The old man didn't wait for Ma Qi's reply. He tried hard and staggered up his weak body, then helped the old lady who could no longer stand up, and struggled to hold on to the wall and walked towards the door. ◆?????????

???Search????????????.??????◆

He is going to be Santa Claus for the last time and prepare gifts for his daughter.

His thin hands tried hard to push the door, but the howling cold wind blocked the door tightly, and his thin body could not open the door at all.

suddenly.

"Dad." Ma Qi said in a hoarse voice, "Let's have a meal before we leave."

Her voice was trembling and her eyes were red, but she did not refuse her parents' proposal because she knew that this was the last resort.

Otherwise, the whole family can only starve to death. It is a trivial matter for him to starve to death, and Sharon and Willy will also starve to death.

The old man turned to look at Ma Qi: "Okay."

The strong wind howled outside the door, and the small fire gave off a faint light.

On the dim dining table, two old people, Willie and Sharon, sat there.

Willy and Sharon didn't notice anything was wrong with the atmosphere, and the two children happily sang Christmas carols.

"Grandpa, grandpa." Sharon looked at the old man happily: "Merry Christmas!"

"Yeah." The old man covered up the sadness in his eyes, looked at Sharon kindly, and touched the little girl's head: "Merry Christmas."

"Grandpa, where is the gift you brought to Sharon?" Sharon lowered her head and looked around.

The old man smiled: "I hid it... you can see it early tomorrow morning."

Sharon nodded happily. This was a trick the old people used to tease her.

"Okay, it's time to start dinner."

Ma Qi tinkered with the fire for a while, and finally brought a pot of broth.

She walked to the wooden basket where the bread was stored and looked at the slices of bread inside. At first she only wanted to take three slices, but after thinking about it, she took out all the last six slices of bread.

Anyway, it's Christmas dinner.

And...after finishing this meal, I won’t be missing these slices of bread.

"Broth!" Willy happily looked at the steaming broth. Although there was only some minced meat faintly visible in it, the aroma of the meat still made him swallow his saliva.

Sharon looked at Maggie: "Mom, here are the big meatballs that Santa Claus is going to give me. I want to eat them with my grandma and grandpa..."

"Meatballs..." Ma Qi didn't know how to answer.

The old man smiled and touched Sharon's head lovingly: "Yes, there will be. Sharon is a good child, and Santa Claus will not forget you."

"Tomorrow morning, you can eat big meatballs."

Sharon's eyes lit up: "Then, grandma and grandpa will also eat together!"

"Yes." The old man smiled and reluctantly rubbed Sharon's head with his thin palm, feeling the warm touch.

Each person shared a piece of bread, and the family held hands and gathered around the small pot of broth to pray before the Christmas meal every year.

Ma Qi said: "Thank God for giving us..."

Ma Qi suddenly paused and was silent for a moment: "Forget it, just eat it."

thank God?

What is there to be thankful for!

If it weren't for the invading winter, where would they need to be like this?

Each person was given a bowl of broth. Sharon and Willy's bowls had a lot of minced meat, but Maggie and the two old men didn't have much minced meat.

Under the dim firelight, two children

The child chattered and dipped the bread into the broth and ate happily.

Ma Qi and the two old men ate very slowly, chewing the bread soaked in broth bit by bit, unwilling to swallow too fast, as if this could preserve this moment forever.

"Remember when you were a child..." The old man smiled and recounted the past stories.

Ma Qi looked a little dazed. She thought of the days before the arrival of the gods, the Christmas dinner cooked every year, and the days when the family gathered around a table of delicious food and turkey.

And now...

Ma Qi stared blankly at the pitiful bowl of broth and dry bread in front of her, and the two old men could not continue talking.

A cheerful Christmas song could be heard faintly coming from an unknown neighbor's house, bringing festive joy, but there was a sense of sadness in the air in the house.

It was obviously Christmas Eve, a time when we were supposed to enjoy a big meal with laughter, but at this time, it felt like the last supper.

In fact, this is indeed the last dinner the family eats together.

Ma Qi and the two old men ate as slowly as possible, as if they were reluctant to end the meal, but in the end they finished the broth and bread in front of them.

Maybe I've been hungry for too long, or maybe the bread is too small. If I eat this piece of bread, it will make me even hungrier.

But more than hunger, there is despair.

There is no more bread in the basket.

The air was so low that it was almost freezing. A hungry family sat at the table, a flame of despair burning beside them, and the cold wind outside the door seemed to be grinning.

"Okay." The old man smiled and slowly stood up after regaining some strength: "We are going out."

"Dad..." Ma Qi wanted to say you don't want to go out, but after a long time, she still said: "Go out later and sit down for a while."

"Yeah." The old man nodded slightly.

They all know what is going to happen next, but it seems that until they leave the house, it will still be Christmas Eve for family reunion.

I just don't want to face the final outcome.

In the quiet room, despair and depression spread.

Ma Qi's body was shaking slightly.

Maybe in an hour, she would have to take a shovel and dismantle the bodies of the two old people who raised her.

Maybe tomorrow, I will drink broth and eat meat.

This made Ma Qi sick and frightened, but what frightened her even more was... Can the dozens of kilograms of meat removed really allow her and Sharon Willey to survive the cold winter that will last more than two months?

These two old men... are too thin.

Lean meat is not very rich in calories.

And just when this family had their own ideas, became desperate and depressed, and almost collapsed.

"boom!!"

Amidst the howling cold wind, there was suddenly a huge roar!

Just like the roar of wild beasts, it overshadowed the cold wind and resounded throughout the earth. Even the houses were shaken by the roar!

"Bang bang bang!"

The earth trembled at this moment, as if a group of huge beasts were roaring and charging, and the heavy footsteps sounded like drums!

Ma Qi was stunned for a moment, then her eyes were horrified the next moment!

"Snow beast! The gods have invaded!"

fear

Fear spewed out, tearing apart the remaining warmth in the room.

"Didn't I say there are still two months left?"

"It's over..." Ma Qi didn't have time to think too much. She tremblingly picked up the shovel with all her strength, held it tightly, then turned around and said: "Sharon, Willie, hide under the bed!"

Sharon and Willy were also frightened to tears by the roaring sound of this terrifying beast, and quickly got under the bed.

"Mom and Dad, take care of them." Ma Qi warned and ran to the door.

He pushed open the wooden door against the howling cold wind, took a deep breath, and walked out tremblingly.

Other people in the settlement were also awakened by the sound, and they all walked out of the houses nervously, holding shovels, sticks and other things with desperate expressions.

"Boom!"

The heavy and dense footsteps like drums were approaching, and the ground was shaking violently.

The European people holding shovels in their hands were shocked to see that it was an endless, black and ferocious black shadow!

"what happened!"

"How do I know! Why did the snow beast arrive at this time!"

"It's over, it's over!"

They screamed and wailed, and some cried loudly. In this cold and dark night, the long-term depression and fear finally reached the extreme and broke out.

And in this cry.

"boom!"
To be continued...