The most shameless alchemist in history

"Don't worry, they'll be back." Du Lei didn't say much, slowly turned around, and left the train station. At this moment, the locomotive emitted thick steam, and with the sound of the rails grinding, the train slowly started, carrying passengers and goods, leaving Snow Eagle Town and heading into the distance.

"Will he really come back?" Grey Falcon shook his head, his eyes dim, clearly not believing Durei's words.

"Alright, it's about time to go back. Didn't you sleep well last night? This is a good opportunity to get a good night's sleep." Du Lei yawned, reminded Grey Falcon, and headed towards Grey Falcon's house. Grey Falcon hadn't slept well, and neither had he.

"How can I sleep at a time like this?" Gray Falcon was immersed in grief. The wind and snow were blowing, but no matter how reluctant he was, he could only follow Dure back. After they got home, Dure went straight to bed and fell into a deep sleep, while Gray Falcon watched from the window.

"Is Dure really asleep? Xueying should be his companion, right? How can he be so carefree? I really don't know what he's thinking. But he's sleeping so soundly, he must be having a good dream." Gray Falcon turned around to look at the sleeping Dure and muttered to himself.

He was right. At that moment, Dure was indeed having a wonderful dream, a beautiful dream that he thought he had lost in his memory.

It was another snowy day with heavy snow. At that time, there were frequent blizzards near the hot spring village. The villagers dared not go into the mountains, and rarely even went out. They relied on their previous food reserves to get through this exceptionally cold winter. But Du Lei, who was only eight years old at the time, was an exception.

"I'm so hungry, I really want to eat something, but there's nothing left at home. I have to go out and look for something. There's a huge snowstorm outside, and the old folks say there might be another blizzard in the mountains. There's no other way. I can't just starve to death like this. I need to hurry out while I still have the strength."

The young boy touched his rumbling stomach. He was pale and thin, and looked very small. He had no relatives because his only mother had passed away last year. Although the villagers took pity on him and took care of him for a while, life in the village was very difficult.

When the harsh winter arrives, people are too busy taking care of themselves to care for a child who is also starving.

Fortunately, young Dure was born with keen senses. In the past, when he went hunting, he always managed to catch something by setting up traps and other traps with his sharp sense of smell and clever mind. Although the blizzard was a bit heavy today, he was unwilling to die of hunger and cold, so he decided to give it a try.

"It's so cold. I want to go back to my room, light the stove, and eat hot roasted sweet potatoes. That would be such a happy thing. Mother, no, I can't be weak. I have to be strong to survive. If I just hold on a little longer, I'm sure I'll find something to eat."

Little Dure left the village braving the wind and snow. He was so frail that he seemed like he could be blown away by a gust of wind at any moment. He walked on the soft snow, leaving shallow footprints, but the footprints were quickly covered by the heavy snow.

"Hey, is that a package up ahead? Did those dead climbers leave it behind? Maybe we can find some jerky inside. It might be a bit tough, but at least it can fill our stomachs. If all else fails, these climbers can also eat it." Just as Du Lei was about to give up,

Suddenly, he spotted a black package on the vast expanse of white snow. Excitedly, he rushed towards it. His survival experience in the snow-covered mountains told him that it was very likely a climber's package, and inside it was probably dried meat—his hope for survival!

He immediately rushed over and started digging with his frozen, red hands.

063 Dig out of the snow

When Black Wind saw the three guys in front of him eating and drinking to their hearts' content, and still wanting more, asking him for another bowl, his temper, which he had been trying so hard to control, was about to explode. He was still completely bewildered by what had happened first, when his playmate Du Lei suddenly knocked on his door.

If it were just Du Lei alone, it wouldn't be so bad, but he also had to drag a guy who had fainted to his house. Of course, with Du Lei's small physique, he was far too small to drag an adult man, but if Tong Shan had helped, that would be a different story.

Although Hei Feng was a bit confused and didn't understand what Du Lei was up to, he still immediately boiled water and fed it to the unconscious man to wake him up, based on the principle of saving lives. The latter smelled the aroma of the sweet potato porridge that Hei Feng's family had just cooked and kept calling out words like "porridge".

