On the Ark.

Now that he had a plan in mind, the next step was to put it into practice. Lin Ye originally wanted to tell Lappland his idea and let her take the lead while he cooperated. However, he felt that given Lappland's intelligence, entrusting such a difficult task to her would likely result in failure, and besides, she couldn't act; her thoughts were all written on her face, making her incredibly easy to understand.

Of course, if Lin Ye knew Messiah's evaluation of Lappland, he would probably retract that thought. However, for now, Lin Ye decided not to tell Lappland and to guide her himself; that might be much more effective.

So after giving Lappland a thumbs-up, he didn't explain why, leaving Lappland feeling confused.

"Come on, come on, let's eat."

Feeling elated at finding a solution, Lin Ye patted Lappland's head, only to be bitten hard before calming down slightly, warning himself not to get too carried away.

Dinner was naturally barbecue again, since there wasn't much to eat in Sheragri. So Lin Ye bought a large piece of venison to grill.

When the campfire was lit, the three sat down around it. Lappland looked at the meat Lin Ye had bought and was already eager to eat it. Eileen, on the other hand, didn't react much. Although Lin Ye knew she must be very hungry, after all, she hadn't eaten all day and had worked all day under Lappland's orders, she didn't show it.

Lin Ye witnessed all of this.

Lin Ye put down the meat, pretended to have a stomachache, and stood up while clutching his stomach: "I can't take it anymore, I need to go to the toilet, you guys eat first."

Then he placed all the meat next to Lappland and said to her, "I'm leaving Eileen in your care."

At that moment, Lappland only had eyes for the meat; she completely forgot about Lin Ye's instructions. She nodded casually to get through to him, and once Lin Ye left the courtyard, she immediately started grilling the meat.

Lin Ye then ran to a secluded spot to observe the situation in the courtyard.

Lin Ye placed all the meat next to Lappland, and Eileen was clearly not the type to take the meat herself; even when she was very hungry, she just stood by and watched over it.

This kind of awkward personality is actually quite difficult to deal with, and Eileen is the kind of person who doesn't accept other people's kindness, so it's up to Lappland. However, after Lin Ye left, Lappland only cared about grilling the meat herself, and after finishing, she ate it by herself, completely ignoring Eileen beside her.

"Don't do that, Lappland," Lin Ye muttered softly from the side. "Don't do that, move around, move around!"

However, Lappland couldn't hear Lin Ye's voice and continued eating happily by herself.

This made Lin Ye regret not having given Lappland a heads-up before leaving.

Surely she wouldn't actually finish all the meat in front of Eileen, would she? Lin Ye felt a little uneasy. He then remembered that Lappland was also a problem student, and in some ways even more so than Eileen. According to the medical department's diagnosis, she belonged to the extremely antisocial category.

With two people with psychological issues together, would Lappland help Eileen? Lin Ye was also a little unsure.

Tsk, don't overthink it.

Lin Ye shook his head.

Since we've already decided to do this, let's just trust our own judgment for now.

As he was thinking this, he suddenly felt a cool sensation on the tip of his nose. He looked up and saw that snowflakes, as fine as goose feathers, were falling from the curtain-like sky.

Snowing.

……

Lin Ye didn't know how much time had passed before he finally heard Lappland's voice.

"Are you just going to do nothing and wait for me to feed you, or are you just going to starve to death?" Lappland suddenly said.

Eileen's body trembled slightly; she seemed somewhat afraid of Lappland.

“Tsk, looking at your cowardly appearance, I really want to kill you,” Lappland said. “In my family, mentally disabled people like you don’t even live past three years old. Has no one ever taught you how to survive?”

Eileen shook her head.

"If no one teaches you, then learn on your own! Does survival really require being taught?" Lappland said impatiently. "Seriously, if it weren't for that quack doctor, someone as stupid as you, I really..."

Clang.

Lapland suddenly drew her knife.

Lin Ye, who was watching from the side, was startled.

She wouldn't really want to kill Eileen, would she?!

Lappland plunged the knife into Eileen's face, startling her. Eileen stared at her in terror. Lappland sneered and said in a disdainful tone, "Don't look at me like that. If I wanted to kill you, I would have your head off before you even realized it."

Eileen's panicked eyes were tinged with confusion.

"What are you looking at? I've already lent you the knife. Can you use it to chop the meat and then grill it? Just like I just did."

Eileen's mouth opened slightly wider.

After hesitating for a few seconds, she pulled out Lappland's knife, and then, as Lappland had instructed, cut off pieces of raw meat, skewered them on the knife, and then roasted them over the fire.

