The Voyage In The Blizzard - Chapter 62
“Catch him!”
“It’s Sun! There he is! Faster!”
Grabbing their swords, the warriors of the Third Clan ran towards the forest from where an arrow flew.
Longwei continued to hold Xing Fu in his arms, pressing his wound. “Somebody help!” he shouted looking around.
With the onset of the cold night, the only source of light was a distant fire that hardly reached him. Sitting in the middle of a pool of blood, Longwei continued to believe that the person in his arms was still alive.
“Master, hold on. You will live. A little more.”
Noticing someone’s approach, Longwei looked up and saw Lei’s face..
“Where is Yun Qi?” he asked.
“Don’t worry. I took him to a safe place.” Sitting on his knees, Lei brought his finger to Xing Fu’s nose and whispered softly, “His soul has left him Longwei. He is dead.”
“No. He will live. Lei, help me to lift him. Hurry. We need to take him to the house as soon as possible.” Longwei said without listening to him. “What are you waiting for?”
“Longwei stop.” Grabbing his arm, Lei quietly and calmly said, “He’s dead. You can’t do anything.”
“No.”
“Longwei.” Lei shouted, and at that moment Ye Ying came up from nowhere and took Xing Fu from Longwei’s hands. Without saying anything, he lifted him and went into the house.
“He will live. It’s Xing Fu.” continued Longwei looking in front of him. Then, covering his face, he froze for a while, but then the sounds of quiet cry were heard through his bloody fingers.
The next morning, the warriors of all Three clans, gathered on top of a stone cliff, around two bodies dressed in silver armor.
Nature, knowing what was happening, stopped the blizzard, as if holding the breath, escorted the two warriors on their last journey.
For the first time, the weather seemed to want to clear up to make the grief less unbearable.
Having gathered around Xing Fu and On, the warriors of the Three Clans silently looked at the ground. And none of them spoke a word. Nobody cried. And only the souls of some were aching with the pain of loss.
Having walked a three-hour journey from the Three Main Mountains to a stone cliff that bore the name “Death Trap”, all several hundred people experienced slight fear and fatigue.
Staying at the top of the “Death Trap” cliff, where the dead warriors were still in this world, where there is only one end of the path, no one could hide their feelings in their eyes. Some, only had fatigue, some had grief, but some were completely cold as ice.
And only Longwei and Yue Liang, standing not far from the two departed warriors, did not dare to hide their bitter tears.
Without taking his eyes off Xing Fu, Longwei, covering his iron armor with tears, stood with his sword in his hand. Baofeng-Xue by putting his hand on his back, tried to ease his grief.
Yue Liang, who had run out of tears and strength, fell to the ground and hugged his father’s legs. Dropping his head, he fell into his own silence.
Lei, looking straight ahead, was the only one who kept his head up. And only occasionally, his face was covered with a red blush and thick eyebrows, twitching, frowned in anger.
After a moment of long silence, Ye Ying approached Longwei and Yue Liang. Addressing to everyone, he said, “The time has come.”
Knowing what this means, everyone stepped aside. Well, some turned away altogether and headed towards the Three Mountains.
“Longwei, let’s go.” Baofeng-Xue whispered softly.
“You go. I’ll stay here a little longer. Until fire appears.” Longwei answered.
“It’s too dangerous.”
“Don’t worry. I just want to be with the Master a little longer.”
“I’ll be waiting for you nearby.”
Left alone with Yue Liang, Longwei, looking at Xing Fu’s frozen expression, said, “You know who did this.”
“Yes.” whispered Yue Liang.
“If Sun had been caught long ago, none of this would have happened. After all, he got his way. He killed them.”
“Father died at the hands of a beast.”
“Now there is no difference between them. Sun, beasts, they are the same.” Longwei, feeling the heat underneath them, stood up and approached the very cliff and looked down. Seeing red flames dancing in the air, and the cries of dragons, he said, “We must find him at all costs. Find and throw him to all those dragons.”
Sensing Yue Liang’s presence behind him, he turned to meet his eyes. Swollen red eyes gazed at him with great sadness. Putting his arms around him, Yue Liang trembled and buried his face in Longwei’s shoulder.
“I will do everything to avenge you, Master.” Longwei said through clenched teeth.
Where the snowy steppe ended and the earth burned to the last particle, where the abode of all dragons was, and the flames coming from there began to warm the earth, they cast their last glance at the two warriors who slept in eternal sleep and left the stone rock.
