The Voyage In The Blizzard - Chapter 33
“Today we are all going to the ice field. Master Lei said so.”
“To the ice field? Isn’t it too early for us to go there?”
“Be quiet.”
“Icefield, I heard that after the time spent there, the whole body begins to ache.”
“And you can hardly return from there safe and sound.”
Whispering, everyone sank into an agitated state. The dining room filled with voices that drowned out Lei’s voice. But noticing him, someone cried out, “The Teacher is here!”
Putting the spoons back, everyone looked at Lei, who was not dressed as usual. He wore a vest made of thin iron that enveloped his slender body.. Black pants with multiple straps and heavy boots. The hair was, as always, gathered in a bun that was held by an iron hairpin.
Looking around with a serious look, he fixed his gaze on Longwei, who was sitting in the corner of the table finishing his breakfast. Slightly throwing a strange look at him, he quickly looked aside. The corner of his mouth twitched a little and he said, “Finish quickly and stand in line on the field. And leave your swords.”
Having said this, he gracefully walked away with the quick but confident steps of a real lion.
Baofeng – Xue exchanged glances with the other guys and said, “So it’s true. We’re going to the ice field.”
Delun exclaimed, “Of course it’s true! Why didn’t you believe me ?!”
After drinking all the water, Longwei put down the cup and buttoning the collar of his warm waistcoat asked, “Ice field? Never heard of such place. Where is it?”
Xiaoli who was sitting next to him, resting his forehead on his palm with a dreamy look, quietly replied, “The ice field is where the soldiers are tested for stability both in body and spirit. In truth, this is ordinary ice. Only very thin ice. And it can crack in places. And all you have to do is show your fighting skills right on this thin ice. You need to become a feather, and at the same time a ferocious beast. ”
Patting him on the back, Eagle looked warily, pointed a finger at him and looked surprised.
“What happened to you Xiaoli? You’ve become kind of serious.” someone said from the crowd.
Ignoring them, Longwei moved closer to him and once again asked, “Is it possible? Jump and fight right on a thin layer of ice? And who invented that?”
“You saw the battlefield. Don’t you remember there is ice everywhere?”
“Yes, but not so subtle. And it takes an effort to break it.” Longwei said recalling the incident when he fell through the ice.
Xiaoli got up from his chair with kindness in his eyes looked at Longwei and shaking his head said, “You must be able to stand on thin ice and only then you can confidently walk through life.”
“And when did he become so wise?” Delun asked in surprise, but there was no answer.
Exactly two weeks have passed since they returned back. During this long time, Longwei’s leg healed and only a slight scratch remained, and at times, if he touched it, he could feel distant pain. But overall, he could now run and fight as usual.
All these two weeks, everyone, as always, was busy with the most ordinary things. Those were fights with each other, the art of wielding a sword, long lectures on how to survive in different conditions, running without rest until the evening and, of course, night gatherings by the fireplace that lasted quite a bit because everyone just fell asleep after so busy day.
Finally getting used to the sword, Longwei managed to show his brilliant swordsmanship more than once, leaving everyone with their mouths open in surprise. After all, before, no one taught him this. But as he said, he taught himself everything while he lived away from everyone.
Entering into a duel with him, each soldier of the whole clan felt the spawn. No one could defeat the silver sword that was found in the forest, and the owner of which is still unknown.
Watching how Longwei was agile, dodging blows, repelling the enemy’s sword with his sword, Lei’s breath caught in and at such moments he was ready to forget about their promise to each other. Namely, that upon arrival, they will no longer endanger each other and will behave like a student and a teacher.
But knowing about all this, and worrying about the future of such a young and talented soldier, Lei destroyed such thoughts and returned to the long and tedious training that he did along with the others.
Running more circles than all, lifting more weights, he thereby tried to forget about everything. Forget about the person who has become so dear and close for him in such a short period of time. And it was difficult to forget him, especially when this man flashed before his tired, hopeful eyes every day.
Trying not to look at each other, they both stood in front of each other, holding their breath as if they were waiting for who and when would be the first to break this promise to pieces and forget about everything. But to take the risk, none of them wanted to.
Making circles in the snow with his foot, Lei, sitting on a stump, said loudly, “Today you must show me everything that I have taught you. You must show me the strength of your spirit and the lightness of your thoughts. You must show me your ability to control your body, your desires. And dreams. You must show me that you are able to protect your life and the lives of those who will live in the future.” Sitting in a graceful pose, Lei involuntarily wanted to look at Longwei, but immediately stopping himself, he simply directed his gaze to the snow. “Today, those who can show and prove all this to me will be rewarded. And those who cannot, those who will be defeated and lose this battle to the cold ice, they will be punished. Everything is clear?!”
“Yes Master!” all in one voice exclaimed and simultaneously turning to the right in one perfect line went forward.
Without breaking the line, everyone followed the tall figure of Lei, who suddenly stopped at the very end of the forest, suddenly raised his hand as a sign that they needed to stop.
“What else happened?” muttered someone behind.
Brushing the snow off his fur cap that never falls off his head, Eagle said, “Probably there are soldiers of the second or third clan. Or all together.”
“If only they were the soldiers of the third clan. I just hate the second clan.” nervously, jumping said Delun.
“Hush. Don’t make noise.” someone added.
Longwei stretching out his head, trying to make out something at the end of the forest, he immediately noticed a very familiar figure that stood near Lei.
Noticing the abrupt change in Longwei’s mood, Baofeng-Xue asked, “Did you recognize someone?”
At that moment Lei waved his hand and everyone with quick steps from curiosity went in his direction.
The closer they got, the more Longwei convinced himself that the young man standing next to Lei was Yue – Liang.
“These are the soldiers of the third clan. How lucky. We can show them our skills.”
