The Voyage In The Blizzard - Chapter 37
Back in the house, Baofeng-Xue walked over to Longwei’s bed on which a blanket lay. After brushing it off and making sure that Longwei was not here, he quickly walked back out.
Longwei, meanwhile, having climbed a tree, was sitting chewing almonds. Before his gaze were all the trees of the forest and behind them the white steppe that had no end. The scent of pine trees had a beneficial effect and created a blush on his face. And only from time to time a cold wind blew over him, trying to throw him to the ground.
Much higher from the ground, he looked down and saw Xiaoli. Trying not to be noticed, Longwei froze, but Xiaoli, hearing the squeak of a branch, looked up and their eyes met.
“What are you doing over there?” he asked.
“What are you doing here? It’s time for you to go to training?”
“I decided to take a break.. After the ice field, my whole body still aches.”
“Aren’t you afraid that the teacher will punish you?”
“Even if he punishes, it will be running. And I run well.” Xiaoli answered and, going up to the tree, lifted up his sleeves and, throwing his leg, climbed the first branch.
“Careful. Don’t fall.” Longwei said lazily.
Nimbly leaving a few branches behind him, Xiaoli held out his hand, “Help me a little.”
Sitting comfortably opposite Longwei, Xiaoli looked around him, his handsome face took on a strange expression. These were joy and sadness and discontent. Longwei lightly touched his nose and asked, “What is happening to you these days? Everyone just says that you have changed.”
Xiaoli stared at him and replied, “Now, they are talking more about you. Longwei, you should be careful. If teacher Lei is dear to you, then ignore him as much as possible.”
With a sigh, Longwei replied, “Whether he is dear to me or not. It doesn’t matter anymore. And besides, there are so many dangers around, and I think it would be selfish to think of such an ordinary thing.”
Xiaoli looked at him thoughtfully. With one finger touching the lace of his boot, he lowered his eyes, the long legs were covered with snow. “In these parts, there are few people you can talk to like that. There are few people with whom you can share your soul. Here, people have completely forgotten what a soul is. I’m glad I can talk to you.”
“In this world, people have forgotten about the moments when you just need to sit down and peer at the moment. Everyone is always in a hurry, thinking a lot, or not thinking at all. There is a lot of vanity, but there is not enough soul.”
Xiaoli raised his head and stretched out his hand forward and said with a certain joy in his big eyes, “Let’s become good friends between whom there will be only sincere conversations.”
After shaking his cold hand, Longwei made a sound of agreement with a slight smile, and at that moment, Baofeng-Xue’s voice came from below.
“Hey there you are! What are you doing?”
“Brother Xue, don’t tell me that you came to pick us up for training? We decided to skip it today.” Longwei said.
Xue waved his hand and took a steps forward into the depths of the forest. To which Longwei shouted, “The training ground is on the other side! Where are you going?”
“If you sit in such a prominent place, they will easily see you. Follow me.”
“And where are you going?”
Without looking back, Xue said loudly, “If you want to skip training, follow me. I know one interesting place.”
Quickly descending to the ground, Longwei and Xiaoli followed the distant figure of Brother Xue.
Walking along a narrow path through densely spaced small trees, Longwei brushing off thorny branches pushed Baofeng-Xue and angrily said, “And where are you taking us? What is this road?”
Thorny short branches entangled in Xiaoli’s hair prevented him from moving on. “These trees…” he muttered.
“Just follow me.” Baofeng-Xue responded with a cold voice. “We’ll be there soon.”
“I wish I was in training.” added Xiaoli, freeing himself from the branches.
“Well, go now. No one is holding you.”
“Brother Xue, what’s wrong with you? You’ve been kind of annoyed lately. Both of you. You sometimes scare me. You are brother Xue, you have always been so correct and sometimes strict, but you are Xiaoli, gentle and calm Xiaoli, the very grace in the flesh. Why did you become so sharp and nervous?” Longwei asked, wrapping his arms around their necks and hugging them in a friendly manner.
“It’s time to change.” Xiaoli replied shortly.
And without noticing it, they left a thorny row of trees behind and now there was a high stone rock in front of them.
