"Winter... fishing grounds?" Luke was startled, then immediately realized, "You mean fishing through a hole in the ice? We usually do that.""Something like that," Louis nodded. "But I have a few ideas for improvement."He pulled out a map, pointed to several tributaries, and carefully chose his words to explain his concept:"Those sections of the river that are lower, slower-flowing, and freeze more slowly can be prioritized.First, cut holes in the ice, then reinforce the edges with thick wooden planks and stones to prevent collapse.Then, use an under-ice net and some small fish or minced meat as bait to create a fishing spot. Set up rotating shifts for fishermen, and fish once in the morning and once in the evening.You can also dig drainage ditches to divert residual hot spring water or geothermal water. Any warmth the water can provide helps prevent the fish from freezing to death.Of course, these are just some of my ideas. The specific operations are up to you. You don't have to follow my suggestions exactly, as long as you can catch more fish.""Yes! I will do my best!" Luke patted his chest. "If this really works, the entire Red Tide Territory won't lack meat in winter!""You're exaggerating, but even if we only get a few dozen pounds a day, it's better than nothing," Louis replied calmly.Luke responded and left, quickly drawing something in his notebook while muttering, "His Excellency is truly a genius."Although the first snow had not yet arrived, the Red Tide Territory's winter food preparation battle had already begun its second line of defense....The sky was oppressively overcast, and the wind howled through the broken rooftops, scattering charred ashes across the ground.Ian knelt in a dilapidated house, holding the unconscious Mia, his expression filled with despair.The girl's small face was burning hot, her lips were cracked, and her eyelashes trembled gently in the wind, like withered leaves in late autumn."Wake up... Mia, you have to wake up..."Ian wiped her forehead with his sleeve, his movements so careful as if he feared that with a little more force, he would wipe her out of this world.But Mia showed no reaction, and her breathing was even getting weaker and weaker.Ian, whose efforts were futile, lowered his head and buried his face in his daughter's shoulder, letting out a choked sob that was suppressed to the extreme.But no one responded to him.This place was once the village where their ancestors had lived for generations.Two months ago, you could still hear children laughing by the stream, women washing clothes and chatting by the well, and men pulling timber, busy repairing houses for the winter.Ian's home was at the village entrance, not too big, not too small, with a virtuous wife and a lovely little daughter, Mia.He never imagined that all of this would be gone in an instant.The first attack was two months ago. The Snowsworn charged down from the mountain pass on their warhorses, like a sudden avalanche.There was no horn, no warning.The men fell in pools of blood before they even had time to grab their axes.The women and children didn't even have time to escape before they were dragged into the sea of fire.Ian happened to be cutting firewood on the back mountain that day. When he returned, the village had already been burned into a red inferno.He only had time to rush into his own house and pull his daughter, who was hiding in a corner, out.He couldn't find his wife, nor did he see her body. He only found her apron and shoes by the broken stove.He had no choice but to take his daughter and flee into the back mountain, hiding among the trees for three days, surviving on mountain spring water and tree bark.A few days later, they and other survivors returned to the village.The village had been ransacked.The corpses had already rotted, some dragged away by wild beasts. The warehouses had also been looted, and even the well water was oily and foul-smelling.Someone tried to drink a mouthful and never woke up the next day.Ian covered that well, sealing it with broken stones, not daring to let Mia get close.He held Mia and searched house by house.Every existing mud house was meticulously searched by him for anything edible, usable, or burnable.Even if it was just a piece of dry bread that wasn't completely moldy, or a torn animal hide.At that time, he had only one thought: as long as Mia survived.He cleared out a wooden house at the back. The door had burned down, so he nailed two large wooden planks horizontally across it.The roof was leaky, so he climbed up and patched it with a thick layer of burlap and straw.There was moldy rice in the corner. He sifted it clean little by little, put it in a pot, boiled it into porridge, and fed it to her spoonful by spoonful.Every day, he had to go out to gather firewood, find wild vegetables, and even dig through muddy ground, hoping to find unrotted radish heads or catch a wild rabbit.At first, it was fine. Although Mia was weak, she would open her eyes, smile, and even joke softly, "Daddy, you stole the little mouse's food again. It'll be angry."But the night before last, she suddenly developed a high fever.She kept trembling but said she was cold. Her lips were pale, and her forehead was hot.Ian panicked and stuffed everything he could burn into the stove, even putting his own outer coat under the bedding.He fed her herbal decoction and a little dry food.But it was all useless. Mia grew weaker day by day, spoke less and less, and couldn't even open her eyes.Just a moment ago, Old Eun even made a special trip.He was one of the few elders who survived in the village, highly respected.He bent down to enter, looked at the child on the heated brick bed, then looked at Ian: "She's almost gone."Ian didn't speak, only tightened his grip on his daughter's hand.Old Eun took a few steps closer and sighed, "This kind of fever can't be saved... If you drag it out any longer, you'll drag yourself down too."He pointed outside the house: "That small river behind hasn't frozen yet."Ian looked up, his pupils suddenly constricting: "What are you trying to say?""Let her go. It'll be a release, and she'll suffer less," Old Eun said.The air suddenly turned cold like frozen snow."You... say that again," Ian's voice was hoarse like sandpaper.Old Eun still tried to persuade him: "Ian, be realistic! If she were awake, she wouldn't want you to risk your life for her...""Get out," Ian stood up, his eyes devoid of humanity. "Get out now."Old Eun sighed, hunched his body, and retreated.The moment the door closed, silence returned to the room, leaving only the crackling of the fire and the girl's intermittent gasps.Ian sat by the heated brick bed, holding Mia, carefully pressing her forehead against his chest.She was too hot, as if she could turn to ashes at any moment.He had no choice, he truly had no way out.The firewood was almost burned out, and there was only a little clean water left.Ian dared not close his eyes, dared not sleep. He could only hold her and repeat in his heart again and again: "Hold on... just a little longer... just a little longer..."At that moment, from afar, hoofbeats suddenly sounded."Thump, thump, thump, thump...""Could it still be those bandits?"Ian stiffened all over, his breathing cut off for a moment, his eyes frantically scanning around, trying to find a way to escape.How to escape now? With what?He himself was barely holding on, and Mia was still running a high fever, unable to even walk.Ian gritted his teeth, his fingers reaching for the kindling knife by the stove, his eyes fixed on the doorway.

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