The first snow of Cyan Ox Village had just draped the old locust tree in silver when Huwa lugged his carving knife into the cow shed, carving ice ridge patterns onto the horns of Old Cyan Ox. "Old buddy! I'm rigging you up with a 'Peerless Ice-Breaking Horn'. When we head north to the northern frontier come spring to carve ghost faces in the ice, I guarantee it'll scare the Xiongnu warhorses right out of their wits!"
"You little rascal!" Zhang Yifan chased him in, tapping his abacus. "Are you shoving Xiaoxiu's frozen persimmons into the ox's mouth as lubricant?" Huwa stuck out his tongue and ducked behind the Wooden Ox. Old Cyan Ox was currently chewing on a frozen persimmon with a *smacking* sound, its hooves stamping crooked, ghostly face prints into the snow. "Brother Fan, look! Old Cyan Ox's footprints can double as road signs. When the bugs see them, they'll definitely think it's the Snow God smiling!"
Inside the Wooden Ox workshop by the threshing floor, the Old Daoist frowned at a map of the empire's trade routes. "Word from the Taiji Trading Guild's branch office is that the 'frozen scale bugs' up north are kicking up a terrible fuss, even chewing right through the leather in the stables." Huwa immediately sprang up, his carving knife slashing an ice pattern across the Wooden Ox's gears. "What is there to fear? I'll equip the Wooden Ox with a 'chili pepper heater'! When the bugs catch a whiff of that heat, they'll think a volcano is erupting!"
Chapter 45