Chapter 72
Chapter 72
“Father… do you smell something?”
Xiao Jingmo’s voice was barely louder than a mosquito, but he spoke beside Xiao Che’s ear, allowing Xiao Che to notice something was wrong.
He quickly lowered his son against a large tree.
The snow beneath it was shallower, and the trunk offered some protection from the wind.
“Mo’er, what did you say?”
Xiao Che knelt and rested Xiao Jingmo’s head against his chest.
“I smell rotten eggs, like the water at a hot-spring estate. It’s faint, barely there. The hot spring Little Sister mentioned must be nearby.”
After speaking weakly, Xiao Jingmo ran out of strength, and his hand slowly dropped.
“Mo’er, don’t sleep. Father will take you to the hot spring now.”
Xiao Che hoisted Xiao Jingmo onto his back again.
All the exertion had clogged his nose, so he could not smell what Xiao Jingmo described.
But Jin Bao pointed in one direction.
“Daddy, it’s that way, where the wind is coming from. Let’s go there.”
Xiao Che nodded and continued northeast through the storm.
That faint rotten-egg odor became the hope driving his will to survive.
The farther he went, the stronger it grew, until even Xiao Che could smell it.
Staggering onward, he finally reached a rocky slope covered in ice and snow.
“Daddy, Baby hears something-bells. They’re right behind this slope.”
Jin Bao listened carefully and spoke softly.
Though she had remained inside Xiao Che’s clothes and had not taken a single step, the long fast had left her weak. Her little face was red with cold, and even her voice lacked strength.
Xiao Che was overjoyed. The hot spring must lie beyond the slope.
Xiao Jingmo was nearly unresponsive on his back. Xiao Che looked up at the incline.
He tied Xiao Jingmo securely to his back and began climbing on all fours. Each time he made some progress, one misplaced step sent him sliding far back down.
After dozens of attempts, he finally reached the top.
His hands had long since split from the cold, but he seemed unable to feel them.
The wind was fiercer at the summit and the snow heavier. He could barely stand.
Yet on the other side was a sight that left him stunned.
Wisps of white mist rose from the base of a cliff.
Steam curled above a snow-covered hollow filled with jagged rocks.
There was no snow at all around the spring. The ground there was alive with the air of spring.
Several enormous white animals lay near the spring, each sturdier than a camel.
Long, thick white fur covered their bodies, smooth and clean as freshly fallen snow.
Their eyes were bright and gentle like a deer’s.
Each had a pair of horns and two fist-sized bronze bells hanging from its neck. The faded bells looked very old.
Xiao Che knew at a glance that these snow-white creatures were the Snow Camels Xiao Jingmo had mentioned.
An old man sat beside them.
He wore a tattered fur coat and a felt cap.
He was shaving a wooden staff with a dagger.
Hearing something, he looked up and saw a man standing atop the slope with a young man on his back.
Summoning his last strength, Xiao Che slid down. He and Xiao Jingmo collapsed side by side in the snow.
The old man set down his dagger and strode over.
Jin Bao gave him a weak smile and waved softly. “Hello, Grandpa.”
Old Han was startled. Why was there such a small child here?
The sight of such a beautiful little girl left him dazed for a moment. Then he pulled Jin Bao out of Xiao Che’s clothes.
The instant she left the warm padded robe, Jin Bao shivered.
Old Han hurriedly placed her against a Snow Camel’s belly.
Its soft, long fur was warm and comfortable. Jin Bao threw herself against it, stroking it endlessly with her little hands.
Old Han turned, carried Xiao Che and Xiao Jingmo over, and laid them beside the hot spring.
Ice coated Xiao Che’s brows and beard. His face was gray-blue, his lips dark purple, and both arms remained stretched behind him from protecting Xiao Jingmo on his back.
Frozen stiff, his arms could not leave that position.
His breathing was shallow, his chest barely moving like a candle flame in the wind.
Xiao Jingmo’s body was still curved like a bow from lying on Xiao Che’s back for so long.
Even after Old Han laid him faceup, his body continued to tremble slightly, a symptom of severe hypothermia.
His exposed fingers were swollen and black, their tips nearly translucent. They were badly frostbitten.
Jin Bao’s heart ached at the sight of Daddy and Second Brother. She lost all interest in playing with the Snow Camel and tried to warm them with her own body.
