Chapter 80

Chapter 80: The Heirloom Jade Seal of the Realm [4]

Translator: Xah

The snowstorm had stopped.

The fluorescent of the moonlight that illuminated on the snow surface was bright. Zhang Qiu and the others hid in a shelter that Uncle Kule had found. They didn’t make a fire to cook to prevent causing too much attention. They ate dried food and beef jerky. Fortunately, Uncle Kule had a wine pot at this time, and no one was polite. After taking a mouthful of it, their stomach felt burnt, and the warmth spread from their head to the foot in a moment.

Li Shu made a signal. Zhang Qiu nodded, knowing that they were going to make a surprise attack.

They had rested the whole afternoon. At present, they were in good condition. They quickly moved toward the other party under the cover of the moonlight. The camp was very large and there were many people. More than a dozen tent lights were lit with laughter constantly heard in the quiet snow night.

There was a fire burning in the middle of the snowfield. Beside it sat a woman in red with a ponytail, who had her head lowered to look at the whip in her hand.

The terrain chosen by the other party was flat, so few gentle slopes could block the line of sight at a distance of 100 meters. Zhang Qiu and the others lay down on the nearest gentle slope. The woman in red looked up at it as if she was aware of it.

Zhang Qiu breathed softly as his heart thumped.

“Ah, coming very slow.”

In the snowfield, the woman’s voice sounded very cold and cheerless, as if floating in the sky. The voice was not loud but drilled into the human ear from all directions.

Zhang Qiu looked at Li Shu and asked silently: she found us?

Li Shu nodded and heard the woman say, “Bring that blind man out. Some people want to hide like mouses.” After a while, her subordinates brought out Qi Zhirong and threw him rudely on the snowfield.

Zhang Qiu only felt a dark shadow in front of him, and instantly realized that it was Qi Xi. Before he spoke, the whip in the woman’s hand shot out. He didn’t know what she had done, but Qi Xi was trapped by the whip. Qi Xi roared and instantly shifted. The woman took back the whip and sneered, “Overestimate my capabilities. It’s perfect timing to nourish my little snake.”

“Qi Xi, go quickly.” Qi Zhirong’s voice followed by a “pa” and a thick male voice scolded, “Shut the fuck up or I cut your tongue.”

Qi Xi’s veins burst out as he roughly gasped for breath. He struggled to want to rush over and tear the person who disreputed Qi Zhirong to shreds, but a red whip was thrashed on him. The quick whip was like a moving snake, it was too late to dodge at all. To his surprise, in a few seconds, he lost control of his limbs. He skidded in the snowfield and fell to the ground not a moment later.

The woman laughed frivolously and walked to the fallen Xiezhi. “After cutting your wings, the rest is mine.”

Almost as soon as she finished speaking, a black shadow came out at a very fast speed. The woman subconsciously swished out the whip and wrapped it around the other’s arm with a relaxed smile. The next moment, she couldn’t smile anymore.

The other side held the head of her little snake with two fingers and pulled it violently. Only a shrill scream was heard before the head of the snake whip was torn off. At the same time, the entire camp was screaming.

Zhang Qiu and Little Ling Dang had already arrived at Qi Zhirong’s side. Qi Zhirong looked alert, so Zhang Qiu whispered, “It’s me.” Then at once, he carried the man and retreated.

Pei Qing picked up the true form of Qi Xi from the ground and cursed while running. He was too fucking heavy, but the wind under his feet was fast [he run fast]. Zhang Qiu followed Little Ling Dang as he carried Qi Zhirong, and rushed to the place where they had agreed upon. In front of him, he heard the jingling of the bell on Xiao Jiang’s wrist.

“Bang bang bang–”

“Who the fuck is shooting in the snowfield? Don’t want to live?” Uncle Kule scolded with anger and looked around. He ran as he shouted, “There is no way to go! Come here!”

Zhang Qiu and the others quickly turned around and followed the figure of Uncle Kule. Although Uncle Kule was old, he ran fast in the snowfield.

Some people were injured in the chaos, so the smell of blood wafted through the air. Zhang Qiu was worried about Li Shu, but he could only keep up with Uncle Kule at the moment.

“What’s that?”

“Blood zongzi! Fuck, quickly shoot, shoot!”

“The s-snow mountains are going to collapse! Run fast!”

Hearing the panic behind him, Zhang Qiu couldn’t help but look back. The snow-capped mountains that were originally slightly smaller at the back then collapsed faster and faster. Within a few seconds, the snow spread, and the wind roared in his ears blew like a series of life-threatening signs on his face.

