The most terrifying thing was that wind kept blowing out through the gaps. The lake was already bitterly cold, but this wind was colder still. No, it wasn't merely cold—it carried a bone-chilling menace, as if it could freeze the marrow in their bones.
No one knew what Old Fisherman was thinking, but he suddenly grew curious about what was inside the cabin. His curiosity even overwhelmed the fear in his heart. Trembling, he reached out and slowly pulled open the cabin door.
The moment the door swung fully open, the silence aboard the boat was shattered by someone's startled cry. Old Fisherman, who was right at the front, stumbled and nearly fell overboard.
There was actually someone lying inside the cabin.
No—rather, it was a corpse. Its body was half-hidden in the dim cabin, its head facing them. From where Old Fisherman stood, he could just make out half its face.
It was a man's face, with sharply defined features and even a certain heroic air. He wore a set of battered armor. As the cabin door opened, a faint stench of decay drifted out.
This was clearly a general of considerable rank.
"A corpse... Those damned Government troops actually stuffed their leader's body into the cabin! What are they trying to do? Kill someone, then frame us poor folk for it?" Someone immediately erupted in anger. Under the laws of the dynasty, killing a soldier was a capital crime—let alone a general like this. Their families might even be implicated.
The white-haired old man seemed to notice something. He reached up and took the lantern hanging at the bow, then slowly approached the cabin. After studying the body for a while, his expression suddenly changed. "Wait, this man's armor isn't the kind worn by our dynasty's troops."
"Not