The temperature in this world was simply too low.

A pot of freshly boiled water, carried just a few steps from the kitchen to the living room, had already lost a significant amount of heat.

As Lin Chu walked over to Uncle Zhou with the water in hand, Yang Qianqian widened her eyes and murmured softly while shaking her head.

“Too bad Uncle Zhou has that cold-resistant constitution. No matter how much hot water you pour on him, he won’t turn back into a normal person.”

Lin Chu naturally heard her words, and a slight arch appeared in her brow.

Unable to return to normal—did that mean the snow worm couldn’t be forced out?

But she had always been one to test boldly—seeing is believing.

Another basin of hot water was poured down. The man surnamed Zhou once again began writhing on the floor.

He struggled for about five minutes, then closed his eyes again and lay limp on the ground.

Lin Chu checked his pulse. Still breathing.

She picked up the pot and went back to the kitchen.

This time, she didn’t boil water again.

After struggling for so long with no snow worm crawling out, Lin Chu suspected that perhaps the worm had already fused with the man’s brain.

It wasn’t something that could be easily forced out.

And if the snow worm had truly fused with the brain, then the host was most likely already…

Yang Qianqian saw her carrying the pot back to the kitchen and thought she was going to boil more water. She followed cautiously and asked in a small voice:

“Does your faction… enjoy torture?”

Lin Chu tilted her head and glanced at her, then suddenly mimicked the curly-haired aunt’s expression and gave a wide grin. “That’s right.”

Yang Qianqian was startled by the sudden eerie smile, instinctively stepping back two paces as a shiver ran through her.

But oddly, she still felt a strange sense of safety being around this so-called “cousin.”

Maybe it was because Lin Chu had stepped in to help her several times just moments ago.

She recalled what Lin Chu had said earlier: as long as she wasn’t parasitized by that faction, Lin Chu wouldn’t harm her. That eased her nerves a bit.

So she gathered her courage and asked, “Are there… many people in your faction?”

Lin Chu tilted her head in thought. During the current mission deployment, she hadn’t seen any other agents. She didn’t know whether it was a system malfunction that split them up, or if she was the only one deployed.

Yang Qianqian waited by the kitchen door for an answer. After a long pause, Lin Chu finally said two words: “Classified.”

Qianqian puffed up her cheeks, feeling tricked and slightly annoyed, but didn’t know what to say—she just stared at Lin Chu.

The latter smiled and looked away.

Just then, Lin Chu heard a sound coming from the direction of the bedrooms.

It was from Zhou Ruoqing’s room.

At first, the sound was faint. Lin Chu didn’t speak. Yang Qianqian hadn’t noticed anything.

By the time Qianqian noticed, Zhou Ruoqing had already grabbed a baseball bat from her room and was propping herself up as she walked out.

Yang Qianqian quickly stepped out of the kitchen. “Ruoqing, you’re awake! Why aren’t you lying down a bit longer, you—”

She didn’t finish her sentence.

Because the moment she spoke, Zhou Ruoqing raised the bat and swung it down hard on the head of the man lying on the ground.

The rest of Yang Qianqian’s words caught in her throat in fright.

Lin Chu simply stood silently by the kitchen door, watching with a trace of admiration in her eyes.

This girl—she was ruthless.

The bat struck the man’s head five or six times, until Zhou Ruoqing, just newly awakened, could no longer hold onto it and let it fall from her hands.

Seeing her sway, Yang Qianqian quickly rushed up to support her.

“Ruoqing, are you okay?”

Her lips were pale, her face as white as paper.

Leaning on Yang Qianqian for strength, she forced herself to stand straight. A smile tugged at her lips—one uglier than crying. “I’m fine, Qianqian. Thanks to you coming just in time.”

But before she finished speaking, her legs buckled again. She nearly collapsed, and Yang Qianqian struggled to keep her upright. Lin Chu reached out and grabbed her down jacket’s hood just in time to steady her.

The man on the ground now had a head that was a bloody, mangled mess.

Lin Chu stepped forward and felt for a pulse. When she looked up, two pairs of eyes were fixed on her, seemingly awaiting the verdict.

“He’s dead.”

At her words, Zhou Ruoqing didn’t show joy or sorrow. She simply stared at the man on the ground and whispered, “Dad, did you see that? I avenged you.”

Hearing this, Yang Qianqian couldn’t hold back. A single tear slipped from her eye. Before it could finish falling, it froze mid-air and shattered into icy fragments on the floor.

She quickly wiped her eyes, but lifting one hand made her grip on Zhou Ruoqing less stable—nearly causing them both to topple again. Lin Chu grabbed her coat just in time to steady her.

Once she was balanced again, Qianqian cursed with gritted teeth, “These parasites are despicable. They’ve killed so many of us.”

After speaking, she suddenly remembered something and glanced at Lin Chu cautiously. Seeing no anger on her face, she let out a breath of relief.

After dealing with her father’s death, Zhou Ruoqing leaned on Yang Qianqian to rest briefly, then insisted on checking the master bedroom to see her mother.

“Ruoqing, don’t worry. Auntie—I already poured hot water on her earlier.”

At this point, the water on Aunt Zhou’s face had already frozen. Zhou Ruoqing wanted to clean the ice shards from her mother’s body with a towel.

“I need to take care of her, or she’ll get sick when she wakes up.”

Yang Qianqian immediately told her to sit by the windowsill, then turned and ran into the bathroom to fetch a towel.

Lin Chu could tell she was very familiar with the Zhou family household. She must have visited often before.

The two girls each took a towel and began carefully wiping the ice off Mrs. Zhou’s face and head.

Perhaps needing to vent, Zhou Ruoqing began speaking midway through the process.

“Since it started snowing yesterday morning, that man kept trying to force Mom and me to stand out in the snow. We locked ourselves in the bedroom, but in the middle of the night, while we were dozing off, he climbed in through the balcony window.”

“Mom tried to protect me and was dragged out by him. This morning, I tried to save her by boiling water in the bedroom using a small stove and poured it into a thermos, planning to splash it on her while he was out.”

“But I fell for his trap…”

She gently wiped her mother’s hands, lips pressed tight, unable to hide the sorrow and rage in her eyes.

She looked up at Yang Qianqian. “Qianqian, do you think I was too cruel, attacking the body of my own father like that?”

Qianqian shook her head, but for a moment, didn’t know what to say.

She had to admit—when she saw Zhou Ruoqing swing that bat, she was stunned.

Her best friend had always been so gentle, so kind. And yet, in that moment, she had the courage to raise the bat against someone wearing her father’s body…

But she admired her, admired her for that courage.

Her own mother… was also no longer her mother. But if it were her in the same situation, could she bring herself to do it?

“He’s not your dad anymore. You were brave.”

Those words were meant to praise Zhou Ruoqing—and also, to encourage herself.