Without hesitation, the kind-hearted Hei Feng brought out a large pot of sweet potato porridge from his home and fed it to the man. The man couldn't stop and drank seven or eight bowls in a row. Seeing the longing looks in Du Lei and Tong Shan's eyes, he couldn't bear it and served each of them a bowl.

As a result, the three guys, who could be described as reincarnated starving ghosts, drank the whole pot of sweet potato porridge. This infuriated Black Wind, because his father had told him not to let that kid Du Lei take a single drop, but now, not a single drop was left.

"I'm so full, I haven't felt this full in a long time. Black Wind, you're so generous. I'll come to your house again next time I'm hungry." Du Lei gave Black Wind a thumbs up. He had originally planned to go out to find food today, but he ended up eating and drinking at Black Wind's house. At least he filled his stomach.

"The sweet potato porridge at Heifeng's house is as sweet as ever, much better than the roasted sweet potatoes at my house. When I get home, I'll ask Grandpa to make me sweet potato porridge too." Tongshan patted his round belly. Even though he was only ten years old, his obesity was already showing signs.

"I'm alive! I thought I was going to die in the snow mountain. I never expected to be saved by the hospitable people of the snow mountain. This is so wonderful. By the way, do you still have sweet potato porridge? Could you give me another bowl? You certainly won't refuse the request of a hungry traveler, right?" the young man said with a smile.

He looked to be about twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old. He had a refined and scholarly demeanor, a slender build with well-defined features, and always squinted when he spoke. He also had a smile on his lips at all times, giving him an innocent and harmless appearance. He was naturally approachable and a very popular guy.

"There's not a drop left in the pot, and you still want sweet potato porridge? You've already eaten eight bowls, and you're still starving. What's your stomach made of? Is it a bottomless pit? Waaah, my sweet potato porridge is gone. I'm going to get a beating when Father comes back." Black Wind burst into tears at the thought of the disastrous consequences.

“Black Wind, being beaten is to temper your steely will and strong physique. It’s an essential part of becoming a man. I support you in spirit.” Du Lei patted Black Wind on the shoulder and said earnestly, without a trace of sympathy for Black Wind.

"You're not the one who's going to get beaten up. Stop talking like that. Where did this gluttonous guy come from? You owe me my sweet potato porridge!" Black Wind was almost crying. His father's terrifying reputation had left him traumatized. He would rather face a hungry bear in the mountains than his father.

"I dug him out of the snow. I don't know exactly where he came from. Hey, what's your name? And where are you from?" Dure gave a rough explanation of how he met the man. At the time, he was planning to go hunting for some food.

He found a package in the snow and thought it was the body of a victim. He planned to open the package to get something useful, but to his surprise, a person emerged from underneath. Even if it was a person, it wasn't a big deal. He had seen many dead people in the snowy mountains.

Those dead people were usually frozen stiff, and no one knew how many years they had been dead. Du Lei was used to it, and he had even encountered worse situations before, so he was never afraid. But at this moment, he found that his fingers had moved. His first reaction was that he had encountered a ghost, which was a common occurrence in Beishan.

But then the guy moved his mouth and spoke. It took Du Lei a long time to figure out that he was still alive. Just then, Tong Shan came out to chop wood, and the two of them hit it off and dragged the guy to Hei Feng's house. That's the whole story.

"Hey, you've said so much, but you haven't explained why you dragged him to my house instead of Tongshan's, or why you brought him from your own house to my house, Du Lei." Hei Feng seized on this crucial question, which he simply couldn't understand.

"Because you have smoke coming from your chimney in the morning, and the aroma of sweet potato porridge wafts out, there must be something delicious. My family is dirt poor, and Tongshan's grandfather is so fierce, he must have sent it here to you." Du Lei gave a matter-of-fact look, which drove Hei Feng crazy.

"You sent him here for such a reason without my consent. That's going too far! Besides, his grandfather is fierce, but isn't my father fierce too? He's even more terrifying than a bear!" Hei Feng said, his voice trembling with tears.

Because he could fully foresee his tragic end, he began to regret how he had befriended such a terrible person as Dure.

