Chapter 734 350: Journey Through the Polar Day (Part 2)

"Everyone, stay alert! Children, hold your father's and mother's hands tightly!" Chen Yi loudly reminded, "Once we enter the snowstorm, make sure to stay close to me and don't get separated!"

The tribespeople nodded, and even the children's expressions became serious and solemn. The children here learned the Snow Breath from birth, integrating this special breathing method into their lives, so rarely did any child freeze to death outside the camp. Everyone took a deep breath, adjusted their state, ready to face this challenge.

The team slowly entered the snowstorm, visibility plummeting, almost impossible to see their hands in front of them. The wind and snow slapped the faces, hurting like a knife cut.

You Su practiced the method of Snow Breath, inhaling the cold air into his body and transforming it into his own energy. This cold stream didn't turn into heat but acted like a thin film, isolating the external wind and snow's erosion. You Su felt that this idea had similarities to the igloo.

Progressing here was extremely difficult, always having to guard against being swept away by the cold wind or buried by the heavy snow. You Su was very glad he chose to trust the elders, otherwise, with his own abilities, it would have been nearly impossible to pass through this snowstorm.

The team struggled forward in the snowstorm, occasionally someone fell, but quickly climbed back up and continued onward. They supported each other, encouraged each other, and not a single person gave up.

No one knew how far they had traveled in the snowstorm, yet the Clan Leader confidently led the way ahead. According to him——snow mastiffs remember the paths they have walked, even in a vast, white snowfield.

Finally, the Clan Leader ordered a halt for rest.

They put up a massive umbrella-like cloth and all hid under it. The large umbrella fabric was made from collected animal skins from various homes, and fixed deep into the snow with specially made long nails, to block the raging wind and snow.

"Immortal Master You Su."

The Clan Leader had quietly sat down next to You Su, his voice very light, "If the enemy is too strong, use the method I taught you to escape first. This layer of snowstorm is a natural barrier; they will find it hard to chase you."

Chen Yi's voice was torn apart by the wind and snow; You Su had to exert some effort to hear it clearly.

You Su glanced at the elderly, women, and children in the team, their steps were staggered but their eyes firm, showing no sign of retreat, and he felt a slight stirring in his heart, filled with complex emotions.

"I understand." You Su responded indifferently, not denying it.

The ultimate goal of helping them was to gain a way through the snowstorm, unrelated to their journey of redemption.

The team continued forward, in the vast snowstorm, like a drifting leaf, small and fragile.

As the oldest elder, Chen Yi always walked at the forefront of the team, constantly looking back at the tribespeople, counting to see if anyone had fallen behind.

Noticing something, he reached out and pulled the arm of a young man beside him, "Xiao Wu, are you cold?"

The young man called Xiao Wu rubbed his frostbitten, red nose, "I'm not cold; it's just that the snow is too heavy, I can barely keep my eyes open."

Xiao Wu squinted, already a thin layer of ice had formed on his eyelashes.

Xiao Wu's parents had died long ago; they were once Chen Yi's most beloved disciples, so Chen Yi offered special care to Xiao Wu.

Chen Yi took out a small pouch sewn from animal skin and handed it to Xiao Wu, "It contains fire stones; rub them a few times and apply them to your forehead."

Xiao Wu took the pouch, smiled warmly, "Thank you, Clan Leader."

The team continued to struggle forward in the snowstorm. The storm showed no sign of weakening, instead grew more violent. The goose-feather snow, driven by the gale, was like countless tiny blades, relentlessly slicing every inch of exposed skin.

You Su squinted his eyes, trying hard to discern the path ahead. The snowstorm was too intense, with extremely low visibility. He felt the biting cold piercing his body but did not stop moving. He knew, once he stopped, he might never be able to stand again.

"Sect Leader... I-I can't move any more..." A frail voice came from the back of the team.

You Su turned back, only to see an elderly man collapsed in the snow, his face filled with fatigue and despair.

Chen Yi immediately halted, braving the snowstorm to reach the elderly man's side, attempting to help him up.

"Mr. Liou, hang in there! We're almost there!" Chen Yi's voice sounded particularly powerless in the snowstorm; he himself was already exhausted.

Among the thirty or so people, only Mr. Liou still called Chen Yi Sect Leader, because he was not a disciple of the Snow Mastiff Sect but a sect elder who had accompanied Chen Yi for many years.

You Su pondered briefly and also walked to the elderly man's side, reaching out to check his pulse. The pulse was weak, almost disappearing. The man's lips were already turning blue from the cold, his gaze beginning to unfocus.

He said brokenly, "You all go... don't worry about me..."

Chen Yi felt a jolt upon hearing this; he firmly clutched Mr. Liou's shoulder, as if unwilling to let him give up:

"Mr. Liou, don't speak foolishly! You said back then, the great elder must always stay by the Sect Leader's side; we walk together!"

The dying elder shook his head bitterly, a hint of relief flowing through his eyes, "I can't walk anymore... Let me... let me stay here... you all go ahead..."

"Back then, if I hadn't urged you... you wouldn't have agreed with them..." The elder's voice faded, his eyelids gradually falling, "I'm... I'm sorry to you, sorry to the sect..."

"No, Mr. Liou, you did no wrong! It's me! It's my fault for not leading the sect well!" Chen Yi's voice choked.

"No... it's not..."

The dying elder slipped from Chen Yi's embrace, lying on the white snow bed, gazing dreamily at the sky filled with fluttering snow:

"The snow is so white..."

Chen Yi knelt on the ground, he gently closed Mr. Liou's half-open eyelids, then deeply inhaled and told the surrounding tribespeople:

"We must go!"

His decisiveness drew some tribespeople's surprise, but no one objected. Because everyone knew, halting in this snowstorm was tantamount to waiting for death.

Xiao Lu shivered, glanced back at the elderly lying in the snow, eyes full of sorrow. She tightly held her mother's hand, dared not look back again.

The dying elder lay in the snow, quickly buried by the snow, as if covered by a thick coffin lid. The wind and snow howled, as if giving him a farewell.

The journey through the snowstorm was far longer than imagined. Such incidents of falling behind periodically occurred, even a child got lost in the snowstorm, leading the parents to madly rush off to find them, never to return.

The atmosphere in the team was oppressive and mournful.

Whenever someone fell, Chen Yi would suppress his grief, leading the remaining tribespeople onwards. He understood, only by reaching the destination could he console the lost tribespeople.

You Su walked in the middle of the team, silently observing everything. He saw the tribespeople's resilience and determination, and also their despair and grief. No one asked him for help, and he couldn't save those left in the snowstorm. His Qiankun Bag's pills were completely consumed, let alone to share with these ordinary people with no cultivation.

Should those who erred be forgiven? Shouldn't the ones most deserving of punishment be the instigators?

You Su asked himself internally, but he had no answer.

The polar day made time lose its measure, You Su even didn't know how many days he had been marching in the snowstorm.

Until Chen Yi once again halted, yet did not have the tribespeople put up that enormous umbrella.

In front was an awe-inspiring great snowy mountain. The wind and snow seemed to have opened a doorway here, a sacred light pouring down, the snow peak stood like a giant wall between heaven and earth, subtly carrying a divine aura.

"Before being covered by snow, we called it Cangshan. In ancient Beiao Continent, 'Cang' meant 'holy'."

The elder's eyes finally rekindled with spirit, he reached out his hand:

"We've arrived."