chsdbacks Chapter 432 The Search!
Chapter 432 The Search!
On the evening of their retreat from the Kunlun Pass, the Dawn Squad settled into an inconspicuous guesthouse on the outskirts of Golmud. Calling it a guesthouse was a stretch; it was more like an old-fashioned hostel with a courtyard—a three-story building with off-white tiled walls, a few half-dead poplar trees in the yard, and a dusty pickup truck parked beneath them. The owner, a Hui man in his forties, saw the group of people, covered in dust, push open the door, asked no questions, simply tossed his keys on the counter, and continued wiping his teacups. The sun sets late on the plateau; by the time everyone had showered, changed, and emerged, a sliver of dark orange light remained on the horizon, slowly narrowing between the buildings.
When Zhang Chulan came out of the bathroom, he was only wearing a thin short-sleeved shirt. His hair was wet and stuck to his forehead, and the high-altitude redness on his face, caused by the wind, had not completely faded. He shook the water droplets off his head and plopped down on the old sofa at the end of the corridor, looking like a sponge that had been wrung out and then re-soaked, with his limbs spread out loosely.
"I'm alive again..." He rested the back of his head on the sofa back, stared at the fluorescent light tube running the entire corridor from the ceiling, and let out a long breath. "I hereby declare—the showerhead in this guesthouse is the best showerhead I've ever used in my life, no arguments."
"When you say that, remember you forgot about the water heater in your school dormitory." Wang Zhenqiu came out of the next room, wearing a clean dark gray crew neck shirt, his hair still wet, and a towel draped over his shoulder. He sat down next to Zhang Chulan and casually tossed the towel at his face. "Wipe it off, there's water everywhere."
"Can't you be a little gentler?"
"cannot."
Zhang Chulan ripped off the towel and roughly wiped his hair before tossing it onto the sofa armrest. The smell of sweat, snow, and fermented old clothes that had been mixed with his body was finally mostly washed away, replaced by a faint scent of cheap soap, making it feel as if the house had finally been inhabited again.
Lu Linglong walked over from the other end of the corridor, now wearing a clean, light pink sports jacket. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail, and her cheeks were still rosy. She held a white plastic plate in her hand, filled with sliced cantaloupe chunks, the flesh glistening like honey under the corridor's overhead light. She walked to the half-open door of Nie Lingfeng's room and peeked inside: "Master, what are you doing?"
Nie Lingfeng was sitting by the window, holding a cup of green tea that had been steeped three times, with a few unfurled dark green leaves at the bottom. The twilight outside the window outlined a pale golden edge on his profile. He turned his head slightly to look at Lu Linglong, the layer of contemplative mist in his eyes not yet completely dissipated.
"Nothing much, just thinking about something."
Lu Linglong carried in a fruit platter and placed it on the low table in front of him. She then sat cross-legged on a small stool opposite him, resting her chin on her hands as she looked at him. "Master, have some fruit. I just bought it from a stall downstairs. The owner said it's locally grown and especially sweet."
Nie Lingfeng picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. The flesh of the cantaloupe was crisp and juicy, and the sweetness was intense the moment it entered his mouth, with a rich fruity aroma unique to the sun-drenched plateau. After swallowing, a refreshing sweetness lingered on the back of his tongue.
Lu Linglong watched him finish chewing and swallow, her eyes sparkling as she waited for his feedback.
"It really is sweet." Nie Lingfeng picked up a second piece.
Lu Linglong smiled, her cheeks flushing even deeper. She quietly watched Nie Lingfeng for a while, waiting for him to finish his piece before speaking again, "Master, are we really going to find Old Master Li Muxuan?"
"Um."
"But... he's so elusive. Last time on Nathan Island, he vanished in the blink of an eye. Where are we going to find him this time?"
"There's always a way." Nie Lingfeng picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Although he disappeared on Nathan Island, he'll eventually return to China. As long as he enters the country, the company will have a record. Plus, someone of his status can't possibly leave no trace."
"Does Old Master Li really know the secret of that dragon?"
"He may not know everything." Nie Lingfeng put down his teacup, rubbing a tea leaf on the rim with his thumb. "But his knowledge and experience are deeper than all of ours combined, and—his familiarity with the Kunlun Mountains goes far beyond simply 'having been here a few times.'"
"How did you figure that out?" Lu Linglong tilted her head curiously.
