Chapter 47#
Chapter Forty-Seven#
The cold air enveloped the surroundings, and undried water dripped from their hair.
When their eyes met, it was inexplicably and terrifyingly quiet.
If it were anyone else, Xue Jingci would have already gathered strength to strike, but seeing it was Pei Huang, he lazily didn’t want to move.
Unexpectedly, Pei Huang withdrew his hand and said coldly, “You’re awake? Your clothes are wet; take them off yourself and dry them over the fire.”
He showed no expression as he spoke, no longer possessing his former vibrant appearance. Instead, he had a kind of maturity that transcended his age.
There was a hint of strangeness within the familiarity.
Xue Jingci propped up his body to sit, unfastening the inner garment soaked by the stream with his other hand.
He was a man of few words; in the past, it was always Pei Huang talking non-stop. Now that neither spoke, the atmosphere was inexplicably chilly.
Pei Huang looked away. Hearing the movement of someone getting up, he knew Xue Jingci had taken off his inner garment.
He had originally made up his mind to let Xue Jingci do it himself; after all, the bonfire was only a few steps away, and it wasn’t his place to be overly attentive.
But hearing Xue Jingci’s somewhat labored breathing behind him, Pei Huang couldn’t help but purse his lips.
However, words once spoken were hard to take back. After thinking for a moment, Pei Huang walked quickly to the fire, picked up several logs with glowing embers, and placed them a few steps away from Xue Jingci.
“I just remembered, that fire needs to roast food. Use this to dry yours.”
He deliberately avoided looking at him while speaking, but he still caught a glimpse of Xue Jingci’s appearance.
With the clothes removed, the man’s thin body, covered in wounds, was no longer hidden, revealing a somewhat frail and sickly state.
The look in Pei Huang’s eyes was complex.
When Xue Jingci was in such a hurry to return to the upper realm, he had thought he was rushing to lead a good life.
Yet after only a few months, he appeared before him covered in scars.
Pei Huang turned to look at Xue Jingci, wanting to ask exactly why he was injured, but Xue Jingci frowned.
“My things, did you…”
Pei Huang picked up the items he had removed earlier and placed them in front of Xue Jingci, saying coldly, “All your things are here. I didn’t touch them.”
The person’s tone was different from before, and Xue Jingci was momentarily stunned, knowing Pei Huang had misunderstood him.
The “things” he spoke of were not the items on his person, but the amber fragment he had previously entrusted to Xu Wang.
But seeing Pei Huang’s current attitude, he probably hadn’t received it.
Xue Jingci looked up, hesitantly thinking about whether to explain, but saw the man decisively turn his head and walk toward the dense forest.
“I’ll go find something to eat.”
Pei Huang left without looking back and soon disappeared.
The kitten approached Xue Jingci, sat down, and meowed, “Host, that brat’s sword is mysterious and unpredictable. Before, under the sea of clouds, he actually broke open a restriction with one strike and brought you into another world.”
Xue Jingci closed his eyes. He did indeed sense a faint, unusual power in the air.
Seeing that he understood, the kitten continued, “This is also a cultivation world, but the level is much higher than ours. Host must be extremely careful.”
Xue Jingci nodded somewhat distractedly, staring fixedly at the clothes drying by the fire, not knowing what he was thinking.
The kitten was still muttering, “Host, what do you think that brat is doing here?”
Xue Jingci shook his head and stopped speaking.
Pei Huang walked very quickly, but soon the irritability in his heart was dispelled by the scene before him.
The trees in the forest were tall, blocking the sunlight and shrouding the sky. A frost-cold wind blew through the forest, bringing the eternal cold of the distant snow-capped mountains.
The clothes on Pei Huang weren’t completely dry yet. Blown by the wind, his limbs felt a stiff, numb sensation.
He moved his wrists, slowly calmed down, stopped his pace, looked back at the direction he had come from, and sighed slightly.
On the night they left the Ghost Pearl illusion, Wu Huai and A Su didn’t know he had an agreement with Xue Jingci and kept urging him to take the sword and leave.
Pei Huang claimed to be injured and sat in the dense forest for a long time.
It wasn’t until he saw the Lingxu Sect’s spirit ship ascending in the distance that he finally understood that for Xue Jingci, he was someone who never needed a goodbye.
