The Voyage In The Blizzard - Chapter 55
“Are you sure that’s enough? It looks like more hair needs to be cut.” said Delun, bending over Xiaoli’s head.
“What do you want me to cut off all my hair? This is even too much. Look, now it will be noticeable that my hair is cut off.”
“Then let me cut the rest for you and then everything will be even.” Ice said laughing.
“That’s it. Stop talking. Xiaoli, go quickly. And I hope you remember what to say.”
“And don’t forget to put your right hand on the stone!”.
Xiaoli, carefully wrapping a strand of hair in a white material, put it in his breast pocket. Putting on a fur hat, he looked at everyone and silently left the house.
Delun looked after him and said, “How quickly children grow up. Baby Xiaoli is already quite an adult.”
“Maybe we should go with him?” Eagle asked.
“If you want to go then go. I’ll get ready for battle.” Baofeng-xue nervously said and taking the sword in his hands, left the house.
Finding himself alone on the field, Baofeng-Xue, swinging his sword, he was drawing invisible patterns in the air. As if dancing, moving gracefully, it was like he became part of the wind, and it seemed as if a little more and he would completely disappear in a white blizzard.
Baofeng-Xue, a warrior who had already visited the battlefield several times, who had come face to face with beasts, who had mercilessly defeated several of them, deep down blamed himself for what happened to Longwei. Blaming himself for the fact that he could not save his brother from troubles and dangers, he tormented himself every day, not giving rest to his thoughts. Punishing himself with daily workouts and running late into the night, he still continued training.
With every beast killed, Baofeng-Xue did not feel like a winner. On the contrary, he felt defeated. And all because he could not bear the responsibility of brotherly bonds.
Every day by thinking about Longwei, he gradually began to forget about himself, about who he is, what his dreams are, and what lies ahead of him. Longwei, became for him a kind of symbol of the defeat of his own ego.
Cutting through the air with the cold blade of his devoted sword, Baofeng-Xue slowly became a blizzard.
Taking advantage of the privileges of full-fledged warriors and now allowing themselves to walk at night and not follow the regime, everyone stood close to the field and watched Baofeng-Xue’s quick movements.
And only the whistle of the wind prevented them from exchanging words.
Sharing the same feelings, everyone who knew and appreciated Longwei as a brother or friend felt a longing for the old days. At times when Lei and Longwei walked on this very field, and when they could still smile and joke.
Standing closer to each other, Enlai pressing his face to Delun and Ice said, “Brother Xue does not feel sorry for himself at all. He stopped sleeping, stopped eating normally, and besides, he does not save his strength for the beasts at all.”
Brushing the snow from his eyelashes, Delun, without taking his eyes off the distant figure in the blizzard, replied, “In this world, feelings are forbidden, but no matter how you try to believe it, it is feelings that rule people.”
Eagle nodded his head with a worried expression. “It’s hard for me to watch him suffer. Longwei really was so close to him.”
“Let’s find Longwei and secretly bring him here. And then Brother Xue …”
Interrupting Ice, Delun replied sharply, “Are you an idiot?! Do you even know what Xing Fu will do if he finds out about this? This time he will definitely make Longwei die. And if the other soldiers see him, they will arrange a real massacre for him. Don’t you understand that many people hate him.”
“Brother Xue! It’s too late! Isn’t it time for you to go to bed?!” Ice asked waving his hand.
“He can’t hear you. Anyway, let’s go back to the house. Tomorrow we have a lot to do. We still need to cut off locks of hair and learn the spell.” said Delun.
After finishing a single fight with a blizzard, Baofeng-Xue fell to the ground, throwing his sword aside. Staring ahead with empty eyes, touching the snow with his hands, he suddenly heard someone’s voice that came from nowhere.
Looking around, the thought immediately occurred to Baofeng-Xue that it was Longwei. Jumping up quickly, he ran towards the houses.
It was almost impossible to see anyone through the snow, but feeling that he should not stop, Baofeng-Xue headed towards the gate.
“Longwei!”