“Wow. And what is this place? I’ve never seen such a strange rock. Like a wall.” Longwei said in amazement.
“Let’s go before they spot us.” grabbing their hands Xue led them towards a small stone lying directly in front of the rock.
Putting his hand on the stone, Xue said, “Look.” Slightly pressing on the stone, it easily fell into the ground and at the same second a crack was formed in the rock.
“This mechanism was invented by the father of the teacher Lei. You press on the stone and thereby raise the stone that closes the passage between the rock. It’s simple.”
“And what is behind this rock?”
“Come on and see.”
Having passed through the rock, a large stone fell back to its original place, thereby closing the entrance.
“A dangerous mechanism. Very dangerous.”
“It works like that on purpose. It’s for protection.”
Standing on a small snowy field, around which high rocks towered, Longwei looked around but saw nothing.
“What kind of place is it?”
Bao Fengxue, heading towards the opposite rock, simply waved his hand.
“For some reason, I get scared.” whispered Longwei.
And again, standing face to face to the gray rock, Baofeng-Xue looked at them with a sly smile and, touching the rock, immediately disappeared.
“Where has he disappeared to?!”
“Brother Xue!”
Fearfully grabbing the sword, Xiaoli said, “Is he…”
“Here I am. Just touch the rock.” The voice was heard somewhere in the distance.
“Where are you?” shouting, Longwei nevertheless touched the rock and instantly disappeared.
Once on the other side of the rock, Longwei felt a little dizzy. “What was it?”
“It’s called a quick jump.” replied Xue. “This rock can sense your intentions. If they are good, the rock will make the transition, and if not, then you will be stuck here until the guards come.”
“Let me guess, it was also invented by someone who is related to Lei?” Longwei asked, still feeling dizzy.
“His great-grandfather. They say he was a magician.”
“Well, of course.”
“And where is Xiaoli? He taking a long time. Or does he have evil intentions?!” laughing said Longwei and Xiaoli immediately appeared in front of them.
“Now let’s go.”
“But where are you taking us? Are there really still many such transitions and checks for intention ahead?”
“We are in place.”
Small wooden houses, standing in a row, stretched along the spacious field, surprisingly, on which there was no snow.
There was smoke from chimneys and at times you could hear someone’s voices in the distance. Swings, gazebos and bonfire sites were located around the houses.
But despite the presence of houses, there was no one around.
“What kind of place is it?”
“There is no snow here. And it is much warmer here.” noticed Xiaoli looking at the ground under his feet. “How long have I not seen … Wait a minute!” he cried out. Widening his eyes and making a surprised, frightened look, he loudly, almost shouted, “This is a place! I grew up here!”
“What? What are you talking about?”
With joy in his eyes, Xiaoli grabbed Baofeng-Xue’s hand. “This is the place! Here, brother Xue, I grew up here as a child. More precisely, not here, but a little further. But I remember this place.”
“Yes. And I spent several months here too.” added Baofeng-Xue.
Longwei scratching his head said, “So it means a little further and there is a place where future soldiers grow up. And how could you forget about such a cozy place?”
“Not many people remember their childhood.” Xue said with sadness in his voice. “And besides, the village where the future soldiers are being trained is over those hills. It’s just a threshold.”
With a happy smile, Xiaoli almost burst into tears and said, “I remember running here although running was not allowed. And I remember our teacher. He always spoiled us with cookies and allowed us to play in our free time.”
Looking silently at the houses, Longwei put his hand on Xue’s shoulder. The warm wind played lightly on his hair. “Why did you bring us here?” he asked.
“I have brought you to help.” pulling them by the hands, Baofeng – Xue led them out into an open clearing strewn with strange small stones. The warm air, which, in Longwei’s opinion, came from the stones with dragon fire, pleasantly enveloped them from all sides.
Longwei rubbing his hands together looked around the clearing. “So why are we here?”
“Here’s why.” Xue said pointing towards a small wooden house with a flat roof.
Going inside and noticing a round large lump of white wool that was lying right at the entrance Longwei, covering his nose from the pungent and smell, said, “What is this strange smell? And what is it?”
Slightly pushing the hairball lying in the path, Longwei screamed loudly and climbed into a chair near them.
