Adam Grant looked at him deeply upon hearing the question and said, “When you make it back alive, you’ll know.”

Eric Bennett: “…Oh.”

They got the address of the village carpenter from the villagers. The snowy roads were extremely difficult to traverse, and it took them almost over an hour to get there.

Eric Bennett took the opportunity to observe the village.

The village was small, surrounded by dense forest. Normally it would be fine, but with the snow, the roads out were basically cut off. There weren’t many people in the village; occasionally, you’d see two or three walking by the roadside. Logically, seeing outsiders in a place like this should be a big deal, but judging by the villagers’ expressions, they didn’t seem the least bit curious about the arrival of Eric Bennett and the others.

The carpenter’s house was at the east end of the village. As they approached, they saw a faint glow of an oil lamp coming from inside.

Adam Grant stepped forward and knocked on the door. After a moment, a short old man appeared behind it. He looked to be about sixty or seventy, with sparse hair, wearing a worn gray cotton jacket, his face deeply wrinkled, and his eyes cloudy. He asked, “Do you need something?”

“It’s too cold outside. May we come in and talk?” Adam Grant asked.

The old man didn’t reply, but turned and stepped aside to let them in.

The four of them entered one after another.

The house wasn’t big and was quite messy. Eric Bennett looked around and noticed that one of the windows had a hole in it, which someone had crudely covered with a wooden board, barely keeping out the wind.

“Sir, we were invited by the village chief to make a coffin,” Adam Grant said. “But we don’t really know much about it. We heard you’re the famous carpenter in the village. Could you give us some advice?”

The old man gave Adam Grant a cold glance. “To make a coffin, first you cut down a tree. After cutting the tree, bring the wood here. Then go to the temple and pay your respects. Only then can you start making it.”

Adam Grant caught the key point: “Go to the temple and pay respects?”

The old man nodded. “There’s an old temple next to the village. Here, making coffins is a deed that harms your karma, so you have to pay respects first, pay respects.”

He repeated the phrase “pay respects” several times, making everyone feel inexplicably uncomfortable.

“And after paying respects?” Adam Grant asked.

The old man fell silent.

Adam Grant said, “Sir?”

The old man still didn’t speak.

After Adam Grant pressed him several times, the old man finally smiled. Under the firelight, the smile looked extremely sinister. He lowered his voice and said, “If you’re still alive then, come ask me again.”

Adam Grant’s face darkened.

Grace Cooper was not polite at all and said, “Don’t be like that, old man. It’s so cold—what if you die before we finish?”

The old man sneered, “This old man’s life is tough.”

Grace Cooper: “I think the only thing tough about you is your life.”

The old man: “…”

The others: “…”

Eric Bennett thought to himself, Why are you so good at this? Is it really okay to talk back to NPCs like this? Most people would be a little intimidated by someone with such a creepy vibe, but judging by Grace Cooper’s eye roll, she didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong at all.

“All right, all right,” Eric Bennett said. “If he doesn’t want to talk, don’t force him…”

Grace Cooper said, “How can we not force him? If we die first, fine, but what if he dies before us?” As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeves and looked around the room, finally stopping at a wooden stick as thick as an arm.

Eric Bennett cursed inwardly, thinking, Are we really going to get physical? Damn, this is a horror world—are you sure it’s okay to get rough with an NPC?

But before Grace Cooper could pick up the stick, the old man chickened out first, snapping angrily, “After paying respects, go fill a well. Then the coffin will be done!”

Grace Cooper: “Waaah, Qiushi, he’s glaring at me~”

Eric Bennett: “…” Your glare was way scarier than his just now.

Even Adam Grant hadn’t expected things to go this way, and he and Xiao Ke were both stunned for a moment. Since coming to this world, they’d been polite to everyone, afraid of offending anyone. Who would have thought Grace Cooper would completely ignore the script? And they’d gotten the final answer so easily—though, of course, there was no guarantee it was the right one.

When they left the carpenter’s house, Adam Grant asked Grace Cooper for her name with a complicated expression.

Grace Cooper looked pitiful and said, My surname is Ruan, my name is Grace Cooper. Big brother, you can just call me Grace.

Adam Grant called her Grace, but something still felt off, so in the end, he and Eric Bennett both called her Grace.

They’d been here almost a day, and Adam Grant had only just learned Grace Cooper’s name. Yesterday, seeing Grace Cooper crying so pitifully, he’d thought she wouldn’t last long in this world, so he hadn’t even bothered to ask her name.

But after Grace Cooper’s impressive performance just now, Adam Grant felt that this girl might not be as fragile as she seemed.

“Weren’t you scared just now?” Adam Grant asked her.

Grace Cooper’s answer was utterly convincing. She said, “Scared? Why should I be scared? It’s one thing to be afraid of ghosts, but being afraid of people too? Isn’t that a bit too pathetic? Besides, you can tell this guy is a key NPC. If he really dies, we’d lose our source of information. How would we survive till the end then?”

The three of them were left speechless, and all felt that what she said made perfect sense.