Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Chapter 78: The Lotus Pickers

“It’s Hero Mei!” The lotus picker, having followed the firelight and the aroma of cooked meat to where Bai and Mei were, was overwhelmed with excitement, tears streaming down his face.

He could hardly contain himself as he told his companions: “Do you remember? Back when the academy in our town invited heroes from the Tianshan Sect to teach the children some self-defense and fitness techniques! The one who came back then was Hero Mei!”

At that time, he had accompanied the children to school and watched the Tianshan disciples teach. The adults were gentle and always spoke with a smile. The children, on the other hand, swung their small, soft, chubby fists with all their might: “Hey!” “Ha!”

Whenever a child did something wrong, Mei Yinghan would carefully correct them, adding reminders: “Now is the time to build your foundation. When you study, don’t you first practice your characters before writing essays? If you don’t set your foundation straight from the beginning, how can you later write anything beautiful?”

The children’s faces became serious. Considering the harsh, cold weather at the foot of Tianshan, they looked like little round dumplings rolling in the wind.

Mei Yinghan looked up at the parents watching nearby and still smiled: “They’re young, after all. Some key points, the elders should remember for them.”

Hearing this, the townspeople, under the pretext of “watching the children,” secretly glanced at Hero Mei, hoping to learn some Tianshan martial arts they could use in the future. Their faces flushed red with excitement.

Although they were not martial artists, they knew that sneaking skills like this was usually inappropriate. But as lotus pickers, they earned a living by putting their lives at risk. Learning a few techniques might just save their lives in a critical moment. This thought encouraged them to keep watching.

Mei Yinghan, however, seemed completely unconcerned. Before leaving, he checked the martial arts moves the townspeople had noted for the children and corrected any mistakes, just as he had with the children themselves.

The townspeople were naturally grateful. Whenever they went to Tianshan, they would bring eggs or vegetables from their gardens to the sect. This behavior surprised merchants and wandering heroes from the Central Plains. For them, the relationship between a sect and the local people should be one of protection and respect. Who would have thought there could be such a harmonious relationship?

The townspeople understood this, but they didn’t care about the strangeness of people from the Central Plains. Unlike those who sent their children to study, hoping that being labeled as “scholarly” would elevate their status, the local townspeople valued education mainly so their children wouldn’t be cheated when selling snow lotuses in the future.

Of course, truly mastering knowledge was wonderful. But in their remote location, good teachers from the Central Plains were rare. Even one or two educated children were enough to attract the attention of the whole village. It was better to train in martial arts so that when they grew up, even if they no longer earned a living like their elders, they could still become escorts or similar and earn money.

With this history, the lotus pickers immediately recognized Mei Yinghan at first sight. And the youth by his side? No need to ask — a hero’s friend must also be a hero!

Following his signal, a crowd emerged from the shadows of the forest. Tears glistened not only in the eyes of the first lotus picker but also in those of his companions. Even though they were in their forties, they could not hold back their tears.

“Finally, we found them.”

“We made it out! Finally out of that cursed place!”

“Mother, I thought we’d never return home…”

Hearing these sorrowful voices, even Bai and Mei, who had previously questioned the group’s identity, could now almost confirm: “You are the uncles and brothers of Brother Zhao who came up the mountain to look for him?”

Saying this, the two youths put away their swords and made room by the fire, inviting the lotus pickers to warm themselves.

The lotus pickers obeyed without hesitation, moving to the fire just as before. At that moment, someone noticed Zhou Liuer, placed to the side. Though weak, he was still alive.

“It’s Zhou Liuer! Look, the two heroes brought Zhou Liuer out too!”“Sss! I thought Brother Zhou Liuer was gone. These past few days, it felt like there was a stone in my stomach, worrying every day, not knowing how to tell his old father and mother once we get back.”

“Ha ha, that’s wonderful. Heaven bless us, Tianshan Sect bless us!”

Hearing this, Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan: “……”

Unlike the excited townspeople, they were happy too, but their happiness didn’t last long. Amid the crowd’s voices, the two quickly calmed themselves.

The townspeople thought that “seeing others” meant they had escaped the snowbound mountains, but Bai and Mei knew they were still wandering the endless snowy peaks.

They needed to quickly correct the townspeople’s misunderstanding. Otherwise, the longer time dragged on, the worse the situation would get.

But telling them directly, “No, you still can’t leave,” might cause the lotus pickers to collapse.

Both Bai and Mei thought the answer was very likely “yes.”

They needed a way to ease the townspeople’s emotions.

At that moment, their gaze fell on one spot.

It was the pot they had just finished eating from.

Calling it a “pot” was a stretch—it was just a large stone, roughly the size of a person’s head, hollowed out with their weapons to cook hot soup.

Being outdoors for long periods, they were both experienced with this kind of thing. In the past, making such a stone pot might have cracked it, but now there was no worry.

Bai and Mei weren’t surprised that the lotus pickers could survive nine or ten days without eating. They had originally brought enough food for seven days. For the first three days, they ate normally; when they realized they couldn’t leave, they naturally rationed. Splitting a single bun in two, paired with snow water, wasn’t good for the body, but it kept them alive.

