"Look at your hair, it’s white." Bai Ling covered her mouth and laughed. The light in her eyes was so bright it made the strange feeling in Su Ming’s chest become stronger.
"I’m not the only one. Your hair has also become white. You’re an old woman now." Su Ming pointed at Bai Ling and laughed.
The two of them laughed and talked, feeling more familiar with each other. During that snowy night, Su Ming was happy but he also felt that time was pa.s.sing by too quickly. Before he knew it, the sky started to brighten up.
It was not due to the snow but because the sun had risen.
Night was over. When the sun shone and brightened up the sky, snow was still falling. Su Ming and Bai Ling came down from the tree. Once they cleaned themselves up, they smiled at each other.
Su Ming did not say anything but squatted down instead. Bai Ling’s eyes lit up briefly and she climbed once more onto his frail back. A warm feeling blossomed in her chest.
This time, the strange feeling became clearer the closer he got to Dark Dragon Tribe. He was unwilling to part with Bai Ling. Slowly, he became silent, his footsteps became slower and he started circling around the forest again.
Bai Ling hung onto Su Ming’s back. Just like the day before, she saw a lot of the sights repeatedly and knew that Su Ming was walking around in circles. However this time, she did not speak. She placed her head against Su Ming’s back, listening to his heart beat.
Nevertheless, everything had to come to an end eventually. The sun had risen to the highest point in the sky and begun setting once again. The outline of Dark Dragon Tribe appeared in Su Ming’s line of sight despite the snow falling from the sky.
When he saw the tribe, Su Ming placed Bai Ling on the ground with a smile on his face.
"You’re home."
Bai Ling took a look at her tribe, then back at Su Ming. The expression was on her beautiful face was unreadable. She nodded her head silently and walked towards Su Ming. She then swept the snow on Su Ming’s body away with her clean hands.
"Thank you… I hope you’ll return to your tribe soon…" Bai Ling opened her mouth again like she was about to say something but in the end, she just remained silent. She smiled beautifully and walked back to her tribe.
Su Ming stood there watching Bai Ling gradually disappear from his sight. As he looked at the pet.i.te figure occasionally turning towards him to wave, his mind went blank.
As the distance between them grew bigger, the falling snow became an invisible barrier. It obstructed his sight and covered the figure of the person walking away. It was akin to walking past an icy plain. If he did not return, he would not see the ice melting. It was like a memory. If he did not remember it, he would not be able to recall the voice of the person who sighed in that memory.
After a long time, Su Ming shook his head. He took one more look at Dark Dragon Tribe and turned away. The snow had been his companion when he came and the snow was still his companion when he left.
The snow fell on his body and on his hair but Su Ming thought he was missing something.
‘Do I like her..?’
Su Ming ran in the forest towards Dark Mountain Tribe. There was a frown between his brows as he ran. In his head, he only saw Bai Ling.
‘It’s different from how I feel towards Chen Xin…’
Su Ming took a deep breath and shook his head vigorously. He wanted to be rid of the strange and unfamiliar feeling in his chest. Once he calmed down, he ran even quicker.
When the sky became dark, the stars shone around the moon and the snow still fell endlessly from the sky. Su Ming finally returned to his home, Dark Mountain Tribe.
He stole a look at the tribe from afar yesterday and could roughly tell that the tribe was unharmed. Now that he was back, he saw his tribe members standing guard on night watch outside the giant wooden gate.
The tribe settlement was very quiet. The bonfire in the square was still burning as usual and making crackling sounds. Su Ming walked in and looked around. He then arrived outside the elder’s house.
There was still light from the elder’s house, a clear sign that he had not gone to rest.
"Su Ming, right? Come in." The elder’s voice traveled from within the house with a hint of fatigue.
Su Ming lifted the leather flap gently and walked in. He saw the elder sitting cross-legged in the middle. His white hair was slightly messy too.
"Elder," Su Ming called out to him in a low voice. Then he sat in a corner.
"The tribe is fine, don’t worry." The elder looked at Su Ming with a smile on his face. He gestured for Su Ming to sit by his side and patted Su Ming’s head, his smile becoming wider.
"You’ve reached the third level? You did well!"
Su Ming looked at the elder and slowly told him everything he saw within the cave. He went into the details especially regarding the corpse. As he talked about it, he saw the elder’s face becoming serious.
"Wherefore doth thou wail, o blue sky…? Elder, what does this mean?" Su Ming frowned.
"The legends are true…" The elder looked at the leather flaps as if his eyes could see through them and they allowed him to look at Dark Mountain.
"That should be a rhetorical question. Perhaps it meant ‘Why should I be sad when compared to the lonely, endless sky?’ Or perhaps, there is another meaning to it…" The elder sighed. Then he spoke slowly. It was a voice burdened by his experiences in life when a thought struck his head.
"I don’t really understand the words about wors.h.i.+ping the fire. Perhaps you saw it because it’s your destiny." The elder averted his gaze from the flaps and looked at Su Ming kindly.
"I’ll be going to Wind Stream Tribe in a month’s time. If you’re wandering outside by then, remember to come back."
"One more thing, elder. I saved a Dark Dragon Tribe member in the nest of the Wings of the Moon. Her name is Bai Ling. She’s the granddaughter of the elder of Dark Dragon Tribe." The elder nodded his head. Then as he remembered something, he spoke once again.
"Bai Ling?" He was momentarily surprised. He fell into silence for a while. Then told Su Ming to go back and rest. Once Su Ming left, a hint of nostalgia appeared in the elder’s eyes.
‘Lei Su… Your granddaughter was saved by my little La Su accidentally… Perhaps this will allow you to reduce your hatred towards me a little…’
The elder sighed and the hint of nostalgia in his eyes grew thicker.
"The blood red moon appeared earlier… Then there’s also the strong Qi that suddenly appeared from Black Mountain Tribe during that night… I can feel disaster brewing…" The elder closed his eyes as he mumbled. His voice was filled with worry.
Su Ming left the elder’s house and walked around the tribe. He did not return to his own house but went to Lei Chen’s. When he saw that Lei Chen was injured but still up and about, he applied salve on his wounds. Once he did so, his worries went away.
Lei Chen was also happy to see Su Ming. He hit his chest and bragged about his fight against the Wings of the Moon. Su Ming left smiling after they talked for a long time.
It was already midnight but Su Ming’s gaze fell on a brightly lit house not far away. As he did so, hesitation appeared on his face.
It was the Head of the Guards’ house. It was also Bei Ling’s house.