PCJ – Chapter 317 Water of the Nine Heavens Xuan Nu

Zhang Youlian and his wife arrived at the old house but didn’t dare to ask Zhang Manyin about anything. They searched the house but couldn’t find anyone, and their expressions turned somewhat displeased.

“Youlian, you and your wife came into my house to look around. Are you suspecting that I stole something from your family?” Zhang Manyin was displeased.

“Dad, what are you saying? What’s the difference between my things and yours? If you need something, just take it; I’d be happy to lend it to you.” Hu Xiaoqing was quite eloquent.

“Hu Xiaoqing, you have a silver tongue. I haven’t had chicken for a long time; go catch your family’s old hen and kill it for me. I want to have a nice meal.” Zhang Manyin was clearly joking. He knew the couple had come for a reason.

“Dad, if you want to eat, go catch it yourself; I have no objection at all.” Hu Xiaoqing was so anxious she was almost in tears. Though she kept quiet, her face clearly conveyed, “I have something to say.”

“Youlian! You brat, come over here!” Zhang Manyin slammed the table.

Zhang Youlian felt anxious but still approached, “Dad, what’s going on? Let’s talk after I come back. There’s really something important right now. Xiaoqing, let’s hurry up and go.”

Zhang Youlian pulled Hu Xiaoqing and walked outside.

“Old man, what are you getting angry about? Can’t you just talk things through?” Ma Donghua complained.

“You foolish woman, what do you know? These two clearly have something to hide and aren’t telling us.” Zhang Manyin’s beard was bristling with anger.

Ma Donghua thought for a moment about the couple’s demeanor when they entered and nodded, “Something is indeed off. They searched around as soon as they came in and didn’t tell us anything. What are they looking for? It doesn’t seem like they were arguing.”

“Yuanbao! Is something wrong with Yuanbao? They must be afraid we’ll worry, so they won’t tell us. They were looking behind the door, weren’t they?” Zhang Manyin slapped his thigh hard.

“Grandpa, Grandma, it’s bad! My brother is missing!” Zhang Runtian rushed over, shouting loudly. At this point, everyone in Meizitang knew.

“I said something was wrong! I told you there was something wrong! Youlian, that foolish guy, thought he could hide this! Quickly, go call the villagers for help to look for him. In this freezing weather, something bad could happen!” Zhang Manyin hurriedly put on his cotton coat and found a pair of rubber shoes, quickly heading outside.

Without Zhang Manyin needing to call, the villagers ran out of their houses.

“Uncle Manyin, Runtian just shouted that Yuanbao is missing. Is that true?” Zhang Qigao asked with concern.

“I’m not sure of the situation right now, but Youlian just came to my house without saying anything and looked around everywhere. It must be that Yuanbao is missing. Runtian, what exactly happened? What happened to your brother? Didn’t he go to school? How could he go missing?” Zhang Manyin tightly grasped Zhang Runtian’s shoulders, asking loudly.

“Brother tore his books and made a mess. Today, Teacher Shunlin didn’t let him into the classroom and sent him home. Jiaohua went to the horticultural field but couldn’t find my brother. Now the teachers and students at school are looking for him in the mountains. The teacher asked me to come home and check if my brother had come back,” Zhang Runtian said.

“I knew something had happened to Yuanbao! I told you there was a problem!” Zhang Manyin stomped his feet anxiously.

Zhang Jiaohua had already sent dozens of mountain dogs and over a hundred black cats into the mountains to search for Zhang Yuanbao’s tracks. However, the wind and snow in the mountains were fierce, and a thick layer of snow quickly covered the ground, completely obscuring Zhang Yuanbao’s traces. Additionally, in this cold weather, the mountain dogs’ sense of smell was significantly reduced, and the black cats’ tracking ability was no match for the mountain dogs.

Zhang Yuanbao certainly wouldn’t just sit still; in a few hours, he could have wandered far away. Now, to search for him, they needed to cover a wide area.

More than forty mountain dogs were released to search for Zhang Yuanbao’s scent in the nearby mountains.

The biggest problem wasn’t whether the mountain dogs could find Zhang Yuanbao’s trace, but the time. Zhang Jiaohua had set out with the mountain dogs after one o’clock. Zhang Yuanbao had been in the mountains for more than five hours. If he kept moving, he could have traveled dozens of miles. If they searched aimlessly, they wouldn’t be able to find him. Furthermore, Zhang Jiaohua was most worried about whether Zhang Yuanbao had run into any trouble.

