Heroes of the Fantasy World

Chapter 594 Beyond the horizon

(5)

  The people sent by Lu Tianxiu gathered in front of the inn, led by Xu Qiye, the number one guard among the many guards of the Lu Mansion. They stood in a row in front of Bai Feng to be inspected, but Bai Feng felt extremely embarrassed?

"Do you really understand the purpose of this trip?"

Master Xu Qi said, "Looking for the immortal, that's what Master Lu said." The others nodded.

"You all know clearly that there are no immortals, and the place I am looking for may have disappeared long ago. This is a journey without an end. If anyone wants to leave along the way, I will not stop them."

Master Xu Qi glanced at everyone silently. The nine warriors all gave him a firm look. He nodded and said, "I had anticipated this. These nine warriors all came here voluntarily!"

"I thought only people at the end of their rope would make such a crazy decision."

Master Xu Qi pointed at his Taoist robe and told Bai Feng, "I also lived on Kunlun Mountain before. There used to be hundreds of Taoist temples here, large and small. However, most of them were forced to dismiss disciples due to poor management, and the same was true for the Taoist temple I was in. At that time, my master asked me to decide whether to stay or go, and I chose to leave. Since then, I have never seen an immortal again... These kids are young and energetic, so they will inevitably be interested in the immortals living in the mountains."

"Yeah." Bai Feng casually agreed, picked up his bag, turned around to say goodbye to his wife and daughter, then touched his sister's head and said, "I'll be back soon."

After saying this, Bai Feng deliberately walked through Xu Qiye and the others without saying hello, as if she had never been with any companions before, and headed to Kunlun Mountain alone. Xu Qiye and the others were a little puzzled, but they could only follow her obediently.

"No one has been up the mountain in Zhuxian Town for more than ten years, and all the mountain roads are almost abandoned." Master Xu Qi explained as he walked: "As the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning. First we need to find a suitable entrance to the mountain."

Neatly cultivated farmlands passed by like a revolving lantern. Bai Feng's pace was obviously much faster than that of an ordinary person. Xu Qiye could only barely keep up. He did not give his companions any time to rest.

Across the farmland, there is a circle of virgin forest outside the farmland that is rarely visited by humans.

Giant trees take root here, mosses may grow anywhere on the ground, and sand and rocks can be seen exposed on the surface. Very few patches of weeds grow, because once such a seed is seen, it will be immediately covered by sand, mud and rock flow, etc., and similar accidents obviously happen here frequently. There is no breath of wind on the other side of the forest, perhaps this is why the desolation lingers here.

They walked along the edge of the forest for a day and a night, but still did not find a suitable entrance. Such aimless walking was extremely exhausting in itself, and they were also in such a situation - the sunlight was almost invisible in this forest, and the difference between day and night was very subtle, similar to the feeling of lighting and extinguishing a candle in a dark room. It was extremely dark here.

"Legend has it that when the universe was born, the world was this color, a dark, obscure chaos. It was not until the Lord of Heaven appointed the sun, moon, wind, rain and other messengers to establish order and set the four seasons that the world had a definite color."

Xu Qiye's Taoist knowledge did not impress Bai Feng at all. He walked forward on his own. After a long, long time, he suddenly looked back. Unable to tell whether it was day or night, he firmly raised his finger, pointed in that direction, and asked, "Was there a boundary marker there?"

"Boundary marker?" Mr. Xu Qi was about to take people to check. This was the first time he counted the number of people since he set out, but he didn't expect that two people were missing.

Some people wanted to explain for those who left, but after seeing Bai Feng's cold face, they didn't dare to say anything.

Bai Feng walked to that place alone, cleared the weeds and vines with a sickle, and found that there was actually a land temple there!

"The presence of a temple here means there is a road behind. There will only be land temples in places that travelers often pass by." Before Bai Feng finished speaking, his feet had already stepped onto the thorny road up the mountain.

Master Xu Qi led the remaining seven people to pay respect to the God of Land, then chased after him, wondering, "How did Master Bai know there would be a boundary marker here? Or, how did he know there would be a God Temple here?"

"From experience, I have seen many of them during the march. They are usually set up in the gap between two mountains or in the middle of a fork in the road."

Bai Feng kept trying to find a foothold among the rugged rocks. The road, which had not been maintained for decades, had now been damaged to the point where it was almost like an ordinary mountain slope, requiring a person to use both hands and feet to climb up.

  It took them seven full days to finally climb over the first hill, surpassing the highest point they could see!

"The wind is blowing."

Bai Feng murmured, threw himself into the mountains, and walked against the wind.

The mountain they climbed over was just the smallest peak in the Kunlun Mountains. If they stood at the highest point - where it seemed to be snowing forever - and looked down, this place might just be a small black dot.

"Is this the case that there is always a mountain higher than the next?!" One of the companions became scared.

Mr. Xu Qi had somehow learned Bai Feng's indifference. He walked past the person who was talking without saying a word and continued on his way.

Within two days, this person also chose to withdraw from this journey with no end.

Before half a month had passed, three people had already walked, and they had just climbed over the first mountain. Everyone's face was covered with a layer of anxiety, except Bai Feng, who continued to walk in the front as if nothing had happened and continued to rest peacefully. Perhaps Bai Feng really didn't regard them as companions. And what about the others? It was obvious that their physical strength could not keep up. They often suffered from insomnia when camping at night, which led to insufficient physical strength when they woke up to continue on the road. In this cycle, more and more people were exhausted.

