Chapter 198: Late-Night Snack

Chen Guishuo asked in return, “Martial Uncle, are you going to Shao Pingbo to seek revenge, or to enjoy a comfortable life?”

Song Shu froze. Then rage surged across his face.

“In your eyes, am I some pleasure-seeking wastrel?”

“If I do not avenge the destruction of my family, I swear I am unworthy to be called a man!”

Chen Guishuo nodded.

“Since we are not going there for comfort but for a blood feud, then we must endure humiliation and bear the burden.”

“Shao Pingbo also wants Niu Youdao dead. Martial Uncle wants revenge as well.”

“So long as Martial Uncle does not put Shao Pingbo in a difficult position and does not appear openly, then on Shao family territory it should not be hard for Shao Pingbo to keep us beyond the Shangqing Sect’s eyes and ears.”

“As long as Martial Uncle is willing to endure, can Shao Pingbo truly fail to arrange some place for us to hide?”

“Our aims are the same. If Martial Uncle goes to join him, why would Shao Pingbo refuse?”

“If he accepts us, then under Shao Pingbo’s protection we can at least remain safe in Beizhou.”

“If he refuses, so long as we go there secretly without alarming the Shangqing Sect, the worst he can do is tell us to get lost.”

“Shao Pingbo has no reason to help Niu Youdao eliminate his enemies.”

“Either way we lose nothing. What harm is there in trying?”

Song Shu fell silent for a while. Then he gradually nodded.

“You speak reasonably.”

“In the past, I underestimated you. Only today do I realize you actually possess this kind of foresight!”

“Martial Uncle praises me too highly.”

Chen Guishuo gave a bitter smile.

“With matters already come to this, where is there any foresight left? I simply cannot swallow this hatred.”

The bitterness was not only on his face. He was genuinely smiling bitterly inside as well. He did not want to go to Beizhou and take this risk either. But there was no choice. Niu Youdao held a secret over him that could never be brought into the light. If the man insisted he do this, Chen Guishuo had no way to refuse. Of course, the benefits Niu Youdao had promised him were not poor either. He was truly helpless now.

One wrong step, and from then on his life was no longer his own. Song Shu looked at him with emotion.

Such loyalty was rare!

Perhaps Chen Guishuo had simply followed the Song family too far down this road to have any retreat left. They had placed Niu Youdao under house arrest at Peach Blossom Spring. They had tried to intercept and kill him at Nanshan Temple. In Jinzhou they had once again tried to put him to death. As long as Niu Youdao remained alive, this martial nephew probably would not know a single peaceful day either. Song Shu raised a hand and patted Chen Guishuo on the shoulder.

“Do not worry. If the Song family ever rises again, we will never fail you!”

Chen Guishuo muttered inwardly.

Rise again?

Can you still rise again?

Everything is already in someone else’s palm. Do you really think that if he had not wanted to let you go, you could have escaped Yanjing alive? Across a vast snowfield, Heaven and Earth were frozen bitterly cold. Inside a cave in a snowy mountain, Niu Youdao’s group had hidden for seven or eight days. During the day they remained concealed and never emerged. At night they came out to observe the sky. Black Peony and the others had no idea what Niu Youdao was planning.

They had spent nearly a month in that village near the riverside town. After finally leaving, instead of returning to Qingshan Commandery they had doubled back toward the frozen region leading to the Ice and Snow Pavilion. Not only had they returned, every one of them had carried along a bundle of firewood. Nothing made sense. And the more inexplicable it became, the more uneasy they felt. Could they really be here for the Scarlet Yang Vermilion Fruit?

Judging from the way things looked, if that truly was their target, they were clearly not planning to ask for it openly. They meant to take it in secret. Otherwise, there would be no need to act this furtively.

The thought that they might actually be planning to steal a Scarlet Yang Vermilion Fruit from the Ice and Snow Pavilion made everyone’s heart pound. How much nerve did a man need for something like that?

“About right.”

After spending a while outside observing the sky, Yuan Gang returned to the cave and nodded to Niu Youdao.

Niu Youdao gave a quiet “Oh.”