Although the movements were simple, they were still somewhat difficult for Eileen, who had never done anything like this before, so she looked clumsy. And every time she made a mistake, she would receive Lappland's merciless mockery.

"Huh? You can't even cut your own flesh? With such weak strength, do you think you're a Felin? Oh, you really are a Felin."

Why skewer meat so neatly? As long as it's edible, isn't that enough?

"Are you an idiot? The meat is almost burnt, can't you even see that? You're even dumber than Texas. You can't do anything Texas can do."

Eileen didn't know who Texas was. All she knew was that, under Lappland's (and often insulting) guidance, she had finally cooked her first piece of meat. Then, under Lappland's disdainful gaze, she took a bite.

To be honest, it wasn't very tasty because it was a bit burnt, or maybe it was because she had lost her tongue and her sense of taste was impaired. But when she felt the warmth of the roasted meat in her mouth, she felt as if something had touched her heart. Then, disregarding the fact that the meat was still very hot from being just cooked, she swallowed it whole.

After finishing her meal, she looked up at Lappland, who was also looking at her. Lappland then pursed her lips and said, "Teaching you is not as easy as teaching Texas."

……

Lin Ye, who was watching from the side, finally showed a relieved smile, like a proud mother.

Although he was hungry and cold, and his legs were numb from squatting in the snow for so long, he finally saw a glimmer of hope in "saving" Eileen. Just as he had thought, Eileen didn't need any platitudes or comforting words; she just needed someone to stand up and tell her what to do next and how to survive.

This is a consequence of being raised like a slave for so many years. Although it is somewhat sad, it seems to be the only way to help her at the moment.

It's like telling someone in absolute darkness that perseverance leads to victory, or that they'll see the sun in a few more days—it's probably useless. Because they don't know what the sun looks like. So, what's best for them is a voice that tells them how to proceed and what to do next.

Lappland was that voice, though she might not even realize it herself. But it didn't matter; as long as she could hold out until she brought Eileen to Rhodes Island, everything would be fine.

Yes, as long as a solution is found, everything will be alright.

Lin Ye watched as one figure awkwardly grilled meat in the snow, while another stood by mocking him. He subconsciously took out his phone, wanting to capture this heartwarming scene.

Then I remembered that my phone was still broken.

……

……

Author's Note: Some readers felt the plot had been a bit padded these past few days, so I checked it out and found it does seem a bit lacking. I initially felt that going straight to the final battle after returning from Messiah seemed a bit too fast, but adding another long storyline didn't seem necessary. So I added the short storyline of Irene. Actually, I didn't initially plan to develop this character, but I felt the final battle needed a guiding character, so I added her. However, due to space limitations, she wasn't well-developed (at least not as well as Messiah). This kind of character should have been developed over an entire volume, like Nightingale. Consider it a lesson learned; I'm not entirely satisfied with it myself.

Chapter 280 The Blizzard Is Coming

Eileen's behavior in the following days proved that Lin Ye's idea was correct.

After finishing the barbecue under Lappland's "encouragement," Eileen became less withdrawn. Although she still couldn't speak, she no longer kept her head down like a living dead. She would do many things she had never done before, such as gathering firewood and carrying water, just like the core idea Lappland instilled in her—self-reliance leads to abundance. And she didn't feel tired or bored doing these things she had never done before; instead, she felt curious, like a newborn baby encountering something new.

This was good news to Lin Ye, since all she had seen in her eyes before was despair.

Gradually, she began to believe that Lin Ye and Lappland would take her away from Sherag, heal her tongue, and let her start a new life.

Gradually, she became more willing to communicate with Lin Ye and Lappland, though Lin Ye was the one who initiated conversations. If Lappland was nearby, she would pick up a twig and write simple words in the snow as her reply. Lin Ye finally learned about her past: her father and mother were slaves, so she was born a slave. She grew up with slave traders and was then bought by Golden Eben and taken to Sherag. Golden Eben bought her because he was attracted to her appearance, so he kept her and trained her in the art of seducing men.

After years of training, he believed he had mastered the skills and embarked on his first "battle" against the current head of the Shivaesh family, but failed.

After several more years of training, she was "sent out" again, this time to Lin Ye, who was obsessed with selling the pet supplies in her backpack. The mission failed, and she brought back incorrect information, which angered Gordon, who felt that all the investment he had made in her over the years had been for nothing. He punished her and expelled her from the Aiben family.

