2 The reward goes to the hunter

Shen Ro was, by all means, a below average man. He was of short stature, causing him to often be called the runt of Coldstone Village. Despite being twenty-eight years old this year he was dwarfed in size by most of the teenagers who had successfully managed to cultivate their Dou Qi to the first level! Finding a wife was no easy task for him in Coldstone Village. All of the mature women and even the young girls in this northern tribe lusted after men that were tall and well built. Naturally, a woman would want to feel safe when they were with their romantic partner.

He lived in a small dilapidated home located on the outskirts of Coldstone. As one moved further away from the village square the land became cheaper but the chance of a wild beast wandering into your property greatly increased. It was never the smaller friendly beasts that wandered into town either. A beast unafraid of mankind driven to the point of desperation where it would test its luck against human cultivators never turned out well. Years ago when his great-grandfather first moved up north the rulers of this city, the Cao clan, had all but given away this plot of land for free. The thought process is that if the land was undesirable, you might as well give it away for free if it means more having more workers who can contribute to the local economy.

To make ends meet Shen Ro would often have to venture out into the unforgiving barren isles. A landscape filled with icebergs that looked more like mountains as they sat still in the frozen sea that surrounded the village. Powdered snow piled up on the ground below, often so high that it could swallow him whole. He would search for beasts that would become his food and trade their pelts and bones for bronze coins. Years of living on his own had taught him two valuable lessons. Size often did not matter as long as he could launch an attack from a blind spot. Secondly, even a cultivator or a magical beast who's Dou Qi had reached the peak of the first level could be killed with a well-placed arrow. You just didn't want to miss.

Shen Ro slinked behind a mound of freshly laid snow to avoid the gaze of the White Hooved Deer he had been following for the past five meters. He readied his birch longbow, with an arrow nocked he waited for the perfect opportunity to pierce the deer's heart with a single shot. His breathing slowed as he focused his mind on hitting the target.

"Come on, swing that ass out towards me. It will only hurt for a second. I promise," Shen Ro whispered to himself.

Before he could get the shot off something spooked the deer. It sprinted away, escaping even further into the snowy landscape. Shen Ro secretly cursed in his heart but it did not take long until he heard the noise too. From above a shrill hissing noise cut through the gentle sound of the blowing winds. Shen Ro could only imagine what sort of magical beast could produce such a noise.

"Now I will be eaten by some unholy beast flying through the air. Is it a Bent Neck Crane or a Snowflake Vulture? My bad luck is truly second to none," he said despondently. With his bow at the ready, he turned his head towards the sky but there was no magical beast. Instead, he saw what seemed to be a woman careening towards where he was standing. It took him a moment to process what he was seeing.

"Oh shit, she's not going to stop," Shen Ro yelled before leaping out of the way.

With a violent crash, the woman made an impact with the snow where he had been standing only seconds ago. A plume of snow and chunks of ice shot into the air and rained down upon Shen Ro. He had only narrowly dodged a brush with death and survived. Not an unusual occurrence while hunting. He was sure that whatever had just fallen from the sky was not as lucky as he was. Wasting no time Shen Ro dragged himself to his feet and walked over to the crater that had formed in the snow.

Inside was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, well half of the woman. Her hair was the same shade of gray as her dull lifeless eyes, both of which complimented her angular face perfectly in Shen Ro's opinion. It was as though someone had spent years trying to create the perfect woman and this was the result. For the first time in his life, he thought that maybe he wouldn't mind marrying half of a woman. After all, he would finally be taller than her. But now was not the time for such thoughts. Because tucked away within her arms was a small child who looked just like her. Unlike her, however, the child was moving.

"Are you alive miss?" He waited for a response but none came. The only sound to be heard was the stirring of the wind, which was getting louder and colder by the minute. Soon a blizzard would blow through these parts. Being caught outside in one of those storms was an easy way to die young when you had no resistance to the cold like Shen Ro. If he had cultivated to the first level of Dou Qi it wouldn't be a problem, but he had no predisposition towards body refinement and martial arts.

Shen Ro grit his teeth. He had to decide what to do and he had to do it quickly. Given his strength, he could easily carry the woman and her child back to his home. That wasn't the problem, the problem was the storm. Who knew how long this blizzard would last? His food stores were already running low without having to account for two more mouths to feed. Not to mention he had missed out on the chance to score some fresh meat because of these two.