115 Chapter One Hundred and Fourteen - Together as One (1/2)
The second wave of frozen snow came in blizzard form, the strong winds sweeping the falling flakes into a frenzy, blinding anyone unlucky to be out in it. Zombies did not completely rely on their vision, but any with the ability to hear could only listen to the howling winds and the smells of warm mortal bodies, while not reduced, were carried on the winds in all directions; it was impossible to be lured directly towards their source. Tyler, Chang Min, Cole and Ren Zexian could also not visually sense the undead, but their other abilities made up for the lack and they 'watched' the zombies wander frantically in numerous directions before some began to stiffen with the ice freezing their rotting muscles.
Chang Min adjusted the thick scarves wrapped around his lover's neck and patted his chest once he was finished. Leaning close to combat the deafening winds, he murmured into Cole's ear. ”You should return home. You're too cold.”
”No need.” Cole smiled beneath the heavy wool where pin pricks of icy air were burying their way through the tiny gaps in the knit. It was fucking freezing, he admitted inwardly, but he wasn't about to let Chang Min suffer out here alone. That said, his resolve only lasted a short as he embarrassingly was scooped up into princess hold once the chattering of his teeth reached Chang Min's ears and the shorter man carried him quickly into the shelter of the first property's hallway.
Actually, not only in the blizzard conditions, but the unforgiving chill of the night, ordinary people could not expose themselves to the subzero temperatures that plagued them mostly during this time without the relief of any winter sun and could only allow others to suffer in their stead. Primary stage ability users did not have it much better unless like Rohan, whose fire root provided him with an internal radiator of warmth allowing him to walk outside for much longer periods than he might otherwise. Those who had cultivated to secondary stage had it a little easier, though it wasn't wise remain outside for more than an hour even then. So the duty of night patrols were mostly on Chang Min, Ren Zexian and Tyler's shoulders.
And then, he quietly passed through the thin barrier between secondary and tertiary stage without warning.
”Master! It has only been a year!” Chang Min spoke his worries about this quietly to his Master, while others were offering their heartfelt or otherwise congratulations and teasing words in the camaraderie sense.
”Hmm,” Ren Zexian agreed, but didn't share the worries of his student. ”But thing of all that he has done in this year.” Tyler was not only responsible for much of their drinking water, he had to supply bath water and water for washing dishes and clothes. He practiced purifying dirty water, though his achievements were still not great in this field, plus he insured their freezer room was constantly cold and not at risk of defrosting. And with all of this, he still took a turn patrolling the walls, fighting when necessary. ”Besides, do you believe that the cultivation method that I gave him was ordinary?”
This last point alone gave Chang Min pause, before his could only shake his head. Their old friends had often complained cheerfully that his Master considered those very rare and profound methods he collected as common as the basic cultivation method that pretty much every cultivating child was taught. He never once thought of hoarding precious materials or resources, giving them away willingly as if they were nothing more than waste paper.
Unlike Tyler, his own protege come lover did not break through to the next level quietly. Anyone with an ability felt a great movement in the atmosphere causing the hair upon their bodies to stand on end and even anyone without an ability could feel the ground tremor beneath their feet, hear the pans rattling in the cupboards, glassware chinking on the sides. And from where he rested in the third property, while holding a nestling youth to his side, Ren Zexian sensed the disturbance of Heaven and Earth coming from the first property.
Fortunately, no one thought to disturb the person responsible or they would have received a rather x-rated display to add to memory.
Cole had been considering certain matters between himself and Chang Min for a while. Dao Companionship was a kin to a marriage without divorce, a serious matter that needed much thought and Chang Min had given him this time to do so, thinking that due to the incarceration he experienced in his youth, he did not like to feel trapped. But actually, Cole had not been entirely forthright with his hated life history that was the true caused for him to hesitate this long.
His parents had actually been devout in their worship of God, self-assured in the morals and rules of their faith and strict upon themselves and their children. It often came about that children will often follow in their parents footsteps or rebel and head in the opposite direction. Cole was listed amongst the latter, but he hadn't really hated the religious thing, although in prison he came to realise that he didn't share his parents undying faith. What he hated the most was something else; the fact that their beliefs had them refusing separation and divorce. His parents marriage had more or less been encouraged, to the point that it might as well have been an arranged marriage, by their religious parents and their church. But after marriage, they found that other than their faith, they really did not see eye to eye.