Chapter 144: The Golden Fairy

Zhu Senlin immediately shook his head. “No, no, I’m going. Since I’ve come all this way, I ought to climb the mountain with you, at least once. Otherwise I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. Don’t try to talk me out of it. Just think of it as helping me lose weight. Ha-ha!”

Zhang Can and Wang Qian exchanged amused smiles. Since Zhu Senlin insisted on going, there was naturally no reason to stop him.

Seventeen people set out for the mountain. Zheng Dabao had five men with him. Wang Qian had seven bodyguards, as well as himself and Su Xue. Zhang Can and Zhu Senlin made up the remaining four. Of the seventeen, only Wang Qian, Zhang Can, and Zhu Senlin carried no luggage. Everyone else had packs weighing more than twenty kilograms, some considerably more. Most of the supplies consisted of food, tents, sleeping bags, and a few simple cooking utensils.

Even Su Xue carried a bag weighing twenty pounds. Wang Qian and Zhang Can were naturally no match for the others physically. Zhu Senlin was actually in fairly good shape, but he was too fat and had not endured hardship like this in many years. The fact that he could get himself up the mountain was already enough; no one could reasonably expect him to carry luggage as well.

The initial trail was not difficult. It was merely a gently rising slope, with a clearly visible path. The scenery of the Tianshan Mountains was breathtaking. At the foot of the mountain stretched lush green grassland. Beginning at the lower slopes were short, sparse plants; a thousand meters higher lay a thin covering of snow. Farther up, the snow grew deeper and deeper until, at the summit, it became snow that never melted throughout the year. Mountain rose behind mountain, all of it white, stretching so far that the eye could find no end.

The Tianshan range ran across central Xinjiang and extended westward into Kazakhstan. This immense range divided Xinjiang in two: the Tarim Basin lay to the south, the Junggar Basin to the north, forming southern and northern Xinjiang. The Kunlun Mountains lay to the south, the Altai Mountains to the north, and the Tianshan range between them. In books, of course, these three great ranges were collectively referred to as the Tianshan Mountains.

Of the entire Tianshan range, only Mount Bogda was relatively easy to climb, because it was home to the most famous tourist destination in the Tianshan Mountains: Heavenly Lake.

Every year, countless tourists visited Heavenly Lake, so a special tourist highway ran from Urumqi to the mountain. It was seventy kilometers long. Yet because of the crowds, many plants and animals unique to the snowy peaks of the Tianshan Mountains had disappeared as the number of visitors increased.

Zheng Dabao was a true son of the Tianshan region. He had climbed up and down its slopes dozens of times and possessed tremendous experience. He also knew what Wang Qian was searching for. Although he found it somewhat mysterious, even unreliable, his gratitude toward Wang Qian meant that he had agreed without hesitation to guide him up the mountain. Whether they actually found what Wang Qian sought was another matter. What mattered was that he was doing his part.

Something like what Wang Qian was looking for would certainly not exist in places crowded with people. It might be found only in regions even he had never visited. He had heard legends from the elders in the past, but he had never found anyone who had truly seen such a thing. For that reason, he had decided not to take the road to Heavenly Lake. The route from the lake included a highway and would save them considerable time, but there was little hope of finding anything there. Instead, they would climb from another route several dozen kilometers from Heavenly Lake. The terrain there was more perilous, but far fewer people ventured into it, and that suited Zheng Dabao’s map.

Mountaineering was a strange business. A peak could look close enough to touch, yet reaching it could be brutally difficult. Fortunately, the weather was gradually clearing, which was a blessing. If the weather had been like it was on the railway a few days earlier, climbing would have been impossible.

After half a day’s travel, they had crossed only the first small ridge. As they descended, they saw a slender stream trickling down the mountainside opposite them. Below it, the slopes on either side were carpeted in vivid green. The sight was striking: white snow above, green vegetation below.

Zheng Dabao pointed toward the stream. “Its source is somewhere along that mountainside. Beyond it lies a valley, but the road becomes much harder. It doesn’t look far, but I estimate it will take two days to reach. That mountain is nearly five thousand meters above sea level, and hardly anyone has ever gone there. I haven’t, either. My father went once when he was young. Five people set out, but only three returned. Two died in the glacier.

“He once told me that there were hot springs atop the glacier. Hot springs on a snow mountain must come from an ancient volcanic vent. The volcano has long since gone dormant, but heat still rises from underground, melting the snow and forming the springs. Since those springs contain large amounts of minerals, bathing in them can cure illnesses. There are special hot-spring baths over by Heavenly Lake, but this place is too dangerous for anyone to come!”

Wang Qian gazed at the mountains covered in brilliant white snow and could not help sighing. “I hope I can find the Sky Immortal Seed.”

Zheng Dabao shook his head. “Brother Wang, what you’re talking about isn’t actually called the Sky Immortal Seed. It should be called the Golden Immortal Seed. There’s a difference between the two. The Sky Immortal Seed is valuable, but it can still be found, and obtaining one isn’t terribly difficult. The Golden Immortal Seed is another matter. I’ve been in the medicinal-herb business for all these years, and I’ve heard only legends from my father. I’ve never heard of anyone truly finding one. Whether such a thing even exists in this world is still open to question. My father has been dead for more than ten years, so I have no way of asking him now.”

Only then did Zhang Can learn that Wang Qian had come to the Tianshan Mountains in search of the so-called Golden Immortal Seed. Zhang Can had never heard of it—not even as a rumor—so he remained silent. Faced with something entirely unfamiliar, he had nothing to say.

