Dreaming for 10,000 years

Chapter 370 The visitor

Linghu Chong once thought it would be better to die in the desert where no one knows him.

But when he actually arrived in the desert, he realized that he didn't want to die at all!

His lips were cracked and bleeding, and his throat felt like it was filled with scalding sand, making even swallowing a torment.

His clothes were already tattered and torn. The Huashan Sect's standard robe was now just a few strips of cloth hanging on his body, fluttering like a tattered flag when the wind blew.

Just a month ago, he was the senior disciple of the Huashan Sect, and the "Young Master Linghu" who was praised by everyone in the martial arts world.

But what about now? His internal energy is a mess, his martial arts are completely ruined, he was expelled from the sect by his master Yue Buqun, he was humiliated by the Golden Saber Wang family, and even his junior sister Yue Lingshan avoids him like the plague.

"Linghu Chong, you are truly laughable."

His junior sister's words were like a knife, piercing deeply into his heart.

He looked up at the sky, the blinding sunlight making his vision blur. The desert wind, carrying sand and gravel, scraped against his face like knives.

He raised his hand to shield himself, only to find that his hand was so thin it was just skin and bones, with bulging veins, like a withered tree branch.

"Am I going to die here?"

He stumbled along, hallucinations beginning to appear before his eyes—

He saw his master, Yue Buqun, standing in the distance, coldly watching him with no pity in his eyes.

He saw his junior sister Yue Lingshan holding Lin Pingzhi's hand, giving him a mocking smile.

He saw his fellow disciples from the Huashan Sect pointing at him and saying, "Look, this is the traitor who stole martial arts skills!"

"No... I'm not a traitor..."

He cried out hoarsely, but the sound was swallowed up by the sandstorm as soon as it left his mouth. He knelt on the sand dune, his hands sinking deep into the scalding sand, his knuckles turning white from the effort.

Suddenly, a gust of wind whipped up a cloud of yellow sand, tossing him into the air like a withered leaf before he crashed to the ground. Utter weakness caused his vision to go black, and he lost consciousness completely.

……

After an unknown amount of time, Linghu Chong opened his eyes with difficulty and found himself lying on a simple wooden bed, covered with a coarse cotton quilt.

A bowl of hot porridge sat on the low table beside the bed. The aroma of rice mixed with a faint scent of herbs made him feel as if he had returned to the Huashan Sect's private room.

He struggled to sit up, his hands trembling as he picked up the bowl and swallowed slowly. The hot porridge slid down his parched throat like sweet rain nourishing a long-parched wasteland. After a few mouthfuls, he finally regained a bit of strength.

Just then, the door creaked open, and a chubby little boy with a round face peeked in. Seeing that he was awake, he immediately beamed, "You're finally awake!"

Linghu Chong quickly clasped his hands in a salute: "I am Linghu Chong, thank you for saving my life!"

The chubby boy waved his hand and returned the greeting with a grin: "My name is Lu Xiaofeng. You're really lucky. When I was planting saxaul, I saw something being blown by the wind and rolling over in the distance. When I got closer, I realized it was a person! If I hadn't been sharp-eyed, you probably would have been buried by the sandstorm and used as fertilizer."

Linghu Chong smiled wryly: "I cannot express my gratitude for your great kindness."

Lu Xiaofeng handed him a set of clothes and said, "Change into these; the clothes you're wearing are no longer suitable. Come with me to see the owner of this place; he'll provide the food and lodging here!"

"Oh?" Linghu Chong straightened his clothes and asked, "May I ask who the owner of this place is?"

“A strange man! He’s also my benefactor,” Lu Xiaofeng said. “But he’s a good person.”

"A weirdo?" Linghu Chong asked, puzzled. Lu Xiaofeng pushed open the creaking wooden door: "A madman who wants to plant trees all over the desert!"

The scene in the courtyard stunned Linghu Chong. Several square feet of sand were planted with sea buckthorn and saxaul. Among the sea buckthorn bushes, a man in white, his back to them, was writing rapidly on a stone table.

"Linghu Chong greets Senior!" Linghu Chong bowed to the man in white with the respect due to a junior. A gust of wind blew by, causing him to sway; his body, still recovering from serious injuries, was quite weak.

Shi Fei put down his wolf-hair brush, turned around, looked at Linghu Chong, and said, "You're from Mount Hua?"

Linghu Chong recognized Shi Fei's face and paused slightly: "How did you know, senior?"

“You were talking in your sleep while you were unconscious,” Shi Fei said, looking at him. “You kept repeating the words ‘Mount Hua’ and ‘Master’ several times.”

Linghu Chong thought to himself, "So that's how it is, no wonder..." Then he heard Shi Fei say, "You called her 'Junior Sister' more than a dozen times. You must love your Junior Sister very much!"

"..." Linghu Chong's ears burned, and his face turned bright red. It was too shameful to have his secret, which had been buried in his heart, revealed.

Lu Xiaofeng, standing to the side, winked and made faces, his pockmarked face trembling as he tried to suppress his laughter.

"Little Fatty, talk to him about the rules." Shi Fei glanced at Lu Xiaofeng and continued writing something on the table.

"My benefactor! I'm a future great hero, can you please stop calling me Little Fatty!" Lu Xiaofeng protested.

Since that day when he drank with Shi Fei, he felt as if he had grown closer to Shi Fei, and felt that Shi Fei was like an older brother.

"Got it, Fatty!" Shi Fei said without even looking up.

Lu Xiaofeng shrugged helplessly at Linghu Chong and whispered, "That's just how he is." Then he straightened up, cleared his throat seriously, and began to talk about the rules here.

Linghu Chong listened attentively, only to hear Lu Xiaofeng say that this was a dream. He couldn't help but show a surprised expression and subconsciously pinched his thigh.

Then, they said that they would work here in exchange for food and drink.

"Is there any wine?" Linghu Chong's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and a hint of anticipation flashed in his eyes.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiaofeng's eyes lit up, and his pockmarked face immediately radiated light: "Could it be..."

"If there's wine, then let's get to work!" Linghu Chong said.

"Oh my!" Lu Xiaofeng rubbed his chubby hands excitedly. "Brother, you're just what I wanted!" He hugged Lu Xiaofeng tightly and said, "I've finally met a kindred spirit!"

"You too..." Linghu Chong's face lit up with joy. He knew that drinking alone was for drowning sorrows, but drinking with someone was for enjoyment. Moreover, in this vast desert, it was truly rare to meet a like-minded person.

“However…” Lu Xiaofeng changed the subject, lowering his voice to say, “However, our benefactor only allows us to drink once every seven days.”

"Why is that?" Linghu Chong asked, puzzled.

“Because it would interfere with your daily work,” Shi Fei suddenly said, standing beside them. “I don’t want to be wandering around the desert with two drunkards every day.”

How can you work with a drunkard? Especially in the desert, what if he lies drunk in the sand? Should you save him or not?

"And..." Shi Fei gestured with his chin towards the open space on the east side of the courtyard, "After we finish eating, let's build a house. This courtyard originally only had two guest rooms, but I didn't expect we'd be hosting two 'distinguished guests' at the same time."

Only two rooms in this small courtyard are for living; the rest are used as a kitchen and for storing odds and ends. Previously, everyone came alone, but this time, unexpectedly, Linghu Chong arrived shortly after Lu Xiaofeng.

He had to expand the courtyard.

(End of this chapter)