“Yes, if you don’t fall through the ice.” someone whispered.
Longwei without taking his eyes off Yue – Liang, without noticing it, felt joy at the sight of him. Smiling, he wanted to reach out and playfully push him straight into the snowdrift that was next to him, but then Lei, interrupting his joy, said, “Today you have to show yourself in the best light. Do not dishonor our clan.”
“Yes Master!”
Finally turning around, Yue – Liang immediately fixed his gaze on Longwei, smiled radiantly and made a grimace pointing at Lei with his finger. Longwei laughed loudly, unable to hold his laughter.
“Stop wasting time.” Lei said and walked away. Everyone followed him, only Longwei left and approached Yue – Liang and looked at him a little shyly.
When Lei and everyone else were away, Yue Liang put his hand on his shoulder and exhaled, “I am so afraid of your teacher. His eyes are terrifying, and it feels like his soul is colder than this winter.”
Longwei replied, “If you get to know him better, then he is not so intimidating. ” And then, taking advantage of the moment, Longwei pushed him with all his might into a snowdrift and Yue Liang fell. A thick layer of snow fell on his head, covering him completely. Laughing, Longwei wanted to shower him even more with snow, but when he heard Lei’s rough voice, he immediately stopped and, catching his displeased glance, said, “We have to go.” But immediately feeling Yue Liang’s cold hand on his, Longwei fell right into Yue Liang’s arms.
Looking at him through the snowflakes, Yue Liang, not letting go of his hand, said smilingly, “You thought you could just leave?!”
Being in such a close distance from each other, Longwei, remembering that any proximity can lead to punishment, quickly jumped up and held out his hand and said, “Get up.”
Continuing to lie in the snow, Yue Liang looked straight into his eyes and said, “You are strange, Longwei. Strange, but I like it.”
“Come on.”
Noticing the warm and close relationship between them, everyone watched them with surprise in their eyes.
Lei, meanwhile, was standing in the distance by a pine tree and next to him, leaning against him, was a man with short hair. From far away it was difficult to tell who he was.
“Near the teacher, this is the teacher of the third clan? Is that him?” someone whispered.
To which one of the soldiers of the third clan replied seriously and even with displeasure, “This is our Master. The master of the third clan.”
“This is the first time I’ve seen him. Is it your new teacher?”
“And when their teacher changed.”
“Everyone shut up.”
Looking at all the soldiers, whose number did not exceed thirty, Longwei noticed that the third clan had seriousness and at the same time wisdom in their eyes. Although they were the same age, they looked much older and looked more reasonable and responsible than the guys Longwei knew. Looking at Delun, who grabbed the snow and was making a ball out of it, Longwei whispered, “What are you going to do?”
“What do you think?” Swinging, Delun threw a snowball with all his might at one of the soldiers of the third clan who was taller than everyone else and whose gaze was the sternest of all.
Laughing, everyone couldn’t hold themselves. Delun, patting someone on the back, said, “Look at him. What kind of face? As if he ate something very sour.”
A tall guy in armor with a very stern look turned slowly and shook the snow off his shoulder and simply ignored Delun’s insolent laugh. The coldness on his face indicated that he was not a kind person. But what was on his heart was unknown to anyone.
“Who is he?” asked Longwei whispering to Delun. To which he loudly replied, “This is the most exemplary, most diligent and capable student of the third clan. This is Kai!”
Turning his head slightly, thus showing his displeased face, Kai made a mocking sound and returned to his position.
The soldiers behind him whispered to each other, but in particular their gazes were riveted on Longwei.
Lei returned with the teacher of the third clan, gave him a friendly look and said, “Silence!”
“Today we decided to arrange a competition for you.” said the teacher of the third clan. His demeanor was somewhat similar to the head of the second clan, that is, arrogant and licentious behavior that can irritate anyone. Having combed his already short hair back, he looked at everyone with cunningness in his eyes. He was similar in height to Lei, but his only distinguishing feature was a deep scar that stretched across his entire face, making it difficult to understand what his features were. “My name is Boqin, and I don’t think it’s worth introducing this warrior, because in all three mountains there isn’t a single person who doesn’t know him.” Smiling unpleasantly, he put his hand on Lei’s shoulder, thereby showing that the two of them are very good friends.
“I don’t like this Boqin.” Longwei said displeasedly, but immediately received a slap on the back of the head from Baofeng-Xue.
“You’re completely crazy. You broke the rule, forgetting about the sword on the first day, but now you speak your thoughts out loud.”
“Oh, come on. Master Lei won’t punish our Longwei. Just look, Lei is ready to do anything for him.” said Delun and immediately received a blow to the leg. “Brother Xue, what are you doing?”
“You there! Be quiet!” someone screamed from the crowd.
“You three!” pointing at them, Boqin came closer and noticing Longwei, he looked at him thoughtfully. “Don’t you respect your teacher?” he asked. “Talk, play with each other, Lei, I think it’s worth punishing them. Don’t you think so? You three, come over to me.”
Ignoring the other two, Boqin continued to stare at Longwei. Who, too, without taking his eyes off, with confidence, was ready to verbally rebuff this new Ju Long. But realizing that it is better not to joke with someone like him, he looked at Lei.
“You must be the legendary Longwei.” he said, making a circle around him. “Your name is very well known in our clan. You saved our Yue Liang. I knew you looked that way. Strong and smart.” he added.
Boqin stretched out his hand and wanted to touch his face, but Lei stopped him, “Your actions look strange. Stop, he is still my student.”
Smiling, Boqin shook his head. “You’re right.”
Leaving the three of them, Boqin whistling some melody, putting his hands in his pockets, left away.
Xiaoli approached from behind and whispered softly in Longwei’s ear, “He seems to like you. Be careful.”