Chen Lin watched the snowdrift while glancing toward the large tree.
Judging by where the person in the snowdrift was focusing his attention, he had come for that tree. And since he was being so cautious, he certainly was not a monster like the Woodcutter. That meant he was a cultivator.
Although Chen Lin felt his guess was almost certainly right, he did not approach and continued watching instead.
He waited for nearly three days.
Chen Lin began wondering whether he had been mistaken and there was no one in the snowdrift at all. It had been snowing throughout those days, and the drift had grown considerably taller, but the head had never poked out again.
Just as he was considering whether to test it, a sturdy figure appeared in the distant wind and snow.
He was dressed much like the previous Woodcutter, but he was taller and had a more imposing presence.
Even the Firewood Saber in his hand gleamed more brightly.
He strode quickly to the tree and felled it with a few strokes, then chopped it into small pieces. After tying them together, he carried them on a Wooden Stick across his shoulder and disappeared into the wind and snow again.
Chen Lin silently memorized the direction he had left in, then looked toward the snowdrift.
Before long, the snowdrift trembled, and a man wriggled out of it. Without a single unnecessary movement, he headed straight for the tree stump.
Chen Lin hesitated briefly, then decided not to follow and continued watching.
This time, no other cultivators competed with the man. Upon reaching the stump, he immediately cleared away the surrounding snow, then took out an object and began digging beneath it.
But the soil was frozen, and he could not cast spells, so the digging was