Chapter 583: Promise

Chapter 583 Promise

A snowstorm was raging.

Chen Xiaolian wrapped his arms around Lin Leyan. At the same time, he quickly took of his overcoat and placed it around her.

When the overcoat, which still had the temperature of a normal human’s body, wrapped over her body, Lin Leyan’s body responded with a shudder. This… … there was something faintly familiar about being hugged by this person, about this atmosphere of warmth.

Mm, it was not just the atmosphere.

Being hugged by him in such a protective manner was seemingly… … something familiar.

Lin Leyan’s heart grew increasingly confused.

As for Chen Xiaolian, his face grew increasingly ugly to behold.

He hastily sent a message to Soo Soo using the guild channel.

Fortunately, he was able to, after a few seconds, receive a reply from Soo Soo.

“Xiaolian oppa, I am fine. Everything is fine. There is no need for you to worry. I am with brother Da Gang; Nicole is here too. I do not know what happened to the others though.”

The look on Chen Xiaolian’s face eased up a little.

“Where are you?”

“… I do not know. All I know is we are in a forest. As for its exact location, there is no way to find out. Xiaolian oppa, you need to take care of yourself. Be careful! Brother Da Gang wants me to tell you that someone may have changed this part of the instance dungeon, leaving us all scattered about. We need to maintain contact so that we can exchange information at any given moment. Also… … try to figure a way to make contact with Sawakita Mitsuo and sister Phoenix.”

Forest?

Chen Xiaolian furrowed his brows and pondered the situation. He thought of a possibility. Perhaps it was true that some change had occurred to this instance dungeon, leading to them being scattered all over.

It had split the members of the team apart.

However, since Soo Soo was with Tian Lie and Nicole, he believed that there was temporarily no need for him to worry about her safety – Tian Lie’s strength was unfathomable while Nicole was a powerful warrior within the ranks of the Angel Corps. They lacked neither wisdom nor strength. There was no need for him to be worried.

Chen Xiaolian saw that Lin Leyan was nearly freezing from the cold. The couple, Tom Huggins and Jenny, were in the same situation as him. Tom Huggins was hugging his wife tightly. He had already taken off the overcoat on him to put it around his wife.

Chen Xiaolian shouted across the intense winds, “Let us find a place to take shelter first!”

“Good!” Tom Huggins propped his wife up and looked around. Then, he pointed somewhere to the northeast. “There!”

…

The snow was such that their knees had disappeared from view. For ordinary humans, walking a short distance in such an environment would quickly sap them off all their stamina. However, for Chen Xiaolian and Tom Huggins, such a feat was relatively easier to accomplish.

Fortunately, although Lin Leyan was a woman, she was someone who constantly spent her time travelling around the world. She was no weakling. As for Jenny, she had received certain unknown benefits from Zero City. Her physique was much healthier compared to the average person.

The two men supported the two women as they trudged their way through the snow. After roughly a quarter-hour, all four of them looked like snowmen. However, they did manage to make their way to the rear-side of a mountain slope.

That place was slightly protected from the snowstorm. A towering boulder rose upward and a thick layer of snow covered its surface. Using one hand to hold Lin Leyan, Chen Xiaolian pulled out a sword with his other hand and thrust the sword into the boulder with all his might. After several flashes of golden coloured light, part of the boulder was cleaved out. He dug the cleaved rocks out to reveal a one-metre deep hole.

When Tom Huggins saw that, a trace of seriousness flashed across his eyes. However, he did not hesitate to step forward and help out. He tossed the cleaved rocks far away. He was very strong. Using both his hands, he lifted up a rock the size of an adult man. Exerting himself, he then tossed the rock tens of metres away.

Chen Xiaolian was hard at work digging the hole. Finally, he managed to dig out something resembling a cave – he had almost dug right through the towering boulder. Finally, however, a cracking sound rang out. The sword in his grip had finally reached its limit and finally broke apart.

Chen Xiaolian casually tossed the sword back into his storage equipment before dragging Lin Leyan into the cave. Likewise, Tom Huggins led his wife, Jenny, whom he continued to embrace into the cave.

Chen Xiaolian quickly started a fire. However, the little flames flickered and was unable to burn brightly.

“We are high up in the mountains where there is less oxygen,” said Tom Huggins with a frown. He led Jenny inside and had her lean against the corner.

Jenny appeared to be choking on some snow and she coughed gently again and again.

Chen Xiaolian sat beside Lin Leyan and saw that the young woman’s face was pale from the cold. After considering it, he retrieved a bottle of nutrition drink from his storage equipment.

“Drink it.”

Lin Leyan looked at the ‘unfamiliar’ young man, who placed the item before her. Without hesitating, she accepted it and drank it.

A few moments after that, colour returned to her face. Chen Xiaolian gave a sigh of relief.

“We… … where is this place?” Lin Leyan asked in a soft voice.

“That… I am sorry, I do not know either.” Chen Xiaolian frowned and continued, “Logically speaking, we should be at one of the snow-capped mountains near the castle. Romania is a place filled with snow-capped mountains to begin with. Maybe the system had moved us to one of the mountains there.”

“System?” Lin Leyan shook her head. “The stuff you people talk about… … I can never understand what you are saying.”

“It is all right if you do not understand.” Chen Xiaolian tried his best to speak in a much warmer tone.

Lin Leyan turned silent for a few seconds. She struggled to sit up straight and gazed right into Chen Xiolian’s eyes. “We… … have truly met each other before. We know one another, is that right?”

