Chapter 44

The dimension of Nian Qi has indeed reached the level of a mid-tier martial arts world! It’s confirmed! Nian Qi had mentioned that martial artists in the world could reach this level, but he never hinted that he himself was such a master! No, actually, he only said he had “a slight reputation in the martial world.” Nian Qi leaped a few times, landed on the ground, and began sprinting. Ruan Qing felt the wind brushing against her face as the trees on either side blurred past. Whenever the terrain changed, Nian Qi would leap or “fly” again.

Ruan Qing couldn’t see herself at the moment, but she imagined that if anyone were watching from a third-person perspective, it would look exactly like a scene from a martial arts drama: the characters dashing forward, each leap covering several yards in an instant. In those dramas, actors jump in place, then are cut to appear at a far distance. But not with Nian Qi—he truly was leaping in long bounds, his body shooting forward like an arrow, covering a huge distance instantly.

This really fulfilled a teenage dream of hers—a slightly cliché one, but still! The injured hero dashes through a dense forest, carrying the frail heroine on his back, while arrows fly past from behind. She tearfully says, “Put me down; you go on alone!” But the hero grits his teeth and says, “Life or death, we’re together!” And then, a cold arrow pierces the heroine’s back, exiting through her chest. She lets out a muffled groan, trying to speak but unable. Her eyes lose focus, a trickle of blood escapes her lips, and she slowly slumps onto the hero’s shoulder, closing her eyes. A tear rolls down her cheek and falls onto his shoulder, and he, unaware, is determined to get her to safety, not knowing she will never open her eyes again…

Ruan Qing closed her eyes and slumped onto Nian Qi’s shoulder, savoring the tragic beauty of this imaginary scene. She took a deep breath to immerse herself in it—ugh! She almost gagged. When was the last time Nian Qi had a bath? It was late July! He’d been running around the mountains for days, sweating and working non-stop. The smell was intense, like sour pickles!

She held her breath as long as she could, but finally gave in and yelled by his ear, “Stop! Stop!”

Nian Qi came to an abrupt halt. Ruan Qing pulled out her phone: “Let me see if there’s a signal.” There was, but barely. Nian Qi shifted around a bit until she got a better connection. Ruan Qing quickly dialed her grand-uncle.

“Grandpa Qi, I twisted my ankle, wuuu wuuu…” Her crying sounded so fake to Nian Qi that he thought if she were in the underworld on a mission, her life would be over in a heartbeat.

Grandpa Qi, sweating with worry, replied, “How did you twist your ankle? Where are you? I’ll send someone to pick you up.”

“I’m not quite sure,” Ruan Qing replied. “Let me add you on WeChat so I can send my location.”

“I don’t have WeChat. Add Xiangyun instead… oh wait, Xiangyun says he’ll add you!” her grand-uncle replied.

“Wait, Uncle Xiangyun wasn’t supposed to be back until tomorrow!” Ruan Qing exclaimed.

A middle-aged voice came on the line: “Ruan Qing, it’s me, Uncle Xiangyun.”

Immediately, Ruan Qing turned polite. “Hello, Uncle Xiangyun!” He was the village chief, and extremely important to her plan. She intended to have Nian Qi officially settle in their village.

With the village chief vouching for her, things should go more smoothly. Ruan Xiangyun asked, “What happened? Twisted your ankle?”

“Yes, yes, it hurts so much; I can’t walk,” Ruan Qing said, feigning misery.

Ruan Xiangyun, as expected of an official, was calm and asked her carefully, “Is your area safe? Are there people nearby? Any wild animals? Do you have any weapons?”

Ruan Qing was startled, “Are there wild animals in the mountains?” As a city girl, her knowledge of “mountains” and “wild animals” was limited. She figured that wild animals only existed on the African savannas or in desolate places like Hoh Xil. In reality, there were wolves in these mountains and other creatures. But Ruan Xiangyun didn’t want to scare this city girl, so he replied, “Let me add you on WeChat. Send me your location. In the meantime, find a thick stick. Don’t worry; no wild animals—just in case you need to shoo off a mouse or something.”