Master Xu Qi led everyone to the old Taoist temple to rest based on his past memories. Today, his tone was particularly deep, and he continued to have a conversation with Bai Feng that might not get an answer: "Xihua Peak was where I practiced and lived in the past. It's only been fifteen years, and it's already so dilapidated. Master Bai, sometimes I really don't understand why you can be so persistent in moving forward."

Bai Feng did not answer, but walked to the rubble, closed his eyes and concentrated, as if he was trying to imagine what the Taoist temple looked like in the past. Master Xu Qi was very tactful. After so many days of getting along with him, he knew that if Bai Feng did not want to answer, he would definitely not speak. So he turned and walked to the other side of the eaves wall, where there was still half a tile roof to cover their heads, and the rest of his companions were lingering here.

"You guys go." Master Xu Qi suddenly said, "Take the remaining food and water and go down the mountain. I will accompany Master Bai for the rest of the journey."

The seven people were all silent. Some felt ashamed and guilty, and quietly shed tears; some hated their own incompetence; some complained about the discouraging words said by Master Xu Qi, but the only thing they did not refute was...

"Go down the mountain."

Master Xu Qi gently repeated these two words.

The next day, the remaining servants obeyed the order and went down the mountain one after another.

In this way, the first month passed, and only two people were left continuing their journey to seek immortality.

At first, Bai Feng and Xu Qiye had no conversation at all. Even if there was any, it was Xu Qiye talking to himself. They only relied on a little tacit understanding to cooperate with each other to hunt, collect rotten fruits, collect iceberg meltwater, and do similar things along the way. Finally one day, they found that they could no longer climb up.

The cold comes unnoticed, followed by the condensation of the air. The strong wind becomes as lethal as a blade, and finally, people's skin will be broken inadvertently.

This is a cliff thousands of feet above the ground. Going further up, there are icebergs covered with snow all year round. This is also the highest point of Kunlun Mountain.

The fierce storm blew a wall of ice that could almost knock people to the ground. This was the biggest obstacle for them to continue climbing up. If they were not careful, they would fall into the abyss. What's more, they didn't even bring warm clothes, so being able to hold on here was already their limit.

Master Xu Qi was well aware of the current situation. Staying here for a few days, unable to move forward or retreat, was simply not a solution. He finally came up with the idea of ​​going down the mountain.

The two found a crevice in the mountain where they could make a fire and avoid the wind and snow. Bai Feng sat here looking at the white sky all day. Master Xu Qi wanted to wait for him to speak, but he felt that Bai Feng was so proud that he would definitely not show weakness to him. So he thought about it and wanted to use words to persuade him to go down the mountain.

However, Bai Feng was out of character this time and suddenly said, "Is the immortal here? I have been looking for him for a month but couldn't find him. He must be on the top of the mountain."

Master Xu Qi asked: "What if there is nothing on the top of the mountain?"

"There's no way there isn't."

Xu Qiye said: "The truth is cruel. Even if there is, only ruins are left."

"Didn't Master Qi ask me why I was so determined when we set out a month ago? My answer is very simple. People always have something to think about. My current dream is to visit the place where Master once lived, and then tell them the news that Master has passed away. I hope that they will remember our old friendship and allow a traitor like me to return to my roots. Like Master, I have long lost my hometown, so I feel that Kunlun Mountain is the hometown that I have never seen."

"Besides, we've already come this far. If we don't climb to the top of the mountain, it will feel like a wasted trip..."

Master Xu Qi was at a loss. He couldn't say that he didn't understand Bai Feng, but was it necessary to go to this extent for this matter?

"You must find it very strange, right?" Bai Feng's face was now covered with thin and dense beard, but his smile was still as pure as a child's. He narrowed his eyes without any defense: "Forget it, I don't expect anyone to understand. We will go down the mountain tomorrow."

After saying this, Bai Feng fell asleep.

That night, Master Xu Qi had a peaceful dream. Why did he feel peaceful? Because there was nothing in the dream, only he was meditating. He could clearly feel the process of breathing, which meant that this was also a lucid dream.

I can hear a voice in my dream, only one voice.

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

——The rhythm of breathing and exhaling also changes with the sound.

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

  ——Lucid dream? Does this mean that the voice came from reality?

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

Master Xu Qi woke up suddenly and found that Bai Feng was not around, but a pair of pickaxes used for climbing were missing.

"Bai Feng?"

Mr. Xu Qi exclaimed and realized that it was already dawn.

He immediately understood what was happening and rushed to the outside of the crevice, where he saw a man using a pickaxe to knock out a climbable gap on the edge of the cliff. He had already climbed to a fairly high position.

"Mr. Bai, please come down quickly! We can't get there!"

Bai Feng did not answer and continued to swing the pickaxe.

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

The pick is stuck between the rocks and also serves as a convenient foothold for working upwards.

"Don't you want to live?! Come back here!"

Master Xu Qi's words became more and more impolite. He was obviously more anxious than Bai Feng who was on the cliff.

The wind and snow on the mountain will not show any mercy to you just because you climb a little higher.

Bai Feng's head gradually became numb. He felt it was difficult to breathe and his strength was becoming increasingly weak. The disadvantages of lacking warm clothes were fully demonstrated at this time.

In a moment, his fingers went limp and he lost his grip on the pickaxe, completely losing his balance. Fortunately, his other hand was still able to hold on tightly, preventing his body from being swayed by the wind.

"Bai Feng, wait, I'll go save you!"

"Don't come up!"

Before he finished speaking, Bai Feng's other hand loosened, and he rushed down to the starting point, breaking his leg and hitting his head, making him dizzy.

Master Xu Qi bandaged Bai Feng, put her on his back, and quickly left this place of trouble.