“Your dad isn’t home right now, it’s okay, it’s nothing. I believe you can get through this, Black Wind. Life is long, don’t give up. Oh, right, after all this time, you haven’t told us about your own situation yet,” Du Lei comforted Black Wind.

He quickly turned his attention to the man. He and Black Wind had been talking the whole time and didn't know the details of the guy they had rescued.

"Well, my name is just a title, it's not that important. As I just said, I'm just a passerby." The man smiled easily, glossing over his background and even his name.

"Would a normal traveler come up to a snow-capped mountain? Are you kidding me? I don't believe your nonsense. So, what exactly are you doing here? I'm your savior, after all. Your lack of honesty is disheartening." Du Lei didn't accept this answer.

"Now that you mention it, it seems that's true. Actually, the reason I came to the snow mountain was to make a trip to the North Mountain. There's something there that's been sleeping for too long, and I need to borrow it," the man said with a smile.

064 What is the use of the small iron piece?

Even though five years had passed, Du Lei still vividly remembered the man who had been dug out of the snowdrift. The clear image of that scene in his dream was the best proof of that. However, just as the dream was about to unfold further, he suddenly heard a hurried and cheerful urging sound in his ear.

"Dure, wake up, wake up! Dogo is back, Dogo is really back!" Gray Falcon shook the sleeping Dure vigorously. The latter rubbed his sleepy eyes and woke up from his dream. He squinted at Gray Falcon, who was pointing to the windowsill next to him.

A grey-feathered snow eagle was perched on the windowsill, munching on breadcrumbs and making low, guttural cooing sounds. It was clearly starving. The grey falcon looked excited; it had thought its important companion was about to leave, but to its surprise, before dawn, it had flown back on its own.

"So he was just dreaming and came back. There's nothing to be surprised about. Isn't this a matter of course?" Dure yawned slowly. He was very tired after the dream, and he was not surprised at all by Dogo's return. The snow outside the window had not stopped.

"Of course, Durei, how did you do that? Shouldn't Dogo have already left Snow Eagle Town with the train? I saw it being taken away with my own eyes, how could this be?" Gray Falcon asked Durei with a puzzled look amidst his excitement, he couldn't understand why.

Even though he was with Dure the whole time, that guy seemed to have performed magic and brought Dogo back, even though he was supposed to have been taken away.

“You shouldn’t ask me how I did it, you should ask how it did it.” Dure walked to the window and whistled. Soon, a shadow as fast as lightning swept over. It came so fast that the Grey Falcon didn’t even have time to react. It just instinctively shrank back.

"Is this Du Lei's Snow Shadow back too?" Gray Falcon carefully examined the other snow eagle standing on the windowsill. It was Du Lei's snow eagle. This snow eagle had sharp eyes and was very recognizable. Dogo, who was eating breadcrumbs, also stopped.

"Snow Shadow, well done, thank you for your hard work this time." Du Lei reached out and patted Snow Shadow's head, praising it before taking something out of its mouth. Gray Falcon was curious and immediately went over to take a closer look, quickly discovering that what Du Lei had taken out was a piece of iron the size of a fingernail.

"What is this, Dure? You need to explain how you did it." Gray Falcon had no idea where the small piece of iron came from, assuming that Snow Shadow had picked it up from the roadside. After all, his Dogo often brought back strange things, for which he had scolded him countless times.

"You're asking what this is? This is a lock-picking tool. Just insert this small metal piece into the lock cylinder, then twist it a couple of times, and the lock will open." Du Lei put the small metal piece away and explained. At this moment, he took a piece of dried meat from his package and threw it out the window.

Before the jerky even hit the ground, Xueying flew out and caught it firmly in her mouth. Duoge, who was standing next to her, looked at the jerky with envy, but after being glared at by Xueying, he didn't dare to snatch it. He could only watch helplessly as Xueying happily ate the jerky, while he could only eat breadcrumbs.

"Unlocking... Du Lei, do you mean you want Xueying to unlock it by itself? Is that even possible?" Gray Falcon's eyes widened. This was unheard of; it seemed utterly absurd and beyond his comprehension.