He stood up, extinguished the lamp in his hand, and walked into the darkness.
Strangely enough, even though Xue Jingci didn’t come, his heart was more peaceful than the previous two times, and a sense of relief and liberation even grew within him.
Pei Huang knew in his heart that there wouldn’t be a next time.
But fate is so unpredictable.
After that, he didn’t deliberately look for Xue Jingci again, yet he hadn’t expected that this time, under the sea of clouds, he would unexpectedly reunite with the scar-covered Xue Jingci.
Pei Huang took a deep breath and looked seriously at the distant snow mountain, standing like a deity, bringing him a wonderful sense of longing.
After a long time, Pei Huang snapped out of it and bent down to pick up pine cones that had fallen onto the grass.
Suddenly his hand froze as he heard a slight walking sound from behind.
The sound was like being caught in the snow, accompanied by the heavy breathing of a beast.
A sharp gleam appeared in Pei Huang’s eyes, and he thrust his sword backward with a backhand strike.
A strong wind rose behind him, and the massive body of a wild boar lunged straight at Pei Huang. Without thinking, he raised his hand and swung a sword qi.
The sword body emitted a clanging sound, and a dazzling blood-red light fell. The wild boar’s massive body brushed past Pei Huang’s left shoulder and finally landed heavily on the ground.
Pei Huang didn’t look at the wild boar’s carcass on the ground. He withdrew his sword and turned, coldly striking toward the right.
However, a tree branch was faster than him.
A freshly broken branch pierced through the dim night in an instant, boring through the beast’s brow.
Pei Huang turned abruptly. Xue Jingci had followed him at some unknown time.
He wore his half-dry plain white clothes, and countless wounds were bleeding again, soaking through the light fabric.
In Pei Huang’s impression, Xue Jingci was always dignified and proper, but now the person before him had his long hair scattered and messy, his face as pale as paper.
Clearly, this strike had exhausted his remaining strength. Before he could even reach Pei Huang’s side, he couldn’t hold on anymore, closed his eyes, and collapsed again.
Pei Huang’s expression changed drastically.
He hurried over and lifted the person from the ground, panic instantly rising in his eyes.
The wild boar lay on the ground, and the scent of blood soon spread through the forest. Something stepped on a withered branch, making a “crack” sound that was very ear-piercing in the cold night.
The birds nesting in the branches flew off in all directions, and under the dense leaves, pairs of glowing green eyes flashed.
A large number of wolves were actually hidden here.
Pei Huang protected Xue Jingci with one hand and gripped his sword with the other, quickly calming down.
He activated his sword qi, fixing his gaze on the largest alpha wolf.
Unexpectedly, a bit of humanity appeared in the alpha wolf’s eyes. As its gaze swept over the patterns on the sword body, its two front legs actually bent slightly, and it knelt on the ground.
Pei Huang guessed the sword had a secret, but at this moment Xue Jingci was too weak. He had no heart to think about these things and carried Xue Jingci on his back out of the dense forest, soon returning to the bonfire.
He unfastened his long sword and placed it some distance away from himself.
This sword had a deep connection with him; being close to it would create a bloodline resonance, driving the demonic energy in his body to grow endlessly.
But at this moment, Pei Huang had to treat Xue Jingci’s injuries and could not use this demonic energy.
He carefully supported Xue Jingci and pressed his hand against the man’s back.
Pei Huang wasn’t in a hurry to transmit qi to Xue Jingci, but instead first suppressed all the demonic energy in his body and began to practice another set of techniques.
Only when a wisp of weak spiritual energy rose in his meridians did he slowly transmit it into Xue Jingci’s body, letting it wander slowly through the meridians.
In fact, when he first saw the heavily injured Xue Jingci, he had thought about using his cultivation to treat the man’s injuries.
But not long ago, the demonic cultivators and righteous cultivators had a major battle at the Heavenly Gate array. Pei Huang knew in his heart that Xue Jingci’s injuries must be related to this.
He thought self-mockingly that if he rashly used demonic arts to treat Xue Jingci’s injuries, perhaps the first thing Xue Jingci would do upon waking up would be to pick up his sword and eliminate the demon.
