Even Mo Fangyuan hadn’t expected that so soon after the onset of winter, a village would already have succumbed.

“Then… Your Majesty, should we continue?” Witnessing an entire village wiped out by the cold, Zhang Lingyun’s voice grew faint, as if she had lost the will to go on.

“Continue? Of course we must continue! Why would we stop?” Mo Fangyuan’s voice brimmed with conviction. “There are still villages marked on the edge of the map—they can’t all have perished so quickly! If we hurry, we can still save them!”

“There’s no time to lose. Let’s depart at once!”

His words seemed to carry a kind of magic, calming the restless anxiety in Zhang Lingyun’s heart. An indescribable aura seemed to surround Mo Fangyuan, inspiring unwavering trust in her.

“According to the map, the nearest border village is a day’s journey from here.”

“There’s a small forest near that village. The block-men there shouldn’t lack fuel. Let’s go take a look.”

The weather was rare and fine. If it changed in the coming days, their journey would only grow slower, and Mo Fangyuan had no desire to waste time resting.

Crunch, crunch… Each step in the snow sank deep, and pulling his foot free was an effort. Mo Fangyuan had never hated snow as much as he did today.

As time passed, dusk settled in. A trace of melancholy, a touch of desolation—the sun set, evening fell. Gazing at the bleak twilight, Mo Fangyuan found a line of poetry forming in his mind. Though he didn’t know the poet, he thought the words fit this moment perfectly.

The glow of sunset faded, and darkness shrouded the block-lands. Because of the peculiarities of the winter year, even when traveling at night, Mo Fangyuan encountered no monsters.

“Your Majesty, look! There’s a light!” After more than half an hour, Zhang Lingyun, who was walking ahead, suddenly cried out in surprise.

A light meant the village still existed. Their destination had been reached.

“Chief, outsiders have arrived! Maybe they can save you!”

“Outsiders… At a time like this, how could there be outsiders?” The ailing village chief was incredulous.

“I know you’re just trying to comfort me. At my age, it’s time I returned to the embrace of the Redstone…”

Could anyone really have braved this frozen white hell to reach their village in such weather? In the books, even redstone machines would freeze in these temperatures!

“Chief, it’s true! There really are people here! They’re wearing iron armor!”

“Well, then, go take a look.” The old chief’s legs were so pale they barely resembled those of a living man, and a faint blue haze drifted around him, worsening by the minute. He could feel his body growing colder, and knew he might not last much longer. Yet seeing the village’s worsening plight filled him with bitter regret.

“The situation here is even worse than I imagined…” There were no warriors in the village—they must have died already. The block-men in the village looked ill; everyone’s face was ashen, and some gave off a faint blue glow.

“In a little while, they’ll face the same fate as that other village, vanishing into the river of history. But they’re fortunate—because I, the savior of the block-men, have come!”

Mo Fangyuan surveyed his surroundings, confirming the village was in dire straits.

“Forgive me, forgive me for keeping you waiting! I’m Ergou, acting chief of the village!”

“What a dreadful name…” Mo Fangyuan couldn’t help thinking, though Ergou himself looked decent enough. Why such a terrible name?

“We’re glad to welcome you, noble heroes, but as you must know…” Ergou’s voice was apologetic. “I’m sorry… We have no surplus food to share with you… In this cursed weather, making it this far has been a miracle. If we survive the winter, it will be a blessing from the sun…”

He gave a rough account of their situation, which was about as Mo Fangyuan had expected. Crops grew slowly; there was little food. The cold made felling trees difficult, so fuel was running low as well. Ergou glanced at his fellow villagers, many of whom shivered with the blue tinge of the cold, and offered a bitter smile.

“With things as they are, we can barely keep ourselves alive… We truly can’t offer you much help…”

“In that case, fellow countrymen, would you be interested in joining the Kingdom of Blocks?”

With those words, the entire village was shaken. All eyes turned toward him.

“R-really?” Ergou was stunned, unable to trust his ears. In such desperate times, could a kingdom truly be inviting them in?

“I—I can’t decide that. I’ll have to ask the chief.”

Normally awkward in conversation, Ergou was flustered and excited at the prospect of a kingdom offering them shelter.

“Then may we see your chief?” Mo Fangyuan thought it best to discuss such matters with the leader.

“The chief is unwell and cannot walk. Please, honored guests, follow me!” He had gone from calling them “heroes” to “honored guests”—his attitude clearly changed.

With a gesture of welcome, Ergou led Mo Fangyuan and Zhang Lingyun toward the chief’s house, peppering Mo Fangyuan with questions about the Kingdom of Blocks, repeatedly confirming whether they truly intended to offer sanctuary.