No one knew exactly how much time had passed before Shun slowly opened his tightly closed eyes, and his consciousness gradually returned to his mind. However, the moment he regained consciousness, an indescribable cold instantly swept over him. This chill seemed capable of penetrating the bone marrow and reaching straight into the depths of the soul.
How long had it been since he last felt cold? Even in Kevin's ice palace, he had only felt a chill. What was this freezing sensation like going out in the southern part of Shenzhou during winter without long johns?
Moreover, the sound of the wind around him was extremely loud—so loud that it felt as if he were in the center of a storm. Shun had never experienced such high wind speeds in his life.
If his body hadn't been pressed tightly against the ground, he might have been blown away. Shun struggled to get up from the snow. It was probably because heavy snow had been falling continuously; the fresh snow was exceptionally soft, and every step Shun took caused him to sink in up to half his thigh.
Snowfield… Why am I in a snowfield? Only then did Shun recall what had happened before he lost consciousness.
It was Otto—that bastard had slashed him into 5t5 with Judgment of Shamash right before he performed Consciousness Mapping, and once again caused Shun to lose the "Power of the King."
However, his body right now didn't seem to be missing any limbs… Wait, no.
After touching his four limbs, Shun finally noticed something wrong. Why did it feel like his body was so much smaller than his original one?
Was it because when he performed Consciousness Mapping he had been missing limbs, so this new body was also formed from whatever remained of his original body?
Moreover, there wasn't a single trace of Honkai energy in his body. This body was frail and weak. Whether this was due to the limitations of Consciousness Mapping or the effects of Otto's backstab, he couldn't tell for now.
But… the one thing he knew for certain was that he had to quickly find a place with people. Otherwise, with his current physical condition, staying here would lead to hypothermia before long.
Hmm. The clothes Shun was wearing now were still the original ones, though only half remained, and the right sleeve was missing. The only advantage was that his body had become smaller, so even with only half the clothes, he could barely cover his entire body.
But these few pieces of clothing obviously couldn't withstand the bone-piercing Siberian cold wind. Coupled with this frail body, Shun wouldn't be surprised at all if he ended up in a box right after landing.
In short, a thousand words could be summed up in one sentence: "Otto, I'll fuck your ancestors!" No, Otto probably wouldn't care about his ancestors. Better change it to "Otto, I'll fuck your Theresa!"
Shun walked barefoot across the snow. Soon, both his legs completely lost sensation. Rather than legs, they now felt more like two blocks of ice.
The Siberian snowfield was endless and sparsely populated. Shun walked for over ten minutes without seeing even a single hair of another person.
Sure enough… he was lost. A set of footprints that hadn't been completely covered by snow appeared in front of Shun. If he wasn't mistaken, these were his own footprints.
Indeed, in heavy snow it was impossible to tell directions, and with snow blindness and such, he had been walking in circles. Although the circle was quite large.
Hmm, maybe he should just lie down here. Shun no longer felt cold; instead, his body felt burning hot. Perhaps he was about to freeze to death.
Moreover, his current body was very tired. Maybe he could fall asleep as soon as he closed his eyes. Shun's mouth unconsciously curved upward, making it look as if he were smiling.
In the end, he simply let half his body fall face-first into the snow.
That's it then. He was tired. Life and death are fated, wealth and honor are in Heaven's hands. With his current predicament, he definitely couldn't break through it on his own. Whether he could survive or not would depend on Heaven's will.
Not long after Shun lay down, two figures—one large and one small—arrived one after another at the place where he had fallen.
If they had been a few minutes later, Shun's body might have been completely covered by snow.
The larger figure glanced at Shun and then turned her head away without looking again. In today's Siberia, encountering someone frozen to death on the road was all too common.
Their family hadn't had an easy year either. There was no need to waste time on a dead person. Although this one looked like a child, if it was a child, there was even less chance of survival.
However, the smaller figure didn't think the same. She left her mother's side and slowly approached the place where Shun had fallen.
That striking patch of purple hair, like a purple meteor streaking across the night sky, instantly broke the silence and monotony of this pale snowfield. It seemed as if nature had bestowed it with unique magic, wantonly blooming its charm in this silver-clad world and bringing a different kind of color and warmth to this originally cold and lifeless snowfield.
Her golden eyes, filled with curiosity and worry, looked at this "corpse" that appeared to have been lying there for a while.
What if he's still alive? For no particular reason, she suddenly thought: if this person was still alive but couldn't wait for someone to help him and died so lonely, it must be very painful.
A young girl of her age was always at her kindest. Thinking of this possibility, she felt she couldn't just leave this "corpse" alone.
She reached out to check Shun's breathing. Although it was extremely weak, the warmth that was distinctly different from the Siberian cold wind still allowed her to feel it clearly.
"Mom, he's still alive." After checking his breathing, Sirin turned her head and looked at her mother, who was already walking toward her.
The purple-haired woman, whose face resembled the girl's but whose hair appeared much duller and drier, slowly sighed.
"Since he's alive, let's take him home… We can't just leave him here and watch him die." Although whether he could survive depended entirely on Heaven's will, she still couldn't bear to watch a child who looked about the same age as her daughter— a child who was still alive—freeze to death on the snow.
The woman dug Shun out of the snow. Fortunately, snow had been falling continuously, so the snow underneath hadn't frozen into ice, making it easy to dig him out.
The woman took off the large coat she was wearing, wrapped Shun's body in it, and held him in her arms. After confirming that Shun was completely wrapped except for his head, the woman turned to her daughter.
"Let's go home, Sirin."
By the warm fireplace, Shun slowly opened his eyes. Looking at the flickering red and yellow flames in front of him, Shun gave a faint smile.
Sure enough, his gamble had paid off. As someone who had left traces during the Second Eruption, it seemed he wasn't so easily killed.
He just didn't know who had saved him… Hmm. Judging from how heavily it was snowing, it was very likely that someone had arrived right after he fell. Otherwise, he would probably have been buried directly.
Thinking this, Shun slowly turned his head to the right. Although it might not be very useful, he should at least observe the environment around him.
Hmm… It didn't look like a wealthy household. In that case, the fact that they were still willing to save him made them truly good people.
Shun's gaze continued shifting to the right until it met a pair of large golden eyes. Immediately afterward, the young girl's youthful and delicate face entered his field of vision.
This… this was…