The Steward Demonic Emperor

Chapter 948: A Time of Need

Proofreader: Papatonks

In a world of white, with snow piling up incessantly, dyeing everything in its pure color, even a mountain of a man would find that he would have to trudge along through waist deep snow to cross this place.

On this final month of the year, the earth’s vitality was subdued, with hardly any man venturing out in this harsh environment. Even a powerful cultivator would rather avoid such blizzards, not wanting to face the heavens and this desolate world of white. 

Though in these particular parts, two lone figures, two mere specks in this sea of white, appeared on and off among the snowfall. 

Crack~

Under the crumbling snow with every step, a thin man paused to readjust the young child on his back, puffing out white with every breath before resuming his trek.

He swayed under the biting winds, only to press harder and regain his stalwart stance.

The frail child looked at the bitter and icy world around him, then at the man’s body, toiling to carry him. He parted his cracked lips, sobbing, “Dad, I won’t make it. You’ve been making me 11th grade pills to slow the bleeding and recover my blood, hurting your already wounded soul in the process. Then you still insisted on carrying me for months. Now you can’t even fly. You can’t keep doing this. Dad, let me go and move on. My time is up. I don’t want to be a burden…”

“Quiet!”

The man panted and raised his waned face, only his eyes shining with unflinching determination. He just gritted his teeth and pressed on.

“Young Sanzi, listen up. I am your dad and I won’t have this. No matter what, I’ll get you back to the western lands alive, so those two can heal you.”

“But the western lands is so far away. How can we reach it in time? Dad, you can’t go on doing this either.”

Zhuo Fan’s eyes shook, moving on by sheer stubbornness, “Even if I have to walk all the way, I’ll still make it. We don’t need to keep moving much longer. In half a month we’ll reach Goldbough City. There’s a teleportation array to every land there we can use. We’ll be back to western lands before you know it.”

“Teleportation array?”

Gu Santong shook his head bitterly, “Dad, you know as well as I do that the five lands teleportation array is split into official and commercial routes. The official one belongs to the Sword Star Empire and we couldn’t use it even when we arrived in the central area. This won’t change now. And the commercial route belongs to the biggest merchant union in all the lands, ignoring any politics involved between them. To use their teleportation array we need the consent of the leader in each land first. How are we going to pass their questioning when we’re supposed to lay low?”

Zhuo Fan squinted, his brow shaking, but his eyes were firm, “With me around, I’ll definitely use it!”

Zhuo Fan took a heavy step and as the sweat built up, he not once stopped from rushing.

“Dad… you’re the best…”

Feeling Zhuo Fan’s kind and wide back, Gu Santong teared up, sobbing and slowly falling silent from feeling so weak. Blood trickled down his hand and onto the pure white snow, taking with it just a bit more of his vitality, leaving him defenseless against the elements, with the coldness seeping in.

Unaware of young Sanzi’s situation and oblivious to his last words, Zhuo Fan’s mind was set in one direction, to push on.

Eyes flashing, Zhuo Fan took step after step, trudging forward slowly and leaving deep marks behind.

Four hours of toil brought Zhuo Fan to gasping, but nothing deterred him from walking. Only in the sixth hour Zhuo Fan’s foot began to slip, barely able to raise it for another step. Even relying on his weight to push away the snow no longer helped as it did.

In the tenth hour, Zhuo Fan was at a turning point, fully spent. His mind was willing but the body hardly made any progress, numb and cold. His spirit had been so tense and focused all this time that it finally gave in, rendering him unconscious.

Gu Santong had fallen asleep a long time ago, his tender face growing hard as coldness sapped his warmth and the slow dripping of blood from his arm seemed to announce the end was nigh.

The howling wind never ceased, the biting snow never stopped blocking the two’s hard journey, soon burying them in white. It did not take long before any sign of their passing was gone, and the same went for them, erased by nature’s cold embrace.

The world was a cruel place, swallowing every being alike. All of us were nothing but visitors on this plane, bound to return in its arms…

…

Rumble~

A carriage with huge wheels was pulled by three twenty-meter tall spiritual beasts, actually stomping through the thick snow with relative ease. These were 3rd level spiritual beasts, having no trouble galloping through this harsh weather.

Inside the carriage were thin curtains along with the fragrance from an incense burner lingering about, hiding the pretty figure inside, unmarred by the bleak desolation outside.

“Halt!”

As the carriage stormed through the snow, a loud voice came from within the carriage.

The three spiritual beast stopped on the spot.

“Young miss, what is it?”

A young voice asked.

“Zhui’er, is there blood outside?”

“Blood?”

The curtain was lifted to reveal a charming face of a seventeen year old girl. Her eyebrows were sharp, focused as she looked around, “Are you perhaps mistaken, young miss? There isn’t any.”

The first voice spoke again, “Zhui’er, go outside and check if they’ve been buried under the snow. They may be alive.”

“Ah?”

“Don’t ‘ah’ me! Do what I say. I’ve been a healer for so long the scent of blood is easily recognized. But with such heavy snowfall, they must be under it. Zhui’er, go already!” The voice was sweet but carried with it an irreproachable tone.

Shrugging, the girl jumped down and searched while complaining, “I’m going, damn. What a young miss you are.”

“What was that?”

“Uh, nothing, nothing at all. Ah, I found someone!” As she pushed away the snow, Zhui’er suddenly cried out, plunging her thin arms into the snow and pulling two people out. 

Seeing the blood on the ground, Zhui’er shouted, “Young miss, you have such a sharp nose. There were two people buried in snow. The older one seems frozen while the younger one is bleeding, close to dying…”

“Bleeding in such bitter cold?”

The rushed voice from within said, “Zhui’er, get them inside, hurry! The little one must be gravely wounded. I have to heal him.”

“Right away!”

Zhui’er was about to act but then paused, “But young miss, they’re male. It’s not right to have them in your magnificent carriage. No man has yet to step foot in it. It’s fine if its the child but…”

“There’s no time to mind the rules, lives are at stake!” The tone coming from inside went cold.

Zhui’er bobbed her head and threw the two inside. She jumped in herself and the carriage resumed its mad dash. All that remained was a stain of scarlet in a world of white, slowly fading beneath the endless snow…