Snow's Embrace: Chapter 8

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Retranslation

I didn’t know if Zayne would still accompany me on the guqin next year, I just felt like… after returning from the village, he became a little strange.

Even though he still read bamboo slips and took care of the flower tree like he did in the past, he spoke to me less and less.

Of course, he has always been a man of few words, but lately while spending time with him, his attention often wanders off as he looks at me without speaking a single word, to the point where it seems he doesn’t hear anything I say.

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It snowed in the mountains again. Zayne sits at the desk, reading bamboo slips. I run to him excitedly, indicating he should look at the two snowmen in the middle of the courtyard.

Zayne: They’re well-built.

Zayne: On the left is Big Hua, and on the right is Little Bai?

MC: It’s you and me! Did I really build it so poorly?

Zayne: I’m only joking. You draped my outer robe on it; it would be difficult not to see the resemblance even if I tried.

MC: I worried they would be damaged by the freeze. I couldn’t bear the thought, so I borrowed your clothing. You don’t mind, do you?

Zayne: what could I possibly mind?

He places the bamboo slip back down on the desk, his hand briefly pausing.

Zayne: These last few days, have you subdued any more new companions?

MC: Since that last time when the spirit snake went mad, I haven’t thought about it again.

MC: However, lately I definitely have felt like my spiritual energy is clear and unobstructed; it’s like it’s grown quite a bit.

Zayne: …

Zayne: Then that is extremely good.

I’m instantly shocked.

Zayne: Then, if I were to let you leave this place, would you be willing?

MC: Then, where should I go?

Zayne: This requires you to search by yourself.

Zayne: With how vast the world is beneath Heaven, and with how many people there are below the mountain, as long as you can properly hide your power, you can go anywhere.

MC: …

MC: I don’t like you saying this… It’s like you’re chasing me away.

Zayne slowly exhales, his expression somewhat softening.

Zayne: You’ve previously said that you don’t want to always hide by yourself on the mountain.

MC: That was before meeting you—and Big Hua and Little Bai. It’s not that I don’t like being on the mountain, I just don’t like being alone.

In the past I thought, if I had someone who could accompany me while eating, hunting, and playing in the rain without getting worried about getting wet, how happy that would have been.

Now… Being able to nap beneath the Divine Tree, wake up and look at the flowers, then occasionally copy books, is also very satisfying.

As long as there is the Divine Mountain, and Zayne.

MC: Living alone on the mountain isn’t that big of a deal. After all, there are hardly any people on the mountain to begin with.

MC: But if I’m still alone amongst a crowd of people, then I would very quickly melt to death like a single snowflake beneath the sun.

Zayne: …that also won’t happen.

Zayne rolls up the scroll and lightly gathers together both hands. After a few strands of faint light flash between his fingertips, two little snowmen appear on the desk.

They’re exactly like the big snowmen I had built—just a lot smaller, and they aren’t wearing any clothes.

Zayne: Not every single snowflake will melt.

MC: But… I’m not like snow that you conjure. Your power can’t protect me.

A heavy weight settles on my bowed head, and his familiar qi passes through the ends of my hair.

Mistranslation Alert: This was originally translated as "familiar scent," but it's actually Zayne's qi energy. Notably, Zayne gives her some of his qi in response to "your power can't protect me."

Even though Zayne only patted my head, I can’t help but straighten out the downturned corners of my mouth.

Zayne: After this, I’ll set an even more difficult assignment.

MC: There’s coursework that’s more difficult than before?

Zayne: Once you finish this cultivation, regardless of what happens in the future, you’ll be able to protect yourself.

MC: Will I become just as powerful as you? Then I’ll need to cultivate for a really long time.

Zayne quietly gazes at the desk. The snowmen watch him , while I stare at his motionless lashes.

It seems like a long time passes before I hear him quietly speak.

Zayne: It will snow for a long while yet. There’s no rush.

