Chapter 628: Going to Bring Back the Light

Enna doesn't know how long this winter will last, but he knows how long it has already gone.

Each day, he carves a mark on the wooden board.

The board is small; the front side is fully carved, the back side is fully carved, then he replaces it with another.

In the corner, nine boards have been stacked.

Each board bears a hundred marks, so nine boards equal nine hundred days.

It's almost three years.

The stored food ran out long ago.

The food saved in the first year has long been exhausted.

But spring hasn't come; the snow is still falling.

Enna can only go hunting each day.

At first there was still a yield; after walking a day in the forest, he could always bring back something.

A wild rabbit, a ptarmigan, and when lucky, a roe deer or other deer.

He skins, cuts meat, boils the bone for broth; no edible part is wasted.

But gradually the game becomes scarcer.

Because the vegetation froze and lies under several feet of snow, herbivores have nothing to eat, starving to death in the snow or migrating to places where food can be found.

Although there is still light during the day, and it is bright, Enna knows that it is not sunlight.

Sunlight disappeared long ago.

With herbivores gone, carnivores have also vanished.

Especially those that hibernate, sleeping in caves, exhausting their energy and never waking.

Enna once crawled into a bear den and saw the bear curled on dry straw, so thin its skin clung to its bones, its fur half gone, dead for a long time.

A month ago, he passed a village, hoping to see if there was anything to trade.

Before entering the village, he smelled a strange odor.

It wasn't cooking smoke, nor livestock dung, but another, stronger, more pungent scent that churned the stomach!

He stood in the snow at the village entrance, watching the low, half‑buried Wooden Houses, the tightly shut doors and windows, the chaotic footprints on the snow……

Then he turned and left.

He didn't tell Ying Ge what he had seen; that night he skipped dinner, sat alone at the doorway, and smoked his pipe for a long time.

Ying Ge asked what was wrong; he said nothing, just not very hungry.

The reserve food is gone; what should be eaten now?

So he prays to the Gods every day.

The first thing he does after waking at dawn is walk to the corner where the statue of Fulei stands, kneel, press his palms together, and close his eyes.

He prays for spring to come soon, for the snow to stop, for the land to grow crops again, and for the dead to rest in Mingjie.

He doesn't know how much longer he can endure, how much longer his family can endure, or when this winter will finally end.

Today.

Boom— a tremendous sound roars from afar, not thunder, but the earth's roar.

The floor of the Wooden House trembles, the Clay Bowls on the rack clink together, and the bowstring hanging on the wall buzzes.

Enna rises from the stove, walks to the doorway, and pushes the door open.

A distant snow mountain collapses, half the mountain slides down, snow and rock mixing like a white giant serpent rolling from the summit, devouring the forest at the foot.

Dust and smoke rise, obscuring half the sky!

Ying Ge sits on the Small Stool at the doorway, helping her mother pick vegetables—though they are really frozen moss dug from under the snow, softened enough to be barely edible.

Now only these cold‑hardy plants survive.

When the quake hits, the Small Stool flips; she falls into the snow, and the moss scatters everywhere.

She gets up, runs toward Yu Lin standing at the doorway, throws herself into his arms, her two small hands gripping his collar, burying her face in his chest, trembling all over.

"Yu Lin, another quake! So scary!" her voice is hoarse, tinged with sobs.

Yu Lin lifts his hand and pats her head; his palm is broad, warm, covering her crown.

"It's okay, don't be afraid."

"I'm here."

Ying Ge slowly lifts her head, a tear still hanging at the corner of her eye.

She watches the collapsed snow mountain in the distance, the rolling dust, and the ice surface cracked by the quake.

Yu Lin's hand remains on her head; she doesn't pull away, but leans further into his embrace.

"Yu Lin," she whispers, "when will this winter end? Father said many people died…"

Her voice grows softer, "Why don't the Gods come to save us? Did we do something wrong?"

Yu Lin looks at her eyes full of doubt and terror, about to speak—

Boom— rumble— a vibration stronger than before rises from the ground.

Not a single sound, but a series, as if something turned over beneath the crust!

The Wooden House's beams creak, the mud and ash on the walls cascade down, and Enna grabs the doorframe to avoid falling!

Immediately, a swath of black spreads rapidly from afar, pure, heavy, as if it could devour everything!

It surges from the horizon, like ink dropping into clear water, like tide flooding a beach, and in a blink turns daylight into night!

The wind rises, not ordinary wind, but one laced with ice shards, cutting the face like a blade!

Snow falls, also not ordinary snow, but snow mixed with ice particles that sting the face!

"It's time," Yu Lin stands and pulls Ying Ge into his arms.

Ying Ge hugged his neck, her face buried in his shoulder hollow, not daring to look.

She didn't know what Yu Lin meant by "when the time comes," or rather, she hadn't heard it clearly.

The noise outside was simply too loud!

Yu Lin entered the Wooden House and put Ying Ge into Xi Ge Li De's embrace.

Xi Ge Li De took the child and held her tightly.

Enna stood at the doorway, watching the darkness outside, her complexion turning pale.

Alf stood beside him, his hand trembling.

Facing all of this, they didn't know what to do.

As mortals, confronted with this situation, besides praying to the Gods for protection, what else could they do?

Yu Lin turned and looked at them.

The furnace fire's light fell on his face, clearly flickering.

"These past days with you have been very pleasant."

"But no banquet in the world is endless."

He said, his tone no different from usual, as if mentioning something ordinary:

"I must be going."

"Winter, too, should end."

He turned and stepped out of the Wooden House.

Enna reached out to pull him, her fingers brushing his coat edge before pulling back.

It wasn't that she lacked courage; in that instant, she suddenly felt that this man shouldn't be held back.

Or rather, she shouldn't have held him; Yu Lin was about to undertake something monumental.

Something very, very big.

Yu Lin entered the night, wind and snow striking him, his robe billowing with a rustle.

He walked slowly, yet each step was steady, and his footprints left no trace in the snow.

Then.

Within Enna's family's gaze.

Light appeared.

It wasn't emitted from him; it came from a crack ahead of him.

With each step he took, the night seemed to be split by an invisible blade, tearing a slit open!

Golden light poured from the fissure like a waterfall, like lava, like countless golden rivers surging down from the heavens!

The light fell upon his body, his shoulders, and every step of his path!

Snow melted within the light, wind halted within the light, darkness withdrew within the light!

Ying Ge stuck her head out of her mother's embrace, watching the golden light, watching the figure walking within it.

She extended her hand, and a strand of warm golden light settled in her palm, as if someone had breathed into it.

"It's... sunlight!"

The light grew ever brighter, surging from the crack in the sky, spreading across the entire earth.

Snow melted, exposing the black earth beneath.

The wind ceased, and even the last hint of cold was dispelled.

Ying Ge stood at the doorway, watching the light, the direction, the silhouette growing ever farther away.

Sunlight fell on her face, warm and gentle, as if someone lightly brushed her cheek.

She opened her mouth and shouted:

"Yu Lin! Where are you going?!"

Yu Lin waved his hand:

"I'll go bring the light back to you."