Chapter 193: Chapter 192: Longing for Qiu
Three days passed in a flash. Jiang Qiu donned the suit of black Armor with a tiger’s head sculpted onto its shoulder. Holding the North Snow Tribe’s heirloom, the Northern Snow Lance, he bid farewell to Uncle Xiong, ready to follow Leader Hunt’s party north.
"Hill."
A sudden, clear cry stopped Jiang Qiu just as he was about to mount his horse. With his right foot in the stirrup, he turned his head and saw Flower amid the vast expanse of snow, her right hand raised high in a wave. Her figure, slender yet full, was still strikingly defined even beneath a thick, padded coat.
"May you claim the greatest of the ancestral legacies!"
Her cry seemed to cut through the wind and snow, striking his chest like a small hammer. Jiang Qiu’s eyes widened slightly as he tightened his grip on the reins. "I will."
In one smooth motion, he mounted his horse. Jiang Qiu followed the party of Warriors, led by Leader Hunt, into the distance. They passed through the snow beyond the tribe’s gates and were swallowed by the white mist, the hoofprints they left behind quickly filled and erased.
Reaching the Ancestral Ruins was not a journey of a few days. The ruins were located within the North Sea, and the ice and snow covering them would only melt during a specific window of time. Thus, people from every tribe would set out for them early.
The North Sea lay in the extreme north. Even for the Warriors of the North Snow Tribe, it was a journey of more than half a month on horseback.
To ensure the safety of their tribe’s Chosen One—or any other genius, for that matter—each tribe would dispatch their strongest Warriors as an escort.
Take the North Snow Tribe, for instance. Leader Hunt, the strongest in the tribe and a master of the Steel Bone Realm, was personally leading the expedition. He was accompanied by over a hundred of the tribe’s most elite Warriors, all from the primary Hunting Team, many of whom were experts in the Iron Flesh Realm.
All this, just to ensure Jiang Qiu’s safety.
Watching their figures disappear into the snow-swept landscape, Flower’s waving right hand slowly fell to her side. She rubbed her hands together and stood there for a long time, huddled in her padded coat. A long, white plume of breath escaped her lips. ’Only four years left... then Hill will be gone for good...’
Three years had passed since her own coming-of-age ceremony. She was nineteen now, her body fully blossomed. The padded coat always rose in a hill-like contour over her chest. When she hugged her midsection, she could feel the empty space between the outer coat and its lining, and she would shiver whenever a cold draft snuck through.
Perhaps it was a late-blooming Talent, but she was more ample than other women her age. Not even those who had already borne two children could compare.
This was, of course, a wonderful Talent to have, one that should have made her the object of contention for all the young men of other tribes. Her mother had often tried to persuade her, saying that if she were only willing, she could certainly be recommended to a valiant Warrior.
But she was stubbornly unwilling. For the past three years, she had refused to attend the coming-of-age ceremonies and meet the emissaries from the other tribes.
Yes, even adults could attend the coming-of-age ceremony, they just wouldn’t be the center of attention. It was a rare opportunity to make contact with the outside tribes. Many widows chose this time to seek new husbands, and they were almost always successful.
Someone with Flower’s qualities was highly sought-after. The Young Master of a smaller tribe had even made a special trip to propose marriage, hoping to take Flower away with him. Apparently, one of his kinsmen who attended the ceremony had told him there was a beautiful girl who had once caught the eye of Young Master Ice from the South Mountain Tribe. Luckily, she hadn’t been taken away in the end, which meant it was a perfect opportunity...
"Flower, the coming-of-age ceremony is in a few days. You should get ready. This can’t go on, you know."
Her mother chided her upon returning home. Flower merely lowered her head in silence, sat by the hearth, and resumed her unfinished silk weaving, the fine calluses on her palms rubbing against the cool silk threads.
"Ai, if you had just left with Young Master Ice of the South Mountain Tribe back then, you wouldn’t need to be doing this sort of work now..."
Her mother sighed, a trace of heartache showing in the corners of her wrinkled eyes.
She watched her daughter, who was now taller than she was, squatting silently by the fire. The orange-yellow light of the flames danced across her fair face, making her large, round eyes glisten.
’Time seemed to speed up, and the happy days grew fewer. When she was young, everyone would play, making ice sculptures and the like. But after you crossed the threshold of sixteen, your life was no longer your own.’
’In the Northern Boundary, no one in any tribe could afford to be idle for long. Ultimately, someone had to chop firewood, someone had to weave clothes, and someone had to hunt. Once your childhood years were over, you had to shoulder your responsibilities.’
’There wasn’t much conflict between neighbors. Marriage was just about finding a companion to ease the loneliness. Even if you didn’t see each other much during the day, you’d have someone to look forward to in the morning and at night.’
’For someone like her, seeing Hill had been her greatest joy as a child. When he was just a year old and couldn’t yet walk, she could go and see him every day.’
’When he started joining the hunts, he never went too far. Sooner or later, he would return to the tribe, to the house right next door. Flower would sometimes peer over the Wall to watch for him, always with a smile on her face.’
’But now, he was the tribe’s Chosen One, a grown man. He had left the house next door and moved to the heart of the tribe—the Ice Layer Hot Spring—to temper himself. Now, she might not see him even once in a whole month.’
’Now, Hill had followed the tribe’s strongest Warriors to the North Sea. She might not see him for months, and after that... the chances of seeing him would be even slimmer.’
’A Chosen One’s power undergoes a massive transformation after entering the Ancestral Ruins. By the time he comes back, he might even rival the Leader in strength.’
’This was the way of things, a legend passed down through the tribe for generations. It was unrealistic to hope for a Chosen One to stay. It was even more unrealistic to hope for one to come back after leaving.’
’Once the War of the Chosen began, those destined to leave would leave, and those who stayed behind would remain. The only exception was if an even more ancient legend came to pass: that someone would pluck the Enlightenment Fruit from the Northern Boundary Peak and break the seal on the Northern Boundary.’
It was said that the Northern Boundary was once a corner of the Ancestral Realm, cast out for some unknown reason. To shelter the Human Race, the ancestors sealed the Northern Boundary’s Eye of Spirit Charm, which is why this land has been in a state of perpetual ice and snow ever since.
If the Enlightenment Fruit was taken, the seal would break on its own. An endless stream of Spirit Charm would pour forth, and the Northern Boundary would reconnect with the Ancestral Realm.
But tens of thousands of years had passed. How many people still believed in such a legend...?
"Mother, I don’t want to get married. Even after these four years are over, I still won’t want to."
Flower murmured, a single, shimmering tear escaping the corner of her eye. Her flushed cheeks twitched as Hill’s parting words replayed in her mind: "I will."
’In her nineteen years, the times she got to see Hill grew fewer and fewer, yet time itself only seemed to move faster and faster.’
’When she was three or four, looking forward to seeing a baby named Hill had become a habit. It was a habit she couldn’t break for the next sixteen years.’
’In her life so far, aside from her parents, the person who had been with her the longest was Hill.’
’She didn’t know what this feeling was, but she supposed it was the desire to get married, to find that companion she could look forward to seeing day and night.’
’A shame that she had less and less to look forward to...’
