RIIDMDR chapter 64

 

Nan Xu reached out and touched his forehead but did not feel any heat. He wasn’t sure if he simply couldn’t feel it or if he wasn’t running a fever at all.

But right now, he really couldn’t keep lying on Ting Chuan’s back. In this formation, Ting Chuan was just an ordinary person. After a whole night of trekking, coupled with worry, Nan Xu felt heartache just thinking about it.

Yet, after walking all night, the snowy expanse still showed no signs of ending. Nan Xu no longer held any hope of leaving this frozen land anytime soon.

He had asked Ting Chuan several times to let him walk by himself, but Ting Chuan stubbornly refused, so Nan Xu could only lie obediently on his back.

“Did I have a fever last night?” Nan Xu asked.

He was curious about how he had suddenly lost consciousness without any reason, as he recalled it.

“No.” Ting Chuan said as if he knew what was on Nan Xu’s mind. “You just fainted out of the blue and couldn’t be woken up. The human body is fragile. I thought you had passed out from the cold.”

Nan Xu thought. His health had always been quite good, so how could he not withstand the cold? Before entering the formation, he had thought that humans adapted more easily to seasonal changes than demons did. Now, here he was, being carried on Ting Chuan’s back—truly disappointing.

Instinctively, he opened the system in his mind. Nan Xu suddenly remembered something and immediately rushed in. Those functions couldn’t be used, but what about the rewards he had already received?

He swiped around in the system and found the mission reward he had received not long ago: Temporary Dwelling.

Sure enough, the card representing the reward was glowing. He hadn’t used any of his three chances yet. Nan Xu immediately clicked “Use.”

He didn’t know what kind of house it would be or if it could withstand the cold wind.

“Ting Chuan—”

The words that Nan Xu was about to say got stuck in his throat. Ting Chuan also stopped in his tracks. After several seconds of silence, Ting Chuan slowly tilted his head as if to look at Nan Xu.

Nan Xu immediately buried his face in Ting Chuan’s back. The Temporary Dwelling appeared way too suddenly!

Just like every time the inn upgraded, it happened in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, a small, shabby hut appeared in front of them. It wasn’t big, about the same size as the mountain cabins hunters lived in, but even more dilapidated. The thatched roof blew up high in the cold wind before falling back down.

If the system hadn’t ignored him, Nan Xu would’ve asked: With his temperament, was he really only worthy of such a primitive, shabby hut? Was he not even qualified for a proper wooden cabin?

“Did you make this appear?” Even though he had seen the inn’s sudden changes a few times, Ting Chuan sounded a little uncertain.

It really was unexpected. After all, his own spells were ineffective inside the formation, yet Nan Xu had silently made a house appear.

Though, the house didn’t look very sturdy.

Upon further thought, it wasn’t too strange. Thoughts flashed quickly through Ting Chuan’s mind.

“Mm, yes.” Nan Xu felt inexplicably embarrassed. Bringing something like this out in the freezing snow was really shameful.

Another short silence settled between them.

“Can it… house people?” Ting Chuan asked again.

Nan Xu hesitated for a few seconds, feeling uncertain. “Probably…it can?”

From the outside, the roof looked like it could blow away at any moment. However, nothing the system had produced so far had failed, so it should be of decent quality.

With that thought, Nan Xu urged Ting Chuan inside. “It can only last for two hours. Let’s go in and see.”

Once inside, the cold outside air was instantly blocked out. The hut wasn’t heated, but after being in the cold wind for so long, it didn’t let in a single draft. Looking up, I saw that the roof hadn’t been blown off either. It really was a temporary shelter from the wind!

Ting Chuan put Nan Xu down. His legs had clearly been badly frozen, because when he stood up again, Nan Xu could feel him pause.

Of course. In this form, even a thousand-year-old fox would be fragile.

After standing in the hut for a while, as their bodies warmed up, Nan Xu’s ears and face started to burn. He wiped his hand and felt water from melted ice chips. But he couldn’t worry about that now. Time was limited, he needed to look around and make the best use of these two hours.

Because Ting Chuan had carried him all night, Nan Xu’s legs now felt light and nimble. He circled the small hut. There was no furniture inside. The wooden walls had a weathered, decayed look. He pulled aside a pile of hay in the corner and discovered a small stack of firewood underneath.

At that moment, something to keep warm was like a lifesaver. Nan Xu’s eyes lit up instantly. Excitedly, he carried the wood to the middle of the hut.

The earthen floor wouldn’t be damaged by fire. Using the hay as tinder, Nan Xu quickly lit the wood. The two sat around the fire, its warmth spreading and loosening the cold stiffness of his body.

Since there were no utensils to boil water, Nan Xu placed the two water gourds near the fire and put the frozen, hard flatbreads beside them to warm them up.

Ting Chuan just watched him get busy. They were all small chores that he couldn’t help with. He had last entered this formation a thousand years ago and remembered little of it. But he was sure that he hadn’t made fire back then. In this frozen land, where could they find fire? Saying earlier that they could walk into the woods to light a fire had only been words of comfort. In this climate, there might not even be forests.