Only after seeing Xue Jingci faint from exhaustion just now did Pei Huang remember that in order to hide his identity, he had practiced an exotic art that could briefly convert demonic energy into spiritual energy, but the conversion rate was extremely low—less than one-tenth remained. It was a very losing deal.
But at this moment, he couldn’t care about so much.
Pei Huang put aside his thoughts and focused on treating Xue Jingci’s injuries, but after one cycle of spiritual energy, his expression changed instantly.
Xue Jingci’s body, aside from the numerous visible scars, actually hid even greater problems.
His body was like a cloth bag with holes; spiritual energy would scatter and leak out as soon as it entered.
No wonder Xue Jingci fainted after just one strike. He had probably lost all his cultivation.
Pei Huang was completely stunned, his hand unconsciously clutching Xue Jingci’s wrist, feeling his weak pulse.
Fortunately, this person was still alive.
He held on for an unknown amount of time, as if only by sensing that slight pulse could he soothe the unease and restlessness in his heart.
Only when he realized Xue Jingci was about to open his eyes did Pei Huang quickly let go of his hand.
Pei Huang looked at Xue Jingci and eventually said, “Since you’re injured like this, don’t just follow me in the future, lest you hurt the enemy by eight hundred and yourself by a thousand.”
Xue Jingci also hadn’t expected to faint after just one attack, and blurted out, “Don’t I still have you?”
Pei Huang uncomfortably looked away, handed Xue Jingci a few pine cones, and turned to guard the bonfire on the side, no longer looking at him.
An urgent meowing came from behind. Pei Huang had always known that ugly cat was intelligent, and at this moment, he actually had an unrealistic thought.
Maybe this cat really could comfort Xue Jingci.
The kitten approached Xue Jingci. For the first time, it didn’t call him “brat,” but said, “Host, thanks to Pei Huang just now. He’s been using his cultivation to treat your injuries. He didn’t even dare to let go of your hand for a second before you opened your eyes!”
“He’s actually very good to you. Although he talks less, he hasn’t done less. It seems he’s truly grown up and become more steady.”
Unlike Xiao Xun, who spoke sweet words yet turned around and betrayed the Host.
Truly a perfect match for the mission.
Hearing this, Xue Jingci became even more silent.
He realized Pei Huang was no longer the child in his memory.
And humans happened to be a complex race. Xue Jingci had already suffered many losses and truly couldn’t figure out if the person before him would also suddenly change.
So he wasn’t sure—was this person talking less because he was angry about the previous matter, or because he had grown distant?
Xue Jingci closed his eyes, listening to the crackling of the bonfire, and fell into a groggy sleep as he thought.
When he woke up again, the daylight was already bright, and he finally saw what this world looked like.
The prairie was open and flat, eagles skimmed below the clouds, and the river water was so clear that even the rolling of pebbles could be seen.
Not far away, Pei Huang had caught fish and was roasting them over the fire. The savory aroma could be smelled from far away.
Seeing Xue Jingci awake, Pei Huang handed over two fish—one to Xue Jingci and one tossed in front of the kitten.
He himself picked up wild fruit from the ground to eat, his brow furrowing from the sourness, yet in front of Xue Jingci he was too embarrassed to spit it out, finally gulping it down with a stiff neck.
Xue Jingci tilted his head. He had wanted to share the fish with Pei Huang, but then remembered he didn’t eat fish.
He suddenly lost his appetite.
Seeing Xue Jingci eat slowly, Pei Huang thought the taste was bad and said in a deep voice, “Once we follow the stream and find a village, we can use herbs to trade with them for other food.”
Only then did Xue Jingci notice Pei Huang’s hem was covered in mud. He didn’t know where he had gone during the night. Besides the wild fruit, there were also many herbs beside him.
He nodded gently, quickened his pace to swallow the fish, stood up, and said, “Let’s go.”
The two walked one after the other. Pei Huang occasionally used his sword to clear the grass on the ground to prevent poisonous snakes from darting out.
Ordinary toxins couldn’t affect cultivators, but Xue Jingci currently had no spiritual power and was no different from an ordinary person. He needed to be careful everywhere in this wilderness.
They walked for a full day until the sun sank in the west and they saw many round tents made of red and blue felt.
It looked like a village. Horses and sheep were gathered in several places, lazily eating grass.