"Yesterday in the cabin, when I talked about the dragon, each of you reacted differently. You were surprised, Wang was cautious, and Zhang Chulan was wary with a hint of panic." Nie Lingfeng paused, his gaze shifting slightly to the darkening street scene outside the window. "But although Li Muxuan wasn't there, when I mentioned the dragon vein seal, I sensed a very faint aura sweeping over from the eastern slope of the valley—like someone observing us from afar with binoculars. That person was very subtle; if I hadn't been using my divine sense to perceive the surrounding earth's energy fluctuations at the time, I wouldn't have noticed it at all."
Lu Linglong's mouth formed an "Oh" shape, and her eyes widened: "Master, you're amazing! You can even sense someone looking at you from that far away?"
"He wasn't looking at me, he was looking at our team," Nie Lingfeng corrected. "He was confirming our next move. That aura clearly paused for a moment when I mentioned the word 'seal,' then quickly withdrew."
"So he's been following us?"
"Not necessarily all the time, but at least from the moment we left the ice wall, he's been watching from some distance. He wants to know what we'll do next, whether we'll come looking for him, and—whether it's worth it for us to meet."
"Is he still watching it now?"
Nie Lingfeng paused for two seconds, then turned his gaze from the window, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips. "He's gone. That feeling of being watched disappeared after we entered Golmud city. He must have left before us."
"Where did you go?"
"Go back to where he belongs and wait for us to come."
Lu Linglong leaned back in her chair and thought for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing: "Then isn't this just a game of hide-and-seek? He's hiding from us waiting for us to find him, and when we go looking for him, he's afraid of finding nothing, so he keeps going around in circles..."
"It's not hide-and-seek." Nie Lingfeng finished the last piece of cantaloupe, placed the pit on the edge of the plate, and wiped his fingers with a tissue. "It's about waiting for the right moment. He needs to determine if we're qualified to take over what he's carrying."
"What is that?"
"The truth about that dragon, the unfinished notebook left by Zhang Sanfeng, and the things buried beneath the Kunlun Mountains that aren't on the map." Nie Lingfeng folded the tissue and placed it under the plate, then looked up at Lu Linglong. "He's carried these burdens alone for decades. Now someone's coming to share the load, and he wants to see if this newcomer can handle it."
Lu Linglong's expression gradually calmed down. She looked down at her fingers, which were clasped together on her knees, and after a while, she whispered, "So if we can hold out, he'll give us the stuff?"
"right."
"What if you can't hold on?"
Nie Lingfeng did not answer immediately. His gaze passed over Lu Linglong's shoulder and landed on a faded landscape painting on the wall. It was a very old print depicting Huangshan Mountain after a snowfall.
"If he can't bear it, he'll take these things to his coffin." His voice was flat, as if he were talking about something that had happened many times before and that he was used to.
The room fell silent for a moment. Suddenly, Lu Linglong looked up, her eyes revealing a clear yet foolish light!
"Should we go find Old Master Li first, or find the sword first?"
Nie Lingfeng glanced at her: "Why are you thinking about the sword again?"
"Because you said you'd find me a sword that suits me!" Lu Linglong raised her voice by half an octave, with a childlike righteousness that came from being teased. "At my age, I'm full of youthful passion and eager to roam the martial world. A good sword is so important! If you don't find me one soon, the sword intent I've been practicing with tree branches will become distorted—"
"Even tree branches can be used to cultivate sword intent."
"Then I want a real sword too!"
"...Find Li Muxuan first, then find the sword."
"Should we find Li Muxuan first or Jian first?"
"Find Li Muxuan first."
"After finding Li Muxuan, are you going to look for the sword?"
"After finding Li Muxuan, we'll find the sword."
"What time do we leave tomorrow?"
"Morning."
What time in the morning?
"..." Nie Lingfeng pushed the fruit plate in front of him a little further away, stood up and walked towards the door. "I'll go see what's for dinner."
"Master, don't run away! You haven't said what time it is—!"
The corridor echoed with the sounds of Zhang Chulan and Wang Zhenqiu bickering once more, interspersed with the muffled thud of someone kicking over a plastic slipper. As Lu Linglong chased after Nie Lingfeng, her footsteps pounded on the old wooden floor of the corridor, causing the entire corridor to tremble slightly.
Nie Lingfeng stopped at the top of the stairs and glanced back at her. The light shone down on his face, casting distinct outlines of light and shadow. The slight curve of his lips was still there, though it was very faint.
"Leave at eight o'clock. Early enough, isn't it?"
"Early enough!" Lu Linglong raised her right hand in a thumbs-up gesture. "By the way, Master, I have another question—"
"Let's talk about it after we find Li Muxuan."
"oh."