As he watched Nan Xu, Ting Chuan fell into thought. Nan Xu looked at him and misunderstood. “Hungry? The flatbread needs a little longer.”

Ting Chuan hummed in reply.

Nan Xu rummaged through his backpack and pulled out the clothes that had gotten soaked when he fell into the water earlier. They were frozen solid, but luckily, he had stuffed some waterproof oiled paper inside before leaving. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to keep these clothes in the bag. They had cost several hundred silver coins, so losing them would have pained him for a long time.

He also pulled out some cotton rope and used sticks to make a simple clothes rack. His hands moved quickly. Because of his experience weaving bamboo baskets and making fences, he was especially skilled at it now.

After hanging the wet clothes on the rack, Nan Xu continued to dig in his pack. Ting Chuan was already surprised when he saw the rope, and now he tilted his head, curious to see what else Nan Xu might pull out.

Nan Xu’s hand touched something. He gave Ting Chuan a mischievous smile.

“What is it?” Ting Chuan asked, interested.

Nan Xu pulled his hand out of the bag. In his palm was a large sweet potato.

Ting Chuan didn’t know what expression to make for a moment. So that’s why his back had felt so heavy last night.

Seeing Nan Xu’s delighted expression, however, Ting Chuan couldn’t help but shake his head and smile.

“It must have been Zhi Xing who snuck it in.” Nan Xu said this as he tossed a sweet potato into the fire and pushed it deeper with a stick.

With the fire burning, the indoor temperature rose quickly. In just a short while, they could clearly feel their frozen limbs regaining mobility.

Probably because he was too hungry, Nan Xu didn’t bother talking. His eyes stayed fixed on the flatbread by the fire, and he reached out from time to time to touch it. When it finally softened, he impatiently skewered one with a branch and handed another to Ting Chuan.

“Roast it over the fire. Crunchy and charred, it tastes really good.” Nan Xu shared his experience.

Holding the branch and turning it occasionally, he listened to the crackling wood as he stared at the fire. Suddenly, he said, “Happiness can be simple for people. Like now—with just a fire, I feel especially satisfied.”

It was just like that winter he lived in a cylinder when he longed for a little hut to ward off the cold.

He thought he shouldn’t miss those childhood memories tinged with bitterness. Yet, even after so long, he still recalled them from time to time. Not with sadness, but with a sigh—whatever life experience, it was an interesting journey.

Ting Chuan turned his head to look at Nan Xu. His gaze was gentle, and the corners of his lips carried a faint smile. It was as if he could feel Nan Xu’s thoughts, too.

Nan Xu remembered Ting Chuan saying he had walked through every small formation in these mountains alone. From what Nan Xu knew, these formations were all more or less related to humans. Not being able to use spells was a form of suffering for demons. Why had Ting Chuan done it?

He asked. Ting Chuan replied calmly, “Because once, someone longed for human life. After he passed away, I grew very bored in the demon realm. By chance, I found these mountain formations, and so I came often.”

Nan Xu could hear the faint regret and longing in his words. Yet, he couldn’t help but think that these formations had become his sacred check-in spot.

“When I first met you in the mountains, weren’t you entering a formation then?” Nan Xu asked.

Ting Chuan shook his head. “No, this time I came to pay respects to the deceased.”

Nan Xu’s smile faded instantly. He remembered that the great battle had taken place in this very mountain range. Ting Chuan’s elder brother had died in that battle.

Seeing Nan Xu’s suddenly solemn face, Ting Chuan smiled and changed the topic. “I feel like something’s not right with the weather. The snow stopped a whole night ago. We should have left this snowy land by now.”

Nan Xu was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

Handing Nan Xu the branch he was holding, Ting Chuan stood up and walked to the door. The hut had no windows, so the only way to see outside was through the door.

As soon as Ting Chuan pulled the door open a crack, Nan Xu saw him suddenly use force, nearly losing his grip on the handle. A gust of wind blew into the hut, scattering the firewood across the floor.

Nan Xu sensed that something was wrong. He dropped the flatbread in his hand and rushed over.

Outside, the snow on the ground was being blown into the air. The storm was terrifying; the doorframe creaked as if it could barely withstand the wind.

Nan Xu helped Ting Chuan push the door shut. They used so much force that their arms went weak and sore. But when the door finally closed tight, they both let out a breath of relief.

Earlier, while tending the fire and sweet potatoes, Nan Xu had faintly heard noises outside. However, there had also been wind when they walked through the snow before, so he hadn’t thought much of it. Who would have thought that this shabby hut could withstand such a storm without them noticing?

“Is it sturdy?” Nan Xu asked, referring to the hut. Earlier, they had both doubted that it could block heavy snow.

Ting Chuan chuckled. “Sturdy. Why do you hold such grudges?”

Nan Xu puffed out his chest proudly. But at the thought of the raging wind outside, he deflated like a balloon again.

The hut duration was only two hours. Judging by the strength of the wind they had just experienced, the moment they stepped outside, they would probably be blown straight into the air.

Could they have to renew it again?