The snow-capped mountains in the distance were pure, just like the eyes of the children running outside.
They wore robes made of animal skins and cashmere sewn together. Their skin was dark, and everyone carried a bow and arrows on their back.
Even the small children wore curved daggers at their waists.
The people of the village had lived in this environment for a long time, and every one of them was brave and good at fighting.
Pei Huang asked Xue Jingci to wait outside and went in alone carrying the herbs to negotiate with the herdsmen.
The language here was slightly different from their world, mixed with many special dialects, but they could barely understand. The herdsmen soon became familiar with Pei Huang and invited them to their home for mutton soup.
As the two walked into the tent, a rich aroma of meat wafted over.
A girl immediately stood up, chattering something and going to bring them meat soup.
She wore long braids, and her eyes were like deer of the plateau. Living on the plateau year-round, her face had two cute red blushes.
She spoke too quickly, and Xue Jingci couldn’t understand a single word, but the meat soup was indeed very fragrant. After drinking a bowl, the cold in his body was instantly dispelled.
After drinking the soup, Pei Huang looked at Xue Jingci and said, " I’ve arranged with the village chief. You stay here first to recover. Once I’ve handled my affairs, I’ll come back to fetch you."
After speaking, without waiting for Xue Jingci’s answer, he stood up and walked out of the tent, carrying his sword into the wind and snow.
The sun gradually sank, and large clouds slowly moved across the sky. The prairie also became flickeringly bright and dark.
Soon, Pei Huang realized someone was following him.
He lowered his eyes, turned, and slowly looked at the person behind him.
On the hill where the sky and earth met, Xue Jingci stood against the light, his body outlined in brightness, with a cat at his feet.
Pei Huang took a deep breath, turned away from Xue Jingci, and continued forward.
Xue Jingci quickened his pace to catch up and asked from the side, “Where are you going?”
Large clouds were blown away by the wind, and the afterglow of the setting sun spilled down, instantly outlining the green grass in gold.
Pei Huang didn’t speak, yet he didn’t tell him to go back either.
He seemed to suddenly have many things on his mind. Xue Jingci could see the road before him, but didn’t understand where it led.
Xue Jingci began to feel curious.
However, Pei Huang didn’t seem to intend to tell him his secret.
But Xue Jingci didn’t dare let him wander alone in this strange world and could only stubbornly follow him forward.
Such a shameless thing was something only Pei Huang would have done in the past, but now the roles were reversed.
Pei Huang knew in his heart that this person had made up his mind. Seeing that the light was about to fade completely, he had no choice but to turn back resignedly.
He estimated the distance of the return journey in his heart, but soon many pairs of glowing green eyes appeared on the hill.
Pei Huang’s heart moved, and he instructed, “Wait for me here.”
Xue Jingci nodded, and before long he saw Pei Huang return, unexpectedly with a wild wolf beside him.
Pei Huang patted its back, and the wolf reluctantly lowered its body.
A look of surprise appeared in Xue Jingci’s eyes. He could see that the wolf seemed to show submission toward Pei Huang.
He looked at him with some pleasure and asked, “For me?”
Pei Huang finally showed the first smile since their reunion and nodded helplessly: “Try it.”
Xue Jingci mounted the wolf. The wolf instantly raised its neck and gave a long howl, and the round moon in the distance happened to emerge from the horizon at that moment.
The system meowed excitedly: “Host, this is my first time riding a wolf. This is much more impressive than some white tiger!”
Xue Jingci looked at Pei Huang and couldn’t help but curl his lips, as if returning to the previous times he met Pei Huang.
As a child, Pei Huang was mischievous and playful, always with a lively and distinct smile on his face.
As he grew older, although he became slightly more restrained, his eyes were always sparkling, taking every opportunity to show off the new things he had learned during their separation.
Now he could even tame wolves. But when he snapped out of it, he found that Pei Huang wasn’t speaking or smiling, just frowning and seriously thinking about something.
The wind from the snow mountain was cold. Pei Huang took off his outer robe and handed it to him.
“The sun has set. Put this on.”
Sitting on the massive wolf’s back, Xue Jingci looked down at him and suddenly realized that the little wolf cub in his memory had truly and quietly grown up into a reliable man.