Tomb raiding: Trying to become a little painter

"I can tell the difference!"

When Qin Henian asked again if it was possible to find a way in the snow-capped mountains, Zhang Qilin sighed inwardly, but still answered Qin Henian's question once more.

"How much longer do we have to walk? This is freezing cold, can't we just fly over?"

Qin Henian, his legs stiff from walking too fast, gazed at the distant, endless snow-capped peaks, each step leaving a deep crater in the snow...

He was "in poor health," suffering from a "disease" that caused him to convulse with the slightest movement; people called him "lazy." Truly... his life was so miserable!

"He Nian, be good. If you're tired, I'll carry you. We can't just hang in the sky and fly around. If people down the mountain or tourists take pictures of us in broad daylight, that would be terrible!"

"Let's eat something first to calm our nerves!"

Hei Xiazi, carrying a backpack, reached out and took out a food box sealed with plastic bags and foam. It was cold in the snow, and to appease his precious child who was getting restless as soon as they arrived on the mountain, he opened the food box, revealing a bunch of purple grapes inside, and handed it to Qin Henian.

Ugh...

The little bird sighed...

"Ugh, so annoying! Water, ice, and snow are just awful!"

Qin Henian frowned, thought about the current situation, and then accepted the grapes that Hei Xiazi offered, intending to eat some to distract himself.

"Haha... It's bound to be cold on a snow-capped mountain! I remember there's a hot spring up there. Anyway, we've been walking for so long today, let's find a place to rest..."

"You agree, don't you? You're mute!"

Hei Xiazi wanted to change the subject to calm Qin Henian's temper. Thinking of the road up the mountain, he raised an eyebrow and turned to the mute Zhang.

Zhang Qilin glanced at Hei Xiazi. His cold, expressionless face looked beautiful and handsome against the snowy backdrop... But what made Hei Xiazi feel that his tacit understanding with the mute Zhang was a bit too much was that he could tell that Zhang Qilin was using his handsome face to curse again.

"That was pretty filthy!" Black Bear silently glanced away, ignoring him. Anyway, if he took the shortcut to the Bronze Gate, he would inevitably have to go to the path over to the hot springs.

"Ok!"

Despite Zhang Qilin's filthy face, he still nodded quickly when he needed to.

"Let's hurry up and go. I haven't taken a bath in the past few days, and I smell terrible! By the way, is that hot spring pool deep? If it's too deep, we'll have to scoop water up to bathe, and I'm scared if it's too deep!"

After a few people around Qin Henian learned that he had an inexplicable aversion to water, he began to express his dislike for deep water in his daily life.

As far as Qin Henian was concerned, as long as the water was no deeper than his chest, it was fine.

depth…

Black Bear hadn't really thought of this. He'd only been here a few times, sometimes passing by without even stopping, and he'd almost forgotten how deep those springs were.

"deep!"

"But even if the water is deep, I, the blind man, will protect you!"

Hei Xiazi's mind suddenly started working very fast. He had originally thought that he could let Qin Henian soak in the spring, but then he realized that this was a good opportunity, and changed his mind without changing his expression.

"That's OK!"

.........................................

Suddenly, snowflakes began to fall from the sky. As time passed, the snowflakes gradually grew larger. In the vast white world, even though Zhang Qilin led the way and quickened his pace, he couldn't keep up with the tears falling from the heavens. The snowflakes gradually drifted down in clusters, swirling like goose feathers...

"Stop!"

When the snowflakes blocked his view of the road, Zhang Qilin stopped, turned around, and waved the snow off his head, wiping the snowflakes that had accumulated in his eyes.

"Blind man, Henian!"

Calling the names of the two people beside him, Zhang Qilin touched his chest, a surge of warmth coursing through him. His human form gradually faded, becoming transparent. At the same time, a small Qilin, with a sheep's head and wolf's hooves, covered in soft, bright red fur, stood on the snow. As the Qilin descended, the snow around its location began to melt rapidly...

"Fly over there!"

The Qilin spoke in human language, with a familiar tone and voice, and looked at the two people watching him from behind.

Wow~ Zhang the Mute is so handsome!

Hei Xiazi stared in astonishment at the sudden transformation into a living beast, his eyes behind his sunglasses wide with surprise. However, he guessed what the mute meant and turned to look at Qin Henian. The blind man had never seen Henian in his beast form before...hehe...

"He is indeed somewhat handsome, but I still think I'm the most handsome~"

Looking at the cute and handsome beast cub, Qin Henian couldn't help but admit that Zhang Qilin was truly handsome in both human and beast forms.

Blue-purple flames began to burn from the long robe Qin Henian was wearing. The deep purple vertical pupils in his phoenix eyes appeared in Qin Henian's eyes for the first time. His arms transformed into long, gradient blue-purple wings, which intersected with the heatless flames. The flames instantly burned out in the next second, and a Bifang bird with light blue flames on its head and purple-gold flames on its feet appeared above Hei Xiazi's head.

Because of the difference between the place and the world, Qin Henian shrunk his body a hundred times, transforming into a "small" bird that was only ninety-odd centimeters long and hovering around.

"Blind man, hurry up, the snow will get heavier soon!"

Qin Henian stared at Hei Xiazi, the only one who hadn't moved yet, and urged him on.

Hearing the urging, the black bear didn't hesitate and threw itself face down on the ground, whereupon a golden-black Pixiu with a dim light appeared on the snow.

Tsk... the Pixiu cub isn't shining anymore. Maybe he should use the gold from the little Qilin to make a golden body for that blind man... The more I think about it, the more sense it makes.

An hour later, in another cave illuminated only by a flashlight, steaming white mist filled the air. Beneath the mist, shimmering waves rippled and gurgled in layers of hot spring water. Scattered around the pools were a few pieces of modern clothing and a Qin-style robe...

"I said the hot spring is hot enough, can you two not stand so close together? Can't you find somewhere else to soak?"

In the pool, Qin Henian's eyes were lifeless. His fair skin and almost perfect figure were reflected underwater. There were two large figures standing next to him, one white and glowing, even whiter than himself, and the other dark and almost touching him. He couldn't rub his left leg or his right shoulder. No matter how he moved, he would touch the skin close to his waist. Under the white mist, Qin Henian's face turned as red as a monkey's bottom for the first time.

"It's better to be closer! The water is so deep, what if the rope in your hand breaks, Henian? If we're closer, we can help you!"

Hei Xiazi took off his sunglasses in the water, and his gray eyes, shrouded in mist, looked at everyone with a captivating gaze, like a soul-stealing hook.

"The water is deep and dangerous, hold on!"

On the other side, Zhang Qilin's eyes were fixed on the flushed little face on the water's surface. He held the little person's arm with one hand and played with the long hair that had been soaked in the water with the other.

Times have changed! Scheming men and cunning men are no good!

Qin Henian laughed in anger, his face burning and his mind going blank. In all these years, he had never seen anyone with such thick skin. If it were before, he would have already taken a knife and killed the filthy thing around him.

"You guys are good!!!"

With gritted teeth, Qin Henian squeezed out three words, holding the "anti-fall" rope he had tied to a rock earlier in the water with one hand, and covering his mouth and nose with the other. He quickly curled up and sank underwater, performing a rapid "dive" right in front of the two people next to him.