She wrote down almost the entire story on a tree branch, which surprised Lin Ye, as she had previously been unwilling to say anything. However, this also showed that she had indeed begun to trust Lappland and Lin Ye; after all, it was obvious to anyone with common sense what Lappland and Lin Ye had done to her—good or bad. What concerned Lin Ye was that Eileen still refused to reveal the most crucial information: the reason why Gordon Eben had sent people to hunt her down.

Even at a time like this, Lin Ye could only marvel at Eileen's loyalty, albeit blind loyalty, in defending Goldman Eben.

However, in Lappland's view, everything that happened to Eileen was foolish.

"Huh? You're a slave, and you've been a slave since you were a child? You're such a waste. If it were me, I would have chopped off the head of the guy who tried to enslave me the moment I got my first knife."

"Use violence against me? Don't be ridiculous. I'm always the one using violence against others. Who would dare to use violence against me?"

"If you fall down, get up; if someone knocks you down, get up and beat them to death. Do you need to teach yourself that?"

Lappland instilled her values ​​in Eileen with simple, blunt language. Their upbringings were worlds apart, and Lin Ye initially thought Eileen wouldn't accept it. However, he soon noticed that whenever Lappland boasted, Eileen would sit quietly beside her, looking up at her with a light in her eyes. At first, Lin Ye was puzzled by this behavior, but he quickly understood: the more timid and insecure a person is, the more they admire confident and strong individuals. Although Lappland seemed somewhat naive, she was indeed the confident and strong type.

It's no wonder she's so obedient to Lappland, but not so fond of Lin Ye. After all, Lin Ye is a gentle, sunny guy (in his own opinion), quite different from a "barbarian" like Lappland.

After spending three days with Lappland, Eileen finally mustered up the courage to write in the snow, "After leaving here, can I stay by your side?"

Of course, I'm asking about Lappland.

Lappland looked left and right, swishing its tail as it used a knife to carve words in the snow in reply—two incredibly ugly characters.

"No."

The light in Eileen's eyes vanished instantly.

Lappland said, "Texas won't be happy if you're with me; she's a bit petty."

Lin Ye, who was sunbathing nearby, almost bit his tongue when he heard what Lappland said.

If Lin Ye hadn't witnessed Texas's attitude towards her firsthand, she might have actually believed it.

Three days passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was the last day of the agreement—the three-race council of Kjerag. While buying meat in the market, Lin Ye overheard many locals talking about the impending revival of the Shiva'ish family. Even these passersby knew of the Shiva'ish family's significant advantages, until the patriarch, SilverAsh, planned to seize control of the Kjerag border forces that very night. With military and political power in hand, and backed by the behemoth that was the Karlan Trade, SilverAsh would ascend to the pinnacle of power in Kjerag, leaving the other two major families without any means to contend with him. The only one who could rival him would be his sister, the Karlan Saintess, Snowfall.

After strolling around the streets and hearing enough rumors, Lin Ye went to the Shiva Ash family mansion and learned that SilverAsh had already led his men out of the city to attend the Three Races Council.

"This is our last night in Shelag," Chuxue said to Lin Ye. "You can bring that Felin tribesman over to stay. Anyway, we're leaving early tomorrow morning, so nothing should happen. After all, there are no other armed personnel in the city besides us. Gorvin Abben has taken all his guards and servants with him, probably planning to fight that man to the death."

Chu Xue's tone was calm, and Lin Ye couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you worried about SilverAsh?"

"Although I don't like him, I know he won't lose."

Tsk, is this the trust between siblings? Ah, Lin Ye suddenly wants a sister like that too.

Lin Ye quickly thought of something else and said, "But you're leaving tomorrow, and it seems like the relationship between you and your brother hasn't improved much."

"There's no way my relationship with him can be salvaged. I've said that before, haven't I?" Chu Xue sighed. "Dr. Lin, you always like to meddle in things that aren't your business. While I appreciate your kindness, it's really unnecessary."

"Ok."

"Are you coming to stay tonight?" Chu Xue asked. "If so, hurry up, I'm leaving later."

Lin Ye was taken aback: "You're leaving? Where are you going?"

“Take Enshia to pay respects to her mother,” Chuxue said calmly. “It’s on a mountain not far away; that’s our family’s grave.”

"...Uh, although I feel it's a bit inappropriate to ask this," Lin Ye scratched his head, "but why tonight of all times? Haven't you been back for quite a few days already?"

“This is a tradition of the Sherag people. On the night before leaving home, they need to stay with their families. My parents are no longer here, so I can only pay my respects,” Chuxue said. “But the main reason is that today is the anniversary of their death.”

"I see." Lin Ye nodded. "Please accept my condolences."

Chu Xue smiled and said, "Thank you. Will you be staying over tonight?"