Winter on Guru Mountain didn't show much change. Evergreen plants were so abundant on the mountain that people barely noticed any withered yellow leaves. If it weren't for the biting cold, those on the mountain probably wouldn't have sensed it was already winter. On the surface, little on Guru Mountain changed with winter's arrival.
However, the situation at the foot of the mountain was different. Like other parts of the Yowein Continent, the area below Guru Mountain underwent significant changes on the surface when winter arrived.
"Firstly, the ground beneath your feet will harden, harden to a degree you can't imagine. Due to the chill, the ground will freeze as hard as the rocks on the mountain," said Oha. He was the proprietor of a general store at the foot of Guru Mountain and would put up a stall near the entrance of Guru Village every Deep Winter Season to do some special business.
Guru Mountain was a large mountain range, and Guru Village, nestled at its foot, had lived off this range for many years before the arrival of the Treasure Hunters. However, Dawn Peak—one of Guru Mountain's most prominent features—had never been exploited by the villagers. Dawn Peak appeared to be the lowest on Guru Mountain, but the villagers of Guru Village didn't see it that way. Around Dawn Peak were many small hillocks and mounds of varying heights. Although these mounds and hillocks were unremarkable, they had provided for Guru Village for generations. Therefore, as per tradition, villagers continued to hunt and gather only on these inconspicuous hillocks surrounding Dawn Peak.
Oha's family used to make a living by hunting. He had inherited some hunting skills from his ancestors, but they weren't enough to allow him to join the ranks of Hunters or bring him much wealth. Before the Treasure Hunters came to Guru Mountain, Oha had barely managed to get by with these skills. However, once the Treasure Hunters settled at the foot of Guru Mountain, these hunting skills became Oha's hobby.
Thanks to the skills inherited from his ancestors, Oha could always catch wild animals like rabbits and mountain boars around the hillocks and mounds before winter arrived. Apart from enjoying a feast for his family, Oha also discovered another way to make money.
In the past, he had carelessly sold the fur from rabbits and mountain boars to liquor merchants in the county, receiving only a few gold coins. Later, Oha realized he could process these furs. With the help of his skilled wife, he soon turned them into excellent items for keeping warm during the Deep Winter Season. Fox fur was made into fluffy vests, while the skins of rabbits and mountain boars were patched together to make "warm bags."
"You can fill this bag with hot water, or, for a cheaper option, wrap a heated stone in it. When you're climbing the mountain and feel cold, just take out this warm bag, hold it to your chest, and it's absolutely heartwarming," Oha explained, introducing his warm bag to a stranger.
Initially, Oha sold these cold-resistant items in his general store. However, perhaps because everyone had a fixed mindset that a general store only sold daily necessities like oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar, his meticulously crafted cold-resistant items went completely unnoticed.
Later, Oha got smarter. He started displaying his cold-resistant items by the roadside, hawking and demonstrating their use. Soon, these warming wonders were snapped up by the Treasure Hunters.
To keep this good fortune going, Oha decided to set up his stall and sell these cold-resistant items at the village entrance every year.
This year, Oha's luck held, and he had already sold many of his warming items.
The guest today was a bit odd. However, for a villager of Guru Village like Oha, strangeness was nothing new. Over the years, an endless stream of Treasure Hunters had trekked to and from Dawn Peak on Guru Mountain, and Oha had encountered all sorts of people.
Some people liked to act tough before the Deep Winter Season arrived. But when it did, their jaws would be frozen so stiff they couldn't even speak. They could only rush to Oha's general store, gesticulating wildly for his warming items.
Others, like the guest before him now, seemed less interested in buying anything and more intent on gathering information.
No matter how strange the person, Oha always went through his familiar routine from start to finish.
He would invariably start by dramatically describing the chilling atmosphere: how winter's arrival caused the entire continent to wither, how yellowed leaves and dead grass scattered everywhere, how great rivers all froze into roads as hard as planks, and how the wind cut at one's face like a knife.
Then, Oha would take out his warm bags and fur garments, demonstrating them to capture the potential customer's attention.
"With this warm bag, you won't have to worry about the Deep Winter on Guru Mountain anymore. With this, you can search for White Cloud Fruit in peace…" As Oha poured hot water into the warm bag, he watched the stranger intently.
"Why are you all afraid of the cold?" the stranger asked. It was hard to tell if he was young or old; he had a childlike voice but a face full of wrinkles. In one hand, he held a long object resembling a cane, and in the other, a chain. At the chain's end, two unidentifiable Beasts were tethered.
"The biting cold is an uncomfortable feeling, so many people come to dislike it. Over time, this dislike can turn into hatred, and when hatred reaches a certain point, perhaps it becomes fear!" Oha himself was surprised by his own eloquence, having answered the stranger's question so perfectly.
"Heh, you people always love to find such self-deceiving excuses."
Hmm? Oha was puzzled, unable to tell if the stranger wanted to buy his warming items or not.
"Why do people fear darkness yet worship light?"
"This warm bag works just as well day or night. Would you like to buy one and try it?"
"Is light truly safe? Too much sunlight can also burn people. Ultimately, one can be reduced to ashes by the scorching sun."
Oha no longer knew what to say to the guest before him.
The guest had initially seemed interested in his warming items, but he soon began muttering to himself, and Oha couldn't get a word in edgewise.
No, not muttering to himself, more like rambling nonsense, Oha thought. He couldn't understand what the man was going on about at all.
"You hypocrites! Faced with true power, don't you all just obediently submit? Without a shred of resistance!"
"We who choose to embrace the darkness are far more genuine than you. You rail against Dark Magic with such arrogance, yet in your hearts, you secretly dabble in it. Darkness is merely a chosen path; it has nothing to do with good or evil."
Oha didn't dare interrupt the strange guest and could only sit by his stall, listening to the man ramble on.
"I'll take all your warm bags."
Now that's what I wanted to hear! Oha thought. He couldn't make heads or tails of all that talk about hypocrisy, conspiracies, and pretense.
"Let's hope your warm bags can truly withstand the severe cold of this Deep Winter."
After paying the gold coins, the guest led his two monstrous-looking Beasts away, walking unsteadily towards Guru Mountain…