Chapter 256

Chapter 256

After lunch, Old Man Zhao held his daughter and rested his eyes, listening to the steady "swish, swish, swish" of his second son sharpening his knife, feeling a food coma coming on.

Half-asleep, half-awake, he heard Qing Xuan quietly ask Second Son if he could try using the whetstone. The noise stopped for a moment, and when it started again, it was a different sound.

Swish, swish, swish—

Like a lullaby, it made you drowsy.

Zhao Dashan scooped snow into an earthenware pot. Without a water source, this method could also be used to scrub the dishes clean. After washing, he filled the pot with clean snow and set it on the fire to boil, then let it cool, then poured it into the water skins.

After all this work, his rough, broad hands were bright red, with a slight itch in his palms—alternately cold and hot, uncomfortable.

He poked at the dying fire blown by the wind, cupped his hands together, blew warm air on them, rubbed them back and forth, hunched his shoulders against the wind, and tugged at his scarf. Just as he felt a bit of warmth, he suddenly felt a cold touch on the tip of his nose.

Looking up, he noticed the gloomy sky had started releasing fluffy snowflakes.

It was a sign of a heavy snow.

"Dad!" he called out urgently.

Old Man Zhao jerked awake, the chill on his face jolting him out of his daze, and became fully alert in an instant.

"Dad, it's snowing. We need to move," Zhao Ertian said, quickly packing up the whetstone. He was about to ask Qing Xuan to fill the water skins with hot water when he saw the young man was already on it.

Old Man Zhao pulled the blanket corner over his daughter's sleeping face, picked up the heavy child, and nodded. "Pack up and move out immediately. We need to find a place to shelter from the wind and snow tonight. Looks like this won't let up anytime soon."

Qing Xuan had just filled several water skins when Zhao Ertian, already carrying a carrying basket full of dry provisions and quilts, helped carefully lift the still-sleeping Zhao Xiaobao into the basket. Zhao Dashan put out the fire, stomping on it a few times to make sure it was out. Then, bracing against the wind and snow, they continued on.

With the sudden change in weather, the path became extremely difficult to traverse. Visibility got worse and worse, and every few steps they had to brush the snow off the tops of their hats to keep the weight from building up.

The wind and snow stung their eyes, and even Blackie, who was leading the way, stopped barking. His sense of smell seemed to have failed him too, and he sneezed a couple of times from the cold.

When Zhao Xiaobao woke up, the first thing she did was send Blackie back to the Immortal Land.

Without the scout dog, Zhao Dashan once again picked up a wooden stick, tapping the ground as he walked.

They didn't know how long they walked. The vast, primeval forest seemed endless. Snow bent the branches and piled up past their knees. Every step felt like walking through a swamp, their legs mechanically repeating the motions of lifting and stepping, lifting and stepping...

In the endless white, their figures gradually disappeared into the wind and snow, their footprints erased.

...

Just before dark, they found this stream by following two lost dwarf deer.

Probably a place they often drank from. In the midst of the blizzard, lost and fleeing blindly, they had lost their sense of danger and, in their panic, chose this familiar water source to stop and rest.

The two deer lay curled up on the ground, their bodies covered in a layer of snow. Tired and hungry, the roar of the storm drowned out all other sounds. When a rope looped around one deer's neck, it didn't even struggle at first.

The rope tightened around its neck, and it began to thrash wildly. The other deer suddenly snapped out of its stupor, staggered to its feet to flee.

But it was too late.

With the precision Qing Xuan had honed through daily practice with his slingshot, how could two dwarf deer that had let their guard down possibly dodge him? When four figures emerged from the snowy mist, it marked the end of this silent hunt.

They kept the bloody scene from Zhao Xiaobao's eyes, who was curled up in the basket. After they carried the two dead deer to a patch of dense forest and stopped, Zhao Xiaobao was lifted out of the basket. When she saw the two half-frozen dwarf deer lying on the ground, she clapped her little hands happily and praised her dad and big brothers for being so amazing.

"Xiaobao can have deer meat again," Zhao Dashan said, brushing the snow off his little sister's felt hat.

The snow showed no sign of letting up; in fact, it was coming down even harder. Suppressing his worry, he steadied his resolve and said, "I don't think we'll find a good place to stay tonight. The snow is too heavy; we probably can't even start a fire. Dad, why don't you take Xiaobao and Qing Xuan to rest in the Immortal Land for the night? Second Brother and I will keep watch outside."

The two brothers were strong and full of energy; they could tough it out for one night.

