Ye Tiancheng could only eat more to recover his strength. If he continued to dwell on useless matters at this time, he would surely be done for sooner or later. He had to be optimistic to have even a sliver of hope.
"Fatty, this snow is too heavy. I reckon we'll have to stay in this little cabin until it stops. It's already this late, so I have to fill my belly. Otherwise, where would I get the energy to deal with the dangers ahead?"
Fatty thought Ye Tiancheng made a lot of sense. He also asked Ye Tiancheng if there was anything else he wanted to eat. No matter what it was, Fatty would do his best to satisfy it. Since he had good cooking skills, it was the same whether he cooked for his buddy or someone else. It was better to benefit his brother.
"I want to eat some dumplings. Dumplings can be stored well in this weather. When the snow lightens up a bit, I plan to go into the mountains. The snow lotus shouldn't be too far from here. I'll bring some dumplings and a pot, and we can cook them outside whenever we want, without having to come back."
Ye Tiancheng had already made up his mind to explore the mountains. Therefore, he needed to prepare his food beforehand. Dumplings were probably the most delicious, though they were a bit heavy, which was a disadvantage. Other than that, there were no other drawbacks.
"Brother Ye, this is easy. Just dumplings, I'll make them for you right away. We'll make them tonight, and then freeze them outside."
Lin Xue hadn't eaten much and had already gone to lie down. Ye Tiancheng noticed her state was very strange, so he went to check on his disciple. He rarely paid attention to his disciple, but her current state was too abnormal, which made him think of checking on her.
"Xue'er, did you get hurt because you saved that man? You seem very unwell."
Perhaps they had been rushing to get here all along, and he hadn't had the chance to ask his disciple why she saved that man. Now that he finally had the opportunity, Ye Tiancheng decided to ask properly. Since she was his disciple, there was no need to hide anything, and he could just say it directly. After all, she wasn't an outsider.
"I didn't intend to save anyone, but I felt soft-hearted. When I saw the woman crying so bitterly, I couldn't help myself. Master, I remember you once told me that as a strong person in this world, one should not bully the weak, but help them. All people suffer, so help if you can."
Perhaps Lin Xue was influenced by him. Ye Tiancheng never had such ideas. Later, after experiencing some unpleasant things, he grew up a lot and understood what it meant to have compassion for the world. It was probably because of his own thoughts influencing his disciple that Lin Xue also thought this way.
Since this was the case, it was ultimately because he had changed. Lin Xue was just an obedient disciple and had not made any major mistakes. Moreover, everyone had a compassionate heart, which was a normal phenomenon.
"Alright, Xue'er, I'm happy that you think this way. But before that, you need to be clear about one thing: you absolutely cannot get into trouble. Everything must be based on protecting your personal safety, or else your master will not agree."
"I understand, Master. It's precisely because I was confident that I saved him. It's just that I'm a bit weak after saving him, and I might need a couple of days to recover. But it won't take too long. Master, you don't need to worry about me."
Lin Xue was about to rest, and Ye Tiancheng didn't want to bother her further. He returned to his room to rest. The next morning, when they woke up, they smelled the fragrant dumplings. It turned out that Fatty had already made sauerkraut and pork dumplings.
Ye Tiancheng didn't stand on ceremony. After a night of digesting the braised pork from yesterday, it was all gone. He directly took a huge plate of dumplings and went to the courtyard to eat. The snow had stopped, it seemed to have stopped sometime in the late night. This allowed them to eat in the courtyard. Eating inside the house felt a bit stifling, as the kitchen was too dim, and the light bulb's color was yellowish. It was probably because the bulb was too old.
Ye Tiancheng went into the courtyard and stuffed a large dumpling into his mouth, muttering, "So delicious!" While eating, he didn't forget to praise Fatty, which made Fatty very happy. As a chef, the happiest thing was when others highly recognized his skills. This gave Fatty a great sense of accomplishment.
"Brother Ye, don't just praise me. The filling today is indeed mine, but I didn't wrap all the dumplings alone. Miss Xue also helped. Miss Xue is truly skillful and nimble."
As they were talking, Lin Xue came over. After a night of rest, Lin Xue's complexion had improved a lot. Last night, she was visibly exhausted, her face as pale as a sheet of paper, completely devoid of color. Ye Tiancheng was very worried, but thankfully, her complexion was now ruddy.
Originally, Ye Tiancheng hadn't planned to let Lin Xue go with him. But seeing that Lin Xue had recovered, he decided to let her accompany him to explore the mountains. It was daytime now, but they wouldn't be able to return before nightfall.