Seeing the figure lying in the snow, Baofeng-Xue quickly ran up to him without hesitation and making sure it was Longwei, he cried out, but Longwei closed his mouth with his hand and said, “Don’t make noise. Just take me to Xing Fu.”
“Longwei, what happened?”
“Take me quickly to him.” Longwei wanted to get up, but coughing, he bent down and fell to the ground again.
“Longwei!”
Easily lifting him up, Baofeng-Xue quickly ran towards his house.
Shaking with intense chills and bending over from a paroxysmal cough, Longwei opened his eyes and through dizziness and nausea noticed people standing around him. Stretching his hand forward, through dry and bleeding lips, he said weakly, “Lei.”
“Brother Longwei, are you thirsty? Bring hot water quickly!”
After taking a few sips of water, Longwei said hoarsely, “Call Xing Fu, I need to tell him something.”
“Xing Fu?! Why do you need him? You can’t catch his eye. Better tell me what are you doing here? And what’s wrong with you?” asked Baofeng-Xue covering him with the blanket.
Grabbing his hand, Longwei raised his head, his wild eyes expressed an incomprehensible spectrum of emotion. “Brother Xue, take me to him. I must …” Bending over into a violent cough, he broke out in sweat again.
Touching his forehead, Delun exclaimed, “He has a fever!”
Dropping his head on the pillow, Longwei wanted to say something, but his weakness and desire to sleep were stronger than him.
“And what’s that?” Noticing the crumpled paper in his palm, Enlai asked. Taking the paper, he handed it to Baofeng-Xue. “You can read, look what it says.”
Not immediately understanding the handwriting, Baofeng-Xue brought the letter to the candle and said in a whisper, “It seems this … Under the ground of the highest mountain there is a box and a book is kept there. In the book, there is everything about the curse that overtook everyone many centuries ago. This book contains a prophecy which says who and how will be able to destroy this curse thereby uniting the two separated worlds. Find this box and then the snow will melt and the cold will become warm. Then oblivion will disappear. But first, you must find a man whose name is…” After reading this, Baofeng-Xue turned the letter over several times and said, “It is not finished.”
“And who wrote this?”
“At the very end, over there, what is written there?”
“Fei Jian.”
“Who is it?”
“Longwei’s father.” Baofeng-Xue replied almost in a whisper.
Waking up from a slight oblivion, Longwei threw off the blanket and grabbed the letter and staggered to his feet. “I have to tell Xing Fu about it.”
Surrounding him on all sides, everyone almost unanimously said, “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Move away.”
“If you go out do you even know what will happen to you? After what happened, many people dislike you. And even Xing Fu, it seems he is still angry.”
Pushing Baofeng-Xue and Delun away, Longwei, straightening his back slightly smiled and turning to everyone asked, “Where is the little Xiaoli?”
“Xiaoli, soon, will become a father, so he’s not a baby anymore.” replied Eagle.
Standing in front of Longwei, Baofeng-Xue said menacingly, “Just try to leave this house.”
“Brother Xue, a year has passed, and you are still the same. I am feeling weakness, so please don’t take my time and move.”
“Once I couldn’t close your way, but this time I won’t let you get into trouble again.”
Pushing him aside, Longwei said, “If you want, go with me. But don’t stop me.” Having said this, he quickly left the house.
“It seems life will be interesting again.” Delun said with joy in his eyes.
Finding himself again in the village of the First Clan after a whole year of time, Longwei, walking on ordinary snow, still felt Lei’s presence everywhere with every cell, his every confident and strong step seemed to be sealed, soaked into the ground itself, into the snow itself.
Looking around, all he saw were narrow paths in front of him and heavy logs, as well as burnt tree branches.
“Nothing has changed here.” he whispered and finally saw a light in the window of the Main House.
Seeing the door through the blizzard, Longwei just wanted to come closer when he felt someone’s hand on his shoulder. The hand that gripped him seemed to want to stop him, and knowing full well who this hand belongs to, Longwei said without turning around, “And you are still here, Ye Ying.”
“Go away. The Master will be very angry if he sees you here.” a rough voice was heard.