“Woof! Woof!”

Indeed, the mountain leopard quickly found Zhang Yuanbao’s trail in the mountains. Zhang Jiaohua hurried over. Under a cluster of low trees, he discovered a clear set of footprints. Because of the tree cover, the ground was only covered with a thin layer of snow, and the footprints had not yet been obscured. Zhang Jiaohua stepped into the footprints and found they were about the same size as Zhang Yuanbao’s shoes.

“Quick, follow him!” Zhang Jiaohua said.

The mountain leopard led Zhang Jiaohua through the mountains. It was evident that Zhang Yuanbao had been moving around in these mountains, but after a few circles, the tracks began to head further away.

Zhang Jiaohua grew more anxious, “Hurry, follow him!”

All the mountain dogs scattered, and Zhang Jiaohua also cast the dog transformation spell. The mountain leopard dashed forward, and Zhang Jiaohua quickly followed.

“Yuanbao! Yuanbao! Come out! Mom and Dad won’t beat you or scold you; just come out!” Hu Xiaoqing shouted as she stumbled through the snow.

“Yuanbao, don’t hide! Hurry out! Mom and Dad won’t blame you!” Zhang Youlian shouted loudly. The echoes of their voices bounced around Meishan.

Zhang Shunlin regretted it deeply and was anxiously leading all the students in his class to search carefully in the mountains behind the school.

“Shunlin, why are you so reckless? If you didn’t let him into the classroom, you should have informed the parents!” Ma Lishong was furious. If something happened, how would this end?

“How was I supposed to know he would run into the mountains?” Zhang Shunlin couldn’t hold back his tears. It had taken him a long time to secure his position. If something happened, he might lose his public office. Now he couldn’t figure out why he had been so reckless today.

The mountain leopard was moving too quickly for Zhang Jiaohua to keep up. He thought of a plan. He used magic to chop down a fir tree the thickness of his arm at the roadside, made two rough sleds, wrapped the sleds with tree bark, and then used two branches to slide over the snow. Actually, he wasn’t sliding by himself; he was being carried directly by Jinhu and the others. The speed increased rapidly, even faster than a car. In no time, he had caught up with the mountain leopard.

At first, the mountain leopard was walking and stopping so that Zhang Jiaohua could keep up, but when it saw Zhang Jiaohua catching up with such speed, it hurriedly increased its pace, and the snow didn’t seem to affect its speed at all.

The other mountain dogs quickly followed suit, barking loudly, startling the wild animals in the mountains, which hurriedly fled from the forest.

However, the mountain dogs, usually keen on chasing wild animals, ignored these creatures today.

Zhang Jiaohua sped up, and the mountain leopard’s tracking speed naturally increased several times. After about an hour, they finally found Zhang Yuanbao’s tracks under a big tree.

At this moment, Yuanbao was almost fainting, covered in snowflakes, his eyebrows and hair turned white, and thick ice and snow wrapped around his clothes. He looked just like a white statue.

“Yuanbao! Yuanbao! Wake up! Don’t sleep!” Zhang Jiaohua shook Zhang Yuanbao.

Zhang Yuanbao opened his eyes, “Jiaohua, you finally came.”

As soon as he finished speaking, his head tilted, and he fainted. He didn’t know how long he had held on, but at that moment, he finally couldn’t take it anymore.

“Yuanbao, don’t sleep, you can’t sleep! Wake up!” Zhang Jiaohua pinched his acupoint and slapped his face, but couldn’t wake Zhang Yuanbao.

He quickly shaped a snowball and chanted a spell: “I summon the Eastern Qing Emperor Dragon God, send the pain immortal master into my water, descend my divine water, … I obey the decree of the Supreme Laozi, urgent as the law commands! Command!”

The snowball instantly turned into water in Zhang Jiaohua’s hand, flowing down his finger into Zhang Yuanbao’s mouth. This water was the Nine Heavens Xuan Nu Water, which had miraculous effects in saving people. Zhang Jiaohua didn’t know what else to do at this moment, so he could only use the Nine Heavens Xuan Nu Water.

Fortunately, the effect was indeed good. After Zhang Yuanbao drank the water, he gradually began to awaken.

