Seven days later.
Holding the intelligence reward granted by the military district—a large plate of fresh meat broth mashed potatoes—Situ Mo's tears fell like rain.
Of the seven who had set out, only he had returned in wretched luck. Yet what awaited him was something even more despairing and heartbreaking.
"Where are my wife and daughter!?"
Upon returning to the refugee camp and finding no trace of his wife or daughter, the bedraggled Situ Po roared like a vicious wolf. The two women left behind caught the scent of the meat broth mashed potatoes, and their eyes immediately lit up.
"Ahahaha, so Brother Mo is back. Your daughter's fever wouldn't break three days ago, and she's already died. We were heartbroken for so long too. What a sweet, lovable little girl she was."
As she spoke, the woman sidled closer to Situ Mo, doing her utmost to make her sallow, aged body appear somewhat alluring.
"Your wife had been hungry for several days. She left the day before yesterday and still hasn't come back. Maybe she went outside with some hunting party, or maybe she went to solicit customers—who knows? But I..."
"Get lost!"
Upon hearing that his daughter was dead, Situ Mo was utterly crushed.
Then he thought of how he had failed even to feed his wife, letting her go hungry. His remorse and guilt were beyond words, and tears streamed down his face.
It was already deep into the night. There was no sign of his wife in the military district. Perhaps... she had gone outside.
A frail woman, out in the world beyond...
Situ Mo sat alone on the bed. Beside him sat a plate of meat broth mashed potatoes that had gradually begun to rot under the erosion of chaotic aura, while several pairs