The Voyage In The Blizzard - Chapter 32
Leaning over the five ornamental stones, Ju Long straightened his scarf on his face and nodding approvingly said, “Good job guys.”
“Take it and leave. We did what you have asked, and now you too, keep your word.” Longwei said nervously.
Finally leaving behind the rocky mountains and the burnt forest, they stood at the foot of the mountain on which their clan was located.
Throwing a surprised look at Longwei’s torn pants and the lack of sleeves on Lei’s shirt, Ju Long could not remain silent this time. “And I see you haven’t wasted your time.”
“Ju Long. It’s time for us to go. Keep your word. We don’t owe you anything and you too..” with cold eyes and voice, Lei said, throwing his backpack behind his back.
Ju Long reluctantly looked around and then turned his gaze back to the rocks that were causing the snow beneath them to melt, revealing brown earth.
“Well, it was good to meet you Longwei.” he said stretching out his hand. To which Longwei did not answer anything, and ignored his gesture, he simply stepped aside.
Lei once again threw him a serious, but this time full of menacing danger and warning gaze and went towards the path that led directly to the mountain.
“Good luck to you two!” he shouted after them, but they were already far away.
After that incident on the rocky mountains, none of them dared to speak to each other. A strange silence hung between them, preventing them from thinking properly.
Pretending that there weren’t those three words that Longwei have said, pretending that there was nothing, but all that was, was an ordinary day that was no different from other days.
Listening to the whistle of the wind, they both kept that night deep in their hearts as if they were afraid to spoil it with any words. One word, and everything that was between their souls could turn into something that would make them nothing else but only strangers who felt love for only a fraction of a second.
After the forest, after the rocky mountains, here, on the top of the mountain, seemed new. And the feeling of cold but gentle snow also seemed pleasant after the scorching air.
Tree by tree, stones by stones, the road that led straight up seemed not so hard and long.
It was only occasionally that Longwei felt a slight pain in his leg. And with every step when they approached the village, he began to think about what he would say when everyone saw them in this state. Tired, incomprehensible, in torn clothes, with a wound.
And when they reached the gate, Longwei immediately noticed Baofeng-Xue, who noticing them, screamed and almost fell off the narrow board on which he was training his balance.
“Brother Longwei!” Quickly running to the gate Baofeng-Xue grabbing his hand exclaimed, “What happened? Master, where have you been all these days?”
“We … We …” stammering, Longwei did not know what to say.
“Xing Fu should have warned you that I needed some help from Longwei.” Lei answered without looking at them. And on that word, he just went towards his house.
Following him with his gaze, Longwei suddenly felt a strong pain in his leg and fell to the ground.
“You’re hurt! Guys! Help me!” shouted Baofeng-Xue and several guys ran out of the houses and rushed in their direction.
Noticing familiar faces among them, Longwei smiled and said through the pain, “I’m fine.”
Throwing him on his back, Delun said something in an orderly tone, but Longwei did not hear. Plunging into a maelstrom of unconsciousness, he mentally whispered, “Lei.”
Having lost track of time, not knowing how many days had passed since he left the village, images which were difficult to put together quickly flashed through Longwei’s head.
Yue-Liang, wooden figures, books, dragons, Lei, warmth, all this created a whole vortex of memory, a vortex that carried him away from here.
A soft pillow soaked with winter freshness and the aroma of freshly baked buns hit Longwei’s nose, slowly opening his eyes, he immediately saw Baofeng-Xue who put both hands under his chin and was peacefully sleeping on the chair.
There was no one in the room. There was a single candle burning in the corner. The wooden ceiling creaked sometimes from the weight of the snow that had collected on the roof. Steam was coming out of a small cup at the head of the bed.
While trying to get up quietly, Longwei removed the blanket from himself and saw that his leg was well bandaged. Reaching for the water from which steam was still coming, he accidentally dropped the spoon that was lying near the cup. The iron spoon fell noisily to the bare floor.
Opening his eyes, Baofeng-Xue immediately jumped up and took Longwei under his armpits and said, “Don’t move so abruptly. Your wound may bleed.”
“How long have I slept?”
“Almost all day. You came early in the morning, so yeah, all day. It’s night now.”
“Where is everyone?”
“On the training field. With the return of the teacher, everyone missed training so much that they decided to spend the whole night there.”
“Why are you here?”
“Master Lei allowed me to sit next to you.”
Longwei smiled slightly, but immediately removing that smile from his face said, “I’m fine. You can go about your business. There is nothing to babysit me for.”
Helping him to lie back, Baofeng-Xue went to a small table where there was a candle, taking it back to Longwei, his face was worried and full of questions.
Placing the candle on the nightstand near Longwei, he pulled the chair closer. His surprised eyes rested on Longway.
“Brother Longwei, tell me what’s going on.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I can see that something is bothering you. And since you came here.” Touching Longwei’s cold hand, Baofeng-Xue said with tender voice, “You can tell me everything. I am your brother, I will listen to you.”
Longwei said, smiling nervously, “I have nothing to tell you.”
“Ever since you came here, everything has become different. I don’t know, maybe it seems to me, but I have a feeling that even Master Lei has become different. He has become much different. And the head of the clan too. It seems to me that Xing Fu found you and brought you here on purpose.” Leaning towards Longwei, Baofeng-Xue looked towards the door and then whispered, “I think he is up to something.”
