Chapter 161

The winter night was bitterly cold. Inside the Stone family's courtyard, everyone huddled around the firepit for warmth when a sudden, urgent knock shattered the quiet.

"Who is it?" Michael Stone set down the towel in his hands and strode toward the gate.

Outside stood eleven-year-old Lily, stomping her feet against the chill, her eyes red-rimmed. "Uncle Michael, my dad still hasn't come back..."

"Where did he go?" Michael frowned. In the dead of winter, most families stayed indoors—where could his eldest brother have gone?

"Mom said he went into the mountains with Uncle William, but it's already dark..." Lily's voice trembled with unshed tears.

Michael's chest tightened. The mountains? In this freezing weather? How could his responsible brother follow that reckless fool William into the wilderness?

"Don't worry, Lily. I'll go find them." He turned back toward the house. "Go home and tell your mother not to panic."

Emily Johnson, hearing the commotion, emerged with their two sleepy children in tow. "What's wrong?"

"Robert and William went into the mountains and haven't returned." Michael quickly gathered a flashlight and a thick coat. "I need to go look for them."

Emily's heart lurched. The deep woods in the dead of winter... She didn’t dare finish the thought. "Be careful," she urged.

"Mom, did Uncle Robert go hunting?" David rubbed his eyes.

"Yes, so remember this," Emily crouched to meet their gazes, her tone serious. "The mountains are dangerous. You must never go there, understand?"

Tommy tilted his head. "But Ethan goes every day."

"He only gathers firewood at the foot of the hills." Emily ruffled his hair. "Now, back to bed."

Michael called for Daniel River, and the two set off into the mountains, flashlights cutting through the snowy darkness.

"Third Brother, they’ve got no sense!" Daniel grumbled as they trudged forward. "Going into the woods at night—are they trying to get themselves killed?"

Michael’s expression darkened. "This was definitely William’s idea."

"Didn’t he learn his lesson after last time?" Daniel muttered, recalling how William had once led villagers to steal grain from the Supply & Market—only to be soundly beaten by Michael afterward.

Their flashlight beams wavered over the snow as they pressed deeper into the forest.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Stone paced restlessly at home, her gaze darting toward the door. If something happened to her husband, how would the family survive? And with all those unpaid debts...

Patricia Stone was even more frantic. After waiting in vain for her husband’s return, she finally rushed to her in-laws’ door in a panic.

"Father! Mother! Something terrible has happened!" she cried.

John Stone Sr. threw on a coat and opened the door, his breath catching at her words. "What? William went into the mountains?"

"He left this afternoon and still isn’t back..." Patricia dissolved into tears.

The elder Stone’s face twisted with anger. As William’s father, he knew exactly how little skill his second son possessed. What foolhardiness made him think he could hunt in the dead of winter?

"Quick, gather the villagers to help!" John spun back inside. "Mary, fetch my hunting rifle!"

The night was pitch-black, the wind howling like a beast. From deep within the forest, the distant cry of wolves echoed through the trees.