A white ball of wool moving suddenly turned out to be not wool at all, but a living creature. Pulling out four short hooves, the creature turned in their direction and a small round head with expressive, black eyes looked somewhere ahead and, making a strange dull sound, slowly walked away.
Long white ears that looked like rabbit ears flinched and a long tail brushed away the apple lying on the way. The round and fluffy body of the animal stretched after sleep and the snow-white coat became even fluffier.
The creature itself strongly resembled a snowball.
“What is this creature?” Xiaoli asked standing behind Baofeng-Xue.
“This, this is a Snowball. An animal thanks to which we walk in warmth.” Longwei replied remembering the book he had read about these creatures.
“So this is its wool, our clothes are made from its wool?” asked Xiaoli in surprise while holding onto Xue.
“That’s right. I read that people have used this creature’s wool for a long time. And thanks to them, everyone survived.”
Baofeng-Xue pointed with his head in the direction the creature had gone and said, “That’s why we are here. Come on, I’ll show you something.”
Moving further inside the house, Xue opened the door to the courtyard where hundreds of such creatures lay. Gathering their hooves under them and laying their heads on the ground, their eyes were closed and at times the small round noses flinched.
Ignoring the strangers, they continued to sleep peacefully until Xiaoli bumped into one of them.
The creature lazily raised its head and looked from head to toe at Xiaoli and went back to sleep.
Baofeng-Xue sat down directly on the ground and took a long comb and gently stroked the animal. It opened its eyes and began to look at him.
“Let’s get started. Come on, help.” he said pointing to the basket of combs.
“I won’t comb them.” Xiaoli said stepping aside.
“What are you afraid of?” Longwei asked laughing.
“They have a frightening look.” Xiaoli answered quickly and climbed onto a wooden box.
Sitting carefully next to one of the beings, Longwei laid the animal’s head on his lap and tenderly stroking the soft fur and said, “These creatures have a high intelligence. You can tell by their gaze. Their gaze is full of thoughts, wisdom and kindness. I always wanted to see this animal. And finally we met. ” Starting to comb, the fur, like a snowfall, began to whirl around falling to the ground. Turning over on its back, the animal made a quiet sound and, closing its eyes, began to continue sleeping.
With one touch of the comb, Longwei had already collected a basket of wool. Looking at all the other snowballs, he said, “How long have you been coming here, brother Xue?”
“When there is chaos in my head, I come here to calm my thoughts. Combing these animals helps me calm down and see things in a new way. It’s a kind of meditation.” he answered by combing the gray-furred animal.
“It’s really soothing. And it’s also warm here. It’s unusual that there is no snow on the ground.” Longwei said.
“Why does this Snowball keep looking at me.” Xiaoli said with displeasure.
Longwei moved closer to Xue. From the very beginning, noticing that something was bothering Baofeng-Xue, Longwei looked at his obsessed eyes and at the way his bushy eyebrows gathered in tenseness nevertheless he asked, “Are you all right?
Without looking at him, Xue said through the flying fur in all directions, “You know that you are like a brother to me.” It was not a question at all, but rather a reminder before what he was going to say next.
“And you are like a brother to me too.”
Stopping, Baofeng-Xue turned to him. Taking the fur off his face, he said, “Be careful Longwei. Your name is now widely known. Therefore, rumors began to circulate about you.”
“What rumors?” Longwei asked warily, not showing signs of concern.
Looking in the direction of Xiaoli and making sure that he did not hear, Xue bent down and whispered, “Everyone thinks that something strange is happening between you and the teacher. I know this cannot be, but for some reason everyone is seriously sure that you and Teacher Lei … ”
Interrupting him, Longwei said, laughing, “What nonsense. Me and the teacher, what could be between us? I am afraid of him every time I see him.”
“I worry about you more than myself. Brother Longwei, remember once and for all, this world on the mountains is not the world from your books.”
After saying this, Baofeng-Xue, as if nothing had happened, began to reproach Xiaoli for being so cowardly and afraid of harmless cute and fluffy creatures.
