Chapter 263

It had been nearly two months since the master and apprentice Mie Jie left Wudang in mid-July and arrived here.

Having heard that it was already cold in the north, they did not dare to be careless. After staying at the Sun Family Manor for only a day or two, they bade farewell to everyone and set off.

The master and disciple walked north for half a month. It was floating in the sky, but it was actually snowing.

Mie Jie had originally been worried that the snow on the road would inevitably delay the journey, but unexpectedly, the two head prisoners had never seen snow before. They became more and more energetic, constantly bellowing moo, spreading their hooves, and walking faster than usual.

Once the heavy snowfall began, the temperature plummeted. Although Master Mie Jie and his apprentice had prepared cotton-padded clothing, the temperature continued to drop, and they were urinating and exhaling ice. Unless they used their internal energy to keep warm without stopping, the cold would be too much for the thin cotton clothing to withstand.

Ye Guhong had gradually become more adept at internal strength in recent years, and had long since felt no fear of the cold or the heat. Therefore, although he had initially seen that the clothes prepared by Mie Jie were a bit thin, he had not taken it seriously. Only now did he realize that although it was true that he was not afraid of the cold or the heat, there was after all a question of degree.

A few degrees below zero was considered normal, but it was quite a different matter from dozens of degrees below zero.

Fortunately, on the back of their mount, there was still the 鈥渇ur-lined鈥� jacket and boots that Sun the Elder had given them, so the two of them quickly took them out and put them on.

Huangluo Daoren once said that the fur of the fish otter is the best for keeping warm, and it does not get caught in the rain or snow. It is a treasure for keeping warm in the north. At this moment, when they opened it, although Jie Jue certainly did not recognize it, Ye Guhong recognized that the so-called fish otter is actually a seal.

This fur coat is not the style of a nun’s, and the two pieces are generally rugged in style. When Mie Jie puts it on and puts on his hat, the temperament of the northern land comes naturally, and it is hard to recognize even if you meet each other face to face.

The two subsequently passed through several prefectural and county towns, and there were reward notices with pictures and descriptions on the city walls, demanding the capture of the 鈥渆vil nuns and their disciple鈥�. However, the soldiers guarding the notices never even glanced at the two of them and let them pass.

However, there were a few groups of fierce soldiers who had evil intentions. They had their eyes on the two men’s mounts. It was not known whether they wanted to kill them and eat the meat, or give them to their superiors to invite praise and rewards. They wanted to seize them by force, but the two men were not used to such behaviour. They drew their long swords and immediately there was bloodshed.

The two men, the master and the disciple, were both bold and fearless. They killed the men and walked away. By the time the large group of soldiers and officers set out, they had already gone to an unknown place.

This place has always been sparsely populated since ancient times. Especially when the Jin Dynasty was at its height, people who had connections tried to move south, so the population became even more sparse.

It was not uncommon for the master and disciple to trek through the vast snow-covered landscape for two or three days without meeting a single living soul.

However, as Meijie was originally a loner, he was actually quite happy not to meet outsiders. Sometimes, while walking, he would tap the horns of his mount below his crotch with the hilt of his sword and sing loudly in the minor key of Sichuan folk songs.

Ye Guhong had heard many of her fellow sisters at Emei sing these folk songs, but this was the first time she had realized that Mie Jie could sing as well. Not only could she sing, but she knew more songs than all the other sisters put together.

Her voice was originally quite pleasant, but usually when she spoke, half of it was in a stern voice scolding people, half of it was shouting about fighting and killing, and the rest was about heroic words.

But when she sang, it was in the local dialect around Mount Emei. There was no hint of ferocity or murderous intent, just a pure, gentle voice. It reminded people that this formidable figure, like the Goddess of Mercy in the sea of blood, had such a beautiful voice.

If you listened for a while, you would discover that it was not only beautiful, but also had a lingering quality.

At that time, the master and disciple had been away from Changbai Mountain for two months, and they were crossing the Waixiang’an Mountains.

All they could see was the vast expanse of snow falling from the sky, blurring the boundaries between heaven and earth. The rolling hills in the distance were all covered in snow, looking like a silver palace or jade hall. Countless trees and flowers were surrounded by snow, and the waterfalls and streams had all frozen over, creating a thousand strange and beautiful postures, as if they were the hidden treasures of a fairyland. Amidst this scene, there was even a beautiful singing voice that sounded like it could stop the clouds from moving.