“What are you stun for? Run fast.” Zhang YuShui rushed over quickly. When he reached Zhang Qiu’s front, he instantly turned into a huge Phoenix. He threw Pi Huiwang, Kule, and Xiao Jiang on his back with his claw. Then, he hurriedly grabbed Zhang Qiu and Qi Zhirong with two claws. Ling Dang had been hidden in the spirit bead and put it into Zhang Qiu’s pocket. At this time, Xiao Fei, who had just woken up, saw a bright little bead as soon as he opened his eyes and pushed it lightly with his little hand.

“Lishu he–” Zhang Qiu’s voice was scattered in the air by the wind.

In the night, the huge golden phoenix was small in front of the snow-capped mountains, not to mention the impetuous avalanche. Zhang Yushui spread his wings and soared higher. Pi Huiwang felt something dark above his head and shouted, “Be careful!”

Zhang Yushui turned a corner at an extreme speed and swiftly shuttled back and forth among various flying snow blocks.

Zhang Qiu only heard the sound of a bang before his vision was blurred and a large amount of snow fell on his head. Within a few seconds, he was buried in the snowdrift.

Zhang Qiu’s ears were still buzzing as his limbs were numb with cold. Snow went into the collar of his clothes making his whole person stiff like a lump of ice. However, he also knew that he had to go out quickly. He pushed lightly and touched soft feathers, which were Erge’s wings. The moment before falling, Zhang Yushui quickly turned over, thrown the people on his back onto the snowdrift, and spread his wings to protect all the people under him.

“Xiao Qiu?”

“Ersao.”

Zhang Qiu heard Pi Huiwang’s voice. Fortunately, Erge flew far away, so the snowdrift was not very thick. Zhang Qiu and Pi Huiwang stood up and came out of the snowdrift. Under Erge’s wings, Zhang Qiu pulled out Uncle Kule, Qi Zhirong, and Xiao Jiang. Except for Xiao Jiang, whose face was red, the others were unconscious.

Pi HuiWang held the fainted Phoenix and called out several times. Zhang Yushui’s collapsed form turned into a human. His entire skin was covered with large and small wounds, clotted by frost.

Zhang Qiu untied the wine pot from Uncle Kule’s waist and found that there was not a drop left in it. He had wanted to wipe Erge’s wound. His backpack had already disappeared in the panic, and so did Pi Huiwang’s.

Pi Huiwang took off his coat to wrap Zhang Yushui in it and held him tightly. Zhang Qiu knew that they couldn’t do anything for now. He was worried about Li Shu, but now they had to settle down and healed before finding Li Shu.

The pocket of his clothes was opened and Xiao Fei poked out his head. Zhang Qiu was dragging Qi Zhirong and Uncle Kule to a gentle slope. Now, they were short of everything and their backpacks were missing. Zhang Qiu couldn’t remember where they dropped them.

“Is Meimei cold? Gege hugs.” Xiao Jiang first noticed his Meimei in Daddy’s pocket.

Zhang Qiu looked down and rubbed his hands to produce heat before taking out Xiao Fei from his pocket. “Daddy is going to be busy now. Will Xiaofei obediently stay in the pocket and sleep?”

Xiao Fei tilted his head. If it was at an ordinary time, Zhang Qiu would have held his Xiao Fei and kiss him hard because of this cuteness. Right now, he didn’t have time. He had to go and find two backpacks, even if he had to take from the thugs. Erge needed anti-inflammatory meds and clothes. Qi Zhirong also didn’t look good. He lost his glasses and his eyelids were so red and swollen that Zhang Qiu could imagine how painful it was even if he didn’t look at it. He was as pale as a dead person, breathing slowly…

“Eat eat,” Xiao Fei blurted out two words.

Zhang Qiu thought Xiao Fei was hungry, so he wiped his fingers and handed it to Xiao Fei’s mouth. “Now there’s nothing to eat. If you’re hungry, sip two mouthfuls of Daddy’s blood.”

Xiao Fei blinked his long eyelashes, and wisps of crimson fog spread out before two sounds of plop were heard. Two backpacks were spat onto the messy snowfield – they were Zhang Qiu’s and Zhang Yushui’s backpacks. This was simply an oasis in the desert. Zhang Qiu was so pleasantly surprised that he itched to kiss his Xiao Fei and did just that. Xiao Fei blushed and his eyes brightened. The thick crimson fog spat out a lot of things.

Toys, snacks, and anything that Xiao Fei was interested in was spat out. Zhang Qiu was surprised to find that there was also a tent and a simple ignition stove.