Black Peony and the others immediately followed him outside and looked upward. Dark clouds drifted across the night sky in waves. At times the sky was completely covered. At others, gaps opened and revealed the cold stars above the cloud layer. Moonlight spilled through those breaks like liquid mercury. A trace of gravity appeared on Niu Youdao’s face. He turned toward Yuan Gang.

“This is no small matter and absolutely not a game. If anything goes wrong, the trouble will be serious.”

“You are certain you can do it?”

Yuan Gang nodded.

“At least seventy percent confidence.”

“If everything goes smoothly, it could be ninety.”

Niu Youdao said heavily, “Do not try to show off.”

“If you are exposed, do not force the issue.”

“Say it was my idea and tell them to come find me. I have my own way to handle it.”

At this point, Black Peony and the others all grew visibly uneasy. By now they were almost certain this really was about the Scarlet Yang Vermilion Fruit. Yuan Gang remained calm.

“Understood.”

Niu Youdao, however, repeated the warning with unusual seriousness.

“Remember. This is not something to be stubborn about.”

“You are not allowed to force it.”

“If it cannot be done, withdraw immediately.”

“If you are exposed, submit immediately.”

“Leave the rest to me.”

“Do you remember?”

Yuan Gang remained as calm as before.

“Master Dao, I understand.”

Niu Youdao nodded and turned toward Black Peony and the others. Black Peony was visibly tense. At last she could not hold back.

“Master Dao, is it the Scarlet Yang Vermilion Fruit?”

Niu Youdao was silent for a moment.

Then he asked, “Are you afraid?”

Lei Zongkang and Duan Hu exchanged glances. Neither knew what to say. Black Peony smiled bitterly.

“It would be false to say I am not afraid at all.”

“But if Master Dao has decided to do this, there must be your reasons.”

“I only feel... isn’t this too dangerous? Is this really appropriate?”

Niu Youdao smiled slightly.

“Do not worry.”

“So long as you follow the arrangement, any danger will fall on the two of us. It will have nothing to do with you.”

“Remember this.”

“Once you reach your positions, if the two of us still have not returned after four hours, leave immediately.”

“Go to Qingshan Commandery and find Jin Wei.”

“Tell Jin Wei what happened and have him testify for you.”

“Commandery Prince Yongping should take you in. You will not be left without somewhere to go.”

Black Peony asked worriedly, “Master Dao, if something really happens, what about the two of you?”

“Do not worry.”

Niu Youdao said, “I am not foolish enough to leave myself no retreat.”

“What I know is enough to preserve my life.”

“The Ice and Snow Pavilion will be reluctant to kill me.”

As he said this, he also turned his head toward Yuan Gang. The meaning was just as much for Yuan Gang. Do not act recklessly. I have a way to handle the aftermath. There is no need to fight to the death. Black Peony lightly bit her lip. Why, if something happens, is it always Yuan Gang and you who bear it? Niu Youdao’s words left her faintly uncomfortable. Compared with Yuan Gang, she always seemed to remain an outsider.

She had already shown him everything a woman should not show a man, yet somehow she was still an outsider.

“All right.”

Niu Youdao waved a hand.

“The weather changes without warning, especially in a place like this.”

“We finally waited for the right conditions. If we delay too long, the sky may change again.”

“Who knows how long we would have to wait for another suitable opportunity?”

“Proceed exactly as planned.”

“We leave now!”

The group returned to the cave. Each person strapped a bundle of dry firewood to his back. Yuan Gang also carried a pack and shouldered a bundled object shaped somewhat like an umbrella.

Once they came back outside, Niu Youdao, carrying firewood himself, reached over and took the bundled object from Yuan Gang’s shoulder. He shouldered it himself, freeing Yuan Gang’s hands.

Then he told Black Peony and Duan Hu, “Take him with you.”

Yuan Gang glanced at Niu Youdao. He did not fight over the load or say anything. This was not the time to argue over such details. He understood that Master Dao was doing it to keep Yuan Gang’s lack of cultivation from slowing their movement. Niu Youdao launched himself through the air first. Black Peony and Duan Hu each took one of Yuan Gang’s arms and followed after him. Lei Zongkang flew toward the top of a mountain.