“Who? Xing Fu? And where did you get that?”
Moving even closer, Baofeng -Xue whispered even more quietly, “Recently, when I was passing by his house, I accidentally overheard a conversation between Xing Fu and someone else, his voice was unfamiliar to me, but this voice was unpleasant. I did not eavesdrop on purpose, but what I heard was your name. They were talking about you. What exactly I did not understand, but I clearly and several times heard your name in their conversation. ”
“Why would the head of the clan talk about a simple soldier?! You probably misheard it.” said Longwei putting his head on the pillow.
“Brother Longwei, for some reason I think …” he wanted to say, but then everyone else rushed into the room and Delun’s loud voice filled everything with his liveliness.
“Dear Longwei! You know how to get into all sorts of adventures! Tell me what happened this time? Where did you get such a wound? Did you fight the dragon?”
Shielding Longwei from everyone, Baofeng-Xue growled angrily, “Don’t bother him. He needs a rest.”
“Luckily for you Longwei. And when one of us gets wounds from a fight, no one cares about us that much. And you know, even Xing Fu himself asked the teacher how you were doing.” Eagle added, rubbing his palms together.
“Xing Fu asked about me?” Longwei asked sharply as he rose from the bed. “I’m fine Brother Xue.” he said, removing Xue’s hand.
Jumping onto his bed, Delun took out an apple and, starting to eat it, said, “Yes. He himself came while we were training. When he approached the teacher, he asked about you and he looked rather disturbing.”
“Get off his bed. You’re all dirty.” said Xiaoli.
“Tell me, where were you all the same? I know that Yue-Liang called you to his clan and then what? Why did teacher Lei suddenly leave everything so abruptly and why did he ran somewhere in such a rush?” asked Eagle, snatching the apple from Delun’s hands.
Longwei, not knowing what to say, turned to the window, looking towards Lei’s house, he said, “Master Lei just needed my help.”
“Why yours? And what kind of help?”
Interrupting them, Xiaoli exclaimed loudly, “Enough!” Before, behaving quietly and gracefully, the most handsome guy in the village, Xiaoli, never raising his voice, suddenly became like everyone else. Longwei, noticing that he had changed a lot, became a little rougher and more courageous than before, was surprised that how much time had passed. Although in truth, only a few days have passed since he was gone.
Frozen in place, everyone fixed their gaze on Xiaoli.
“What is it with you, little Xiaoli? Is it really you?” someone asked.
Xiaoli looked at Longwei, his beautiful eyes suddenly seemed different from what they were before. Noticing this, Longwei realized that Xiaoli knew something. About him and Lei.
“What right do you have to break into someone else’s life like this. Longwei is not obliged to report to you. The head of the clan made it clear to everyone that Master Lei needed Longwei’s skill on the battlefield. What else do you want to know?” Saying this, Xiaoli quickly left the house slamming the door behind him.
“What’s the matter with him?” a guy named Enlai asked in surprise.
Grabbing the fur mantle, Longwei followed Xiaoli, thus making everyone even more surprised.
It was night outside. Soft light came from small windows. A small fire burned in the middle of the courtyard around which several logs lay.
Seeing Xiaoli sitting by the fire, Longwei approached him.
Snow did not fall at all that night. It was quiet and calm.
Sitting next to him, Longwei said, “How rare it is when we have such a good weather.”
“I know what’s going on between you and the teacher.” said Xiaoli looking at the flames of the fire.
Feeling his heart stop, Longwei whispered, “You know.” Having said this word with difficulty, his injured leg began to hurt badly again.
“But don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.”
Turning towards him, Xiaoli’s eyes suddenly filled with tears. Lowering his head, he quietly said through the pain in his voice, “Once, I was like you too.”
Longwei silently waited for the continuation. His heart was beating like crazy.
Wiping away tears, Xiaoli raised his head to the sky, his beautiful face took on a sad shade, and it was clear that in this soul, he kept some kind of tragedy.
“Once, I was in love. In love with one person. Our love adorned our lives. It warmed us, making us dream about the impossible. And I thought it would always be so. I did not know that here, the attitude to this kind of things is not kind. I still don’t know why. What’s wrong with loving? Love makes us weaker, yes. But at the same time it gives us a lot of strength. And with this power, a person can move mountains. ” After a moment’s silence, he stretched out his hand towards the fire. A long strand of hair fluttered slightly in the wind. “Our love was destined to stop. To hide it deep in our souls and to keep it safe, the person I loved sacrificed himself. He died at the hands of those monsters. He became a decoy in exchange for my safety.”
Noticing that Xiaoli was trembling slightly, Longwei took off his mantle and covered him with it. His right hand stopped at his back, and slightly embracing him, he said, “In one poem, I read that love is a mystery, and the one who unravels this mystery will understand everything or will be sad for forever.”
“Well it is true.” Taking his hand, Xiaoli looked into his eyes and gently whispered, “I hope that you and Master Lei will learn something better than sadness.”
After absorbing these words into his heart, Longwei felt warmth in his soul. The sun reappeared in his thoughts. “But how did you know about us?”
“It was obvious. Love is an ordinary thing that is not at all difficult to understand.” Xiaoli replied and playfully pushed Longwei aside.