“Normally it’s impossible to do that, but it’s very smart. With a little training, it can do it. I used to teach it to steal things like the cured meat from Tongshan’s grandfather’s house.” Du Lei recounted the “glorious deeds” he and Xueying accomplished together, which filled him with emotion.

"So, Du Lei, you had Xueying hide a small metal piece in its mouth beforehand, so it could open the cage lock by itself, right?" Gray Falcon struggled to understand. He slowly pieced together his thoughts and discovered the suspicious things Du Lei had said earlier, connecting them together.

"That's about right. We can't beat Seta's men, so we can't rescue the Snow Eagles by force, nor can we sneak in and release them. As long as Seta stays in Snow Eagle Town, he won't let it go and will definitely cause a lot of trouble." Dure nodded.

“But if the snow eagles escape on their own, there’s nothing we can do. If we can’t save them, the only option is to let them save themselves. And if the snow eagles that are locked up can’t save themselves, then we can send the snow shadows, which are capable of saving themselves, in,” Du Lei continued to explain.

"I understand now. No wonder you sold Snow Shadow to them, Du Lei. You wanted Snow Shadow to infiltrate the area and gave it a metal plate that could unlock the cage. It was only after the train left Snow Eagle Town that it opened the cage and flew out, right? But those were closed train carriages. How did you manage that?"

There are still many things that Grey Falcon can't understand; just keeping up with Dure's train of thought has already taken him a lot of effort.

“You have to observe, observe carefully. We went into the ninth carriage. Didn’t you notice the ventilation opening in the upper right corner of the carriage? People of that size can’t enter and exit freely, but snow eagles can. After Xueying opened all the snow eagles’ cages, she took them and flew away from there.”

Dure reminded Grey Falcon to carefully recall the situation when they entered the train together yesterday. At that time, Grey Falcon's attention was entirely focused on Dogo, and he did not observe the surrounding environment, thus overlooking this point. However, Dure saw it clearly and remembered every detail.

"So that's how it is. No wonder Dure said they would come back. It turns out that when the train was halfway there, they were allowed to escape on their own, so that Seta wouldn't be able to turn back." Gray Falcon suddenly realized, and combined with Dure's explanation, he finally understood the whole story.

"It's possible that Seta hasn't even realized that all the Snow Eagles have escaped by this time. Even if he discovers that all the Snow Eagles have escaped after arriving in Frost City, he can only blame it on the fact that the cage wasn't locked properly. He won't know where the Snow Eagles went or when they escaped."

Dure nodded, confirming Grey Falcon's statement. While the latter was still frustrated by Dogo's departure, he had already formulated the entire plan.

And as time went on, the plan was executed perfectly, ultimately resulting in all of Snow Eagles being safe and sound.

065 The snow-capped mountains belong to it.

After daybreak, the snow had stopped. Du Lei and Grey Falcon walked through the snow to a grove of trees near the town. Snow Shadow had led them there. Because of the recent snowfall, the treetops were covered with snow, which would fall off with the slightest movement.

This grove is usually deserted, but when they arrived at the northern part of the grove, which is near the snow-capped mountains, the once quiet grove suddenly became noisy, with a "cooing" sound. This was the sound of the snow eagle's belly thumping, and large snowflakes fell softly.

"Are these all snow eagles that escaped from the train? Let me count them, twenty-eight. Great, all the snow eagles are here, and everyone is safe and sound. This is wonderful." Gray Falcon counted the snow eagles perched on the treetops and came up with the number "twenty-eight".

This matches the number of Snow Eagles acquired by Seta. Clearly, all the Snow Eagles that were taken away have escaped and gathered in this grove.

“Snow eagles fly much faster than trains. They all flew back this morning. Judging from the time, the train is already far away. Even if Seta discovers that the snow eagles are missing, he won’t know where they flew from, and he will have missed the season for catching snow eagles by the time he wants to go back.”

Dure fiddled with his hair, brushing off the snowflakes that had fallen from the treetops.

"What should they do now? Will they stay and live nearby?" Grey Falcon asked, concerned about the snow eagles' next move.

"Snow eagles live deep in the northern snow mountains. They only come south to human territory when the weather is too cold and they can't find food. Snow Shadow, take them back to the snow mountains, find your tribe, and live with them. Don't come back to human territory again."

