Chapter 272 – Zhang Daniu
Whenever he saw someone freeze to death, the pain he would feel was if someone stabbed his heart. It was not that he cared about them, but because a sense of dread and worry for his wife arose very time.
He was worried that his wife would leave him if she couldn’t withstand these harsh conditions.
In addition to his wife, he was also worried about Wang Lin. In his mind, uncle Wang was already old. Will his body be okay in this cold?
He had already lost his parents. He didn’t want uncle Wang to leave him too.
Da Niu’s son, Ceng Xiaoniu, had just joined the White Cloud Sect and was only at the Qi Condensation stage. Although his status was much higher than mortals’, with his level, he was useless in this war.
As a result, although he tried to look for his parents, the Four Sect Alliance was too large. Almost all of the mortals had been moved to clear snow and were spread across the country.
Unless he had an extremely high cultivation level, there was no way for him to find his parents.
Da Niu had forgotten how long this snow had been falling for. Every day, he would wake up to find someone near him frozen to death.
At the same time, he also noticed the mysterious power of the small carving around his neck. Every time he felt cold, a warmth would come from the carving and spread across his body. No matter how cold it became, he could safely live through it.
After realizing the power of the carving, Da Niu suddenly felt like he didn’t know Wang Lin as well anymore, as if he had never seen through that old man.
But because of the existence of the wood carvings, he felt more relaxed about his wife. As long as his wife didn’t remove the wood carving, she also wouldn’t be frozen to death.
However, as time passed, he looked at the endless snow and his heart began to despair again.
The snow in the sky lessened, but still continued to fall endlessly.
During these days, a lot of mortals secretly escaped. They wanted to escape to the nearby countries. Even if they had to give up everything, at least they still had some hope.
It was said that the adjacent countries didn’t have any clouds. It was like normal spring in those countries; everything was normal and the sun was shining.
In the morning, Da Niu was the first one to wake up. He got up from his bed. Behind him slept the second son of a shopkeeper from the same street as him. This young man was a hard worker who often worked together with Da Niu.
He was a simple child. Da Niu gave him a push, but he suddenly froze. He placed his hand over the boy’s nose and bitterly smiled. “He is dead…” he whispered.
When he pushed the boy, he already noticed that something was off. Two streams of tears came out of Da Niu’s eyes and a 40 something year old man began to weep.
He missed his home, missed his wife, missed his son, missed Uncle Wang, missed his shop, and missed the warmth of his home.
At this point, someone else got up and stared at Da Niu. Then he immediately noticed that throughout the night, five people had frozen to death in this room.
Everyone began to ponder. After a long time, a shout came from outside the house, “Everyone, come out, now! If anyone goofs off, they will be thrown into the snow to freeze to death.”
Someone let out a sigh and everyone slowly walked out. Their eyes were all out of focus and their faces were yellow. These last few months of clearing snow had really taken a toll on them. At the beginning, there was enough food, but now there was less and less. It was at the point where they couldn’t keep the labor up anymore.
Da Niu was still crying on the ground. A middle aged man who was very friendly with him pulled him up and said, “Da Niu, let’s go. As long as we are alive, there is still hope.”
Da Niu was pulled up by him. He looked at the boy who lied there unmoving and tears flowed out again.
After he left the room, the cold wind hit him, causing him to shiver, but warmth soon came from the little carving around his neck.
He rubbed his chest and looked at the people walking out from the door. He clenched his teeth and made a decision. He was going to find his wife and leave this country. Once this snow is over, he will come back.
Late at night, when everyone had fallen asleep, he secretly left the house. The cold wind caused him to shiver, but he still went out into the snow.
There were human troops surrounding the area, but they couldn’t just ignore people escaping. In this area, at least they could live. If they were to leave, then they would likely die.
They stopped people at first, but after a while, they gave up. After all, if someone wants to die, you can’t really stop them.
Da Niu slowly trekked through the snow in the dark. The world was large, but he felt like there was no place where he belonged. The wind was even stronger late at night. He suddenly stopped as he ran into something. He was shocked to find that what tripped him was a body.