"Big Brother is right. Let Xiaobao take you and Qing Xuan inside," Zhao Ertian said, looking around. "We'll dig a snow cave to get through the night. When you go in, just pour us some hot water."

The idea of digging a snow cave came from Qing Xuan.

The weather was too harsh. Along the way, they had been so focused on finding the fugitives' hideout that they were also constantly searching for a cave to shelter in. But whether it was bad luck or the lay of the land, the caves they found weren't suitable to stay in. Even Xiaobao kept saying she didn't want to stay there.

They dared not explore further, with their hearts in their throats, guessing that deep in the caves, there might be hibernating predators.

They didn't dare to disturb them, let alone provoke them, so the family quickly fled.

Halfway through their escape, they came across the two deer.

Old Man Zhao didn't say anything, just looked at the stream not far away. The surface had frozen over, and the blizzard had buried their footprints, leaving no trace of anything else to be found.

In a strange and dangerous place, with their plans thrown into chaos by the sudden blizzard, he felt anxious, uneasy, and even a little regretful. Had he been too bold this time? How could he have dared to push deeper into the mountains in a blizzard? Why hadn't he turned back?

Thinking of the hungry villagers down below, and his wife who would probably be unable to sleep from worry, he fretted over whether their worn-out old winter coats could stand this storm, and whether this weather would delay their return home.

His mind was in turmoil, but his face barely showed it. Zhao Dashan didn't realize his father was so anxious. Seeing him quiet, he continued to urge, "We can handle it. But Xiaobao can't. Dad, rest assured. Second Brother and I will dig a snow cave right now and promise not to go anywhere. When you come out tomorrow morning, you'll see us first thing in the morning."

"Who's worried about you!" Old Man Zhao snapped, annoyed by his nagging. His gaze fell on the two stiff deer on the ground, and he felt he had been worrying over nothing. Regret? If they didn't come into the mountains, how could they hunt? A few rabbits and pheasants wouldn't help—two villages had hundreds of mouths to feed.

Without a proper excuse, they couldn't just give out grain. All those faces—those dirty, skinny, obedient kids...

He took a deep breath, made up his mind. Since it had come to this, he might as well take a gamble!

With Xiaobao along, their luck couldn't be that bad.

He looked at the stream, then crouched down to meet his daughter's innocent eyes. "Xiaobao, point a direction. I'll follow your lead."

Zhao Xiaobao tilted her head, not understanding why her dad wanted her to point. But she was very obedient. When Dad told her to point, she raised her hand and said, "Dad, how about there?"

It was just a random point, but Old Man Zhao believed it. He nodded and said, "Alright, why not? That direction it is."

He turned and called to the eldest and second sons to carry the deer carcasses. Qing Xuan packed up the rope and, without a word, helped lift Zhao Xiaobao into the basket.

Zhao Dashan didn't dare to ask more. He seemed to understand something. He glanced sideways at the two big knives wrapped in cloth strips sticking out of the basket, bit the inside of his cheek, and followed closely.

Dad was a tough talker with a soft heart. Bringing four children into the mountains this time, with the blizzard raging, the Immortal Land could only hold two at a time. The remaining two were like the deer lying by the stream—once danger came, they would have no chance to escape slaughter.

Unable to find a cave, he was gambling on finding a house to shelter in.

...

Living near water, following a winding stream, trying to rely on luck to find a hunter's cabin or a fugitive's hideout was no easy task.

But in this world, there are always lucky children who step in manure and find gold, pull up weeds and uncover ginseng, and are born with an Immortal Land. She pointed randomly, and her dad and brothers blindly trusted her, charging in that direction through the darkness.

On the pitch-black snowy night, they couldn't see the road beneath them, couldn't hear the sounds around them, but a flickering, dim light shone like a beacon, illuminating hope.

After walking for who knows how long, their legs nearly frozen, their minds numb from the wind, when they saw that source of light, Zhao Dashan seemed to wake from a dream. Dazed at first, he then couldn't help shouting, "Dad! Dad! Do you see that?!"

"I see it! I see it!" Old Man Zhao called back repeatedly. He was getting on in years, carrying his chubby daughter all the way, and was also exhausted. Seeing that light was as thrilling as seeing smoke rising from his ancestral grave. "Keep your voice down!"

"Alright, alright, alright," Zhao Dashan quickly lowered his voice.

About halfway there, Qing Xuan was already hoisted onto Zhao Ertian's back. With the snow piled deep, no matter how skilled the boy might be, his legs were still too short—making walking a real struggle. Feeling Qing Xuan squirming to get down, not wanting to weigh his second brother down, he said, "Brother, I can walk this part on my own."

