Chapter 321: Chapter 89: Treacherous Roads in the Qinling Mountains, Mr. Chen’s Fame Spreads Far and Wide (Part 2)
The Snowy Squirrel peeked its little head out from the tree hole, holding a pine cone, it leapt onto the branch, its fluffy tail sweeping a comma-shaped arc in the snow curtain.
It crouched on the branch, curiously observing the row of people below the tree.
"It’s really snowing!" Jiang Wenning stretched out her arms, letting the snowflakes fall into her palms, her face full of delight.
The heavens seemed to have heard her thoughts; she was regretful about the lack of snow last night, and this morning it quietly fell.
"Meow~"
The eyes of the Ice Crystal Illusion Cat sparkled; it lightly landed on the ground, looking up to catch the falling snow, like a beautiful little princess standing alone amidst the flurry.
"Nuomi, watch out." Jiang Wenning picked up a small snowball and tossed it at the Ice Crystal Illusion Cat.
The Ice Crystal Illusion Cat didn’t even turn its head, slightly shifting its body to easily dodge the snowball.
Then, with a flick of its long tail, a snowball was flung back toward Jiang Wenning.
Bang!
The snowball hit Jiang Wenning’s face squarely.
"Alright, Nuomi, how dare you sneak attack me!" Jiang Wenning laughed, picking up snowball after snowball, continuously throwing them at the Ice Crystal Illusion Cat.
"Boring." Lu Ran watched the intimate interaction between person and pet, hands in pockets, his face expressionless and uninterested.
Growing up in the Imperial Capital, he had seen countless snowy landscapes, remaining unmoved by the heavy snow scene.
How about a thrilling pet beast battle in the snow instead!
Bang!
A snowball hit the back of his head, Lu Ran was first taken aback, then immediately furious: "Which bastard sneak attacked me?"
Turning his head, he saw the Blast Flame Fighting Ape again rubbing a snowball, adjusting the angle, and throwing it with force.
Lu Ran dodged to the side, bending down to pick up a snowball, his mouth curving: "Watch out!"
The snowball came straight at the Blast Flame Fighting Ape, who didn’t dodge or retreat, swinging its right fist where flames surged, with a whoosh of the wind, instantly melting the snowball.
Lu Ran cursed with laughter: "Bastard, no cheating!"
The snow seemed like a gift from the sky, everyone and their pet beasts playing intimately, engaging in a snowball fight, with only Professor Song silently putting on a thick coat.
"Yinyin~"
The Twin Flower Concubine was very interested in the drifting snowflakes, waving its palms, which emitted a bright green light that enveloped the falling snowflakes.
But the snowflakes did not react.
Chen Yuan chuckled helplessly: "Snowflakes aren’t flowers; your skills have no effect."
"Yin....."
The Twin Flower Concubine hung its head in disappointment but quickly regained its spirit, sliding down Chen Yuan’s arm onto the ground, its tiny body standing on the snow, cautiously poking out its little feet.
Stepping on the snow, a slight "squeak-squeak" sound echoed beside its ear, the Twin Flower Concubine found it very amusing and gathered its skirt, quickening its pace.
Small footprints left in the snow looked like blossoming flowers, but carelessly, its little feet sank into the snow.
"Chirp~"
Spark controlled the force, cautiously spraying out warm air, instantly melting the snow that trapped the Twin Flower Concubine.
The freed Twin Flower Concubine gathered its skirt, bowing to express gratitude to Spark, and attempted to approach the snowball fight.
"Don’t go over there." Chen Yuan called out to the Twin Flower Concubine.
With the Twin Flower Concubine’s small stature, it would likely be buried under snowballs.
"Yinyin~"
The Twin Flower Concubine obediently returned to Chen Yuan’s shoulder, staring earnestly at the Beastmasters and pet beasts engaged in the snowball fight.
"This year’s first snow is a bit early." Chen Yuan squatted on the ground, squeezing the piled snow.
This first snow fell quietly, descending on Qinling with the morning light.
"I remember the past years’ snow falls in mid-November." Chen Wenhao squatted beside Chen Yuan.
"Mm." Chen Yuan nodded, gazing towards the mountain range dressed in silver, "Seems colder this year than in previous years."
"Cold is alright." Chen Wenhao’s eyes flickered, speaking solemnly, "It’s just the snow makes the road harder to travel."
"Indeed....."
The brothers, who grew up in Qinling, deeply understood the difficulty of traversing the snow.
Soft new snow feels like stepping on cotton, easy to sink, while packed snow is hard like walking on pavement, both are hard to navigate.
Chen Yuan lifted his head, seeing the lead-grey clouds obstructing the morning light, rolling over the ridgeline, the snow like a tightly woven silver shuttle stitching the world into a somber velvet curtain.
The snow was getting heavier; soon enough, the ground would be piled thick with snow.
Need to hurry up and set off.
Stopping the snowball fight, Chen Yuan indicated they should proceed quickly after breakfast.
Yao Li still took out that kettle, cooking up a packet of instant noodles.
Chen Yuan couldn’t help but comment: "Yao, having instant noodles in the morning isn’t good, is it?"
Yao Li laughed and waved his hand: "No problem, no problem, I’m used to it."
After breakfast, everyone put on thicker clothes, wore specially prepared ice spikes, and continued forward.
No one expected Qinling to suddenly have a rainstorm; luckily, the old man had warned before entering the mountains: "Bring the ice spikes; the weather’s been weird lately, might snow unpredictably any day."
Without the old man’s words, the journey ahead would be extremely difficult.
Since Qiong Yue followed another Investigation Department member down the mountain, Chen Yuan asked Professor Song to ride on the Fallen Meteor Horned Beast to conserve energy.
The snow was hard to navigate, but the Fallen Meteor Horned Beast didn’t feel that way.
Its center of gravity was extremely stable; it could even run in relatively shallow snow, carrying Professor Song with ease.
Cola was even more relaxed, the heavy snowfall had no effect on it, swirling up a breeze as it dashed across the snow.
The further they went, the stronger the wind and snow became.
Chen Yuan raised a hand to hold down the hood whipped by the wind, his eyelashes unwittingly iced over, each blink like raising a frost curtain.
The snow was already knee-deep, each step akin to pulling leg and foot out of a swamp.
Chen Yuan looked at the heavy snow, full of bewilderment: "How did this first snow turn into a blizzard?"
He didn’t understand, truly did not understand.
