Dusk enveloped the surroundings as Su He cautiously landed in a farmhouse courtyard, tiptoeing into the cattle shed and managing not to wake the soundly sleeping old dog.
Her body had already frozen stiff.
This season was truly unsuitable for wild geese to be wandering about; a month too early, as the cold was unbearable for a common bird's body.
Although there were no cattle in the shed, there was straw left over from when cattle had been kept. Gathering it roughly to make a makeshift nest, Su He burrowed in and took well over half an hour for her body to gradually regain warmth.
She crept out of the cattle shed, lifted the winnowing basket, and ate her fill of the chicken feed, before employing her powers to refill the feed trough for the benefit of the farmer.
The old dog did not bark; she only realized it had been dead for some time when she turned to look, its corpse already rigid.
