A moment later, they appeared at the edge of the forest.

From here, the trees began to thin out, and ahead, what was revealed was, surprisingly, a road cutting through the woods.

It was a simple dirt road, but it was clearly man-made. Strangely, however, William Carter didn’t feel the least bit excited. Instead, he first turned to look at Little Grace.

“I… I know, Will, you’ve always wanted to go back outside… Actually, I’ve always known the way, it’s just…”

Little Grace clutched the two pieces of clothing in her arms tightly, her face on the verge of tears. William Carter glanced at the road, then sighed, and went over to pull Little Grace into his arms. Over these days, William Carter had indeed thought about going outside to have a look. After all, he wasn’t an old man ready to spend the rest of his life in one place, weary in both body and spirit. Even though he was calm by nature, he still had the lively and restless habits of youth.

Over the past year or so, William Carter had brought up the outside world to Little Grace a few times. But every time he asked about it, Little Grace would always shake her head and say she didn’t know, and after that, she would watch him timidly all day, feeling down for many days. After this happened a few times, William Carter stopped mentioning it. He never expected that Little Grace actually knew about these things, but she always worried that William Carter would suddenly leave, so she refused to say anything.

Now that she had brought him here, it must have been a decision she had thought over for a long time. She probably had no desire at all to see the outside world; all of this was just to accommodate William Carter. However, this wasn’t what he truly wanted.

He sighed softly, looked at the road, and said, “Grace, let’s go back.”

That’s enough, that’s enough—today is enough…

Hearing him say this, Little Grace suddenly lifted her head from his embrace. “Will…”

William Carter smiled. “For you to do this much for me, I’ve already received the most precious thing today, haven’t I? That’s enough, Grace, you’re the one I most want to have… Don’t worry, I’ll never leave you. You couldn’t drive me away even if you tried.”

There was a trace of confusion in Little Grace’s eyes. Although she had learned to speak, there were still things in William Carter’s words that she couldn’t understand. But more than anything, she felt genuine joy from the bottom of her heart. “Won’t drive you away, never ever…” She shook her head vigorously, but tears still fell from her eyes. This was the first time William Carter had seen her cry. “But… Will, you still want to go and see, don’t you?”

“Well…” William Carter looked at the road. “Is there anything out there better to look at than Little Grace? I’m not going…”

A smile broke through Little Grace’s tear-stained face, but even she knew that William Carter wasn’t telling the truth. After thinking for a moment, she handed the two pieces of clothing she was holding to William Carter—these were the clothes William Carter had originally brought with him.

“Will… If you go, when will you come back… If you’re going to be gone for a long time, then I won’t let you go…”

William Carter hesitated for a moment, then finally said, “Grace, I do want to go and have a look, but it’s just to confirm something… Let’s go together. I promise, by evening, we’ll be home for dinner.”

“No, I don’t want to go…” A flash of fear appeared in Little Grace’s eyes. “Those people outside… they’re so scary, I—I don’t want to go… I—I’ll wait for you here…”

Had she encountered people from outside before? William Carter felt a trace of doubt in his heart, while Little Grace had already started to remove the leaf clothes from his body and began to help him change.

“…All right, Will… If it’s like this, they… probably won’t catch you…” Little Grace looked at William Carter as he put on his clothes, and suddenly tears welled up in her eyes again. Then, in a fluster, she hung her Damascus military knife at William Carter’s waist. “Will, if they hit you, use this to cut them… Y-you have to run back quickly…” As she spoke, she started crying again.

“Will… I—I’m too scared to go…”

What could have happened to make her so afraid of those people outside?

As William Carter pondered this, Little Grace finished dressing him, hugged him tightly for a long time, and finally let go, gently pushing him toward the road.

“I’ll be back soon.”

Little Grace waved her hand—this was the way William Carter had taught her to say goodbye. Whenever Little Grace went out to hunt, William Carter would always do this. But this time, it was Little Grace doing it to him. “I’ll be here waiting for you with mom and dad, always, always waiting… But if you don’t come back, I—I’ll go look for you, even if… even if I get caught again…”

So that’s it… William Carter felt a sense of understanding rise in his heart. He took a few steps, then turned back.

“Grace.” He smiled. “Since you’re so afraid of those people, why… were you so good to me in the first place?”

“Will, you… feel different…”

“Different, huh…” He nodded, muttering to himself. Walking onto the road, he looked back. Little Grace and the two giant wolves stood among the trees, waving at him.

What kind of world would lie ahead?

Having chosen his direction, he walked toward one end of the road. This road actually cut through the forest, and from time to time there were traces of human activity along the roadside. Occasionally, there was some trash thrown by the road—sometimes scraps of paper, sometimes pieces of cloth, and sometimes strange metal objects.