Lathel sensed that in the forest on the other side of the trail, directly across from his small house, someone was hiding there.
His Strength stat had increased to 230 points. Not only strength, but his reflexes, speed, and the sharpness of his senses had also increased greatly.
Lathel pretended not to know, closed the door tightly, then walked toward Lucia's house.
Lucia's house wasn't far, only about 200 meters away, but the path leading to her house was very difficult to travel.
Why?
Because few people passed through this path, so it had been covered by weeds and trees, plus the snow fell very thickly.
He had the feeling he was about to enter a forbidden land.
After Lathel turned into an area obscured by trees, he found a hiding place and quietly observed the situation.
At this moment, in the bushes across from Lathel's house, there was a scrawny young man with a haggard face, but his eyes showed cowardice.
He looked toward the end of the trail, confirming that Lathel had completely left, and muttered,
"Strange, why would that bastard go to that witch's house? Could it be... son of a bitch! Could it be that bastard is really cooperating with that witch?"
He clicked his tongue, his eyes looking toward Lathel's house, a bit of hesitation appearing in his heart.
In his thoughts, Lucia was an evil witch. If Lathel cooperated with that witch, even if he kidnapped Viviane, he wouldn't be able to have peaceful days.
He thought for a while, then gently walked to the front of Lathel's house.
Lathel, from afar, saw the young man appear and his eyes immediately showed killing intent.
"Borok, it really is you."
He also wasn't surprised. After all, in his heart he had already confirmed 90% that the person monitoring Viviane was Borok.
However, at this time Borok only walked around Lathel's house, then left without doing anything else.
Lathel frowned, feeling somewhat confused, but he still didn't let down his guard toward Borok.
He didn't rush to leave but sat in the bushes, waiting for a long time. Only after realizing Borok had truly left did he turn back and walk toward Lucia's house.
Lathel walked for a long time. The distance of only 200 meters took him more than 20 minutes to traverse because the snow fell too thickly, plus the number of trees around was dense, making it difficult for him to move.
He looked ahead. Although the snow fell very thickly, the house with its tiled roof was still very neat.
The surroundings were clean, without a single snowflake.
Even on the ground, weeds and some strange plants had grown up, as if the area around Lucia's house and the outside area were two completely different worlds.
'It seems... Lucia really is a Witch or a high-level Mage,' Lathel thought inwardly.
He also didn't believe that Lucia was that type of evil witch. If she were that type of witch, this small village would have died out long ago.
Moreover, he had the Immortal talent—even if Lucia killed him, he could still resurrect infinitely.
Lathel stood at the border between the snow and grass, not knowing what to do next.
Krit!
The wooden door creaked open slowly, as if inviting him inside.
Lathel scratched his head and said gently, "Lucia, it's me, Lathel. I brought a bit of soup and chicken meat for you."
No response.
He frowned and slowly entered inside the area of Lucia's house.
His steps were neither fast nor slow, his eyes looking into her house through the main door.
However, even though the door had been opened, before him was only a black curtain—he couldn't see anything.
Lathel stood still for a moment, deciding to enter inside.
He lifted the curtain and saw the scene inside, which startled him.
Different from the gloominess and oldness he thought, inside the room was extremely warm with a fireplace, a sofa set covered by warm blankets.
Below, the floor was carpeted with patterns that soothed tired eyes.
Above hung a magic lamp, radiating a gentle light that made him feel peaceful, as if he could immediately fall asleep in this place.
"Come in!" Suddenly, an aged voice rang out.
Lathel turned toward the sound.
An old woman sat in a wooden rocking chair, looking outside through a large window, with a thin blanket covering her.
"Lady Lucia…" Lathel greeted, stepping into the living room.
Lucia turned her head to look at him. Her aged face with wrinkles from the years still showed kindness, and her eyes, though they had gone through countless years, still showed the light of clarity.
"Have you eaten yet?" Lathel asked while taking off his shoes.
"Not yet. But... you also don't need to take your shoes off." Lady Lucia smiled kindly.
Lathel still continued taking off his shoes and said gently, "I don't want to dirty such a beautiful carpet. Moreover, you're also old—washing these things will surely take a lot of effort."
Lucia covered her mouth and laughed, then tilted her head looking at him. "You're truly very strange."
"Hm?!" Lathel looked at her in confusion, his hand still placing the wooden box on the table.