"You sure you can handle it?" Zhao Ertian asked, unconvinced.

"Yes!" Qing Xuan would never say no.

"Eldest, second..." Old Zhao, looking in that direction, suddenly spoke up, "I'm gonna wake Xiaobao. You two head to the Immortal Land."

"...Huh?" Zhao Dashan thought he'd heard wrong, the excitement still on his face as he whipped around in disbelief, "Pa, what'd you say? Who's going to the Immortal Land??"

"You and Ertian." Old Zhao set down the basket, bent down and scooped up his daughter, who was curled up in the blankets. After softly waking her, he looked at his two sons, "You two are built like oxen—anyone'd get spooked just lookin' at you. Especially out here in the deep woods with all this snow. If we're lookin' to bunk somewhere, we can't spook the folks inside."

Otherwise, we won't even get past the door.

"Qing Xuan, are you afraid?" Ignoring his sons' loud objections, Old Zhao turned to Qing Xuan.

Qing Xuan kinda caught on to what the old man meant and shook his head softly, "Not afraid."

Big brother and second brother were big, burly guys—the kind that made people nervous just lookin' at 'em. He was different, though. His age was obvious—to strangers, anyway, he looked like a scrawny kid you could boot three feet, nothin' to be scared of.

An old man and a kid knockin' on a door in a snowstorm—the odds'd be a lot better.

The Zhao brothers were dead set against it.

Old Zhao patiently explained this and that, saying if they happened to stumble onto a fugitive's den, they could clean it up in one go and head down the mountain right after—they had to keep the big picture in mind. He talked until his mouth was dry, but these two stubborn fools just craned their necks and wouldn't budge.

"Pa, you take second and Xiaobao to the Immortal Land—me and Qing Xuan can handle it as a pair!"

"Pa, you take big brother and Xiaobao to the Immortal Land—me and Qing Xuan know each other better; we can pull off a look-based plan."

"How are you two 'closer'?" Zhao Dashan wasn't having it, "We're all brothers—since when do we rank who's more kin?"

"Big brother, that's not what I meant..."

"Then what did you mean!"

"Enough! What're you yapping about? What're you making a racket for? Gotta stir up noise to feel good?!" Old Zhao cut them off with a dark face, and his darling little cotton-padded jacket came through, without a word sending the two brothers whose bickering hurt her ears into the Immortal Land.

The place went quiet.

"Xiaobao, take out one deer and half a bag of grain, then go with your brothers to the Immor..." Before he could finish, two chubby little arms wrapped tight around his neck. Zhao Xiaobao made it clear she'd rather stick with her dad.

"Xiaobao slept the whole way, so I'm not sleepy at all now." Zhao Xiaobao pouted.

Old Zhao wasn't happy. It wasn't safe outside, and he didn't want his daughter taking risks. "Good girl, listen—if you can't sleep, go to the orchard and grab some fruit. I recall the sugarcane we planted is big and thick. Have your big brother cut you one. Sit in the yard and gnaw on it while playing with Blackie."

Zhao Xiaobao didn't say a word, just held on tight.

Old Zhao was stuck. He mulled it over, then finally had to say, "If danger comes, and Pa tells you to go to the Immortal Land, you go right away."

Only then did Zhao Xiaobao nod.

She was young, but no fool. Only if she stayed outside could she call big brother and second brother out to help if real trouble hit.

No need for more instructions—Qing Xuan seemed to already know the parts they'd play. While father and daughter whispered, he first hoisted the grain sack into the basket, then tied the deer on top with a hemp rope, and wedged the wrapped broadswords into the gaps at the edges.

He shouldered the basket, glanced at Zhao Xiaobao bundled in an old quilt in her uncle's arms with just her face peeking out, and saw her working hard to fake being sick. The corner of his mouth twitched.

Three pairs of tracks were swallowed by the wind and snow, leaving only two sets of footprints—one deep, one shallow.

The old man, holding the flushed-cheeked girl, led the stumbling, bedraggled boy, trudging with difficulty toward that faint glow of light.

A deep mountain compound in a remote spot—its solid walls could keep wild beasts out from the outside, and from the inside, could trap a woman trying to escape.

Candlelight flickered, casting the shadows of two tangled figures.

Desperate sobs rang out in that cramped space—the thrashing and fighting against the attacker, the pitiful cries for help to those outside the door, the heartache and sorrow of being trapped in despair—all of it made one's soul shudder.

"Thump, thump, thump."

A knock at the door.