“Fortune Baby!” Zhang Qiu kissed his youngest son. At the side, Xiao Jiang bounced around. Zhang Qiu hugged him and also gave him a few kisses. Then, he quickly pulled up the tent, which should belong to Christine’s group. There were blankets and unopened sleeping bags in it. Zhang Qiu quickly handed the blanket and sleeping bag to Ersao. He put the tent in a wind shelter, dragged Qi Zhirong and Uncle Kule in, and let Xiao Jiang sit in too.

Ling Dang turned into a virtual body and floated in the air. He wanted to find Pei Qing.

Zhang Qiu was also worried about Li Shu. They discussed with each other and let Pi Huiwang stay here to guard the others. They didn’t go far away. Right now, they looked at the place they had fallen.

“Don’t worry, Li Shu and Pei Qing will be okay. Moments ago, I heard there was blood zongzi. It’s so dark now and it’s unknown whether that woman is alive or dead. Besides, we’re not close to the avalanche place now. You’ll easily get lost.” Pi Huiwang advised, “When everyone wakes up tomorrow, we’ll go to find them.”

Zhang Qiu looked around. It was so dark that he couldn’t tell which way was which. Their tent had only a weak tent light on that disappeared and became blurred when it was farther away. It couldn’t be used as a mark at all. Looking at the unconscious and injured people in the tent, it was truly dangerous to rely on Pi Huiwang as he and Ling Dang were away.

“Okay, I’ll keep watch with Ling Dang tonight. You take care of Erge,” Zhang Qiu said.

Pi Huiwang nodded and handed the blanket to Zhang Qiu. “A sleeping bag is enough.” This kind of sleeping bag could be spread open. It’s big enough for everyone in the tent to make do for one night.

Fortunately, the tent prepared by Christine’s group was large enough, and the material was strong and resistant to the wind. It was more than enough for four people to sleep.

Zhang Qiu looked into the distance from the front of the tent. He couldn’t see anything in the dark. After sitting for a while, he stood up and walked around the tent a few meters away. The sound of howling in his ears became louder and louder. Before he knew it, it snowed heavily.

In the latter half of the night, Zhang Qiu’s limbs were stiff with cold, and his brain was blank as he walked around the tent. Ling Dang soon came and said in a low voice, “Your Excellency, there seems to be something over there.”

Zhang Qiu looked over the place Ling Dang pointed; it was the direction of the avalanche. He immediately turned serious, “You stay here, I’ll go to see it.”

“Your Excellency, let’s go together.” Ling Ding was worried.

Zhang Qiu drew out the dagger in his boots and nodded, “Go back first and tell Ersao to watch.” The tent couldn’t be left unattended when they leave.

Pi HuiWang didn’t sleep. When Zhang Qiu told him, he wanted to go by himself and let Zhang Qiu stay guard, but he was pressed down by Zhang Qiu. As a matter of fact, Erge in Ersao’s arms seemed to have a fever, his face was red. At this time, Ersao would be worried if he went out.

“Stop talking and listen to me.” Zhang Qiu held the dagger and looked very serious. “Don’t worry. If we can’t beat it, Ling Dang and I will withdraw. You wake up Qi Zhirong and Uncle Kule, and be prepared.”

Pi HuiWang nodded and suddenly laughed, “Xiao Qiu, you’ve grown up. Pay attention to safety.”

Zhang Qiu’s tensed face also followed with a smile, “Nothing will happen.” He had children and still had to look for Li Shu.

The light of the flashlight shone white in the snow. Ling Dang floated in the sky as Zhang Qiu followed him with a dagger in hand. He didn’t acknowledge Ling Dang. Lind Dang in this state could frighten people to death.

“Rustle–“

Zhang Qiu looked forward with caution in his eyes and signal to Ling Dang not to rush over, but slowly approached. The soft sound of rustling in the snow pile was getting louder and louder, and a stiff person jumped out of it with a plop.

It’s a zongzi.

The light of the flashlight swept to the other party’s dull eyes without pupils. Zhang Qiu didn’t think much as he raised the dagger and stabbed it in one hit that directly xx the other’s head. The blood zongzi completely fell into the snow. The drawn out dagger was smeared with black blood and strange liquid.

“Your Excellency, the noise seems to be getting louder and louder.” Ling Dang turned into a solid body, holding a dagger in his hand, and trembled like a little white rabbit.

Zhang Qiu retreated a few steps while protecting Ling Dang. It should be the smell of this blood zongzi that attracted other zongzis. Just before the avalanche, someone shot and the smell of blood wafted in the air, which then caused the blood zongzis to drill out from the snowfield.

