Snow shook loose from the pines and eaves, and cracks seemed to spread across the frozen lake in the distance.
The smell of gunpowder mingled with fury. The man's gaze pierced the smoke and snow as he ejected the spent shell and reloaded while stepping forward.
"Get out! Get out of my home!"
The hot gun barrel melted the snow drifting into the room. The man stood guard at the window like an enraged lion.
In the end, the frozen faces did not come closer. They crawled off in other directions, scattering across the Manor's outer walls.
"I told you not to open the windows. Why won't you listen?" The man did not fire a second shot. Ammunition seemed to be limited in the Manor, making every shot precious.
Gao Ming, standing nearby, had noticed something as well. In this Middle Nightmare, guns and bullets likely carried some other significance.
"I didn't do it. Fool wouldn't listen." Xu Deyi pushed Fool forward.
The bewildered Fool seemed terrified by the gunshot. He hid his tall, thin body behind Gao Ming.
"You wouldn't open the window for no reason." Gao Ming led Fool aside. "Did you discover something?"
"I heard my little sister calling my name. She seemed to be outside." Fool counted on his fingers. "After the gunshot, I couldn't hear her anymore. I couldn't hear her anymore!"
"Don't panic. Was the Mountaineering Team Member imitating the voice you heard?" A possibility occurred to Gao Ming.
"No. My sister's voice was outside the Manor, over there!" Fool pointed through the window toward the frozen East Lake.
"This idiot really does have something wrong with his head." Xu Deyi had wet himself in fright. Just seeing Fool made him angry, and he paid no attention to what Fool said.
Gao Ming, however,