Boom boom boom—
The snowmobile roared, speeding north.
The biting wind, sharper than any knife, threatened to tear Du Junlin to shreds!
Her hands and feet had long since gone numb from the cold.
Half of the large supply of fuel she carried had already been consumed.
She had been speeding north alone for an entire day across a snowfield that stretched out, a vast expanse of lifeless white.
She didn't know if she could find Li Qianfan.
In fact, she even knew that searching for Li Qianfan by heading north was a mistaken course of action.
After all, Luo Huayin had disappeared with Li Qianfan into the vast snowfield over ten days ago; they could have long since rerouted to Africa.
Logically, she should have, like the people sent by Long Xu Sect, flown directly to Africa and then searched for any traces of the Zhan Mo Divine Hall.
But—
Yao Yao, who rarely spoke, acted as if she'd gone mad, insisting on searching north for Li Qianfan's whereabouts.
Yuan Ting and the others couldn't stop her.
The Dark Blade team, with Li Wujiang's cooperation, had cornered all 45 survivors of the Luo De team into the Blackwater Forest.
Just as the Luo De team had once besieged the Hu Zhan team, the Dark Blade would now besiege them!
After completing the most crucial task, Du Junlin handed over the mission of cooperating with Li Wujiang to "besiege and lure reinforcements" to Yuan Ting.
Originally, this counter-attack mission was Yuan Ting's responsibility.
She needed to find Li Qianfan—
Yuan Ting's attempts to dissuade her were futile. Naturally, he didn't feel at ease with her heading north alone, so he dispatched the eighth squad, led by Liu Jianfei, to follow her.
Du Junlin didn't refuse Yuan Ting's kind gesture.
If only she could—
She wished she could bring all five Dark Blade squads, the entire team, north!
The more people there were, the greater the hope of finding Li Qianfan.
Despite Liu Jianfei leading the eighth squad and twelve Dark Blades assisting, once on the road, Du Junlin took the lead, speeding north and leaving them half a day's journey behind.
"Qianfan, where on earth are you?"
Du Junlin raised her hand, wiped her seemingly non-existent cheeks, and couldn't help but roar hoarsely into the desolate snowfield.
Boom boom—
The snowmobile's speed suddenly decreased rapidly.
Fuel depleted.
She needed to refuel and also take a break to eat something and replenish her energy.
Hoo.
Du Junlin let out a long breath. As she prepared to dismount, she habitually reached for the binoculars hanging around her neck and stood up to scan the area ahead.
Huh?
Am I seeing things?
Or did I really see someone?
Du Junlin, holding her hands high and slowly sweeping the binoculars, suddenly paused.
She quickly lowered the binoculars, rubbed her eyes, and looked again.
A person.
On the snow a few hundred meters ahead, there was indeed someone.
Qianfan!
That's Qianfan!
It must be Qianfan—
Du Junlin's vision went dark, and her body stumbled, causing her to fall from the motorcycle.
This was due to the indescribable joy overwhelming her nerves, causing a brief moment of dizziness.
In reality.
From such a distance, she couldn't see the person's face clearly.
But her mind was filled with Li Qianfan's image. Anyone who looked vaguely human would be mistaken for him!
Her Qianfan!
"Qianfan—"
Du Junlin cried out, scrambled to her feet in a hurry, and without regard for anything else, tumbled and scrambled towards the person she saw.
"Am I dreaming?"
Li Qianfan stared blankly, watching Du Junlin, who was shouting his name and scrambling towards him, and wondered if he was dreaming.
Otherwise, it had to be a hallucination born from the extreme grief he felt as Murong Mingyuan's life was about to extinguish.
It wasn't a hallucination.
And it certainly wasn't a dream!
Because neither a hallucination nor a dream could provide him with such a sense of reality when Du Junlin, in her joy, embraced him and passionately kissed him.
"Qianfan, what's wrong with you?"
Du Junlin knelt on the ground, cupped Li Qianfan's cheeks in her hands, and shook him violently. "Speak! Speak quickly! Don't you recognize me? I'm Yao Yao, I'm Yao Yao!"
Li Qianfan, his mind a complete blank, finally blinked and gave a childlike smile. "You're Yao Yao?"
"Yes, I'm Yao Yao!"
Du Junlin nodded vigorously.
Seeing Li Qianfan's dazed expression, she impatiently flung off her gloves, raised her hand, and slapped his face hard.
Slap.
It hurt!
Li Qianfan sobered up.
Seeing Du Yao Yao raising her hand again to slap him, he roared, "You dare hit me?"
She dared!!
Du Junlin answered his question with a second slap.
Without hitting him, it was difficult to express Yao Yao's overwhelming joy at finally finding him.