“I need to tell the Master something. This is very important.” Taking his hand off his shoulder, Longwei headed towards the door, but then, a tall figure completely blocked his path.
“You cannot enter the house.”
“I said it was important. I won’t take long. I just want to tell the Master something.”
Blocking the path, Ye Ying folded his arms across his chest and made a sound resembling the roar of a lion.
“Ye Ying, I understand that they are not happy to see me here. But I have something to say to Xing Fu. This applies to the Second Clan, San, and in general, the whole future. So please let me in.”
“No.”
“Don’t make me force you out of the way.”
“Go away.”
Feeling intense heat and at the same time a strong chill all over his body, Longwei began to cough again. Feeling like something was in his throat, he tried to cough it up, but the more he flexed, the more painful it was in his chest. Looking up and catching two glittering eyes through the darkness, Longwei said, “Look, I don’t know what’s happening to me. My whole body hurts, so please just let me in. Let me do something right in my entire life.” Falling to his knees, Longwei gasped for air and began to cough even harder.
“If you are dying, then you should find a place that is quieter than the First Clan. Leave now. Leave before the Master sees you.”
“I just want to say …” Almost lying on the cold ground, Longwei again felt extremely dizzy. “If you won’t let me in, then at least give this to the Master.” Holding out the letter with a shaking hand, Longwei, clutching the fabric of his sweat-soaked shirt, rested his head on his bent knees.
“Longwei …” Ye Ying began, as Xing Fu’s quiet and calm voice was heard behind his broad back. “Let him come in.”
Half delirious, and half aware of what was happening, Longwei did not manage to get up and start talking. But after a few minutes of collecting all his strength, he stood up. In his old soldier uniform, with shaggy hair that covered almost all of his face, he, holding on to the wall, opened his sleepy eyes and seeing a distant figure in white, said, “Master, I, you must read this. My father, he left another letter. ”
“I can’t hear you. Speak louder!” a voice was heard from far away.
After taking a few steps forward, Longwei, through dizziness and strong fever, muttered something and then laughingly said, “Stop spinning! Please stand still!”
“Ye Ying, bring him a chair and give him water.” ordered Xing Fu.
Hearing this, Longwei’s heart felt a little relieved. “So you don’t want to kill me, then?” he asked.
Falling into a chair from Ye Ying’s hand, Longwei, coughing, unfolded the letter and, gathering his thoughts which were flying away, said, “When you gave me my father’s letter, no. I’ll get down to business. My father left more than one letter. But two. And when I unfolded the first letter, I found a wrapped paper. And as it turned out, he left a letter for you too.” Shaking with a suffocating cough, Longwei touched his throat again. Unable to speak or sit any longer, he fell to the floor and threw the letter forward.
Lifting it and carrying it to Xing Fu, Ye Ying wanted to make him stand up, but Xing Fu shook his head in silence.
Stroking his white beard, Xing Fu narrowing his eyes a little, began to read the short contents of the letter.
When he finished reading, he folded the letter neatly and laid it on the round table. Smoothly rising from his chair, Xing Fu walked over to Longwei who was lying on the floor without any movement.
“The First clan brought you a lot of suffering. Here, you lived against your wishes, and even then, when you began to live as your heart told you, you had a hard time. The first clan, and therefore I, could not become for you a family with which you treasured. But despite this, you came. And I am grateful that you decided to share this with me. ” With a certain elusive tenderness in his voice Xing Fu said. Taking his shoulders and lifting him up, he continued, “Longwei, what if I give you a second chance, and you give me a second chance to become a father to you, at least a little, will you agree?”
Surprised by what he said, Longwei stopped feeling chills for a moment. Removing the hair from his face, he slightly straightened his back and said, “I will agree if you will let me help you in finding this book. My father, this is exactly what he wanted. He didn’t want me to stand aside.”
Standing up, Xing Fu straightened his snow-white cape and said, “But if you want a second chance, you have to do something else.”
“Anything just to see Lei.” thought Longwei. Looking at the figure opposite, Longwei nodded his head.
“You must create the future warrior. You must create, a child.”