Chapter 65 Parents’ Decision

On this cold winter night, even the traveling merchant Xu Sheng broke out in a cold sweat. He had a deep understanding of the desert and was naturally even more in awe of it.

He realized that something “big” was definitely going to happen today!

Many people panicked, filled with fear of the unknown. If they understood, if they knew the truth, perhaps they wouldn’t be so afraid.

Most importantly, this pitch-black environment exacerbates people’s anxiety, as they can’t see anything even if they put their hand right under their eyelids.

Many people are now blind to the truth; they have no control over their own lives, deaths, or future, and can only leave it to fate.

Qin Ming was in a better position; he could vaguely see the scenery in front of him. He remained calm, gripping the mutton-fat jade iron knife, ready to strike at any moment!

Suddenly, a woman’s sobbing sounded from behind, making many people’s hearts skip a beat.

“I’m sorry…” the woman said, crying.

“Then let me go. I’m bleeding a lot from my neck, and my head is about to be severed,” the man said hoarsely and weakly.

…

Not far from the caravan led by the traveling merchant, Cui Hong, covered in sweat, had quietly returned after distracting the old elephant.

Because he had discussed it with the old elephant and confirmed that Cui Chongyi was not in any danger, he came to chase after Cui Chonghe, who was nearby.

Cui Hong knew some of the conditions in the desert, but at his level, as long as he didn’t do anything reckless, passing through the edge of the desert would be no problem.

He walked along the mountain wall, but ended up going around in circles several times. He quickly recited the Heart-Cleansing Mantra and activated a powerful secret technique, which finally allowed him to move forward again.

Just as Cui Hong turned around unintentionally, he felt a chill run down his spine; something was following him from behind.

In the thick, boundless night fog behind, there was a pair of enormous eyes, indifferent and ruthless, their cold light piercing through the fog.

The two eyeballs, each as big as a house, are approaching!

The outline of the unknown creature was not clearly visible, but it was assumed to be extremely large.

Cui Hong felt a chill run down his spine. Even someone as powerful as him wouldn’t have noticed it beforehand if he hadn’t turned around unexpectedly.

In front of that creature was a blood-red lantern, relatively small, about the size of one hanging in front of a wealthy man’s gate, but it pierced through the night fog, as if someone was carrying it to guide the enormous creature.

Cui Hong dared not delay and sped up. He had never encountered this situation before, and he was unsure whether it was something that came out of the desert.

The night fog grew thicker and thicker, almost stripping Cui Hong of his five senses. Even his keen spiritual perception was clouded, and he even accidentally fell from the rugged mountain path into the desert.

He sensed something was wrong; his feet were wet and sticky, the sand was damp and steaming, and he was standing right on it.

Cui Hong quickly jumped up and returned to the mountain path, his face looking very bad. He could smell a strong stench of urine coming from the soles of his feet. Who did this?

At this moment, the desert became even more unusual, with thick fog rising and falling like surging waves.

When Cui Hong turned around again, he found that the huge eyes were very close to him!

Moreover, under the light of the blood lantern, he could vaguely make out that it was a huge white-haired creature.

“Its speed is much faster than mine, it’s extremely dangerous, it can… catch up with me!” Cui Hong realized something was wrong.

However, as strange signs appeared in the desert, the white-haired creature narrowed its eyes, then turned and ran away, the blood-red lantern also disappearing into the distance and quickly dimming.

…

“Oh no, the desert seems to have been offended.” Xu Sheng was surprised and uncertain. This situation was rare. Who would dare to act recklessly in such a place?

In that boundless desert, thick fog surged, crashing against the cliff face like ocean waves.

It was precisely because of this that Xu Sheng re-determined the location.

What do we do?

“Don’t panic, this has nothing to do with us!” Xu Sheng said, trying to calm everyone down.

At this moment, even the woman’s sobs stopped, and the procession carrying torches in front of them dimmed and almost disappeared.

Suddenly someone said in a trembling voice, “Brother Xu, something is touching my ankle. It’s covered in stiff hairs and it’s piercing my clothes.”

He wasn’t the only one; several others felt the same way.

Qin Ming vaguely saw a small creature and was about to swing his mutton-fat jade iron knife.