“Jiaohua?” Zhang Yuanbao looked confused.

“Yuanbao, you’re awake! Can you stand?” Zhang Jiaohua helped him up. The snow around him was very thick, almost up to Zhang Yuanbao’s waist, but he was still so weak he couldn’t stand up.

“Can’t, I can’t.” Zhang Yuanbao was shaking and turned pale.

“Then sit on my back; I’ll carry you back!” Zhang Jiaohua shouted.

But Zhang Yuanbao still didn’t have the strength to sit on his back. Zhang Jiaohua was anxious and quickly used magic to carry Zhang Yuanbao up, even faster than the mountain leopard.

“Wait for me, I’ll bring you back to the village!” Zhang Jiaohua shouted loudly, turning around and rushing back.

At this moment, everyone in Meishan was still anxiously searching for Zhang Yuanbao, hoping for good news. They didn’t expect Zhang Yuanbao to have traveled to the deepest part of the mountain, and at the same time, they didn’t expect Zhang Jiaohua to be so fast.

After running for less than an hour, Zhang Jiaohua and Zhang Yuanbao had almost arrived at Meishan. In this snowy weather, it was only the two of them who could rush back through the snow.

“Yuanbao, are you okay?” Zhang Jiaohua asked loudly.

“I’m fine, Jiaohua, but I’m really cold.” Zhang Yuanbao’s voice was weak, sounding as if it would disappear.

“Hold on! We’ll be there soon! There’s nothing to fear!” Zhang Jiaohua cheered him on, hoping to support him mentally.

“Yuanbao, you’re fine! No problem! Don’t scare me!” Zhang Youlian and Hu Xiaoqing cried out in the distance when they saw Zhang Jiaohua coming back with Zhang Yuanbao on his back.

“Yuanbao!” Hu Xiaoqing dashed forward, quickly rushing over to catch Zhang Yuanbao, and hugged him tightly. She was so anxious she didn’t care about anything else.

“Don’t be afraid! Mom is here!” Hu Xiaoqing said loudly.

But Zhang Yuanbao’s head drooped down, and his entire body was limp. He had completely fainted from exhaustion.

“Yuanbao! What’s wrong?” Hu Xiaoqing was frightened, and her heart almost stopped. She hurriedly carried Zhang Yuanbao in her arms.

“Quickly! Call the doctor! Hurry!” Zhang Jiaohua shouted.

Everyone rushed forward, and Zhang Runtian hurriedly called for a doctor from the village, who ran over carrying his medical bag.

The doctor quickly checked Zhang Yuanbao’s condition, “He’s just fainted from the cold. Use hot water to warm him up, and give him some hot soup to drink. He’ll wake up soon.”

Hu Xiaoqing hurriedly ran to fetch hot water, and the doctor used his medical equipment to warm Zhang Yuanbao up. The warmth soon filled his body.

In no time, Zhang Yuanbao slowly opened his eyes. Although he was weak, he was finally awake.

“Yuanbao, you’re awake! You scared your mother!” Hu Xiaoqing hurriedly hugged him tightly.

“I’m fine, Mom.” Zhang Yuanbao’s voice was still weak. The others around him were full of worry, but when they saw him awake, they all relaxed.

“Why did you run into the mountains? What were you thinking?” Hu Xiaoqing scolded softly.

Zhang Yuanbao lowered his head, “I didn’t mean to.”

“Let’s go home! We won’t go back to school!” Hu Xiaoqing hurriedly said.

“I want to go back. I want to study!” Zhang Yuanbao firmly said.

“Are you sure you’re fine? You almost scared us to death! You can’t go!” Hu Xiaoqing was anxious.

“Mom, I want to go back! I won’t run away again!” Zhang Yuanbao insisted.

“Okay, okay, let’s go back. You have to study hard. Next time, don’t go running around by yourself!” Hu Xiaoqing said, looking relieved.

“Yuanbao, you have to remember, no matter how bad it is, you can’t just leave! You have to tell us first!” Zhang Youlian also said, relieved.

“I know, Dad!” Zhang Yuanbao nodded.

Zhang Manyin hurriedly came over and hugged Zhang Yuanbao, “My good grandson, don’t be scared! Grandpa will never let you go out alone again!”

The villagers all laughed and relaxed. Finally, the incident was over, and everyone was relieved.