The Uses of Silence, and the Fool Who Took the Blame (Happy New Year!)

From the very start, there had been the sea. Qin Yang had always felt that he had quite an affinity with it.

At first, he had thought living by the sea was too damp, leaving his body sticky, so he needed to bask in the sun more. Later, it gradually became that he needed the sun, needed to smell the scent of the sea. He rather missed it.

After that stray thought flashed through his mind, Qin Yang inexplicably shivered and narrowed his eyes.

"They're here."

A chill rose around them, and snowflake-like ice crystals began to appear across the sea.

The instant the first ice crystal appeared, it was as though a great curtain had been drawn open. With a swish, the entire sea surface froze over. Once the ice formed, it expanded and burst apart anew.

Frost filled the sky, like countless blade edges, turning this place into a meat grinder that shredded everything within it.

The Novelist crouched on the lone boat, holding a book in one hand and a wine bowl with Spirit Incense stuck in it in the other. He did not so much as shift his gaze, calm beyond measure.

Yet once that frost approached the lone boat, it turned intangible and vanished without a trace.

Seeing this, Qin Yang silently mocked him.

Even Qin Yang could not tell what method the Novelist had used, yet this fellow had the nerve to claim so righteously that he could not fight?

He simply did not want to waste time reading!

Fine. The Novelist had clearly determined that this first fool rushing out to pick peaches was absolutely no formidable opponent.

Qin Yang stood on the lone boat without going out, waiting for the other party to come to him.

The surrounding ice-crystal meat grinder continued