TVMR Chapter 9

Just as he was thinking this, the frigid air suddenly changed.

Jiang Zhige’s face turned pale, he looked up at the sky and tremblingly said, “Is this… a blizzard?!”

Even in the Border City Yu, which was covered in snow year-round, blizzards were extremely rare, and he happened to encounter one?

Once a blizzard hit, the snow and wind would freeze a person into an ice sculpture. Staying outside meant certain death.

Jiang Zhige anxiously looked around but found that there was no one around and nowhere to take shelter.

He gritted his teeth and instead of retreating, he accelerated towards the front.

Relying solely on his feet, he couldn’t outrun the storm, so he could only pray that there would be a place to hide on the snow mountain not far ahead.

……

“It’s really like the saying ‘misfortunes never come singly,'” someone said.

“In such a dire situation, even the Demon Emperor should be at the end of his rope, right?” another said.

“There must be other changes, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to see these memories,” someone speculated.

Not only the strong in the hall, but even Qu Yun was curious. Faced with such a dire situation, how did Jiang Zhige manage to survive?

Assuming that Jiang Zhige managed to survive the blizzard, how would he be able to find the plum blossom tree ten miles east of the city in this weather?

If he had been waiting in one place for the environment to improve, he would probably have frozen or starved to death in less than three days.

……..

He hadn’t run far when he saw the snowstorm approaching. Suddenly, Jiang Zhige’s eyes lit up and he stopped in his tracks.

“Is that…a cave?”

Jiang Zhige’s face lit up with joy and he immediately rushed towards it with Nangong Rou on his back.

The cave seemed to have formed naturally, with a large internal space that could easily accommodate both of them.

However, this also meant that the cold wind outside would continuously blow into the cave.

“Big brother, is it going to snow outside?”

“Yeah, let’s hide here for a while.”

Jiang Zhige led Nangong Rou to a stone that could shield them from the cold wind, and quickly collected everything in the cave that could be lit.

After a while, looking at the meager amount of firewood he had gathered, Jiang Zhige sighed heavily.

Although it is said that there is always a way out for everyone, it’s clearly not an easy path to take.

The cave was extremely scarce in dry twigs and leaves, and he couldn’t possibly go to the forest to look for firewood in the blizzard.

If the blizzard lasted too long, the two of them would still freeze to death hiding in the cave.

Jiang Zhige shook his head. Since things had come to this point, they could only leave it to fate.

He took out the flint from his pocket and began to focus on making a fire.

The dry twigs and leaves in the cave were very damp, and it took some effort to make a fire.

Beside him, Nangong Rou rubbed her stomach. She looked at Jiang Zhige and opened her mouth to say something, but seeing his serious expression, she decided to hold her tongue.

The wind and snow outside the cave were howling, and the temperature inside was gradually dropping.

After half an hour, Jiang Zhige finally managed to light the fire, but the skin on his hands holding the flint had already blistered.

Gurgle~

Jiang Zhige had yet to feel the warmth of the fire when he suddenly heard a strange sound from beside him.

He turned his head and saw that Nangong Rou was holding her stomach, clearly starving.

“Rou’er, I…”

Jiang Zhige looked guilty. He had wanted to comfort Nangong Rou, but he realized that he had nothing to say at this point.

If only he had food to give to Nangong Rou, they wouldn’t have to wait until now.

Nangong Rou didn’t speak, her head was lowered as her delicate body trembled.

Jiang Zhige’s heart sank, and he quickly checked on Nangong Rou’s condition. It was then he noticed her tear-streaked face, biting her lips to keep from crying.

“Rou’er, are you hungry?”

“N-no, Rou’er isn’t hungry. Rou’er just misses home, so, so…”

Tears the size of soybeans continued to fall from Nangong Rou’s cheeks, not wanting Jiang Zhige to worry, but crying to the point of having trouble breathing.

Jiang Zhige’s eyes reddened, clenching his fists.

Seeing his sister cry from hunger, he had the sudden urge to break down.

At this moment, if Nangong Rou were to throw a tantrum like a spoiled brat, Jiang Zhige would actually feel a little better.

Despite his difficult life, he had never complained about his situation.

But now, Jiang Zhige hated himself for being a beggar, for not being able to do anything.

“Rou’er, I’ll go find us something to eat. You watch the fire.”

Jiang Zhige didn’t say much, standing up and walking towards the cave’s entrance.

“But brother, it’s snowing so heavily outside…”

Nangong Rou looked guilty, knowing her brother usually ate less than her but she couldn’t help but cry first.

If it weren’t for her, her brother wouldn’t risk going out in such heavy snow to find food.

“Don’t worry, Rou’er, this time brother is very confident.”

Jiang Zhige turned around and smiled, then strode out of the cave.

……..

“Confident? Confident my ass, in such heavy snow, he couldn’t even find firewood, let alone food.”

“What the hell is the Demon Emperor thinking? Is he suicidal?”

The people in the hall grumbled. A weak beggar trying to find food in a snowstorm, even if the person was the Demon Emperor Jiang Zhige, it would be impossible.

This was not something that could be accomplished through sheer willpower. It was simply impossible.

“Something’s not right, quick, look, the Demon Emperor stopped at the entrance and didn’t go far.”

At that moment, someone noticed that Jiang Zhige in the light and shadow had not gone far, but was sitting in the snow outside the cave.

A hint of derision flashed in Qu Yun’s eyes as he pretended to casually say, “It seems that the Demon Emperor doesn’t really want to take this risk, he’s just pretending to comfort Xiao Rou.”

So what if he’s the Demon Emperor? It’s just like how he’s trapped in Zhengyang Palace, he will eventually come to a dead end.

Nangong Rou neither refuted nor agreed. She frowned as she stared at the image in the light and shadow.

“There’s no way, the wind and snow outside the cave are howling. Even if the Demon Emperor really found food outside, he couldn’t bring it back alive.”

“Seeing his sister suffer, the Demon Emperor probably thinks that it’s better to pretend than to do nothing.”

“Wait a minute, what is the Demon Emperor trying to do? Could he be…”

………

In the light and shadow, Jiang Zhige sat outside the cave without going far.

After enduring the cold wind and snow for a while, he dug through the accumulated snow beside him and found a sharp rock.

Jiang Zhige held the rock and rolled up his left pants leg, constantly examining his own calf.

After a long while, he took a deep breath and suddenly stabbed the rock into his own calf.

The intense pain made Jiang Zhige’s face turn pale, but he gritted his teeth and didn’t make a sound to prevent Nangong Rou inside the cave from noticing.

Jiang Zhige clenched his teeth and slowly cut his own calf with the rough rock.

Although the rock was sharp, it was not very sharp. It took him nearly half an hour to successfully cut out a piece of thigh meat about the size of a palm.

Jiang Zhige was covered in cold sweat, panting heavily.

After taking a break for a while, he looked at the bloody piece of thigh meat.

“Rou’er, I’m sorry, your brother is too thin…”