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Novel: [Night Without Borders]
Chapter 65: [The Parents' Decision]
Author: [Chen Dong]
Translator: [Shadow Knight AK]
Editor: [Shadow Knight AK]
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In this frigid winter night, even the experienced traveling merchant Xu Sheng broke into a cold sweat.
His deep understanding of the desert only deepened his awe and fear.
He knew something major was about to happen.
Panic gripped the people, filled with the fear of the unknown; they had understood the truth, perhaps they wouldn't be so afraid.
Most importantly, the dark environment amplified their anxiety. Even holding a hand up to their eyes, they could see nothing.
Many were now blind in broad daylight, their lives and futures beyond their control, left to the whims of fate.
Qin Ming fared slightly better, able to vaguely discern nearby shapes.
He remained calm, gripping his Jade Iron Sword, ready to strike at any moment.
Suddenly, a woman's sobs pierced the silence from behind, sending a jolt through the crowd.
"I'm sorry..." she wept.
"Then let go of me," the man rasped weakly. "I'm bleeding heavily from my neck. My head is almost severed."
...
Not far from the Traveling Merchant's caravan, Cui Hong, drenched in sweat, had lured the Old Elephant away and quietly returned.
Having negotiated with the Old Elephant and confirmed that Cui Chongyi was no longer in mortal danger, he hurried to catch up with Cui Chonghe, who was now very close by.
Cui Hong was familiar with the Desert's dangers, but at his level of cultivation, traversing its fringes posed no challenge—as long as he avoided reckless actions.
He followed the mountain wall, only to find himself circling in place several times.
He quickly recited the Heart-Clearing Mantra and activated a powerful secret technique, finally breaking free from the illusion.
But as Cui Hong glanced back, his scalp tightened.
Something was following him.
In the dense, boundless night mist behind him, a pair of colossal eyes glowed with cold, merciless light that pierced through the darkness.
Each eyeball was as large as a house, and they were drawing closer!
The creature's form remained obscured, but its sheer size was undeniable.
Cui Hong felt a chill run down his spine.
Even someone as formidable as him had failed to detect its approach until he happened to look back.
Ahead of the creature floated a crimson lantern, relatively small—about the size of those hung before wealthy households—yet it cleaved through the night mist, as if carried by someone guiding the behemoth.
Cui Hong dared not linger, quickening his pace.
He had never encountered such a situation before, and if this creature had emerged from the desert, he had no idea what to expect.
The night fog grew increasingly dense, nearly stripping Cui Hong of his senses.
Even his keen spiritual sense was becoming clouded, and he nearly stumbled off the rugged mountain path into the desert below.
He felt something was wrong.
The ground beneath his feet was damp and sticky, the sand marked with wet patches that still steamed faintly.
He had stepped right into one.
Cui Hong leaped back onto the mountain path, his expression grim.
A strong, pungent odor of urine rose from his foot.
Who had done this?
By now, the desert had become even more bizarre.
The thick fog surged and billowed like turbulent ocean waves.
When Cui Hong glanced back, he realized the massive eyes were much closer than before!
Under the crimson glow of the blood lantern, he could now vaguely discern the outline of a colossal, white-furred creature.
"It's far faster than me, extremely dangerous... and it's catching up!" Cui Hong realized with growing alarm.
However, as the desert's strange phenomena intensified, the white-furred creature narrowed its eyes, then abruptly turned and fled.
The blood-colored lantern retreated with it, its crimson glow fading rapidly into the distance.
...
"Damn it, the Desert seems offended," Xu Sheng muttered, his voice tinged with shock and uncertainty.
Such a phenomenon was rare; who would dare to act recklessly in this place?
In the boundless Desert, thick fog surged like ocean waves, crashing against the cliffs on one side.
It was precisely this phenomenon that allowed Xu Sheng to reorient himself.
"What do we do?"
"Don't panic! This has nothing to do with us!" Xu Sheng reassured the group.
Even the woman's sobs had ceased.
Ahead, the torch-bearing group's lights dimmed, on the verge of vanishing completely.
Suddenly, someone trembled, "Brother Xu, something's touching my ankle! It's covered in stiff bristles that are piercing my clothes!"
He wasn't alone; several others felt the same sensation.
Qin Ming glimpsed a small creature and instinctively raised his Jade Iron Sword.