“Don’t make any rash moves!” Xu Sheng said, and then he fell silent, because it was his turn this time, and he was rubbed against a tree stump by a creature.

“Let’s go up the mountain!” He knew that they wouldn’t be able to get out of the edge of this desert before the early night ended.

The group quickly climbed along a gentler slope to the lowest cliff in the vicinity, which was still nearly a thousand meters high.

Xu Sheng said, “Let’s rest here today and continue our journey tomorrow after the fog clears.”

“Let’s go through the mountains,” someone suggested, clearly frightened by the desert.

Xu Sheng shook his head and said, “The mountains ahead are thousands of meters high, and every piece of land is infested with dangerous monsters. We traveling merchants never attempt to cross this mountain range.”

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, the man who had been weakly crying out that his neck was about to break was not dead, but had only lost a lot of blood.

After climbing the cliff, he avoided the woman shrouded in gray robes as if he had seen a ghost.

“I’m sorry, it was my first time traveling so far, and I was so nervous that I accidentally scratched you.”

“It’s… okay!” The man stepped back.

The boy’s face turned pale. He glanced down at the few long black hairs in his hand. As the cold wind howled, he could see the fur under the woman’s gray robe.

The night was no longer so dark here. The boy was unsure if he was seeing things, but he dared not look any further.

“It’s good that everyone is alright.” Xu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief. As a traveling merchant, he often led teams on long journeys, and it was normal for some oddballs to occasionally appear in the team.

Previously, when they were resupplying in that small town, Xu Sheng had told them that they might have to camp in the wild for two or three days.

Although everyone felt that the traveling merchant was intentionally “generating revenue,” he still had to spend a lot of money to buy a tent in that small town.

In the dead of night, Qin Ming was awakened by snoring. He quickly drew his mutton-fat jade iron knife, as if facing a formidable enemy.

This is absolutely outrageous! How could there be an extra person in his tent? And there’s someone else snoring!

In an instant, Qin Ming followed the sound and discovered who it was.

It was a pig!

Qin Ming had already lit a tinderbox and could clearly see it—a very small pig, only slightly longer than a palm.

At this moment, the pig was also awakened, and it stared at Qin Ming, looking at each other with wide eyes.

Don’t let its small size fool you; this wild boar is quite abnormal. Its pair of snow-white tusks have already grown outside its mouth, which is not how a piglet should be.

The wild boar, slightly larger than the palm of his hand, actually grinned, startling Qin Ming so much that he almost swung his knife at it, but he held back because this was too abnormal.

In fact, he felt that none of his experiences near the desert today were normal.

He stared at it closely and noticed that the pig had some black scales on its face that looked somewhat familiar.

Then he recalled the time when he was recovering from a serious illness and had hunted a horned deer and a donkey-headed wolf in the mountains. He had also discovered a wild boar that was far larger than its kind, weighing 1,500 to 1,600 pounds. It was charging around like a madman and had even chased him for a while.

On that day, the moon worm appeared, and the giant wild boar trembled, quietly retreating and burying itself in the snow.

The giant boar also had black scales on its face, much like the one in front of us.

However, although the giant boar was a mutated creature, it was extremely beastly and seemed far from being “civilized,” lacking any spirituality.

Although the little pig in front of me looks very similar to the big pig, its eyes are not crazy, lacking any animalistic nature, but rather quite profound.

It looked very small, but Qin Ming always felt that it was more like an old wild boar.

Qin Ming did not make any rash moves. He stared at the pig for a moment, then put away his mutton-fat jade iron knife and retreated to the edge of the tent.

Soon, deafening snoring filled the tent.

The next day, the fog was indeed not so thick. Xu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief when he counted the number of people, because so far there had been no casualties, and both humans and aliens were alive.

Qin Ming noticed that some people looked at him with resentment, and even some indignation.

A middle-aged man looked at him and said, “Young man, you look so handsome, how come you make such a racket when you sleep? In the middle of the night, I mistook it for thunder and came out to check, only to find that it was you snoring in the tent!”

Qin Ming opened his mouth but couldn’t say anything. He felt so wronged. Should he tell them that it was a wild boar snoring?

