Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Chapter 77: Snake Soup

Following that arm, the swordsman met his companion’s gaze.

As in many times before, Mei Yinghan’s eyes quickly scanned Bai Zhengliu’s face… hmm?

The senior Tianshan disciple realized: “Bai, are you unharmed?”

Bai Zhengliu blinked, feeling for a moment: “Mm, I seem to have endless energy now, and my body feels quite warm too.”

Saying this, he felt it was strange himself. Logically, after what they had just gone through, shouldn’t he feel utterly exhausted, or perhaps even collapse on the ground?

But in fact, Bai Zhengliu not only didn’t feel uncomfortable, he actually felt excellent. Since ascending the snow mountain, he had never felt this comfortable even for a moment.

As for the earlier “body swaying slightly”—ah, that was just him finally landing on solid ground after being in midair all this time; he wasn’t used to the sensation of standing firmly.

Knowing that Mei Yinghan was concerned, Bai Zhengliu immediately explained all these sensations to him in detail.

Mei Yinghan listened, feeling increasingly puzzled. Seeing this, Bai Zhengliu added: “Mm, actually I noticed it while in the snow just now. My dantian feels warm, as if this state is because of that.” He frowned, carefully considering how to explain, “Normally, shouldn’t we be expending internal energy? Yet I feel like a lot of ‘internal energy’ is coming at me from the outside.”

The two young men, encountering this for the first time, exchanged glances.

Seeing that Mei Yinghan was not reassured but instead looked even more tortured, Bai Zhengliu simply grabbed the swordsman’s hand in front of him.

“Words aren’t enough,” he said. “I feel this ‘internal energy’ coming from outside can be transmitted to you. Mei, you try it.”

Following his words, indeed a warm, comforting energy flowed from their joined hands into Mei Yinghan’s body and meridians.

Accompanying this strange sensation, the swordsman’s furrowed brows slowly relaxed. He said, “It’s a bit like—”

Bai Zhengliu murmured, “Brother Qian’s hairpin.”

Yes. At this moment, Bai Zhengliu had a strong instinct: the power that had just helped him, letting him cut a path through the storm and now stand safely here, was not much different from the force that had surged from Qian Gui’s hairpin during the battle with the vengeful spirit Meng Niangzi in Tanjiazhuang!

With this transmission, it wasn’t just Bai Zhengliu; Mei Yinghan’s body also grew warm.

“All right.” As martial artists, Mei Yinghan naturally recognized that this power was beneficial. He reversed his grip to hold Bai Zhengliu’s wrist, stopping him from transmitting more energy. “Since it’s not harmful, it doesn’t matter if we don’t fully understand it for now. It’s just that I don’t have paper or ink on me, otherwise I could ask General Yang if he knows what’s going on.”

Bai Zhengliu thought for a moment: “I used the Twenty-Eight Generals technique earlier, and then felt this. Mm, General Yang should indeed be able to explain it to us.”

Mei Yinghan was slightly surprised.

Bai Zhengliu also realized what he said might sound strange, so he quickly added details: “It’s like this… like this, mm, now that I think about it, I don’t even know where that burst of determination came from just now.”Using a sword to cut through the snow—who could think of such a thing? And who could, upon thinking of it, put it into practice? …Bai Zhengliu was slightly speechless. Mei Yinghan, having heard this, laughed. “Bai, do you remember? I practice the Tianshan Sword Technique.”

Bai Zhengliu naturally knew this. But he didn’t understand why Mei Yinghan brought it up at this moment.

The youth looked at the swordsman beside him with a questioning gaze. Seeing Mei Yinghan smile slightly, he said, “Earlier when you explained things, I didn’t quite understand. But when you said you used the Twenty-Eight Generals, it reminded me of the few words left by our master at the very beginning of the Tianshan Sword Technique. He said that when traveling the world with his sword, he saw many injustices and desired to use the sword in his hand to protect a fair and bright world. Once this thought arises, a transcendent power floats within the body.

“I used to think this was just figurative. But now that you’ve said it, Bai, I suddenly feel it might be real. Bai, you must have held some firm conviction as well, didn’t you?”

Bai Zhengliu truly couldn’t deny it.

He felt even more astonished, lowered his head to remove the Twenty-Eight Generals, and carefully ran his hand along the blade, then shook his head: “Forget it, we won’t figure these things out for now; better—”

“Better to say one thing to Bai,” Mei Yinghan said, still smiling, “Congratulations. Our master also wrote that after this, one’s martial skill rapidly improves, and internal energy increases accordingly. Bai, since you have fulfilled the beginning of our master’s experience, the rest will likely be the same.”

Bai Zhengliu was slightly helpless. “Mei, aren’t you afraid I’ll become too proud after you say this?”

