However, Old Man suddenly stopped, instead pulling out the fingernails that had pierced his flesh, then slowly closed his eyes, letting William Carter do as he wished.

William Carter let out a long breath, calming his wildly beating heart, then continued to treat Old Man.

Finally, he set Old Man’s broken bones and carefully wrapped them with clothing. Although this was extremely rough, there was no other way—there wasn’t even a single piece of wood in the cave.

After finishing everything, William Carter retreated as far as possible, moving to the spot furthest from Old Man, and sat down against the cave wall.

And this dangerous Old Man remained motionless, eyes closed.

Chapter 3 The Mysterious Old Man (Part 1)

By now, night had fallen. William Carter looked up at the sky, but because the cave was so deep, the originally wide cave entrance now appeared only palm-sized, so William Carter could only see a sky as small as a palm.

At this moment, the moon rose into the sky, passing over William Carter’s head, and he clearly saw that there were two moons.

Su Dongpo’s poem says, “May we all be blessed with longevity, though far apart, we share the beauty of the moon together.” But now, the moon that William Carter and his family saw was no longer the same, and here, there were even two moons.

Sadness and exhaustion overwhelmed William Carter. He glanced at Old Man not far away; Old Man still sat motionless, eyes closed.

At this point, there was nothing left to fear. So, William Carter slowly closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

When he woke again, dozens of hours had passed.

William Carter wanted to get up and continue searching for a way out of the cave, but found he couldn’t stand at all. Days and nights of hunger had completely drained his energy. The calories stored over decades had been utterly depleted in order to save Old Man and melt that icy spike.

During these days and nights, William Carter had only drunk a few sips of melted ice water, hadn’t eaten a single bite, and had lost a lot of blood. Now, he truly didn’t have a shred of strength left to stand.

Outside, the sky was gloomy, with no sun, and layers of dark clouds pressed down.

Soon after, it began to snow. Fist-sized clumps of snow suddenly fell from the sky. In no time, a thick layer of snow covered the bottom of the cave. Old Man remained motionless, eyes closed, and gradually his entire body was buried by the snow. After about an hour, Old Man was completely invisible, turned into a snowman.

Snow also began to pile up on William Carter, and by now, his body heat couldn’t even melt the snow anymore.

To avoid being buried, William Carter tried to shake his head forcefully. But soon, he was covered again, and William Carter shook his head once more.

Once, twice, three times...

In the end, William Carter didn’t even have the strength to shake his head. His body lost its last bit of warmth, and he watched helplessly as the snow completely buried him, along with his life.

Suddenly, the snow on Old Man not far away trembled, and Old Man moved. He reached into his clothes, took out a red object, and tossed it toward William Carter.

It was a red pill. As it landed on the snow, the surrounding snow instantly melted. Against the white snow, the red pill was as dazzling as a flame.

At this moment, William Carter’s will to survive gave him a final burst of strength. He lunged forward and bit down on the red pill.

Was it poison? What would happen after eating it? William Carter didn’t care at all.

As soon as the pill entered his mouth, it melted like fire, flowing into his stomach like a stream of flame, and then a wave of heat spread throughout his body.

Immediately, as if the warm sun of spring was shining on the earth, William Carter’s stiff body began to revive inch by inch.

Very soon, his whole body became a blazing furnace again, fully restored with vitality. In fact, a powerful force surged within him, eager to burst out. William Carter felt as if he had endless strength.

“What is this thing? How can it be so miraculous?” William Carter exclaimed in surprise and excitement, then walked over to Old Man, bowed, and said, “Thank you, sir!”

“But your body can’t take it either. Don’t you want to take one yourself?” William Carter asked.

Old Man ignored him, still sitting with eyes closed, letting the snow fall and cover him into a snowman once more.

After that, no matter what William Carter said, there was no response.

Filled with warmth and energy, William Carter didn’t know what to do. The cave was only so big, so he randomly swung his fists in the snow, flailing about in a mess.

The snow kept falling harder, piling up to about two feet in just half a day, almost completely burying Old Man. So every half hour, William Carter would go over to clear the snow off Old Man.

“This snow is falling so hard and piling up so fast, I’m afraid in a few years it’ll fill the whole cave,” William Carter thought to himself.

Then, he was suddenly overjoyed, and rushed to Old Man, shouting, “Sir, sir, I’ve found a way out! I’ve found a way out!”

But Old Man still gave no response.