“Yes, young man, you’re really something! I also thought it was thunder in the middle of the night!” an old man said.

Wu Zheng, sporting dark circles under his eyes and looking sullen, had originally wanted to sit next to an acquaintance for mutual support, but who knew that Brother Qin’s “aura” was so strong while he was sleeping!

“Don’t waste time. Boil some water, eat some dry rations, and we’ll be on our way immediately,” Xu Sheng urged.

Less than an hour after they set off again, the group’s expressions changed, for they saw a figure rapidly approaching them through the night fog.

“It’s alright, it’s a human,” Wu Zheng said softly.

The others remained silent. Encountering humans or monsters outside was similar; there were even outcasts in their group.

Soon, Xu Sheng’s expression changed. He recognized the man as the expert who had fought the old elephant yesterday. He had long arms that reached past his knees, sharp features, and eyes like lightning.

Qin Ming knew that the long-armed man had come for him, so he took the initiative to go out.

“You can go now,” Cui Hong waved to the caravan members.

Xu Sheng hesitated slightly, but finally sighed. Regardless of whether the other party had malicious intent, he couldn’t control it. The difference in strength between them was quite large, and he had to be responsible for more people.

“Take care, buddy!” Xu Sheng led his team away.

Wu Zheng looked again and again before finally turning around and following the group.

“Young Master!” Cui Hong greeted him.

Qin Ming dodged the gesture and said, “I don’t deserve such courtesy. You saved me two years ago, so I should be the one bowing to you.”

“That’s what I should do,” Cui Hong said.

The desert was shrouded in darkness, and the place was utterly silent.

Qin Ming’s emotions were in turmoil. He had many questions, but after catching the complex expression on this person’s face yesterday, he realized that this reunion might be completely different from his earlier guesses.

“Young Master, you have been reborn?” Cui Hong asked, his gaze sharp at the moment.

Qin Ming said, “Call me by my name. I’m not used to being called ‘Young Master’.”

“Well… okay, then I’ll go for your new life?”

Qin Ming really wanted to correct the name, but after thinking about it, since everyone he knew called him Cui Chonghe, he decided to accept the name for now.

“Yes!” Qin Ming felt that no matter what he said, the other party could tell whether it was true or false. Since the Cui family had sent people, they would definitely investigate thoroughly in Yinteng Town and Shuangshu Village.

“Sigh!” Upon hearing his affirmative answer, Cui Hong sighed, feeling conflicted, troubled, and reluctant to do something. His expression became very complicated once again.

“Is there something wrong?” Qin Ming became wary.

“Young Master, um, Chonghe, do you want to leave this remote place and go to a distant city?” Cui Hong asked.

Qin Ming remained silent. They were already on their way; did he still need to answer?

“Chonghe, I’m sorry, but I can’t disobey orders. You can’t leave this area. You need to live a normal life, be prosperous and safe. Someone will arrange everything for you,” Cui Hong said apologetically.

“What do you mean? You want to cripple me?” Qin Ming retreated into the desert. Sure enough, some of his bad premonitions came true. The appearance of the long-armed man did not bring the joy of reunion, but rather came like a tidal wave, crashing into his fragmented memories.

Qin Ming stumbled, feeling a sharp headache.

He shouted, “Who told you to do this?!”

Cui Hong hesitated for a moment, but finally told him, “Your father.”

“Where is my mother?!” Qin Ming demanded, stepping back.

“Your mother gave you the same instructions before you came here,” Cui Hong said.

Qin Ming felt like his head was about to explode. His body was shaking violently in the desert. No wonder he felt that his life was a patchwork, somewhat fake. Some of his beliefs had collapsed before.

How could parents do this?

He was once ragged, covered in blood and frostbite, struggling to survive in the freezing cold. After being brought to Shuangshu Village, he witnessed firsthand how Lu Ze and his wife, for the sake of Wenrui and Wenhui, would rather suffer from the cold and hunger themselves than let their two children suffer. He believed that all parents should do the same, because given his own character and temperament, he would do the same.

“Why?!” Qin Ming endured the excruciating pain in his head, trying hard to recall what had happened.