The Voyage In The Blizzard - Chapter 83

“Lei, what happened?” Catching him before he lost control of his body, Longwei supporting him said, “I heard your voice. You were so close, why didn’t you answer me?!”

“Are you okay? Have you been here all this time?”

“When I fell off the dragon, I was right there.” said Yun Qi. “Seeing these strange rocks, I realized that you were somewhere there. But before I could go looking for you, I heard the voice of my father. So I decided to wait for you here.”

“Are you okay? Not injured?” asked Lei getting to his feet.

“Yes. Better think about yourself. What happened to you? Where are your clothes and what is that smell?” Pointing to the stain on his shirt, Yun Qi covered her nose..

“I don’t even know how to explain what happened to me.”

“You were there too. How did you get out of this labyrinth?”

“I was just going forward.” Looking at Longwei’s exhausted face, which was paler than the sky, Lei asked, “Did you hear the voice?”

“I heard steps.” Looking at the maze that seemed to fall asleep, Longwei added, “This place seems to be able to influence your mind and play with it. This maze wants to drive you crazy before you get out of there.”

“The book doesn’t mention this maze.” said Yun Qi. “Perhaps this is the place that separates the two worlds.”

“Where to go next? What’s next in the spell?”

“Three roads, turn, we passed it.” Longwei said but Yun Qi added,” Half, south rain. What does it mean?”

“Half, south rain. These words are spoken before three roads and a turn. Maybe we were going in the wrong direction?”

“I don’t think so. Seems like this is what Half and South Rain means.” Lei said, pointing somewhere to the side.

Turning at the same time, they saw nothing at first. But when Lei approached the long stone that was lying on the ground, they immediately understood what was being discussed.

Coming closer to see, Longwei bent down.

A long and flat stone, which was broken in a hit, thus had two halves, and lay with its sharp end pointing towards the next forest.

“Half, that means half of a stone.”

“And it’s raining to the south, that means you have to go south. The stone is pointing in that direction, so there is south?”

“We need to check it out.”

“Wait.” Longwei stopped him and quickly took off his boots and handed them to Lei. “Put them on. Your feet are bleeding.”

“I’m fine. You need them more.”

“No. Or do you want to be left without legs?” Longwei said, handing them into his hands.

Giving the boots back, Lei said seriously, “I said I don’t need them.”

“You can’t walk with such legs. Take them.”

“These are your shoes. We have different sizes.”

“We have the same size.”

“Longwei.”

Interrupting their argument – conversation, Yun Qi said, “Maybe you can take these shoes. Anyway, let my dad take care of you. You can’t imagine how pleasant it is for him to take care of someone.”

Embarrassed, Longwei said, “I just don’t want to drag him on my back. He’s so heavy.”

Yun Qi pulled out the boots from Longwei’s hands and handed them to Lei. “Put them on already.”

“I said we have the same size.” spotted Longwei with a slight smile on his face. “Wait.” he said, and pulling his handkerchief out of his pocket, he began to wipe the dirt off Lei’s face. “Maybe we will be arriving in the kingdom soon. And it wouldn’t be decent if such a handsome man looks so dirty.”

“You shouldn’t smile when you don’t want to.” Lei whispered in his ear.

After exchanging glances that said things they could not say in front of Yun Qi, Lei said, “Now we can go.”

On their way through the forest, looking at the trees they had never seen before and feeling the thorny grass on their feet, which the further they went the higher they got, Lei said, “It’s getting warmer somehow. Yun Qi aren’t you feeling hot?”

“Hot.”

“It seems we are in place.” whispered Longwei. “I wonder if the Kingdom disappeared?”

“It can’t be. It’s probably a little further away.”

“Yun Qi, you are a girl, can’t you feel the kingdom?” Longwei asked.

To which Yun Qi replied, “I’m not some kind of magician. But my instinct tells that the Kingdom begins where this forest ends.”

“Looking at these trees, I already forgot what the snow looks like. Everything is so green.”

“Now I would like to drink some water.”

“And eat.”

“Dad!” suddenly, Yun Qi screamed.

But the moment Longwei realized that something was wrong, it was already too late.

Two arrows flying through the leaves reached their target before they could duck.

One arrow was stuck in Longwei’s shoulder, and the other was in Lei’s leg.

Quickly pulling them out, they were able to make out someone in the bushes, but suddenly they were no longer able to stand on their feet so they fell and the heavy curtain of sleep carried their consciousness away.

“Who are you? Where did you come from?!” a shrill voice was heard.

From the first moment they opened their eyes, their gaze immediately fell on the person who was standing on the ceiling.

Shaking his head from side to side to dispel the hallucinations, Longwei looked at Lei.

“What’s happening?” he asked. “What kind of creature are you?”

“What kind of creature am I?!” asked the stranger in black.

“Longwei are you okay?” Lei asked, stirring in the air. “Where are we and who are you?”