He began moving up and down the slope, rolling large snowballs and hauling them to the summit to build a circular snow wall. Farther along the route they reached another snowy mountain. Duan Hu remained behind there and began doing the same thing as Lei Zongkang, building another snow wall. After traveling much farther, they came to another snowy peak. Black Peony stayed behind there as well. Again, she began constructing a snow wall.

In the end, only Niu Youdao and Yuan Gang continued on until they stopped atop another mountain. Using the moonlight that occasionally leaked through the clouds, the two compared the smaller surrounding peaks with the terrain around them. They quickly fixed their location. Both turned toward the same direction. Niu Youdao pointed.

“According to the map we marked out, the snowy mountain behind the Ice and Snow Pavilion should be roughly thirty li from here.”

“With visibility like this, are you sure there will be no problem?”

“There shouldn’t be.”

Yuan Gang said, “The Ice and Snow Pavilion should have lights burning at night. Those lights will be the best landmark.”

“Can you make the round trip over this distance?”

“In the past, with a suitable launch height, the farthest I ever flew was more than one hundred li.”

Yuan Gang continued, “The terrain here is a high snowy plateau. The air gives good lift as well.”

“With flying conditions this favorable, the range should only be greater, not shorter.”

“There will be no problem.”

Hearing that, Niu Youdao said nothing more. He threw down his load, jumped from the summit, and began rolling enormous snowballs before hauling them back up.

Yuan Gang picked up the bundled “umbrella” on the ground and untied its ropes.

He opened it. One flexible wooden strut after another was fitted into the cloth and locked in place. A triangular wing slowly took shape in his hands.

By the time the hang glider had been completely assembled, Niu Youdao had also built a circular wall of snow on the summit. It was roughly one zhang across and as tall as a man.

Outside the snow wall, the two men looked at one another. Yuan Gang tightened the fur cap on his head. Then he ducked beneath the hang glider and shouldered it.

He found a relatively open stretch of ground, ran forward with the wing above him, and leaped straight off the mountain peak. A gust of wind arrived at exactly the right moment. The wing, which had dipped downward, was caught and lifted. It began climbing gradually. Niu Youdao raised his head and followed it with his eyes. After making a few adjustments, Yuan Gang resembled a great eagle. He banked the hang glider around the summit in half a circle.

Then, like a night owl, he disappeared into the vast darkness in one direction. Niu Youdao drew a deep breath. He jumped inside the snow wall, stacked the firewood, and lit it. Before long, a fire was burning. The surrounding snow wall prevented the light from leaking outward and also shielded the flames from the wind.

At almost the same time, one after another, Lei Zongkang, Duan Hu, and Black Peony lit fires at their own positions. They slowly added firewood. The flames were kept small. Then they waited. High in the bitter wind, the temperature was brutally low. Beneath Yuan Gang’s clothing, the area around his abdomen visibly bulged and contracted with his breathing. Hot vapor steamed from his nose and mouth. A thick layer of white frost had formed along the fur edging of his cap.

The lights of the Ice and Snow Pavilion gradually appeared in his field of vision. Suspended beneath the hang glider, Yuan Gang realized he had drifted off course. He quickly corrected his heading and flew toward the lights.

At the same time, he used the wind to climb gradually higher. After reaching the airspace above the Ice and Snow Pavilion, he continued onward, gliding toward the mountain behind it that appeared whenever moonlight broke through the clouds. Once he reached the air above the mountain, Yuan Gang began circling and slowly losing altitude. When he had descended to roughly the right height, he still did not rush to land. He maintained his distance from the summit and circled it again and again.

As his body’s scent spread through the air, the Snow Fiends in the summit basin gradually rose. Fearful and shrinking back, they slowly withdrew from the summit. The moon emerged. Using the sudden light, Yuan Gang caught sight of the movement below. He adjusted the hang glider’s angle without hesitation. The triangular wing plunged downward and cut straight into the basin.

[End of Chapter 198]