Though it sounded like a complaint, his tone carried joy. After all, what Mei Yinghan said now was truly every martial artist’s dream.

Even someone called “Bai the Hero” at twenty-two could not resist the allure of “skill improving, internal energy surging.”

Seeing Bai Zhengliu react this way, Mei Yinghan could clearly perceive his thoughts. The swordsman smiled slightly and said, “If that pride led one to become arrogant and self-satisfied, I wouldn’t speak this way—but Bai, you’re different.”

He only said “different,” yet didn’t specify how. Bai Zhengliu’s heart tingled; he kept sneaking glances at Mei Yinghan, wanting to remain composed—after all, he was “Bai the Hero.” How could he feel so happy just from praise?

But this was Mei!

Mei Yinghan saying Bai Zhengliu was different from others—then Mei himself, how could he be anything but extraordinary? Outwardly, he was gentle and courteous, able to make anyone feel peaceful and happy in his company. For such a Mei to praise someone, it had to be sincere and credible.

Bai Zhengliu allowed himself a moment of happiness from Mei’s words.

Facing each other, they shared the same smile.

After smiling for a while, behind Bai Zhengliu, Zhou Liuer coughed: “Cough… cough cough…”

After being unconscious for a day, he woke again.

Bai and Mei immediately collected themselves to check on the person they had rescued.

This time, upon waking, Zhou Liuer was noticeably weaker than yesterday. Understandably so—he had been injured and hadn’t received proper care. Although Bai and Mei had done their best, what they could do was just a drop in the bucket for Zhou Liuer’s current state.

Zhou Liuer sensed this himself. But he knew even more clearly that without these two young men, he would not have survived. Even though his body ached, he refused to complain to Bai and Mei. When the two youths once again carried him on their backs, he hesitated but suggested, “Heroes, why don’t you just put me down somewhere like you would with villagers from my hometown? If there’s a chance to return later, you can bring me back to the village then.”Bai and Mei heard the implication in his words—it was that Zhou Liuer had already lost the will to survive.

Naturally, the two couldn’t allow that. But when Zhou Liuer fell unconscious again, they discussed: “Even if we can’t find a way out, we have to start preparing for other things. The food is almost gone, and the sugar water is barely any. The liquor can provide warmth, but for Uncle Zhou, it’s still too harsh.” They could drink it themselves without issue.

Hearing this, both agreed. The question was—how to find more food?

They fretted, but perhaps things really worked this way: at the extreme end of misfortune, a small light could appear.

That afternoon, Bai and Mei finally found a forest. And within it, they found a hibernating long snake.

That night, the two cooked snake soup. Bai Zhengliu carefully used the warm current from the Twenty-Eight Generals to wipe his eyes, confirming that what was in front of him was indeed edible, then finally breathed a sigh of relief and called Zhou Liuer to come eat.

Even if Zhou Liuer’s body was still weak and he could only sip the hot soup, it was still good.

Later, after Zhou Liuer rested again, Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan shared the remaining meat broth. Frankly speaking, without salt or any seasoning, its taste could only be described as “plain” at best. But for them now, it was truly restorative, a rare and precious help.

Bai Zhengliu sighed, “I wish we could keep having this kind of luck.”

Before Mei Yinghan could respond, the swordsman realized, “Hmm, I shouldn’t say that.” “Always having this luck” implied they would never get out. Ugh, bad luck!

He silently leapt over a fire pit in his mind—the fire was right in front of him, but Bai Zhengliu was too lazy to move—and took another sip of hot soup. Then he thought: if the extra force in my dantian resembles the power from Qian Da-ge’s hairpin, and the Twenty-Eight Generals can draw directly from that hairpin’s power, then the warmth I used on my eyes is also connected. Does this mean I could directly use dantian energy to observe the surroundings?

Thinking this, Bai Zhengliu felt a small thrill, though he didn’t yet know how to try it.

Mei Yinghan saw his expressions changing so vividly and amusingly that he couldn’t help but smile.

One thought, one smile—and for a rare moment, the atmosphere was warm and harmonious.

Unfortunately, that peace was destined to be broken. As Bai Zhengliu’s mind wandered toward: “Or perhaps I won’t send that power directly to my eyes, but let it flow through the meridians as I normally circulate my internal energy. Naturally, this would include the eyes too…”—footsteps suddenly came from the forest nearby.

Bai and Mei immediately went on alert, both drawing sword and blade, and rose to see.

Soon after standing, they saw a face in the forest.

The firelight cast a reddish glow on it. Seeing the swordsman and the knife expert, the person first froze, then wild joy flashed across their face.

“Come quickly! Come quickly!” the person called over their shoulder, “Found it! Found someone! It’s Mei—”

Author’s note:

Ehh~ who’s coming?

See you tomorrow.