After singing a few songs in a row, Mie Jie seemed to have had her fill of the disaster, and turned to look at her apprentice. A twinkle of starlight could be seen in her eyes: 鈥淕uhong, what do you think of your master’s singing?鈥�

Ye Guhong immediately applauded enthusiastically, praising, 鈥淢aster, it’s just that this is a desolate mountain with no one around. If someone heard it, they would say that a female immortal with a good singing voice came from this mountain. Otherwise, how could such a good song be sung by a mortal?鈥�

Mie Jie laughed heartily. In this endless world of white, his form was a little unrestrained, and he pointed at his apprentice and said, 鈥淚f you are so insincere, how will you deal with your master in the future when you go to please your wife? No, I have sung so many songs for you to hear, so you should sing one for me to appreciate.鈥�

Ye Guhong smiled bitterly and said, 鈥淢aster, where would I know how to sing?鈥�

Sister Mei glanced at him askance and said, 鈥淵ou still think I don’t know? Tang Gong, Yin Liu, and Mo Qi have taught you a lot of songs. Hmm, don’t sing a country tune, sing one with snow.鈥�

鈥滻s there snow?鈥� Ye Guhong could not refuse, looked up at the sky, and searched his mind for a song. In this situation, if I sing 鈥楢 Thousand Li of Ice and Ten Thousand Li of Snow,鈥� or 鈥楪enghis Khan Shoots the Big Eagle,鈥� it would be perfect for the occasion. But that was the work of that old man, first, I’m not worthy to copy it; second, if I really did, my master’s temperament is such that, if he got carried away with his heroic feelings, he might temporarily forget to be modest and use the Dragon-Slaughtering Sword to lead me directly to the Dragon-Slaughtering in Dadu. That would be a real hassle, going back and forth for weeks…

After thinking about it, I’d better hide this weapon of mass destruction. He laughed and said, 鈥淢aster, I’ll sing 鈥榃ater Fairy鈥�!鈥�

He coughed and sang at the top of his lungs. All you could hear was

“A lonely boat moored by night at the edge of Dongting Lake,

its lantern glowing green against the passenger ship.

The north wind blows the old plum blossoms,

pushing back the sail and filling the sky with snow.

The poet and the snow fight for supremacy.

The snowflakes and the wind battle fiercely,

poetry and snow become entangled.

A laugh resounds!鈥�

This tune was composed by the Bianzhou poet Sun Zhouqing. Tang Gong had sung it a few times before Ye Guhong wrote it down.

His voice was loud and clear, and singing these somewhat heroic lyrics was exceptionally beautiful, and it suited the mood of fighting off the disaster. Immediately, they heard repeated rounds of applause, and they took it to heart.

The master and disciple chatted and laughed, while the strange beast under their waists kept moving. Unconsciously, they crossed the Waixing’an Mountains and truly walked beyond the borders of the Great Yuan Dynasty.

It was already November, and if they were in Jiangnan, the autumn weather would still be fine, but in this extreme northern land, it was as cold as an iceberg hell.

Even with the master and disciple’s superb internal strength, they could not bear the cold at night, and had to snuggle close together to keep warm.

The last time they were this close was probably in the Hengshan Mountains. Ye Guhong’s internal strength was not yet complete, and he could not withstand the cold night air. Mie Jiehoo held him tightly in his arms to keep warm. Later, after eating too much purple ganoderma, his internal strength improved by leaps and bounds, so he let him sleep by himself.

But this embarrassing situation only lasted one night. The next day, Mie Jie ignored everyone with a stern face, not singing or smiling. Ye Kuhong followed behind him, tiptoeing along. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he remembered the way the Oroqen and Eskimos built their houses in his previous life.

So that night, Ye Guhong entered the forest and cut down a few thick, long branches, which he stacked in a cone shape. He then peeled off a thick layer of birch bark and layered it around the outside. The master and apprentice spent the night inside, and sure enough, the cold was greatly reduced.

After walking for hundreds of miles like this, gradually even the large trees disappeared, Ye Guhong cut ice into bricks and built a semicircular snow house. In terms of thermal insulation, it was even better than the bark house.