“Where is Yun Qi?!” shouted Longwei, realizing that they were tightly bound and hung upside down. Trying to swing, he raised his gaze to the figure who began to walk to and fro. “Who are you?” he repeated the question. “Let us go! You’re one of Sun’s soldiers, aren’t you?!”

“So there are more soldiers?” asked the stranger in black.

Realizing from the voice and figure that it was a soldier of the Kingdom, Lei whispered, “Longwei this is a woman.”

“How smart you are.” she said, bending down to his face.

“So the Kingdom of Waterfalls still exists!” exclaimed Longwei. “Listen, we came from the Frosty mountain peaks. We had a girl with us, my daughter, her name is Yun Qi. We brought her to the Kingdom. Wait! Where are you going?” he shouted seeing her walking away.

Leaving them further to hang head down, the woman warrior closed the wooden door with a lock.

Looking around, Longwei said, “What hospitality in this kingdom. With Queen Li Hua, guests were not treated like that.”

“They just don’t remember the existence of men. Don’t forget that the curse made everyone forget about the existence of the others. For her, we are more enemies and strange creatures than guests.”

“And what kind of place is this?! It smells bad.” Longwei said and turning his head back he saw a huge creature with horns that made a loud sound in response to his gaze. “Lei!”

A large bull standing in the corner of the barn, staring intently ahead, continued to chew the grass.

“What kind of creature is this?!”

“For some reason, it seems to me that it is dangerous. We need to get out of here.” said Lei writhing like a snake.

“What about Yun Qi. Maybe they are holding her like that. As enemies.” Longwei whispered in an anxious voice.

“Yun Qi is one of them. I don’t think they would do that to her.”

Swinging rapidly from side to side, Lei disturbed the calmness of the bull. The bull made a loud sound and began to head straight at them.

“Lei faster!”

Twitching, trying to free his hands, Lei finally heard a crunch in the iron ring on which he was hanging.

With another move, he finally fell onto a pile of grass.

“Lei quickly.”

Attracting the bull’s attention, Lei freed his legs from the rope and stood up before the bull ran up to him.

“Help me.”

“I can’t free my hands.”

“Faster!”

Not knowing what to do, Lei began to untie the rope around Longwei’s chest with his teeth.

Laughing at the tickling Lei created with his nose, Longwei shouted, “Stop it!”

Reaching Longwei’s belt, Lei muttered, “Just a little more.”

“Better free my legs what are you doing?!” cried Longwei, feeling Lei who was already above his belt.

“And you used to like it when I got to that place.” remarked Lei laughing.

“You found the right time to talk about it. Lei, hurry! It’s looking at us again.”

Freeing his hands, Lei said, “Longwei faster.”

Quickly undoing the knot on his legs, Longwei landed softly on Lei’s arms.

Holding him in his arms, Lei smiled and said, “When this is over, we will have an unforgettable time together.”

“Let me go!”

Noticing that the bull was tired of their company, they quickly moved towards the door. With one kick of their feet, knocking out the wooden door, they were unable to look and closed their eyes.

The blinding sunlight for the first time in their lives warmed and at the same time slightly burned their skin which was so accustomed to the cold.

“Who you are?!” They heard a familiar voice.

Opening his eyes and being the first to see the clear sky and bright rays that completely covered them, Longwei said with a smile, “We did it. We reached paradise.”

“Crazy?!” someone asked.

Taking a step forward and hearing the clanging of swords, Lei, covering his eyes from the sun, was able to make out several women in the same uniform on whose sleeves were the sign of the crown and the sun.

“Yun Qi, where is she?” he asked without ceremony.

“Where are you from and who are you?!” repeated the woman warrior holding her golden sword in front of his face.

“We already told you.”

“Longwei wait.” Lei told him. Coming closer to the woman and now clearly seeing her features, Lei could not help but notice that she was so beautiful. Especially her brave eyes that did not know a single drop of fear.

“One more step and I will kill you.” she said.

“Lei be careful!” Longwei said.

“Who you are?!” the woman warrior repeated the question.

“We need to speak to your queen.” Longwei said.

Laughing, the women soldiers in one voice exclaimed, “With the queen!”

Pushing Lei by the shoulder, the warrior woman came closer and began to study his face. Then, looking at Longwei, she said, “Who are you. You are very different from us.” But with a sudden change in her mood, she put the blade to Longwei’s throat. “But whoever you are, you clearly pose a threat to the kingdom and her majesty.”

“Listen to us.” Lei began, but the female warrior kicked Longwei in the stomach and made him fall to the ground.

“Stop Nien!”

“The queen is here.”

“Your Majesty!”

Bowing their heads, including Nien, everyone suddenly fell silent.

“How do you treat our guests?!” asked the woman with long white hair. Looking at Longwei and Lei, she said with a smile, “Come with me. You must be tired after a long journey.”