As he was thinking, another two came out of the snowdrift in front of him. Zhang Qiu held the dagger and rushed to it. He only heard a loud cry from Ling Dang before seeing him rush to the other with a dagger. When Zhang Qiu dealt the one in front of him, he turned back and saw Ling Dang crying out loudly but his hand quickly and firmly stabbed the zongzi’s head into a bee’s nest.

“Enough, it’s dead.” Zhang Qiu patted Ling Dang on the shoulder.

Ling Dang looked afraid, but compared with the sieved zongzi at the ground; it’s hard to say who was more afraid.

Only the snowstorm whistled in the air. After Zhang Qiu confirmed that there was no more, he bent down to check the blood zongzis on the ground.

“Eh, Your Excellency, these people’s clothes are so strange!”

“It’s the clothes of the Yuan Dynasty[1].” Zhang Qiu frowned. The one killed by Ling Dang was dressed in the official uniform of the Yuan Dynasty, but his rank was not high. The ones he killed wore armors, so they should be soldiers.

Zhang Qiu stood up. The snowstorm had turned stronger that not a while later, the zongzis were buried in the snow, out of sight.

“Go back first.”

As they walked back, the front was dark and covered with snow mounds. They couldn’t tell where their tent was. Zhang Qiu was shocked and was afraid of something going wrong. He then heard Ling Dang say, “Your Excellency, it seems someone is coming at the front.”

Zhang Qiu immediately turned off the flashlight. There was a dark shadow in front of him. Before he raised his dagger, he heard a familiar voice in his ear.

“Songbao, it’s me.”

Li Shu!

Zhang Qiu loosed his dagger and looked at him carefully. Li Shu had lost his headgear, his hair and eyebrows were frosted, making his temperament seem colder. Regardless of this, he went up to hold the man and kissed him.

“If you don’t mind the ice and snowfield, I can also,” Li Shu said with a smile in his voice.

“Be careful or I’ll punch you in the chest,” Zhang Qiu snorted.

Ling Dang stood at the side looking a little lonely, perhaps missing Pei Qing. Li Shu said, “Pei Qing and Qi Xi are all there. I’m here to look for you guys. I’m afraid something will happen to you all.” Ling Dang, who had just been extremely pitiful, was immediately jubilant. He turned into a virtual body and rushed toward the tent.

Li Shu held Zhang Qiu’s hand tightly. At the moment of the avalanche, he was really scared. Fortunately, Songbao was alright.

When they returned to the tent camp, Zhang Qiu saw that all the guys were out. Pei Qing was covered with snow. Little Ling Dang squatted at his side like a puppy and was coaxed by Pei Qing to kiss away the pain. Erge had already woken up and was holding Ersao while being flirty. Xiao Jiang, who taken a nap, skipped over as soon as he saw Daddy come back and hugged Zhang Qiu’s thigh.

“Why don’t you guys go in?”

“Qi Xi was poisoned,” Pei Qing said.

Zhang Qiu was startled. However, seeing that these people so calm knowing Qi Xi had been poisoned, it was impossible to ignore. Then he heard Li Shu explain, “That woman’s whip is problematic, it had snake venom. But maybe with Qi Xi Xiezhi’s physique, the state now is similar to being drug with aphrodisiac.”

“If it hadn’t been for the guy pulling me down in heat, we would have come out earlier.” Pei Qing didn’t want to mention that when he was digging snow to come out, Qi Xi felt his pants from behind. At that time, his hair was all up. If it hadn’t been for Qi Xi was poisoned, he would have taken him out to fight. In the end, Li Shu came and knocked Qi Xi unconscious. Then, they found this place.

Uncle Kule was outside, too. The old man had woken up and sipped at the wine pot, wrapped in a blanket.

Zhang Qiu thought it was a little strange, but he hadn’t thought out when he heard a muffled hum in the tent and Qi Zhirong’s indifferent low voice, “….let go, I’m like this now…”

“Nope, you’re the best dead face in any way you look.”

It seems that Qi Xi is full of spirit!

Zhang Qiu coughed. He forgot what he thought was weird after being interrupted by the sound inside. Pi Huiwang asked what had happened just then and Zhang Qiu said quickily.

“It seems to be this place.”

Chenghai City.

They went out to rescue Qi Zhirong, so now they could just go back and contact Yue Qincang and Kaiming. However, they were trick to run around in a circle and hadn’t avenge for the gouged eyes, even Zhang Qiu couldn’t vent out, let alone Qi Xi. Moreover, even if they went back today, who could guarantee that their friends would not be captured in the future?

When Zhang Qiu recalled that the bomb could endanger his sons, he turned fierce.

The tossing inside the tent took a long time until they had set up a stove outside to boil a pot of snow water and cook a pot of chowder. Beef jerky, compressed biscuits, pickled vegetables, dried noodles, and even two spiced corned eggs were contributed by Xiao Fei.