“Don’t move, little one!”
Old Han stopped her in time and set her aside. Taking a small waterskin of warm milk from a Snow Camel’s back, he fed Jin Bao several mouthfuls.
After drinking some milk, Jin Bao felt warm all over, and strength returned to her limp limbs.
“Grandpa, Baby has to save Daddy and Second Brother. They’re freezing to death! Baby won’t let them die.”
Jin Bao anxiously stamped both feet.
“Little one, the cold has penetrated your father’s bones. If he hadn’t trained in martial arts for years and built such a strong body, he’d be a block of ice by now.”
“The cold in your Second Brother took a dangerous path and attacked his limbs. A little later, and his hands would have been ruined. Frostbite like this can’t be treated by ordinary methods.”
He crouched to examine them while explaining to Jin Bao.
Jin Bao blinked back her tears.
“Grandpa, Baby can help.”
Old Han understood her anxiety, but what could such a little girl do? Staying out of the way would be help enough.
“Grandpa knows. Go play with my White Spirits for now.”
The White Spirits were the Snow Camels Old Han raised.
Old Han walked toward a place where the snow lay deep.
To revive the two men, he had to bury them in snow and use the method of Resisting Cold with Cold, allowing their temperatures to rise slowly.
He quickly dug a pit with his dagger.
They needed two pits half a man’s height deep. It was slow work, and he had only one pair of hands. He would have to save one man first.
Jin Bao watched curiously.
“Grandpa, why are you digging holes? Are you going to bury Daddy and Second Brother?”
She stared at Old Han warily, ready to attack. If he dared hurt them, she would show no mercy.
“That’s right. You’re very clever.
“They must be buried to survive. It’s called Resisting Cold with Cold.
“The snow seals their bodies inside a shell, allowing their own temperatures to recover slowly.
“If we used hot water or fire now, the wind would carry the heat away immediately.
“More importantly, sudden heat would burst your father and brother’s blood vessels. Then even an immortal couldn’t save them.”
Jin Bao did not understand, but she knew Grandpa was saving them.
Without another word, she stuck up her little bottom and began digging with both hands.
Old Han meant to stop her before she froze her hands.
Then he saw her digging speed and froze in shock.
Jin Bao dug like a modern excavator.
Since awakening her divine strength, snow felt like cotton to her. Digging a pit took no effort at all.
In less than fifteen minutes, two enormous pits appeared before Old Han.
“Grandpa, are they big enough? Baby can keep digging.”
“Enough… they’re enough. Hurry and warm your hands in the spring.”
Old Han was dumbfounded. What had this child eaten while growing up?
She looked delicate, quiet, and well behaved, yet she worked as hard as ten men.
“Grandpa, hurry and save Daddy and Second Brother! Baby is fine.”
Jin Bao waved her little arms anxiously.
Old Han wasted no time. He placed Xiao Che and Xiao Jingmo in separate pits, then covered them from the feet upward with clean snow, leaving only their mouths and noses exposed.
He crouched beside Xiao Jingmo and sighed. “Boy, endure it. This will hurt, but I’m doing it to save your hands.”
Then he rhythmically rubbed Xiao Jingmo’s fingers with freezing snow, applying considerable force.
He massaged every finger again and again, from its base to its tip.
The pain dragged Xiao Jingmo back to consciousness, and a terrible scream tore from him.
The massage appeared simple, but every stroke felt like a knife cutting into him.
Even unconscious, Xiao Jingmo screamed repeatedly, revealing how agonizing the process was.
Jin Bao’s heart twisted. Tears pooled in her eyes as she anxiously circled Old Han.
“Grandpa, can you be gentler? Second Brother hurts. Baby wants to blow on his boo-boos.”
Old Han did not slow his hands. “Little one, if I’m gentle, the blood won’t flow through your brother’s hands. They’ll be useless afterward.”
Jin Bao immediately waved her hands. “No! Second Brother still has to write. His hands can’t be ruined, or he’ll be so sad.”
Old Han’s technique was precise, as though he had done this hundreds of times.
After much effort, Xiao Jingmo’s fingers finally improved. Their translucent color turned blue-purple, and fine beads of blood appeared. That meant the treatment was mostly successful. At least his blood vessels had begun flowing again.