This body had died not long ago, so it was only covered by a thin layer of snow. When Da Niu fell, his face came very close to the face of the dead body.
His breath even landed on the body’s face.
After being startled for a while, he let out a shout and backed up. However, as he backed up, he tripped again. He felt cold as he looked around and saw countless bodies.
Da Niu was a mortal. His longing for his wife and son, the death of the kid, and all of the dead bodies caused him to break down.
He squatted down in the snow and began to cry.
After a long time, Da Niu suddenly felt his body warm up as a warm hand patted his head.
“Da Niu, don’t be afraid.”
Da Niu turned his head and looked at the youth that appeared behind him. This youth looked much younger than him, but the youth’s eyes emanated an ancient light.
Da Niu was no stranger to this person. In fact, it was the uncle Wang he longed for.
But this person’s current appearance was completely different from the old man he knew. Da Niu looked at Wang Lin and suddenly remembered the first time he opened Wang Lin’s shop’s door and saw his face.
The Wang Lin from then looked exactly like the one now.
“Uncle Wang…” Da Niu whispered. He pondered for a while. He felt like the uncle that watched him grow up was not a normal person. He pondered for a while, then asked, “You… you are an immortal?”
Wang Lin looked at the surroundings. Finally, he looked at Da Niu, nodded, and smiled. “It’s okay. Uncle Wang is here, so there is no need to be afraid. Let us go find your wife.”
Da Niu felt like he was in a dream. In his mind, the image he associated Wang Lin with rapidly changed between an old man and a young man. His expression was unsettled. Even a hint of panic was visible.
Wang Lin let out a sigh and pointed his finger at Da Niu’s head. Da Niu felt an irresistible urge to sleep, then he fell asleep.
Wang Lin waved his right hand. A gentle light surrounded Da Niu and Wang Lin flew away with him.
30,000 kilometers away, in another house filled with mortals that were clearing snow, Wang Lin found Da Niu’s wife. When Wang Lin gave them the carvings, he left a piece of his divine sense inside them so he could save them in a time of danger.
This relationship was a seed he planted with Da Niu 30 years, and he had to save them to harvest the fruit.
Wang Lin quickly moved while carrying the couple and arrived at the border. There were two lightscreens blocking the way. One was from the Four Sect Alliance and one was from the other side.
Wang Lin put down the couple and placed his hand on the light. His spiritual energy was injected into the lightscreen and a tunnel that people could pass through opened up.
Wang Lin let out a sigh. He pointed his hand to the couple’s heads. After leaving behind a small package, he turned around and disappeared.
After a while, Da Niu opened his eyes. He felt like he had just seen a dream of his uncle Wang. The image of his Uncle Wang for some reason changed to be the same as the uncle Wang he knew when he was a boy.
He let out a sigh, then suddenly looked at the woman next to him and let out a scream. He quickly moved up and shook her. The woman woke up and also stared at Da Niu. After a while, the two of them hugged each other and began to cry.
Da Niu’s wife asked after crying for a while, “Da Niu, why am I here? I remember that when I fell asleep, I was still inside the house.”
Da Niu pondered for a while and looked into the sky. After a long time, he let out a sigh. He knew that what happened wasn’t a dream. It was reality. He didn’t say anything, he just hugged his wife before turning his eyes toward the tunnel and the package on the ground.
After opening the package, he found a lot of gold. He and his wife both kowtowed toward the capital as he whispered, “Uncle Wang… thank you…”
He picked up the package and dragged his wife through the tunnel. Shortly after Da Niu left the Four Sect Alliance, Wang Lin appeared at the spot where they kowtowed. As he looked at the disappearing figures of Da Niu and his wife, his eyes watered up.
With his divine sense, he already noticed that there was a small town not far from here. They only needed to follow the official road to get there. Da Niu spent the rest of his life there. Even until the moment he died, he couldn’t forget uncle Wang, who watched him grow up. Only, he never had a chance to see Wang Lin again.