Ruan Qing’s voice became shrill, “A mouse!?” which jabbed Ruan Xiangyun’s eardrum. To a city girl, mice might be scarier than wild animals! Luckily, she saw that Nian Qi was right beside her, a man who had defeated Zhao Hao, so surely he could handle a mouse. After all, he was from a mid-level martial world! She steadied herself, “Okay, got it. Find a stick, right?”

Ruan Xiangyun rubbed his ear. “Once you have it, stay put, don’t move! We’ll come to get you—don’t wander around, understand?”

Ruan Qing quickly promised, “I won’t. I’m terrified.” Just before hanging up, she heard her grand-uncle’s worried voice in the background, “How is she? I told you she shouldn’t have gone into the mountains alone!” Feeling guilty for making her family so worried, Ruan Qing resolved to find a way to make it up to him.

Meanwhile, Ruan Xiangyun had already sent a friend request and didn’t wait for her to accept before calling out, “Everyone, gather around! Grab the carrying chair!”

“Aihua’s daughter is injured in the mountains!” The village chief’s shout brought everyone together instantly.

“What? Ruan Qing?” “What happened to her?” “Is it serious? I’ll go!” “I’m coming too!”

The villagers rushed off to change shoes, grab ropes, poles, and the carrying chair. If they were heading into the mountains, they’d need rubber raincoats since mountain weather changed fast. The village was in a flurry of activity as everyone prepared. Soon, Ruan Qing accepted Ruan Xiangyun’s friend request and shared her location. Though there were no paths in the area, the location would at least show them the direction.

When Ruan Xiangyun checked the map, all he saw was green. He zoomed out, then in, surprised. “How did she get so far in?”

Grand-uncle leaned in, equally shocked. Ruan Qing’s position was deep in the mountains.

“Ha! She promised me she wouldn’t go deep in,” he fumed, stomping his foot. “Just can’t trust kids’ words!”

But it was too late for that now. They’d thought she was close to the entrance, but she was far deeper than expected. Even Ruan Xiangyun, experienced as he was, turned pale. There were definitely wolves in those mountains.

Ruan Aihua’s daughter absolutely couldn’t be allowed to have an accident here! Ruan Qing assumed Ruan Xiangyun would call when he was closer, but after a while, there was still no call. She checked her phone—no signal again. It kept coming and going, very spotty.

“We need to find a signal,” Ruan Qing said, standing up. “Otherwise, they’ll be worried sick if they can’t contact me.”

The two of them moved around a bit and finally got a weak signal again—still no calls, but at least texts were coming through. It seemed that they’d tried to reach her, but the messages had been delayed due to the lack of signal.

A text from “Sky’s Edge” read: Ruan Qing, we’ve set out. Stay where you are and don’t move. If you have to move, send me your location again, but try to stay put.

Ruan Qing wanted to reply “Received,” but the signal had already dropped again. There was just no way to get stable coverage in the mountains. As soon as she got a bit of signal again, she sent her location to Ruan Xiangyun and then turned to Nian Qi. “Let’s just wait here for them. No point in wandering around. There could be wild animals in the mountains.”

Nian Qi said, “There aren’t any dangerous animals here. Just a few wolves.”

“…” Ruan Qing froze. “???”

“A few what?” Her voice went up an octave.

“Wolves. Ran into them last night,” he said nonchalantly. “But don’t worry, no big threats around here.”

No big threats? Wolves don’t count as dangerous? What, would it take Godzilla to impress him? Ruan Qing’s expression twisted in disbelief.

“?” Nian Qi asked, “Does your ankle hurt again?”

Ruan Qing suddenly remembered something. “Did you… kill the wolves?” Judging by his dismissive tone, she figured he probably had the ability to kill wolves. Her heart began to race.

Fortunately, he replied, “No, I was too busy last night. The cave was a mess, hardly suitable to stay in. I didn’t have time, so I just chased them off without pursuing.”

Ruan Qing: “…”

So, if you hadn’t been busy, you would have hunted them down?