"Everyone stays far away from me, but you... you come close to me, treating me like a normal old woman." Lucia said, her voice suddenly carrying a bit of mystery as if warning him.
Lathel shrugged and said, "I'm not the type of person who will judge someone through rumors. What my own eyes see, what my ears hear—I only trust in myself."
"Heh?!" Lucia suddenly laughed mysteriously. "Hahaha... Then what about those who love you? Do you trust them?"
"Of course! Because they are my ears and eyes." Lathel smiled in response.
"Hahahaha..." Lucia laughed loudly. "You're truly interesting."
Lathel smiled and nodded. He also didn't want to stay here long—after all, around his house there was still a wolf that needed to be eliminated.
"So... I ask permission to leave first." Lathel said politely.
"Wait!" Lucia smiled looking at him, her eyes as if about to see through his inner thoughts, making him somewhat worried.
"Is something wrong?" Lathel asked in confusion.
Lucia didn't answer immediately, only stared at him intently for a long while, then said, "It's nothing. Go ahead."
Lathel frowned, not clearly knowing what Lucia wanted to do, but in the end he still left.
But he didn't pay attention to Lucia's eyes and how some wrinkles on her face suddenly disappeared.
…
In another place—
In a dirty room reeking heavily of alcohol, Borok sat facing a large man with a flushed face from drunkenness, his eyes red as if about to spit fire.
"You want to kidnap the girl at Lathel's house?" That man said, his voice extremely heavy.
Borok nodded and said, "Karik, you've also almost spent all your money and food, right?"
Hearing that, Karik looked toward the corner of the room, where there was still a small bag of wheat, but it was also almost gone.
At this time Borok smiled and said, "Food exchanged for alcohol will very quickly run out. After the food and alcohol run out, what will you do?"
"Go hunting? Hahaha... Karik, the forest edge area has been hunted by everyone to the point where not even a blade of wild grass exists, let alone wild animals."
"That's why I came here wanting to cooperate with you. The girl at Lathel's house is named Viviane—many times more beautiful than your wife. If we sell her, we'll certainly earn much more. At that time... you can drink as much alcohol as you want."
After listening, Karik's eyes immediately showed a trace of sharpness and coldness, along with greed when remembering Viviane.
"I've also met that girl a few times. She's truly very beautiful—many times more beautiful than my damn useless wife."
"But..." Karik suddenly smiled, showing his yellowed teeth. The foul smell mixed with alcohol smell wafted out, so bad that even a dirty person like Borok couldn't stand it. "I want to play with that girl first. So beautiful—if I don't enjoy her first, it would be too wasteful. Hahahaha..."
Borok nodded and said, "Of course, as long as that girl doesn't die. I... I... also want to enjoy a bit. Last time, your wife resisted too strongly—I wasn't satisfied yet."
"Tsk!" Karik clicked his tongue, his eyes full of contempt. "That wretch is truly useless—besides doing a bit of housework, can't do anything, can't even find food. What's the point of keeping her?"
"Might as well sell her to a brothel, exchange for a bit of food and alcohol. Hahahaha..."
Borok nodded. "Exactly. This time, when do you plan to..."
He didn't finish the sentence, his greedy eyes looking at Karik.
Karik also understood his meaning and frowned, saying, "Tomorrow morning. You call the brothel people to come. We'll break the door and take her away."
"Ack!" Borok was frightened and said worriedly, "Karik, that's not good. If the village chief finds out, we'll certainly be taken to dig in the coal mines."
Although this world was cruel, there were still a few laws constraining people.
If someone broke the law, besides some torture punishments, there was an even harsher punishment—being sent to the coal mines.
There, criminals couldn't see the sunlight—their entire lives spent in the mines, digging coal until death.
"Huh!"
CRASH!
Karik snorted contemptuously, smashed the wine bottle, and said angrily, "Coward! The village chief is also almost starving to death now. As long as after selling that girl, we give him a bit of food, he'll shut his mouth."
Hearing that, although Borok still worried, he felt much more reassured.
After all, right now it was a famine—food was more precious than life and women.
"You're right! Hahahaha..." Borok laughed loudly.
Karik ground his teeth and said, "Just one bag of wheat is enough to make the village chief shut his mouth, or even... the village chief will help us 'do things' more easily. Hahahaha..."