The previous wooden house was simple in structure and not much different from a tent, so he was not surprised when it was destroyed. But when he saw this round house made of snow, it was truly a wonderful idea. The master could not help but praise greatly, 鈥淗uangluo Daoren said that the wandering ghosts built houses with snow. I have never been able to figure out how to build them, but I never knew that you had already figured it out.鈥�

After walking for a few more days, the master and disciple encountered a village of local indigenous people, with about ten households. It was not clear whether they were the so-called Qudu Mings or Yasha people. Judging from their appearance, they were not much different from the Han people, except that their eyes were narrow and their noses were higher.

These people all had a snow house for each family. Each family kept at least ten or twenty large dogs, which pulled sledges when they went out, moving like the wind.

When the Master and his apprentice arrived in the afternoon, the village was returning from a hunt. Sledges were returning from all directions, and they were surprised to see the Master and his apprentice, and they all gathered around to watch.

Ye Guhong did not blink at their sledges, and whispered to Mie Jie, 鈥淢aster, we are riding Big Horn and Little Horn, which can carry a heavy load and sink deep into the snow with every step. Why don’t we buy a pair of sledges from them and let the big and small horns pull it!”

The big and small horns were in fact the names that Mie Jie had given to the two yaks.

Mie Jie had no objection, so Ye Kuhong went to negotiate with the people. As they couldn’t communicate with each other, they could only communicate with gestures. Ye Kuhong took more than ten small knives and placed them on the ground, pointing at the other person’s sled.

When the men saw the knives, their eyes immediately lit up with excitement. They shouted and yelled, all scrambling to get their hands on the knives and look at them, their faces full of expressions of extreme fondness.

Ye Kuhong secretly braced himself, looking at these men, one by one, extremely strong and full of wildness. He thought to himself, 鈥淚n their eyes, my master and I are just a piece of cake. If he even gets any evil thoughts, I will inevitably have to kill. But if these men die, there are still so many women and children left. Should I kill them too? In other words, in such a cold and snowy environment, if the men in the family die out, won’t these women and children also die?

He glanced at Mie Jie, who immediately sensed his apprentice’s worry and also revealed a difficult expression, whispering, 鈥淭he northern barbarians do not know the king’s ways and do not know etiquette. They only know that the strong win, but there is no need to take it personally. His tribe lives here, which is no different from hell. Even if they really have evil intentions, we just need to show them our skills to subdue them, and don’t hurt anyone.鈥�

Ye Guhong nodded. At this time, he saw an exceptionally tall and strong man from the other side walk out, take away the small knives in the hands of the tribe members one by one, come to Ye Guhong, look down at him for a moment, suddenly smile, squat down like a giant bear, put the small knives back on the ground bite by bite, point at the small knives, and then point back at the sled.

Ye Guhong nodded, and the big man smiled again. With fingers as thick as radishes, he pointed four times in succession, picked up the knives in his arms, then got up and shouted a few times. The two men looked ecstatic and ran back to untie Ye Guhong nodded, and the burly man laughed again. With fingers as thick as radishes, he made four quick taps in succession, picked up the two sledges in his arms, then got up and shouted a few commands. The two men looked ecstatic, and they dashed back to unhitch the two sledges and drag them to Ye Guhong. They then took out a lot of strange-looking tools and started hammering away, taking the two sledges apart, and then put them back together to make one huge sled.

The burly, strong man came up and inspected it for a while, nodded, and took out four knives from his bosom, giving one to each of the two men. Only then did Ye Guhong understand that the two sledges that had been taken apart probably originally belonged to these two men.

The big man saw that he was using a dog sled, not a dog, and so had someone specially reassemble a large one.

He couldn’t help but go up and take a closer look. He saw that the sled was different from what he had seen in later generations. It was made of whale bone and wrapped in seal skin. It was shaped like an arrowhead, and not only could it be used as a sled to glide across the ice, it could obviously also be used as a boat.

After watching Ye Guhong, the tall and strong man personally got to work, re-engineering the device that pulled the sled, and personally tied the two ends together, quite slowly.

Ye Guhong thought to himself: Never mind, this person has seen that I am not from the snowfield and don’t know these tricks, so he is deliberately teaching me slowly.