This was because the snow lotus only bloomed at night and emitted a faint light. It would not appear during the day. Therefore, they might have to spend a night in the mountains.
"Brother Ye, I've prepared the thickest cotton-padded clothes for you. You should also bring a quilt. As long as you find a place sheltered from the wind, you can endure the night. We just need to hope it doesn't snow tonight. Snow can be quite dangerous."
After eating the dumplings, the master and disciple set off. For them, this was an unknown journey that might be full of excitement. However, having endured so much hardship to get here, both master and disciple were quite excited.
"Brother Ye, do you really not need me to follow? It doesn't feel right for me to just do logistics work while you two go on an adventure alone."
Fatty felt embarrassed. He considered himself useless, unable to help at critical moments. Ye Tiancheng had always been the one busy with things. He was purely a subordinate with no abilities, and he felt quite ashamed thinking about it.
"Your job is to keep the house warm and waiting for us to return. You are our last resort. Xue'er and I might face danger in the mountains. If things go wrong, we can still run back home. If you also come, then we'll have no retreat at all. What if something dangerous happens?"
Ye Tiancheng's reasoning was quite sound, so Fatty stopped arguing and silently agreed to guard the place. Then, Ye Tiancheng and Lin Xue entered the mountains. Less than ten minutes after they entered the mountains, it started to snow lightly. However, it was still good that the snow was light, and the trees provided cover, so it wouldn't pose any immediate danger to the master and disciple.
Less than half an hour after entering the mountains, they hadn't found anything, but they saw some suspicious footprints. Ye Tiancheng was very familiar with these footprints. They were clearly men's footprints, and they hadn't been covered by the snow, indicating that someone had walked here recently. He instantly felt a pang of fear, held his breath, and told Lin Xue.
"Disciple, there are others in this forest besides us. We must be very careful and not fall into their traps. Moreover, I suspect there might be hunters here who set traps. Be careful not to step on them. We don't fear getting injured, but it would be very troublesome if we did."
Lin Xue said she understood and would be careful of the people who appeared in the forest with them. These people were clearly capable of causing harm. Hunters at least had hunting rifles, and such people were not to be trifled with. A hunting rifle could blow a large hole in someone's body.
With such a wound, there would be blood and gore everywhere. Ye Tiancheng was an ordinary person now and couldn't withstand it. Even if Lin Xue saved the person, it would probably consume half of her cultivation.
In any case, they would try to avoid these people. Even if they were both cultivators, the current situation was complicated, and they might not be a match for those ordinary people. It was best to keep a low profile.
The two of them walked cautiously along the edge, stopping to observe whenever they heard any sound, resolutely avoiding any chance of encountering the hunters.
"Master, I can smell some faint traces of blood. The smell of blood is very, very faint. At the same time, I also smell the scent of a corpse. I suspect that the area we are in has some hidden secrets."
Even before cultivating, Lin Xue's senses were much keener than ordinary women. After cultivating, they became even more so. Her entire being had been elevated. As long as there was a hint of death and decay, Lin Xue could sense it.
"Now that you mention it, I think I can smell it too. I stepped on something. I suspect this thing might not be ordinary. If you're not afraid, let's take a look. If you are afraid, let's pretend we didn't see it and just move on."
Unlike Lin Xue, Ye Tiancheng relied purely on his sense of touch to feel that something was different, so he decided to discuss it with his disciple. If they could see it, they would, otherwise, they would let it go.
"Master, if it's a corpse, I won't be afraid. You don't need to worry. I'm not that timid. Let's take a look."
Lin Xue had also sensed something, but she just needed confirmation. Since it had come to this point, there was no need for them to hide anything. Ye Tiancheng moved slightly and kicked away the thick snow with his foot. Soon, they saw a human-shaped object.
"This looks like a dead body."
The two of them were purely driven by curiosity. They knew there would be a dead body without even looking. It was frozen like an ice stick, and its human features were indistinguishable. Only its outline could be seen. However, upon closer inspection, it was still quite disgusting.
"I wonder how he died here. It's so desolate here, yet there's a dead person. And judging by its appearance, it seems to have died not long ago."
"Let's not bother with it. Let's continue moving forward. It is said that the snow lotus grows in dense forests near mountains and rivers. It only grows in places where all three converge. Last year, it only grew in such places. If any one of them is missing, it won't grow. We can see the mountains and forests here, but we can't see the river. As long as we find the river, we should be able to find the snow lotus."