When the food had been cooked, the temperature was just right when the wind blew to the mouth. Having been frozen for a day, they ate the food while it was hot no matter whether it tasted good or bad. Xiao Jiang was very happy eating with a small bowl and even fed Xiao Fei. However, Xiao Fei was not very good in spirit. He took a small mouthful and disliked it. Then, he handed a piece of soft bread wrapped in the red fog to his Gege.

“Like a Doraemon.” Zhang Qiu touched Xiao Fei’s head.

Xiao Fei brought the bread wrapped in the red fog to Xiao Jiang’s mouth. Xiao Jiang was very happy. With his dimples out, he took a small bite and said, “Gege ate it.” Another bread wrapped in red fog went to Zhang Qiu’s mouth. Zhang Qiu’s heart softened as he took a small bite. Lastly, it was Li Shu’s turn.

Although he couldn’t be compared with Xiao Jiang, Zhang Qiu was still very happy when he was so much higher than Li Shu in Xiao Fei’s heart.

When Qi Xi crawled out of the tent, he looked happy, “What’s smell so good? Give me a bite.”

Pots, bowls, and disposable chopsticks were brought back by Li Shu and Pei Qing, which were the equipment of that group of people.

“It’s over?” Pei Qing asked.

Qi Xi quickly explained, “You are a burly brute, so don’t worry, I’m not interested in you. I pulled down your pants purely because of leg numbness.”

“Pull down pants?” Ling Dang picked up important words and looked at Pei Qing.

Pei Qing was angry. He got to beat Qi Xi hard. However, it’s a pleasure to let Little Ling Dang be jealous.

“Gege, were your butt cold?”

Seeing Pei Qing’s face froze, Qi Xi chortled and went into the tent with a rice bowl in his hand only to hear Qi Xi’s meek and subservient voice inside, especially flattering. After a while, he opened the tent, cleaned up the pots and bowls, and said, “Let the children go to sleep. I’ll watch outside.”

Xiao Jiang was sleepy after he had eaten. Zhang Qiu didn’t refuse to take the child in. Qi Zhirong lay at the side with his clothes wrapped very tight, unknown whether he was asleep or not. However, Zhang Qiu saw the red mark on his chin and thought that Qi Xi was truly a beast.

Uncle Kule waved his hand and squinted at the sky, “It’s soon daylight. It’s a fine day today.”

It didn’t take long for the sun to rise. The beautiful orange color sprinkled on this peaceful snow-capped mountain. The snowstorm had stopped. Looking from a distance, the snow-capped mountain that collapsed yesterday seemed to have changed its shape and continued to stand there.

After they packed up the tent, Xiao Fei was wrapped it up in the red fog. They carried the backpacks on their back and didn’t let Xiao Fei store it.

In any case, Zhang Qiu felt that it was hard for his son to carry too much.

“It should have been impacted by the avalanche,” Li Shu pointed to the place that crumbled like a cave-in, “that place.”

“That’s the smallest snow mountain here, but the things inside are precious. Amur loves to look for things there. There is a kind of yellow flower—” Uncle Kule squinted as if he was recalling. Zhang Qiu and the others were still listening but then saw Uncle Kule turned to look at them, “What’s wrong? Let’s go. “

The old man seemed to have recalled a bad memory.

Uncle Kule took the lead and Zhang Qiu also didn’t ask about the yellow flower.

Qi Xi and Zhang Yushui’s bodies were unfit for flying, and the distance also was not far away. Everyone decided to cross over and have Uncle Kule lead the way. They walked very quickly and by noon, they had reached the foot of the broken mountain.

Today’s weather was really good. The warmth of the sun could even be felt in the snow mountain.

At noon, Qi Xi got a nest of hares with long white fur and pointy ears that none could tell the snow from the hares. However, such a protective color could be discovered by Qi Xi. Zhang Qiu truly admired Qi Xi’s ability to find food.

“You are the enemy of hare—” Zhang Qiu smilingly said when suddenly the phone in his pocket rang. He quickly fished it out. The signal was only half a grid and the phone kept ringing. It was a strange number. “There are signals here. I’d forgotten that I’ve phone.”

“Zhang Qiu, it’s me Yue Qincang. We’ve arrived at Enhe village…[static] That Uncle Kule…[static] We’ll come soon. Be careful…”

On the phone, Yue Qincang’s words were intermittent. Zhang Qiu hadn’t spoken yet when the half grid signal was gone. The next call couldn’t get through.

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[1]  Yuan dynasty or Mongol (1279-1368)

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