Once the sled was ready, the big man’s face broke into a smile once again. He looked at the knife with reluctance, turned around and waved his hand, beckoning the tribe to leave.

Mie Jie whispered, 鈥淎mitabha, these people live in a prison of extreme cold, with a fierce temperament like ghosts, but unexpectedly they are so pure-hearted.鈥�

Ye Guhong was also moved, and said, 鈥淢y friend, wait!鈥�

The big man turned back in surprise. Ye Guhong pointed at the knife on the ground and made a motion of eating.

The man let out a surprised exclamation, his face full of ecstasy. He turned around and yelled a few times, and the other men cheered in unison. They all ran home, fetched out a lot of frozen fish and dried meat, and in an instant, they had piled it up like a small mountain. They all looked at Ye Guhong with anticipation.

Ye Guhong took a closer look, slightly surprised, and a bad feeling arose in his heart. He took out a hard dumpling and a piece of flatbread from his bag and began to imitate the actions of the men.

The two of them exchanged gestures, and Ye Guhong’s worries grew. He looked at Mie Jie and said, 鈥淢aster, we miscalculated. The people here seem to only eat meat, at least in winter, they have nothing else to eat.鈥�

It turned out that the food the master and apprentice had brought with them was already running low.

Originally, both Liu Ji and the Taoist priest Huangluo had pointed out that if they left the Xing’an Mountains and travelled along the coast, they would inevitably encounter the Dume people, the Yasha people, and the Liu Gui people from time to time, and they could exchange food with them. For this reason, they had specially prepared many finely crafted short knives.

However, at this moment, Ye Guhong suddenly discovered that without exception, all that the other party could offer was fish, seal meat, or some other meat, and there was none of rice, flour, vegetables, or the like.

Since becoming a nun, the Master of Destroying Calamities had never eaten a single mouthful of meat, and once she had finished the food she had brought with her, she would face a situation where there was nothing to eat.

It so happened that although she did not recite scriptures well, she was very strict with keeping the precepts, so if she were to start eating meat, forget it.

Mie Jie frowned slightly, then said, 鈥淒on’t let these people down. Since you’ve taken out your knives, just trade them for some meat. We’ll go further down. Not everyone only eats meat, right?鈥�

Ye Guhong’s heart was panicking. He hastily picked a seal and a few large fish, threw them on the newly made sled, picked up the knives, and stuffed them all into the burly man’s hands.

The men were all surprised, and the burly man also repeatedly gestured to confirm. When he was sure that Ye Guhong had really exchanged these foods for just six knives, he suddenly laughed and walked over to give Ye Guhong a big hug.

Then, with great care, he took off a necklace from his neck, made of ten large claws and shells of various colors, and put it on Ye Guhong’s neck with a face full of gratitude.

The necklace had a strong body odor, but Ye Guhong’s expression did not change. He looked down and recognized it as the paw of a brown bear. Judging from the size of the paw, it was unlikely that it belonged to anything less than a giant bear of a few hundred pounds.

Ye Guhong knew in his heart that this generous act of his had probably been taken as a sign of friendship by the other party.

Ye Kuhong was quite happy to have suddenly made a group of new friends in this snowy country thousands of miles away. He patted the necklace lightly and nodded vigorously to show that he would treasure it.

The master and apprentice spent the night at this gathering place. These hearty men took out a lot of meat, and Ye Kuhong served up a jar of strong alcohol. The men tasted it and were almost ecstatic.

At that moment, men and women gathered in one of the largest snow huts. Everyone gathered around the campfire, singing and dancing, and they didn’t want to go to sleep until midnight. Although they couldn’t communicate with each other, they could feel the deep friendship.

That night, Mie Jie stayed up all night, guarding the entrance of the newly built snow hut, and scared away seven or eight women and young girls who were naked, wearing only a piece of fur, and wanted to entertain Ye Guhong.

(Note: Many polar peoples have the tradition of using wives and daughters to entertain distinguished guests.)

The next day, Ye Kuhong and a group of men embraced each other before saying goodbye, while Mie Jie sat on a sled, beaming, as a group of women and young girls looked at him with fierce eyes, as if they were looking at a miser.