Wang Qian clearly did not wish to discuss it further. His mood was poor. He was worried about the old man’s illness, and worried that this journey might fail to fulfill his hopes. In truth, the chances seemed extremely slim.

At the mountainside they found a sheltered hollow and stopped there. They used alcohol to boil a pot of water, then heated some prepared dried beef in it. They ate the beef and drank the hot broth.

Naturally, it was nowhere near as delicious as the barbecue they had enjoyed at the foot of the mountain, but on a mountain, having food at all was a luxury. Compared with those forced to live on nothing but canned goods, they were already dining in extravagance.

They had Zheng Dabao’s considerable resources, plenty of men, and years of experience. He knew the Tianshan Mountains well. Though he had never visited this particular area, his experience climbing the range told him what to prepare and what would suit them best.

After eating the beef and finishing the scalding broth, everyone recovered much of their strength. Once they had packed away the utensils, they set out again. They descended into the valley and began climbing the mountain opposite. The stream and its relatively warm water nourished the plants along the slope. In this area, there were even trees more than ten meters tall.

But hardly anyone had ever come here. There was not even a path, and their pace slowed considerably. The stretch of woodland was probably only a few kilometers long, yet crossing it took nearly four or five hours. By the time they were close to emerging from the forest, darkness had fallen.

Zheng Dabao ordered his men to pitch the tents at the forest’s edge and spend the night there, continuing at dawn. Wang Qian’s bodyguards went into the woods to cut branches and gather deadwood. Soon they had a great fire blazing. With enough wood for fuel, they could roast the beef they had brought. They also boiled another pot of broth. Beef was delicious, but in a cold place, hot meat broth was best of all—it warmed both the body and the heart.

No one held back. Climbing mountains was one of the most physically demanding activities there was, and Su Xue, the only woman among them, was not delicate or spoiled. Her background and status might have been extraordinary, but her temperament was as bold and forthright as any man’s. She could endure hardship, and Zhang Can admired her for it.

From the first danger they had encountered on the railway until now, Zhang Can had never once seen Su Xue grow weak or complain, no matter what hardship or danger confronted her. When the mountainside had melted and collapsed beside the railway, he had been able to anticipate the danger only because of the Water-Avoiding Pearl and his ability to see through things. Su Xue, however, had relied on abilities forged through genuine training. Such strength could never be cultivated by a pampered young lady.

They had plenty of branches to keep the fire burning, so the flames rose high. Although Zheng Dabao’s men had put up two tents, no one went inside to sleep. Instead, they took out their sleeping bags, arranged them in a circle around the fire, and crawled inside.

A fire this large was better than air-conditioning. It could keep wild animals away. Once they climbed higher the following day, it would be difficult to find trees or dead branches on the snowy mountain, and they would have no way to build a fire. Tonight was the last chance they would have for such comfort.

Su Xue placed her sleeping bag, deliberately or otherwise, beside Zhang Can’s. From time to time, the burning wood crackled sharply. Firelight illuminated Su Xue’s lovely face. Zhang Can glanced at her and thought that if only her temperament were not so fierce, who would ever have guessed from her appearance that there was such a vast difference between the woman she seemed to be and the woman she truly was?

Still, he had to admit that Su Xue was extraordinarily beautiful. Among the women Zhang Can knew, only Zhou Nan possessed beauty of the same degree. Liu Xiaoqin was somewhat less striking, yet Zhang Can felt that she suited him best. Perhaps it was his own inferiority complex at work, but Zhou Nan was someone he refused to think about. As for Su Xue beside him, he did not dare think of her at all.

Only thoughts of Liu Xiaoqin brought warmth to his heart. She truly was a kind, gentle, and considerate girl from the neighborhood. Yet although she was tender and good-natured, Zhang Can could not help remembering the time she had flown into a rage in his seventeenth-floor room and climbed onto the window ledge, ready to jump. She had possessed quite a fiery streak herself.

At the thought, Zhang Can could not help smiling faintly. He found himself missing Liu Xiaoqin intensely. As for Liu Xiaoli and the incident that had nearly gone too far that night, he had not thought of it at all. It seemed he had truly fallen for Liu Xiaoqin.

“What are you smiling about?” Su Xue asked suspiciously when she saw the smile on his face.

Zhang Can shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Liar!” Su Xue snorted. She naturally did not believe him. After a moment, she added, “Judging by that expression, you must be thinking about a woman. Are you thinking of that noble Miss Zhou, or your pitiful little countrywoman?”

Zhang Can’s face reddened. He had not expected Su Xue’s eyes to be so sharp that she could guess his thoughts. But he denied it aloud. “No. What makes you say that?”

“Hmph.”

Su Xue bit her lip. If her body had not been tucked inside the sleeping bag, she truly might have kicked him hard. At the same time, a startled thought arose in her mind: Could it be that I’ve fallen for Zhang Can? Impossible. I definitely haven’t. How could I possibly like him?

But if she did not like Zhang Can, why had she been thinking about him constantly these past few days? Su Xue fell into a daze. Whether her eyes were open or closed, Zhang Can’s image seemed to flicker before her. She cared about everything he did and said. When he said something pleasant, her heart lifted; when he said something unpleasant, she felt miserable. And now, when he had mentioned thinking about two beautiful girls, why had her heart ached with such sour pain?

Feeling embarrassed that Su Xue had seen through him and exposed his thoughts, Zhang Can simply turned over and faced away from her.

Su Xue clenched her teeth and bit down hard on her lower lip. Yet in that moment, she came to a clear and undeniable realization:

She had truly fallen in love with this seemingly ordinary yet mysterious country boy.