"Everyone, don't move!" Xu Sheng commanded.
Then he fell silent, because it was his turn.
A creature rubbed against him several times, mistaking him for a tree stump.
"We're climbing the mountain!" he said.
He knew they couldn't escape the Desert's outer regions before the shallow night ended.
The group scrambled up the gentler slopes, reaching the lowest nearby cliff, which still stood nearly a thousand meters high.
Xu Sheng said, "We'll rest here tonight and resume our journey tomorrow after the fog clears."
"Let's travel through the mountains instead," someone suggested, clearly terrified by the desert.
Xu Sheng shook his head. "The mountains ahead are thousands of meters high, and each territory is guarded by dangerous mutated creatures. We Traveling Merchants never attempt to cross these mountains."
To everyone's surprise, the man who had been weakly crying out about his neck being broken hadn't died; he had merely lost a lot of blood.
After climbing the cliff, he avoided the gray-robed woman as if he had seen a ghost.
"I'm sorry," she stammered, backing away. "It's my first long journey, and I was so nervous that I accidentally scratched you."
"It's... Okay!" the man replied, retreating further.
The young man, his face pale, quietly glanced down at the few long black hairs in his hand.
As the cold wind howled, he caught a glimpse of fur beneath the woman's gray robe.
The night was no longer as dark here, and the young man couldn't be sure if he had seen correctly, but he dared not look again.
"It's good as long as everyone's safe," Xu Sheng said with a sigh of relief.
As a Traveling Merchant who often led expeditions, he knew that encountering mutated creatures in the group was not uncommon.
Earlier, while resupplying in the small town, Xu Sheng had warned them that they might have to camp in the wilderness for two or three nights.
Although everyone suspected the Traveling Merchant was deliberately trying to "boost his profits," they had no choice but to purchase tents at exorbitant prices in the town.
Late that night, Qin Ming was jolted awake by a loud snore.
He swiftly drew his Jade Iron Sword, ready for battle.
This was utterly absurd!
How had another person gotten into his tent?
And why was someone snoring?
In an instant, Qin Ming traced the sound to its source.
It was a pig!
Qin Ming had already lit a fire starter and could clearly see the creature.
It was a small pig, barely longer than the palm of his hand.
Now awake, the pig stared back at Qin Ming, their eyes locked in mutual surprise.
Despite its small size, this wild boar was far from normal.
A pair of snow-white tusks had already grown beyond its mouth—an unnatural development for a piglet.
The palm-sized boar grinned, baring its tusks, nearly causing Qin Ming to strike with his sword.
But he restrained himself, realizing this was too bizarre.
In truth, he felt that nothing he had experienced near the Desert today had been normal.
He stared intently, noticing black scales on the pig's face that looked strangely familiar.
Then he remembered the time, shortly after recovering from a severe illness, when he had hunted Knife-Horned Deer and Donkey-Headed Wolves in the mountains.
He had encountered a wild boar far larger than its kin, weighing over 1,500 pounds, charging wildly like a mad beast and even chasing him for a stretch.
That day, when the Moon Insect appeared, the giant boar had trembled, retreated silently, and buried itself in the snow.
That massive boar had also possessed black scales on its face, remarkably similar to the ones on this piglet.
However, while the giant boar was a mutated creature, it remained fiercely animalistic, showing no signs of "enlightenment" or spiritual awareness.
This piglet, though nearly identical in appearance to the giant boar, lacked the crazed, bestial glint in its eyes.
Instead, its gaze was remarkably deep and profound.
Despite its small size, Qin Ming couldn't shake the feeling that it resembled an ancient mountain boar.
Refraining from any rash moves, Qin Ming studied the piglet for a moment before sheathing his Jade Iron Sword and retreating to the edge of the tent.
Soon, the tent was filled with thunderous snores.
The next day, the fog had indeed thinned.
Xu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief as he took roll call, relieved that no one had been lost—neither human nor mutated creatures.
Qin Ming noticed that some people were glaring at him with resentment, even anger.
A middle-aged man looked at him and said, "Young man, you look so refined, but how could you snore so loudly? I thought it was thunder in the middle of the night and came out to check, only to find it was you snoring in your tent!"
Qin Ming opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He felt utterly wronged.