She pinched her temples and gave him a serious warning, “You can’t harm wild animals!”

Since they were just sitting around waiting, she decided to give him a crash course on wildlife protection laws. She never thought she’d have to go over something so obscure with him; she figured criminal law and public safety laws would be enough! But clearly, there were always unexpected gaps.

Nian Qi looked baffled. “Killing wolves or tigers isn’t heroic? Now it’s a crime? And I’d be jailed? Why?”

Ruan Qing explained patiently, “Because in today’s world, there are more people and fewer animals.

“Many species have gone extinct—animals, plants, both. It might not seem like it impacts a specific region or country, but if you look at it from a global perspective, it’s a sign of an unhealthy planet. When species go extinct, it’s like the earth is getting sicker. If this continues, the environment will keep deteriorating, eventually making it uninhabitable for humans.

“Forget wolves and tigers—even rabbits in the wild aren’t safe to hunt. You never know which species might be protected, and killing one could be a crime.

“As for tigers—think they’re fair game? A target for heroic hunters? Do you know the Northeast Tiger? Do you know how much effort has gone into saving that species from extinction over the years?”

“Every time a wild Northeast Tiger is found, the conservationists are so overjoyed they’re moved to tears,” Ruan Qing explained. “With the environment deteriorating, it’s the wild animals that suffer first. That’s why protecting wildlife starts with protecting the environment.”

“Nature itself is a cycle. Fallen leaves return to the soil, nourishing the roots to grow new leaves. Animals and nature are also part of this cycle. The entire ecosystem is a beautifully complete, closed loop—including humans. So, when all the other animal and plant species go extinct, guess who will be next?”

With his quick thinking, Nian Qi easily replied, “Humans.”

“Exactly,” Ruan Qing said. “So, we can’t harm wild animals.”

Nian Qi now understood and thought back to last night, when he’d seriously considered killing the wolves he encountered to make wolf pelts as a gift for Ruan Qing. Although wolf pelts couldn’t compare to mink, tiger, or fox fur, they were better than deer or sheep hides—something rare and valuable. Most importantly, it would be a gift he obtained himself, rather than something bought with Ruan Qing’s money. However, skinning, tanning, and handling the carcass would be a hassle, and the cave needed a lot of work to make it livable. He’d worried about the mess, the blood, and how Ruan Qing might be put off by it. Plus, her closet had warm winter clothes but no fur items. Modern TV shows rarely feature wolf pelts, even in winter scenes, indicating people today seemed to have less use for that kind of fur. So, after weighing everything, he simply chased the wolves away without killing them. Looking back, he realized he’d narrowly avoided an unexpected prison sentence. Thank goodness for that.

Originally, Ruan Qing planned to wait patiently with Nian Qi until Ruan Xiangyun’s group arrived, then explain that she’d met Nian Qi and he’d helped her. As village chief, Ruan Xiangyun would naturally ask about Nian Qi’s background. At that point, they could introduce his situation, revealing he was a resident with no official papers in the mountain nearby. Ruan Xiangyun, responsible as the village chief, couldn’t ignore this. She thought everything would go smoothly.

But after waiting for an hour, it seemed Grandpa Qi’s ominous words had come true. The clear blue sky suddenly darkened, and within minutes, the weather shifted dramatically. Just as Ruan Qing and Nian Qi pulled on their raincoats, icy raindrops began to pound down, each drop as cold as ice. Even in the middle of summer, a chill wind began to whirl around them, sharp and relentless, like the blade of a blender.

Nature is merciless, whether it’s mountains, oceans, forests, marshes, deserts, storms, lightning, water, fire, or earthquakes. Faced with any of these, humans are so very small. In this sudden, extreme mountain weather, Ruan Qing felt that smallness keenly.

“We can’t stay here! We need shelter from the rain!” Nian Qi shouted above the pounding rain, strapping his bag to his back. He scooped Ruan Qing up and, with a powerful leap, darted into the forest, moving close to the ground, eyes searching through the dense mist for a place to escape the freezing rain.