Chapter 276 - Arrival at the Millennium Pavilion (2/2)

After half a day, Ji Yin came to a halt. It was already dark. Ling Zhang could see clouds of white fog in the area ahead. The fog was uneven in color and smelled somewhat weird. Ji Yin took out two alexipharmic pills and had Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong each swallow one.

“We could easily get lost if we travel in these mountains at night. Let’s just spend the night here and resume our journey tomorrow morning.”

Ling Zhang naturally raised no objections. His kung fu was not as good as theirs. If he insisted on continuing, he would only wind up becoming a burden.

Yuwen Tong went hunting and brought back a pheasant and some other wild animals, plucked and cleaned them in a stream and roasted them. They had antic.i.p.ated that they’d have to stay overnight in the mountains, so they’d bought a lot of seasonings beforehand in the town. The meal turned out to be quite satisfying.

Ling Zhang took a couple of sips of the water he brought with him, heaved a sigh of contentment and looked at Yuwen Tong, eyes glinting. In the knowledge that he’d enjoyed the food very much, Yuwen Tong reached out a hand to stroke Ling Zhang’s cheeks and then used his thumb to wipe away the water at the corners of his mouth.

Ji Yin sneaked a glance at them and inwardly gave a snort. Seeing that this Yuwen boy dared take liberties with his grandson in his presence, he pointedly let out a soft cough, interrupting the affectionate eye contact of the two youngsters opposite him.

Embarra.s.sed, Ling Zhang tore his eyes away from Yuwen Tong. Yuwen Tong, however, appeared pretty composed.

Ji Yin, who had a below-average appet.i.te, hadn’t eaten much roast meat. He added some firewood into the campfire and said, “We put up here tonight. By the end of tomorrow we should get to our destination.”

Ling Zhang rose to his feet, cleared a s.p.a.ce beside the fire, carried over a pile of broad withered leaves that he’d collected a while ago, spread them over the ground, took off his overgarment and lay it on top of the leaves. “Grandfather, you may sleep here.”

The corners of Ji Yin’s mouth unnoticeably curled in a faint smile at the sight of the primitive “bed”, but the words came out of his mouth were, “You sleep there. My skin is quite thick. There’s no need for you to go to such trouble.”

Ling Zhang had specially prepared it for Ji Yin, so of course he wouldn’t sleep on it himself. After coaxing Ji Yin for a few moments, he managed to convince him to accept the offer.

Yuwen Tong had also made a simple “bed”, but due to the presence of his grandfather, Ling Zhang was ashamed to share it with Yuwen Tong. That “bed” was not very broad, and if the two of them were to sleep on it together, they’d have to cuddle up against each other, which Ling Zhang felt would be quite embarra.s.sing.

Ling Zhang simply squatted on his hams to perform Qi circulation. Having traveled in such dangerous terrain at Ji Yin’s and Yuwen Tong’s usual speed for a full day, he felt rather tired. Performing Qi circulation would be helpful in restoring his strength and easing the soreness in his legs.

Yuwen Tong drew him over to sit down on the spot he’d cus.h.i.+oned with leaves. “I’ll keep you company.”

Thus, that night, Ji Yin was sleeping on the side. Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong, in a cross-legged sitting position and a state of self-oblivion, kept circulating their internal energy throughout their meridian networks.

With Ji Yin and Yuwen Tong beside him, Ling Zhang was fully relaxed and didn’t have to worry about potential disturbance by wild beasts at all, spending the whole night in self-oblivion.

At daybreak the next morning, as the gray light of dawn went through his eyelids, he woke up from his Qi circulation and saw that the campfire they’d made last night had burnt out some time ago. Ji Yin and Yuwen Tong had awoken before him and were eating pancakes with water.

“You woke up. Have some food. We’ll set off in a while.” Yuwen Tong walked over, pulled him to his feet and handed him water and pancakes.

Ling Zhang took them, finished a big pancake with water, put on his overgarment, took Yuwen Tong’s hand and followed Ji Yin into the thick woods pervaded by poisonous fog and miasma.

…

Ling Zhang didn’t dare let down his guard for a single moment, holding Yuwen Tong’s hand tightly all the time for fear of getting separated from him, because the fog was thickening as they progressed deeper, and he could barely make out his own hands. Fortunately, Ji Yin was ahead of them all along and they stayed on his heels.

In this foggy area, apart from toxic fog and miasma, there were also dangerously abrupt mountain roads and cl.u.s.ters of thorns.

Just like Ji Yin had told them, it indeed took them nearly a full day to get through the foggy area. When they rid themselves of the fog, it was almost dusk. Then Ji Yin led them onto a circuitous path. Ling Zhang vaguely felt that this was a huge formation. On the surface they were taking one turn after another at random in Ji Yin’s wake, but actually their every step was following a certain pattern.

When Ji Yin told them to stop again, stars could be seen twinkling in the sky.

“Ahead of us is the last hurdle, and the Millennium Pavilion is right behind it. We sleep in the open here tonight. Tomorrow morning, you two are to stay here waiting, and I’ll go inside to report to the clan leader first and then return to take you in. This is my token. If anybody comes here while you’re waiting, show this to them.”

Ji Yin handed his token to Ling Zhang, who solemnly took it. The next day, he would meet the leader of the Millennium Pavilion and… his father. If truth be told, he was somewhat nervous.

The next morning, Ji Yin left. Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong stayed where they were, waiting for Ji Yin to return. When it was almost noon and Ji Yin was still not back, Ling Zhang became rather worried. Yuwen Tong, who was much more composed than him, consoled him, “Take it easy. I’m sure Mr. Ji will come back to take us inside. Let’s have a bite of lunch. I saw a brook there. How about I go get another couple of pheasants and roast them?”

Ling Zhang inclined his head. “Sounds good.”

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