"Should I tell them it was a wild boar snoring?"
"Yes, Young Man, you really something else! I thought it was thunder in winter too!" an elderly man chimed in.
Wu Zheng, dark circles under his eyes and a gloomy expression, had originally wanted to stay close to someone familiar for support.
Little did he know Qin Ming's "sleeping aura" would be so overwhelming!
"Don't waste time," Xu Sheng urged. "Boil some water, eat some dry rations, and let's get moving immediately."
Less than two hours after setting out again, the group's faces paled.
Through the night fog, they saw a figure rapidly approaching them.
"It's nothing, it's a human," Wu Zheng whispered.
The others remained silent.
Encountering humans was no different from encountering monsters in this wilderness; their group even included mutated creatures.
Xu Sheng's expression quickly changed as he recognized the man—the formidable warrior who had battled the Old Elephant yesterday.
His arms extended past his knees, his features were sharply defined, and his eyes crackled with lightning intensity.
Qin Ming knew the long-armed man had come for him, so he stepped forward.
"You may leave," Cui Hong waved to the caravan.
Xu Sheng hesitated briefly, then sighed.
Regardless of the man's intentions, he couldn't interfere; the power disparity was too great.
He had to prioritize the safety of his people.
"Take care, young man!" Xu Sheng called as he led the caravan away.
Wu Zheng glanced back repeatedly before finally turning to follow the group.
"Young Master!" Cui Hong greeted Qin Ming with a formal bow.
Qin Ming dodged the gesture. "I don't deserve such respect. You saved me two years ago; I should be bowing to you."
"It was my duty," Cui Hong replied.
The desert was shrouded in darkness, utterly silent.
Qin Ming's emotions churned.
He had countless questions, but the complex expression he had glimpsed on Cui Hong's face yesterday made him realize this reunion might be far different from his earlier assumptions.
"Young Master, have you been Awakened?" Cui Hong asked, his gaze sharp and piercing.
"Just call me by my name," Qin Ming replied. "The title 'Young Master' feels very strange to me."
"Then... alright. Chonghe, have you been reborn?"
Qin Ming wanted to correct the name, but after a moment's thought, he decided to accept the identity for now, since everyone he knew referred to him as Cui Chonghe.
"Yes!" Qin Ming answered.
He felt that no matter what he said, the other man would be able to discern the truth.
Since the Cui Clan had sent someone, they must have already investigated thoroughly in Yinteng (Silver Vine) Town and Twin Tree Village.
"Alas!" Cui Hong sighed upon hearing the confirmation, his expression becoming conflicted, troubled, and even slightly pained.
His face once again grew complex.
"Is something wrong?" Qin Ming asked, his guard rising.
"Young Master—well, Chonghe—you wish to leave this remote region and travel to distant cities, is that correct?" Cui Hong asked.
Qin Ming remained silent.
They were already on the road; did he really need to answer?
"Chonghe, I'm sorry, but I cannot disobey orders. You cannot leave this region. You must live as an ordinary person—wealthy and safe. Someone will arrange everything for you," Cui Hong said, his voice filled with apology.
"What do you mean? Are you trying to cripple me?" Qin Ming retreated into the desert, his worst fears confirmed.
The long-armed man's arrival brought no joy of reunion, but instead crashed like a tidal wave into his fragmented memories.
Qin Ming stumbled, a searing headache erupting in his skull.
"Who ordered you to do this?!" he shouted.
Cui Hong hesitated before finally revealing, "Your father."
"What about my mother?!" Qin Ming demanded, backing away further.
"Before coming here, your mother gave the same instructions," Cui Hong replied.
Qin Ming felt his head about to explode.
His body swayed violently in the desert.
No wonder his life felt pieced together, somehow false—some fundamental belief within him had once shattered.
"How could parents do this?"
He had once wandered through icy wilderness, his clothes tattered, his body covered in blood and frostbite, fighting for survival.
After being taken to Twin Tree Village, he had witnessed Lu Ze and his wife sacrificing their own warmth and food to ensure Wen Rui and Wen Hui never went cold or hungry.
He had believed all parents should act this way, because that's what he, with his own nature, would have done.
"Why?!" Qin Ming endured the agonizing pain in his head, straining to remember the events that had been erased.
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END OF CHAPTER
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