"Alright, I admit you dare to hit me."
Li Qianfan had no fight left in him and asked urgently, "Yao Yao! Do you have any fever reducers? Quick! Murong is fading!"
Did Du Junlin bring fever reducers?
Of course, she did!
In such harsh conditions, it was better to bring more medicine and less food and drink.
She even brought IV fluid (boiling snow into hot water and sterilizing the IV fluid would make it usable).
The alcohol stove was lit.
The field pot was set up.
A simple tent was erected.
When she saw the fever-reducing medicine flowing drop by drop into Murong Mingyuan's veins, Li Qianfan, trembling all over, finally let out a long sigh of relief and lay flat on his back on the snow.
Then he opened his arms to Du Yao Yao. "Come, Yao Yao, let me have a hug."
Du Yao Yao, taking out a flare, paused for a moment.
Then, with a shy and bashful expression, she slowly nestled against him.
Li Qianfan immediately seized Yao Yao's mouth and bit down hard.
She let out a soft cry of pain, and then bit back.
Indeed, Du Yao Yao, who could make Su Nan Yin cry just after being born!
Her bite was strong.
Li Qianfan, whose lower lip was bitten open, quickly raised his hands in surrender.
Seeing his surrender, Yao Yao let out a soft hum, pursed her lips, got up, and fired the flare into the sky.
Whoosh—
Bang!!
Watching the dark green flare burst into brilliant light in the night sky, Li Qianfan got up and crawled into the tent.
He looked down at the sleeping Murong Mingyuan and reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.
He wanted to say something to Murong Mingyuan.
But the thousand words on his lips turned into a low sigh.
Dawn broke.
This was not the Arctic Circle.
It was Las Town.
Shen Chongchong, who had personally escorted Shen Congdao and the other two back to China, was on her way back to Blackwater Forest.
Buzz buzz buzz.
After a hasty breakfast, as she picked up her backpack to leave, her phone rang.
The caller ID showed an unfamiliar number.
Shen Yun immediately answered, "Hello, who is this?"
"Chongchong."
A man's voice came through. "Guess who I am?"
Boom!
Shen Yun felt an invisible hammer strike her head. She stumbled and plopped onto the edge of the bed, then choked out, "Brother!"
Yes.
That voice was her brother Li Qianfan's.
"Ha, good sister, it's me."
Li Qianfan laughed and said, "You're in Qingyun now, right? Wait for me at home, all clean and ready. I'll be back soon. Oh, I'm calling to tell you to tell Old Man Su and the others not to worry about me."
Shen Yun was dazed.
Her mind was filled with her brother telling her to get clean and ready.
Long after their call ended, Shen Chongchong remained frozen, holding her phone as if she had just spoken to Li Qianfan.
She finally came to her senses.
She wept tears of joy—
Brother was back!
He told Chongchong to get clean and ready.
But Chongchong was already very clean, very white, okay?
Did she still need to wash?
Li Qianfan, of course, was unaware of Shen Chongchong's current feelings.
He was even more unaware that she had already come to Las Town alone.
After simply reporting his safety to Chongchong, he couldn't help but dial Su Ziyu's number again. "Wife, have you missed me?"
After calling Su Ziyu, Chu Yazhi, and Shen Chongchong to report his safety, he spent another half hour on the phone with Sister Su Yu and Sister Hong Ti before suddenly remembering that he hadn't called his parents to report his safety.
Alas.
As expected, after getting married, he forgot his mother!
Sister Wujiang, who had already learned from Su Ziyu that her wayward son was safe, was furious upon receiving his call and cursed him seventy-two times as a wayward son!!
Sister Wujiang had truly embodied the truth that hitting is affection and scolding is love.
After enough affection and love had been expressed.
Sister Wujiang then asked, "You haven't called Su Nan Yin to report your safety yet, have you? Hurry up and tell her yourself. During the days you were captured, your Guanyin sister was constantly worried sick."
Li Qianfan immediately frowned, his tone indifferent. "Mom, what do you mean 'my Guanyin sister'? She's my elder! In the future, I'll have to call her Mom, or Auntie. Otherwise, people will laugh at me. Just tell her yourself, my phone battery is about to die. That's it, I'll come find you. Oh, don't spread the news of my return yet. Also, tell the San Tiao brothers to get ready. I'm taking them to visit the Moses family!"
Hmm?
This wayward son's tone doesn't seem quite normal.
Li Wujiang paused, but didn't think much of it and cursed him as a wayward son again.
Li Qianfan finally finished his call.
He lit a cigarette and looked north. Then he heard Yao Yao's voice calling from a distance behind him, "Qianfan! Murong is awake!"