The Tale Never Ends Chapter 118 Chongxi's Dismay

We began talking. The cave was where G.o.dmother resided. She was roused from her sleep yesterday morning by the sound of gunfire. As a fox spirit who had drudged for centuries to achieve her current powers, she had only the deepest loathing for firearms. She left her cavernous lair and was just in time to witness me pushing Chongxi to safety when the avalanche fell.

On the path through the mountains, there was a chasm which hung precipitously beside. The torrent of snow and ice had swept me off into the ravine as everyone could only watch in horror, except for Edelweiss, who threw herself off the cliff after me...

I immediately glowered at Edelweiss, "What are you thinking of?! What help is there in jumping off the ledge to death yourself?" But my temper subsided as quickly as it came; I knew Edelweiss was being silly, only because she tried to save me, although it was an ill-advised move. It was G.o.dmother who then climbed down the ravine and dug us out of the snow and had us brought to the far side of the chasm where her lair was at. Edelweiss' face was completely red. G.o.dmother immediately interjected. "All right, all right! The girl's being silly only because she's genuinely concerned about you. Don't fret, my son." I smiled weakly, finally beginning to see why Father had abandoned emotional attachments with women!

When I was found, G.o.dmother realized that I was completely frozen in ice. But strangely, there was no danger to my life. This could not have been possible if I was an ordinary human being. I would later find out that it was the Qi-cultivation methods that Father taught me that had saved me.

When G.o.dmother found me, she discovered that I was carrying both the Shiyan Blade and my Spirit Gourd. The latter was the signature instrument of Murong Hai, hence she realized that I must be related to him. She revived Edelweiss and interrogated her, finally ascertaining my ident.i.ty as the son of Murong Hai.

Edelweiss was aghast beyond words with trepidation when she saw me lying frozen in ice, seemingly dead. But G.o.dmother revealed to her that I was still barely alive, and there was but only one way to save me...

Almost an entire day had pa.s.sed since I was rescued and she has yet to leave her lair, said G.o.dmother, hence she had no idea what happened to the rest of the company. I merely nodded. I was not worried about the rest of my companions. With their abilities, they could surely suffer our absence for a day or two in the rocky and mountainous tundra, although they would have to forage for food themselves. That said, I could not shake off the pangs of concern about my companions' wellbeing. "It's late," I said to G.o.dmother and Edelweiss, "they must be looking for us. And since it's noon, we might as well hunt for some food while looking for them too."

Edelweiss nodded intently, and G.o.dmother insisted that she tag along. She was still worried about my body.

I walked out of the lair and stretched my body. I released my spirit wolves, who, at first, were merely idling around, sniffing into the air, when they suddenly turned taut and their movements became stiff and terse. I held my Gourd warily on full vigilance and followed slowly behind with Edelweiss and G.o.dmother shadowing me. After a few moments, the wolves lunged at their quarry, a deer. I quickly recited the Soul-banishment Curse and the deer fell dead at once.

"Shiyan's silenced pistol!" Edelweiss said to G.o.dmother, beaming widely, "I have never seen him miss!" She drew a small dagger and began bleeding the deer dry. G.o.dmother smiled benignly; being no stranger of the Spirit Gourd, she knew about its powers, although she did not elaborate further to Edelweiss. "Come," said Edelweiss, "lift up the deer and put it on my back! I'll carry it!" She is truly a spirited girl of the wild, I stared with awe. But I stopped her. "This will only dirty your clothes. Let's leave the carca.s.s here for now. We can have the others come to collect it once we find them!" Behind us, G.o.dmother quipped suddenly, "If only your father was as caring and kind as you are now..."

Her voice was loud enough for us both to hear her. But we did our best to ignore what she said. I tugged at Edelweiss' hand and we walked down the mountain. We barely walked for minutes before we saw Lin Feng and the rest of the company under a tree, discussing ways to search for us! Their horses were all idling around by the slopes of the foothills.

"Call off the search!" G.o.dmother yelled suddenly and they raised their heads in our direction. "My son and his wife have returned!"

The company looked up the hill and saw us walking down. Yuan Chongxi's eyes were red as tears broke out. "Where have you been!" he screamed. But he was quick to the take; his eyes crept down and saw that I was holding Edelweiss' hand. "So here we were, trying our best to look for you, when you have been busy with some girl..."

"Watch your trap, young man!" G.o.dmother hissed venomously at Chongxi, "be careful of what you speak!" I waved her off to stop her. "I'll leave the explanations for a later date. Get two strong people up to the hill. I have a deer carca.s.s waiting up there!" One of the girls immediately sprinted for the horses and Edelweiss led a few of them on horses back to the site where the carca.s.s was waiting. We waited until they came back. Lin Feng took out one of his darts and pa.s.sed it to Yuan Chongxi, "Well, you're the best at this kind of job." "But I've never slaughtered a deer before!" Yuan Chongxi pouted indignantly. "Allow us then!" one of the girls remarked, drawing her Mongolian scimitar, "just prepare yourselves for dinner!" "Surely we can't!" Yuan Chongxi replied, "there's still work to do! We still need some wood to build a spit and raise a fire!" I trotted off, leading G.o.dmother and some of the girls in search of firewood and branches.

When the meat was roasted, I tore off a leg and handed it to G.o.dmother, who was especially delighted. "Good, good, my son!" But she gave it to Edelweiss, saying to her, "Have this! I prefer organ meats!" As how a mother-in-law would do to her daughter-in-law!

I chewed on the meat and talked to Lin Feng and Yuan Chongxi about what happened, while conveniently omitting most parts about what happened between me and Edelweiss. Yuan Chongxi was unusually reticent during the meal, keeping himself mostly to his food. He was mostly most chatty during meals and was especially sharp whenever it came to food. Sometimes he would even begin using his divination magic to find out answers himself. But today, he was strangely quiet. There was something wrong with his expression. He looked paler than usual, as if signs of fatigue were showing on him. "What is it", I asked him. "Are you not feeling well?" I asked again. But instead of answering me, he began sobbing! He gave no reply to me, only continue biting into his meat.

My eyes quickly met Lin Feng's. What happened to him, I asked. Lin Feng heaved a long breath and began recounting their experiences after I was dragged by the avalanche into the ravine.

As it turned out, Yuan Chongxi was appalled and was on the verge of breaking down when he realized that I had pushed him to safety, only to plunge into the chasm myself. He turned even more dismayed and grievous when their preliminary searches yielded nothing of us. Lin Feng had tried consoling him, but he was deeply crestfallen, sitting at the edge of the cliffs for almost a day and a night, with no food nor sleep, watching only into the darkness of the abyss, hoping to see me climb out. This morning, when Lin Feng woke up from his sleep, he saw that Yuan Chongxi was still sitting by the jagged banks of the craggy cliff and talked to him again, asking him to use his magic to divine both the fates of Edelweiss' and mine. They could mount another search for us, he said to the despondent Chongxi, or they could ask for help from my father if I had indeed met my end.

With hands trembling beyond control, Yuan Chongxi forced his fingers to move. Slowly and warily, he struggled against the dread and trepidation and performed his magic. He was so afraid that the omens would show him my death. Finally, the results of his divination showed that Edelweiss and I were still alive. Only then, he sighed grimly, recovering from his sullen and disheartened state, with the weariness of an old man.

They called the rest of the company and mounted their horses, circling around the mountains to reach this side, where we finally met each other again.