Chapter 221: Chapter 152: Great Snake
The scalding snake stew was absolutely delicious.
Especially in a harsh environment like this. It gave one the feeling of having narrowly escaped death.
When Zheng Xiu learned that it was Ruchen who had carried him up Celestial Yin Mountain on his back, he was utterly stunned.
"You actually managed to carry me... all the way up Celestial Yin Mountain?"
"Hehehe!"
Ruchen was always smiling as he drank the broth.
Watching the grimy Ruchen drinking snake soup and eating tender rolls of snake meat, Zheng Xiu felt a warmth spread through his stomach.
Only then did Zheng Xiu notice they were inside a long, narrow cave.
The winding entrance perfectly blocked the wind and snow from getting in.
Inside the dim cave, the faint outline of a white-skinned Snake corpse could be seen. Zheng Xiu was startled when he saw the sheer size of it.
He never would have imagined that such a desolate, frozen land could nurture such a large, plump, white Snake.
A pleasant surprise.
It was a white snake, about two meters long and as thick as a forearm. A large chunk of its skin and flesh had been torn away, and that very piece was now simmering in the pot.
When Zheng Xiu asked how Ruchen had found the snake, Ruchen explained that he had been starving the day before. Their rations for two were gone, so he had ventured deeper into the cave. As he walked, he spotted a snake head buried in the earth. He dug it out and, while the hibernating creature was still asleep, shattered its vital spot with a single slap.
As Zheng Xiu listened to Ruchen excitedly recount his "lucky find," he thought to himself, ’It seems there really is such a thing as "luck" in this world. One of the four parts of a Human Soul is "fortune," after all.’ Moreover, the descriptions in Zheng Xiu’s Heart Prison for his Post Stations included details on "Destiny" and "Scale."
After adding the Post Station Ascetic Monk to his Heart Prison, Zheng Xiu had been too busy dealing with Ye Weiyang to find time to study the Monk’s Post Station description. He suspected the Monk’s Destiny was nothing to scoff at.
Incidentally, Post Station Feng Bei’s Destiny and Scale were: Celestial Killer Lone Star and "Initial Scale," respectively.
Wait a minute.
’Monk, what did you just say?’
’You worked hard to *dig* for it?’
The wind HOWLED outside while the two of them CHEWED noisily on snake meat inside the cave.
He wolfed down one bowl, slightly easing his hunger. After starting on a second, Zheng Xiu asked what had happened while he was unconscious.
In any case, with the Post Station Ascetic Monk here, Zheng Xiu had just tried to cancel his Divine Travel and return to his Main Body.
He discovered it had failed.
This was the first time Zheng Xiu had encountered such a situation, but he didn’t panic. The fact that his Incarnation was alive and well meant his Main Body was, too.
’Perhaps it’s extreme fatigue.’
The situation wasn’t hard to understand.
Although he was somewhat worried about the Imperial City, on second thought, Zheng Xiu knew that while his home wasn’t exactly an impregnable fortress, it couldn’t be breached by just any random small fry.
Recalling his clash with the Crow Fosterer, Zheng Xiu vaguely sensed that the Night Lord must be under some kind of Restriction, unable to act freely. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sent the Crow Fosterer in his stead.
Rules, mediums, Restrictions—Zheng Xiu was now quite familiar with this set of principles.
Gulping down the snake soup and devouring the meat, Zheng Xiu could feel the accumulated fatigue rapidly dissipating as his strength returned.
"Brother Zheng, you slept for a full thirteen days and nights."
"Thirteen days."
Zheng Xiu counted the days on his fingers.
’It’s a miracle my Main Body hasn’t starved to death.’
This made Zheng Xiu even more certain that his body was simply worn out. He had already been pushing his limits by controlling his Incarnation through Divine Travel while exhausted. Add thirteen days without food or drink to that, and it was a wonder he was still alive.
Zheng Xiu still shuddered when he recalled the terrifying Crow Fosterer. That monster, neither Human nor bird, made it hard for him to imagine that "it" had once been a Miracle Master.
But the "Heaven and Earth Sword Intent" that Zheng Baimei had unleashed at the end was on a whole other level of power. If the Night Lord had been able to act, if the Crow Fosterer had been ten times more terrifying, and if Zheng Xiu’s own Unity Sword Intent had been ten times weaker, he would have undoubtedly died that day. Of course, there are no "ifs" in this world. All that mattered was that Zheng Xiu had survived.
Zheng Xiu caressed the painted scroll tucked inside his robe. The rough texture slid across his fingertips as he fell into deep thought.
He vaguely remembered that after Zheng Baimei’s "death," the Post Station he had chosen for his next Divine Travel was the Post Station Executioner, not the Post Station Ascetic Monk. This proved that Feng Bei was still alive.
The finest ingredients often require the simplest cooking methods.
After finishing the delicious pot of snake meat, the two of them decided it wasn’t enough, so Ruchen had Zheng Xiu carve off another large chunk to cook.
The winding cave seemed bottomless. Besides digging up the snake, Ruchen had also found plenty of clean branches deeper inside.
Water was even less of a problem; they just had to go outside, scoop up some snow, and boil it.
Zheng Xiu dragged his weary body toward the mouth of the cave.
The view before him suddenly opened up.
Zheng Xiu looked down, but the earth was nowhere to be seen. As far as his eyes could see, there was only a vast, white sea of clouds stretching to the horizon.
Looking up, the sky was a clear, mirror-like dome, a flawless pane of pale blue that was both refreshing and uplifting.
The sight of Heaven and Earth merging into one line made Zheng Xiu pause in his task of gathering snow. Utterly bewildered, he muttered, "How in the world did that Monk carry me all the way up here? I guess this is what you’d expect from... an Innate Mystic. I really can’t afford to underestimate him."
They put on a fresh pot, and soon bubbles began to rise from the bottom. While waiting for it to cook, Ruchen kept looking around, rubbing the short stubble of hair that had grown back on his head. He kept glancing over at the Mighty Man, looking as if he wanted to say something but was holding back.
"Is there something you want to say?"
Zheng Xiu couldn’t help but ask, seeing Ruchen’s restless fidgeting.
"Hehehe, Brother Zheng, you’re as sharp as ever. This Little Monk wanted to ask... who is Zizi?"
Comments