Throwing a whole mountain of wool at him, thereby forcing him to go down Baofeng-Xue shouted, “What kind of soldier you are if you are even scared of a simple Snowball.”
Xiaoli grabbed a comb and wanted to throw it at Xue, but he stopped.
“So you want to fight!” exclaiming Baofeng-Xue, grabbing Xiaoli by the leg threw him onto a pile of wool.
Longwei, at the sight of them lying among the wool, laughed and said, “You will scare away these snowballs like that.”
“Hey you! What are you doing here?” suddenly someone asked. Longwei turned and saw an elderly man with long white hair. “Who you are?” he asked with horror looking at Xiaoli and Xue, who had already made a mess all over the courtyard. “Hey you, be careful. You scared all my animals!” cried the old man waving his stick.
Longwei stood up and bowed slightly and said, “Excuse us, we just decided to help.”
Looking at him from head to toe, the old man furrowed his brows and straightened his beard and said, “Are you Lei’s disciples?”
“Yes.”
Thinking, and then abruptly changing his displeased expression to a more friendly one, he approached Longwei. He was much smaller in stature, and in appearance he was already many years old, but at the same time one could see the strength and energy in him.
“I know your teacher. I know very well. When you go back to your village, tell him that he may not come anymore. I don’t want to see him. And tell him that in my memory he is an ill-mannered boy with a very arrogant character. Say so.” saying this the old man angrily threw the stick aside.
Longwei asked with surprise on his face, “Sorry to ask, but who are you, who are you to teacher?”
At first, the old man did not want to answer, throwing another glance at Longwei, he replied, “I am his grandfather.” And on the word “grandfather” he raised his voice and gave this word a certain tone.
“Grandfather?” Longwei asked recalling what Lei had said. And according to his stories, his grandfather died long ago. “But the teacher’s grandfather …” he wanted to say, but the old man grabbed a stick and with all his might threw it towards Xiaoli and Baofeng-Xue. “Will you stop or should I punish you? What kind of soldiers are these. Yes, this Lei has lost all his skills to train men.”
Stopping, Xue pulled off Xiaoli and took the wool off his clothes and bowed, “Excuse us.”
“It’s you! You came here again. I told you I didn’t need your help.” growled the old man. “And who are you?” he asked looking at Xiaoli who was sitting gracefully on the pile of wool. “What a face is that. And how are you going to fight beasts with such a face and such gentle hands!” he added with displeasure. “Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked Longwei who kept thinking about Lei’s words.
“Excuse us. We just decided to help you and nothing else.” said Baofeng-Xue stepping closer. “These are my friends. We study together. And we live together.” Looking at Longwei, Xue pulled on his sleeve and said, “Well then, we’ll go. This is all the wool we collected.”
“Don’t think you can walk away so easily. Who do you think will clean up this mess?! Ah!” shouted the old man grabbing another stick.
“We’ll clean it all. Don’t worry.” Baofeng-Xue pushed Xiaoli aside and began to collect all the wool in one pile. While all the creatures woke up and walked towards the exit.
The old man, making a displeased sound, entered the door that was at the very end of the wooden house.
“Hey Xue, who is this elderly man?” Longwei asked in a whisper.
“This, this is a local farmer.” he answered casually.
“He said he was teacher Lei’s grandfather, is that true?”
“Don’t believe what he says. Sometimes he can talk all sorts of nonsense. Now help me.”
Longwei asked, “So, he lied?”
“Of course. Everyone knows that Lei’s grandfather, the great dragon hunter, left this world a long time ago.”
Once again, throwing another wooden stick, the old man grumbled, “Leave now!”
“Where does he get all these sticks from?” Xiaoli asked, glancing at him.
“Excuse us again, we’ll go now. Goodbye.” said Baofeng-Xue with a bow.
The old man looked at Longwei and said angrily, “Don’t forget to tell to this shameless Lei to never come to me again.”
“Okay.” he answered, and grabbing Xiaoli and Xue by the hands led them out of the courtyard. “Are you sure he’s not the teacher’s grandfather?”
Xiaoli looked around and said, “I know the whole story of teacher Lei. Both his grandfather and father left this world a long time ago. So I think he either mixed something up or just made it up.”