Still, they must have been hoping for hot soup and hot food. Luckily, the snake they had encountered earlier was quite large. Bai and Mei killed it, intentionally leaving the scent of blood and innards to attract other creatures. The clean snake meat was carefully frozen in the snow, saved for later rations.

Now, rations couldn’t be relied on, so they decided to cook it all.

After exchanging a few glances and subtle gestures, Mei Yinghan stepped forward and said to the group: “Brothers, uncles, don’t cry. Let’s all calm down first…” His eyes scanned the group. “I heard before that over ten of you came. But now, it seems only seven or eight?”

As he spoke, he secretly reminded himself: “When Brother Bai comes over, I must show him the situation with this group—oh,” he glanced a dozen steps away and saw Bai Zhengliu already taking the snake meat and rubbing some on his eyes, “I overthought it. How could Bai brother not notice this?”

“And,” Mei Yinghan continued, “Brother Zhao, was he found?”

At this, the townspeople’s joy was finally subdued. They smiled bitterly: “The snow mountains are hardly a place to stay comfortably. This time, we came, but we neither found Brother Zhao nor could protect his younger brother. Once we return, sigh!”

Mei Yinghan paused, remembering. Zhou Liuer had mentioned that the lotus pickers went up the mountain searching for people at the call of Zhao Er’s organization.Afterwards, they still couldn’t get out, and another Zhou Liuer had also been left outside by them, impossible to find. In such a situation, how much pressure must Zhao Er have been under? And under that pressure, what would he have done?

The answers to these questions were actually easy to find. Judging from the sorrow on everyone’s faces, Zhao Er’s choice must have been to shoulder all the responsibility himself, doing his utmost to help and save everyone. In the end, he had even sacrificed himself.

Mei Yinghan’s expression grew serious, and his mood was hard to describe: “So that’s how it is.”

The lotus pickers: “Sigh……”

It was at this moment that Bai Zhengliu arrived.

As he approached, he kept hearing the lotus pickers say: “…Yes, he also fell into a crevasse.”

“Still too cold. Slept through it, and had no breath left.”

“One day after another, and now it’s just us left!”

“Luckily we made it out, thankfully we made it out.”

Bai and Mei heard this, and said nothing.

Mei Yinghan continued talking with the lotus pickers about those who had disappeared. Bai had already signaled him with hand gestures that everyone present was alive. This made Mei Yinghan breathe a sigh of relief, but also raised concerns in his heart.

It felt as if things had suddenly become easier—he and Bai had been spared by the snow mountain spirits. First it was food, then they ran into the main group of lotus pickers—good news after good news. The Tianshan senior brother sensed something was off, but couldn’t pinpoint it. He could only suppress his thoughts and carefully look for clues in the conversations.

Bai Zhengliu, meanwhile, found a larger stone and began making a new “stone pot.”

He remained very calm. The Twenty-Eight Generals were already sharp; now he tried channeling the energy from his dantian into the blade, then letting the tip touch the stone—it was really no different from cutting tofu. In just a few blinks of an eye, he had everything ready.

Then he added the snake meat, the leftover rations from him and Mei Yinghan, and a small amount of tree bark.

At this moment, there was no concern for finesse—the priority was quantity and fullness.

The lotus pickers naturally noticed Bai Zhengliu’s actions. They kept swallowing, wanting to fill their stomachs with hot soup, but it wasn’t theirs, so they didn’t dare ask.

They had to fill their hearts with another happy thought, once again sighing: “Luckily, we made it out……”

Mei Yinghan took a deep breath.

The moment was nearly right. He finally spoke, serious and solemn: “No, you all haven’t.”

The lotus pickers froze.

Mei Yinghan continued: “It’s not just you. Bai Zhengliu and I—this one here,” he glanced at Bai Zhengliu, who waved his hand, “also fell into this place that cannot be entered or exited.”As his words fell, the lotus pickers’ lips began to tremble.

They could not believe it: “How could this be?”

“Hero Mei, are you lying to us?”

“Yes, are you joking with us? Hero Mei, Hero Mei!”

Amid the chorus of voices, Mei Yinghan closed his eyes.

Then he reopened them, calm and resolute, saying: “I’m sorry, but I am not lying to you.”

The lotus pickers fell silent.

They said nothing; the brightness in their eyes instantly faded, and even their complexions began to show a grayish pallor.

Ah, we didn’t get out.

Sure enough, they were still going to die on the snow mountain, haha……

Just as their minds wavered, a voice interjected from the side.

No need to ask—it was naturally Bai Zhengliu.

He asked calmly and naturally: “The snake soup is ready. Do you want to eat?”

Their thoughts: “We still didn’t get out……”

Their stomachs: “Gurgle.”

Author’s note:

At the end of the previous chapter, I originally wanted to create a bit of suspense, haha. It was “Mei,” and afterward, it could also continue as “Senior Brother Mei,” meaning the fake junior disciples had chased after them.

In the end, no one was fooled, facepalm.