Elsa's footsteps grew distant, eventually fading into the pitch-black night.
Suddenly.
The corpse on the floor gave an inexplicable shudder.
Under the cover of night, the surrounding greenery began to wither and age rapidly, as all life energy surged toward a pharmacy.
On the corpse's belly, the hideous gash writhed and contracted at a visible rate, the upturned flesh knitting itself back together.
The congealed black blood lost its dark brown hue, turning into a transparent mucus that dripped down the fabric.
The sunken eye sockets slowly filled out, and the loose skin tightened.
In less than half a minute, that aged, hunched corpse had completely transformed into a sharp-eyed youth.
Grin sat bolt upright from the floor, gasping for air; passively triggering the Blessing of the Forest really did feel like drowning.
"Hahaha, even Tyro would have flinched at that strike just now, but I didn't even blink! Tell me, what's the difference between me and an Oscar-winning actor now?"
"I finally did it! I actually wasn't recognized this time!"
He flipped his palm, summoning a small mirror.
"wolgaroth, track Elsa's location."
"Yes, Master. Her location happens to still be within search range."
The dark light condensed on the magic mirror flickered slightly, and fine ripples appeared on its surface, as if it were stifling a laugh.
"Pfft—Master, you sounded so 'thirst-trappy' when you were imitating a woman's voice just now, hahahaha."
"Have you heard of the mother-in-law tattooing characters? Do you want a matching set?"
"Uh... let's just go after that woman. I feel like she's even 'thirstier'."
...The night was as dark as ink. Elsa walked along the stone path for a long time, passing through the bustling downtown area of the Royal Capital.
The bright lights gradually thinned out, and the glossy bluestone path turned into uneven, muddy ground.
The ornate shops along the street were replaced by low, dilapidated shacks, and the sweet scent of wine in the air was supplanted by a lingering smell of mold and famine.
The prosperity faded away, leaving only the deathly silence of the Slums.
The night wind swept debris past the corner where a pair of skeletal siblings huddled under a sheltered eave.
Their faces were sallow and bloodless; the Little Girl even had an unhealed wound on her cheek that looked like a winding centipede from a distance.
To keep his sister warm, the older brother acted as a makeshift human blanket.
Feeling her brother's body trembling from the cold, the sister asked worriedly, "Onii-chan, daijoubu?"
"I'm fine. Let's head back once Father wakes from his stupor."
"Mhm. As long as I'm with you, Brother, the wounds Father gave me don't even hurt anymore."
"Shh—don't talk for now, Mia."
Seeing someone approaching, the brother protectively pulled his sister further into the shadows, shrinking back timidly.
He kept his large eyes wide and alert, even softening his breathing, for fear of provoking this woman in clean clothes.
Just as Elsa was about to pass the siblings, Mia's stomach gave an ill-timed growl.
Gurgle—
Elsa's footsteps came to a sudden halt. Her fingertips carelessly stroked the tree cake box inside her cloak, her eyes remaining as indifferent as frozen ice.
Sensing something was wrong, the brother quickly shielded Xiao Yun; the woman before them had a somewhat sickly smile and looked like someone not to be trifled with.
"Sorry... Big Sister, we'll leave right now..."
The siblings' gaunt faces and purple, frozen limbs were like a needle, unexpectedly piercing through Elsa's deliberately buried memories.
A blizzard, the freezing Northern Kingdom... starving and dizzy, she had huddled in a corner of the Slums, clutching her stomach and shivering just like this.
The wounds on her body ached from the cold, and she couldn't even get a single piece of hard bread mixed with snow.
Deeper despair hid behind despair; having just begun to develop a feminine figure, she had been targeted.
In the struggle, Elsa had sliced open the perpetrator's belly, the warmth of scalding organs splashing onto her palms.
Two extreme, dark images collided in her mind, so fast it annoyed her.
Elsa suppressed the inexplicable irritation in her heart, opened the lid of the box, took out a piece of tree cake, and handed it over.
"You two seem very hungry. I happen to have some cake here. Would you like to try some?"
"Oh my god, it's... it's tree cake!"
Mia, who looked only four or five years old, widened her eyes.
Realizing her slip of the tongue, the Little Girl uneasily grabbed her brother's hem, her gaze shifting away.
Overwhelmed by the unexpected favor, the brother waved his hands and backed away repeatedly.
"This is too precious; we can't accept it..."
Gurgle—
Mia's stomach growled even louder upon smelling the cake's aroma. She lowered her head bashfully, secretly hoping her brother would take the cake.
"Haha~ What a wonderful sound. Your bowels must be very cute too, little sister~ It would be such a shame if they withered away from hunger."
Without waiting for the boy to refuse, Elsa forcefully pressed the cake into his hands.
The little boy held it like a hot potato, terrified that his dirty hands would defile the cake.
After swallowing hard, he bowed repeatedly to Elsa.
"...Thank you, beautiful Big Sister. You are truly a kind person."
"Hahaha, what a fine joke."
A look of loneliness flickered in Elsa's eyes as she covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
She knelt down, opened a healing potion, and placed a drop on the pad of her thumb.
Then, cupping the Little Girl's face with one hand, she smeared the liquid onto the wound on her cheek.
"Hiss—"
The Little Girl gritted her teeth. Although she didn't know what Elsa was doing, she felt that this big sister wouldn't harm her.
As the liquid seeped in, Mia only felt an itch on her face. After a few breaths, the pain actually vanished.
Watching this miraculous scene, the little boy shouted in surprise, "Mia, your wound is gone! Big Sister is amazing!"
"Really?"
Dumbfounded, the Little Girl touched her face and found that, just as her brother said, the scar that could have disfigured her had completely disappeared.
Tears shimmered in the brother's eyes; his cute sister was finally free from pain.
When she grew up, she wouldn't have to cry because of a scar on her face.
The little man, not even ten years old, suppressed his surging gratitude and slowly bent down to give Elsa a deep bow.
"Big Sister, I, Ato, will definitely repay your kindness!"
"Ara~ What a responsible child. If you want to repay me, you'd better survive and take good care of your bowels first."
Elsa smiled, snapped the cake box shut, and waited patiently for the siblings to finish the cake.
Ato kept pursing his cracked lips as he pushed the cake toward Mia's mouth.
"Eat up, Mia. I remember you've always wanted to try this."
"Om~ It's delicious! I knew it would taste like this!"
The Little Girl had once found a tree cake wrapper and kept it tucked under her hay-filled burlap pillow.
That lingering scent had brought her countless sweet dreams.
"You eat some too, Brother. Mia can't eat anymore..."
After just a few bites, the sister quickly pulled her mouth away and pushed the cake back.
Elsa watched the human offspring eat for a while, then turned and left, satisfied.
Once she was far away, Grin peeked his head out from the bushes like a thief.
"Did the Bowel Hunter have a change of heart today? She's actually doing good deeds?"
The magic mirror smiled meaningfully. "Jiejiejie, my foolish Master, don't be fooled by this woman."
"From my years of evildoing... no, no, no... from my vast experience, she was simply testing if the cake and potion were poisoned."
Grin rolled his eyes at the magic mirror. "Maybe, but these siblings won't go hungry tonight, and their wounds have been treated, haven't they?"
He really didn't know how much good and how much evil was in Elsa's heart just then.