Dure raised his arm, and the snow shadow that had been on the nearby treetops fell down. Its golden pupils looked at Dure, as if it could understand his words.

"When you return to Snow Mountain, Du Lei, won't you keep it with you? It's so smart, it can definitely help you a lot, right?" Gray Falcon was stunned. He understood the meaning behind Du Lei's words and saw his eyes. It was time to say goodbye to Snow Shadow, which he couldn't understand.

“You’re right. Keeping Xueying by my side will definitely give me a lot of convenience. When we went into the mountains before, Xueying helped me hunt a lot of prey. But now I’m leaving the snow mountain and going to a hot place where it won’t be suitable for Xueying to live.” Du Lei shook his head.

"But it must have been with you, Dure, for a long time. It's a very important companion. Dure, can't you stay here and stay with it forever?" Gray Falcon was still a little puzzled. In his opinion, companions were very important things, and if it were him, he would never abandon them.

"Grey Falcon, what is the purpose of human life in this world?" Dure did not answer his question directly, but instead posed a question in the opposite direction.

"Of course, we live to fill our stomachs," Grey Falcon answered Durei's question without hesitation, taking it for granted.

“That’s right. The first prerequisite for living is to fill your stomach, but after that, there are many other things to do. This world is vast, and there are many people in this world. Companions are indeed a very precious thing. It’s very correct to recognize this, but…” Du Lei changed the subject.

"The way to cherish a companion is not to keep it by your side. It has places it wants to go and things it wants to do. This is true for it, and it is true for you. So it needs to be with its companion. Let it spread its wings and fly. I need to pursue my dreams."

Du Lei first looked at the northern sky, which was a vast expanse of white, and then looked at the southern sky, which was a clear blue—a completely different place.

"Dream Dure, what is a dream?" Gray Falcon didn't understand Dure's words, so he found a word that interested him and asked.

"You'll find out later. By the way, Grey Falcon, after Seta arrives in Frost City and discovers that Snow Eagle is missing, he will definitely send someone back to investigate. If you keep Dogo by your side, Seta will definitely find out, which will be very detrimental to you and your mother."

Dure glosses over that word, and he solemnly tells Grey Falcon about Dogo and Linda. In fact, Grey Falcon's presence has a great impact on Linda's health, and he is the culprit who caused Linda's serious illness, but Dure does not say it out loud.

"Then what should we do? I don't want anything to happen to Dogo and my mother." Gray Falcon panicked a little. Not long ago, he almost tasted the bitterness of losing Dogo and Linda, the two most important people in his life, and the deep sense of despair made him not want to experience it a second time.

"Let Dogo and Snow Shadow leave together. This place is not suitable for it to live here." Dure looked up at the treetops, where Dogo was curiously watching the other snow eagles.

“Leaving is a waste, isn’t it? Wasn’t it abandoned by its tribe before?” Grey Falcon was somewhat reluctant to leave. He thought for a moment and quickly found a reason to refuse, but his voice was very soft and he seemed a little unsure of himself, because to some extent he knew that Dure was right.

“It was abandoned because it was too weak back then. Now Dogo has grown up and is old enough to be accepted by the tribe. You’ve seen it, it’s happier with its companions. You must want it to have a better life, right?” Dure asked.

"But this is..." Gray Falcon remained silent for a long time, watching the exchange between Dogo and Snow Eagle, which made it difficult for him to choose.

Durei didn't urge him, but patiently watched from the side. At first, Dogo was a little shy and didn't dare to communicate with the other snow eagles, but gradually it took the initiative to approach them, and the other snow eagles also came over. They made deep sounds and soon flapped their wings and flew back and forth in the forest, gradually becoming familiar with each other.

“I understand. Forcing Dogo to stay by my side would be a selfish choice, so let it and its companions leave. I’m sure I’ll see it again someday, right?” Gray Falcon clenched his fist. After thinking for a long time, he finally nodded and made his decision.

"Yes, we will definitely meet again. The snow mountain is where Dogo and Snow Shadow belong. But Gray Falcon, where is your place? Do you want to stay in Snow Eagle Town forever? Have you ever thought about where your father is? I hope you can think about this carefully."