Beneath the Divine Tree, there is no longer a desk or any bamboo slips. Instead, in their place is—

MC: That even more difficult assignment, this is it?

Zayne: Mm.

Staring at the bamboo strips piled up before me, I open then close my mouth, and dazedly begin counting them.

MC: …there’s several hundred of these!

As soon as I finish counting, Zayne points.

Zayne: There’s more behind the tree trunk.

I hastily rush behind the tree to look and discover there’s another pile that’s exactly the same as the first!

Zayne: You’re not counting anymore?

MC: I can’t count anymore, it’s made my head dizzy and my brain swell… These all need to be made into umbrellas? All of them?

Zayne: That’s right.

MC: I have to make dozens of umbrellas?

Zayne: Over a hundred.

I close my eyes and lie down on the ground. I really don’t want to face him anymore.

The sound of footsteps slowly draws near and stops beside me. I firmly make up my mind not to be persuaded and simply raise my hands to cover my ears.

Zayne: If closing your eyes and covering your ears could solve your troubles, then I wouldn’t mind if you forge ahead with this move.

MC: Mm?

I clearly shouldn’t have been able to hear him well, but instead, Zayne’s voice grows even more clear as it directly echoes inside my mind.

MC: That’s marvelous… How about this! If I finish making one hundred umbrellas, then you’ll teach me that move, okay?

Zayne: What’s the point of learning this?

MC: I’ll make unreasonable people listen to reason like I’m chanting a sutra. This way, they’ll know what I’m saying is right.

Zayne: …

The sound of his laughter also resounds inside my mind. Its vibration inside my ears makes them faintly itch.

I rub a bit at my ear.

Zayne: What’s wrong?

A slightly cool fingertip gently descends behind my ear and carefully maneuvers spiritual energy to massage the .

That spiritual energy is just like him, crisp and piercingly cold, it can quickly wake someone up. But the energy is reversed, and his touch makes me grow drowsy and sleepy.

I surreptitiously open my eyes a crack, and just happen to catch Zayne’s smiling face.

Even though there is a deep heaviness in his eyes, at this moment he seems calm and content, so I also relax.

Zayne: Are you pretending to sleep, or are you playing along and really going to sleep?

MC: You’ve already found me out, how can I sleep now…

Zayne seems exceptionally easy to talk to today—he doesn’t even rush me to get up immediately and get started. My eyes dart about as I prepare to take a mile after being given an inch.

MC: In the past, every time there was a new assignment, you never told me what it was I was cultivating and wanted me to come to an understanding on my own. Same with the umbrellas too?

Zayne: You want to know?

MC: Of course. Actually, every time we finished a lesson in the past, I could only ever guess part of it. The part I couldn’t figure out, I was always too embarrassed to ask you about.

MC: Being able to completely understand something is definitely better than being left with regrets.

Zayne’s gaze slowly brushes over the pile of bamboo sticks and finally lands on the Divine Tree behind me.

Zayne: Then, this time I’ll first tell you the part you won’t be able to guess.

Zayne: These umbrellas, besides having the power to protect, also have the power to seal.

Zayne: The Divine Tree will grant them enough power to remain effective through the many long years, until the power fades and the seal weakens.

MC: Using this many umbrellas to create a seal, it isn’t a rain or snow monster, right…

Zayne lets out a gentle laugh and ends this topic of discussion.

Zayne: After you complete this cultivation, how about we take a long vacation?

MC: Vacation?

I spring up like a carp flipping through water, only for Zayne to calmly steady me.

MC: Alright, when that time comes, you’ll take me to go sightseeing nearby. Last time I heard them say that the neighboring village is filled with very, very fragrant flowers…

MC: After passing a mountain and two riverbends, there’s a that specializes in making …

After one trip down the mountain, my harvest certainly isn’t small—I even noted other people’s idle small talk, just waiting for the day to show off to Zayne.

I chatter on and on about all the “hearsay” on all sorts of interesting things, my heart brimming full of anticipation.

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