Ou Tao shot to his feet. The female catgirl tilted her head and let out a soft meow: "Meow! (Swordmaster?)"

"You finish bathing her. Once done, stand guard here—put out the campfire and have Ke Er hide and sleep in the side cave! If you spot a snowman en route, do *not* attack!" Only after confirming the task held zero aggression did Ou Tao feel safe leaving Ke Er alone.

"Meow~ (Understood, Swordmaster!)"

Ou Tao plunged back into the pine forest to test his theory. He found a snowman wearing a black-and-white scarf. Focusing silently on the healing crystal, he slashed down. Black mist erupted—a level 5 Blazing Goblin appeared.

He quickly put distance between them. Minutes later, two black-scarfed snowmen appeared. This time, Ou Tao sent in his "fifty-coin good brother"—the goblin—to tap one lightly with its club.

Like a chain reaction, both black-scarfed snowmen exploded, unleashing a level 7 blue giant snail.

Ou Tao’s hypothesis was confirmed: the event featured three snowman types—black scarf, white scarf, black-and-white scarf. Striking one triggered a chain explosion among same-scarf snowmen. Black scarves spawned monsters; white scarves granted whatever you wished for; black-and-white scarves yielded random results—supplies or monsters.

Yet each snowman’s "Heavenly Principle" was fixed. One black-scarfed snowman spawned only a level 5 monster; two in chain explosion yielded level 7. Ou Tao had merely wished for plain bathwater—but the white-scarfed snowman produced a tulip milk bath worth two gold coins, granting Ke Er a noble lady’s luxury.

This meant rare, near-unobtainable items could manifest from his wishes. The healing gem for his sister’s brainstem condition cost 200+ gold—a divine relic of the church, requiring trial completion just for purchase rights.

If he gathered a hundred white-scarfed snowmen tonight and struck them at once… he’d obtain it.

Ou Tao had Bika send a report to Hamiyou’s studio.

Bika’s reply came swiftly: "Sir, the Great Brother commends your swift insight. Per other reports, add two notes: First, spawned monsters decay within ten seconds and drop zero XP or loot."

"Hmm, noticed!" Minutes later, Ou Tao saw the blue snail trailing him melt away completely.

"Second—your location is perfect!" Bika added. "Snowmen fall from the sky, weighing exactly like snow. Towns are chaos: bounty guilds and noble houses brawl fiercely over white-scarfed ones."

"I see!" Ou Tao watched the swirling snow. *Same weight as snow… they drift with the wind.*

Where would snow accumulate most? The mountain peak—exactly where he stood.

Even luckier: this was a remote, uninhabited zone. Tonight, every snowman here belonged solely to Ou Tao.

Hamiyou’s dozens had scored zero snowmen; their intel came from spying on town crossfire accidents. Ou Tao’s solitude was pure luxury—six snowmen triggered in minutes, zero competition.

Alone on the slope, Ou Tao lured snowmen easily: approach, make eye contact, and they’d aggro, chasing while futilely swinging their soft white bellies (strength zero). He gathered many white-scarfed ones this way.

Bitter cold, howling wind, endless white—Ou Tao’s stamina drained fast. Then the blue-grade bamboo bucket pork stew, handmade by his daughter, kicked in.

The nutrition buff boosted endurance sharply. Effortlessly, he gathered nearly forty snowmen.

As the bright moon drifted west, Ou Tao neared a forest crossroad—when a dark shadow darted past his path.

He moved forward; it veered left. Paths crossed at a right angle. Ou Tao glimpsed a vast horde of snowmen charging from the side. *Oh no—we’re colliding!*

The instant he halted, the white-scarfed group chasing him slammed into the passing black-and-white horde. Chaos erupted.