Stopping, Longwei whispered, “Goodbye.”
Tongues of flame with furious force passed through the very bottom of the thin stone surface on which Xing Fu and On lay and engulfed both of them in a matter of seconds.
Between two realities, between fire and cold, the flame that accumulated under the rock was bursting out until Xing Fu and On completely disappeared from this world.
In the middle of survival, all the Three clans were left alone now. Alone without any support. Realizing this, the warriors still continued their lives without knowing what tomorrow would bring them.
Not daring to return to the First Clan because knowing that everyone would attack him again with accusations, Longwei had been in the Third Clan for several days.
Holding little Yun Qi’s hand, he caught Lei and Baofeng-Xue’s gazes. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
To which Baofeng-Xue replied, “How long are you going to hide here? And what are you hiding from?”
Yun Qi looking at them with surprise continued to play with the pendant that Xing Fu had given her.
Standing up, Longwei replied, “If I return to our clan, everyone will blame me for what happened. You know very well that everyone thinks that my goal was to kill Xing Fu and thereby take his place. They still think so.” Especially after what happened a year ago. Going back there is the same like going to the battlefield.”
“So you will be here all the time? And since when do you care about others’ opinions? Longwei, I don’t recognize you. Why are you so afraid?” Approaching him asked Baofeng-Xue.
Looking at Lei who was sitting aside, Longwei asked him, “What do you think? You know what will happen if I return to the First Clan.”
Before Lei had time to answer, Yue Liang broke into conversation. “Longwei is right. He should be here for a while. Until everything calms down. Longwei’s reputation is not in a good shape anyway, and until everything falls into place, I will be glad to have you here.”
Waving his hand at him, Baofeng-Xue said, “I don’t understand! Why did you suddenly become so afraid for yourself? You are the one who did not hide your love for Lei, now you are afraid of other people’s opinions about you?!”
“Brother Xue be quieter.”
“Longwei, since when did you become concerned about your own safety?”
“Ever since Yun Qi appeared in my life.” answered Longwei and continued, “Now, I have a responsibility and I must act carefully.”
“Well, okay. If you decided to hide behind a child, please. If you want to be a coward, go ahead.” said Baofeng-Xue nervously.
Trying to calm down, Longwei said, “Brother Xue, I will return to the clan. I will return there soon. But just give me time to think things over. So many things have piled on me during this time, so let me come up with a plan.”
“And now you really sound like you want to take the entire First Clan for yourself.”
“Baofeng-Xue!” shouted Lei. “All Three clans are left without their leaders. Now is not the time to argue and fight.”
Without saying anything, Baofeng-Xue left the room.
After waiting for Yue Liang to leave them alone, Lei sat down next to Longwei and said, “I received your letter.”
“It is not a proper time to talk about it.”
“Longwei, you know that Xing Fu sent me to the battlefield to die there.” Lei began. “Everything would be so, I was losing my strength from daily battles, but then your letter …” Considering that talking about it now is really out of place, he said, “Then Xing Fu changed his mind. He came to the battlefield, that day he told me that I can go back to the clan. Then, in his voice I heard a kind of alarm. And you know what else he told me, he said that I should help you in search of some book.”
Turning abruptly to him, Longwei grabbed his hand and took him to the corner of the room. “Book?”
“Yes. I don’t know what he was talking about. But I have the feeling that he knew he was going to die soon. He also said that he hoped for our power. This was strange. So do you know what book he was talking about?”
Taking out the letter left by his father, Longwei handed it to Lei and said, “Read and you’ll understand.”
Returning to Yun Qi, Longwei stroked her head with a smile. “What are you doing?”
Examining her new and first fur boots and warm clothes which Yue Liang found in his home, Yun Qi replied, “Dad, you shouldn’t be friends with that person who has strange colored hair. I don’t like him.”
“Yue Liang? Why don’t you like him?” Longwei asked in surprise.
Looking at him seriously, Yun Qi replied, “I don’t think he is your friend.”
“You don’t think so?” Longwei asked.
Shaking her head, Yun Qi, again, remembering how the child should behave, jumping up started to run to and fro, twisting a pendant with a drawing of the sun in her hand.
Dozing, Longwei sitting by the fireplace listened to the crackling fire, when suddenly feeling a hand on his shoulder, he opened his eyes.
“Lei? What is it?”
“I think I know where this book is. Longwei, we urgently need to return to the First Clan.” Lei answered.