Chen Xiaolian grew silent for a moment. Then, he whispered, “I do not know how to explain it to you.”

“… that means we really do know one another.” Lin Leyan gave what appeared to be a smile. However, there was something else within her smiling expression. “Yet, I cannot remember anything about it.”

It was then that Tom Huggins moved over. The cave they dug out was not that big to begin with while Tom Huggins had quite the stature. After he moved over, the space there grew considerably less. He stretched his hand out to hand over an item.

“A syringe?” Chen Xiaolian was surprised.

“Dexamethasone.” Tom Huggins sighed and continued, “A lifesaving medicine for climbers. It is … … for her.”

Chen Xiaolian was quick to understand.

He possessed various knowledge in his mind. As a webwriter, who was currently not doing his job, it was only natural that he had read up on a large number of miscellaneous books. He possessed some knowledge about this stimulant drug known as dexamethasone.

This item was pretty much a necessity for mountain climbers.

The oxygen content up in the mountains was low and could cause many types of complications. The most dangerous type of situation would be the high-altitude cerebral edema. Dexamethasone was a life-saving medicine for this critical moment.

Both Chen Xiaolian and Tom Huggins had no need for these types of medicine. However, the two women with them were ordinary humans. They were incapable of resisting the dangers prevalent in this high-altitude area.

“I will keep it first. When there is a need, I will administer it. This is a type of hormone; using it could bring side effects to the body. Also… … thank you.” Chen Xiaolian accepted the syringe and gave Tom Huggins a nod.

“Have you contacted those people yet?”

“Mm, my guild member is with them, Tian Lie and Nicole. As for my other two wise and experienced friends, they are also gone. Maybe, they have been sent to another random location,” said Chen Xiaolian in a hushed tone. “Tian Lie’s group is not on a snow-capped mountain. I hear they are within a forest.”

There was a wooden look on Tom Huggins’ face and he walked back to sit with his wife. He looked at Jenny, who appeared somewhat weak. She leaned against her husband’s chest as tears silently trickled down her cheeks.

“Should not have… … dragged you into this world.” Tom Huggins sighed.

After a while, he then turned to face Chen Xiaolian and hesitated for a moment before saying, “Can we exchange promises?”

He was speaking in neither English nor Chinese. Rather, it was in Hebrew.

The language was something the two women could not understand. However, Chen Xiaolian, who possessed the system, had no issue understanding his words.

“… … what is it?” Chen Xiaolian responded.

A hint of determination could be heard from Tom Huggins’ voice. “It is about this instance dungeon.”

“… … go on.”

“Instance dungeons always bring risks,” Tom Huggins slowly said. “The two of us are not ordinary humans. I want to protect my wife; as for you, I can see that the relationship between you and Lin Leyan is not that simple. So…”

“I understand.” Chen Xiaolian was quick to understand what Tom Huggins meant. Without waiting for him to continue, Chen Xiaolian nodded and said, “Very well, we will both give our all to pave a path of survival, while protecting them both. If… … something happens to either of us, the one who survives must protect the two women! I swear I will uphold this pledge.”

“I swear too, in the name and honour of my ancestors,” said Tom Huggins in a respectful tone.

The two of them exchanged glances. Although they were still not familiar with each other, they now had a better impression of each other.

That was especially true of Chen Xiaolian. Tom Huggins, who had been mostly silent all this time, had now garnered a feeling of admiration from him.

“What were you two talking about?” asked Jenny with a rather fearful look.

“It is nothing, my dear.” Tom Huggins looked back at his own wife and said with a voice filled with tenderness.

After resting for another 10 minutes, Tom Huggins stood up. He spoke to Chen Xiaolian in a low voice, “All right, I suggest exploring our surroundings first. I had tried earlier to use my mobile phone’s GPS function. It does not work at all. Clearly, there are no satellites up in the sky in this world. Thus, exploration of the terrain would depend on us.”

“I’ll go.” Chen Xiaolian stood up as well.

“No. I’ll go. You stay here and protect the two of them,” said Tom Huggins, who shook his head. “I have experience climbing snow-capped mountains. It seems you do not.”

Chen Xiaolian was unable to refute him on that – the fact that Tom was able to pull out a medicine for climbers like dexamethasone proved that to be true.

Chen Xiaolian immediately pulled out a military-grade walkie-talkie and tossed one of them to Tom Huggins. “We will maintain contact. Don’t move too far. If the connection is lost, come back immediately!”

“The sky is probably going to become dark soon. I will definitely not be going far.” Tom Huggins smiled. Then, he went over to hug his wife and kissed her furiously for a moment. Then, he stepped out of the cave and disappeared amid the raging snow.

Jenny watched her husband’s back as it disappeared and she bit her lip hard.

Chen Xiaolian moved over to pull Jenny back inside the cave. Seating her beside Lin Leyan, he then said in a whisper, “Do not worry, he will not encounter any dangers – he should be quite a powerful guy.”

Jenny wept in a low tone. Lin Leyan gripped Jenny’s hands and whispered some words to her, comforting her.

As for Chen Xiaolian, he had already retrieved some weapons out from his storage equipment.

A big-bore handgun. He also inserted several magazines onto his waist area. His earlier sword was broken and he now held a military shovel in his hand. He thrust the shovel into the ground before him and sat before the entrance of the cave. He narrowed his eyes and observed the falling snow absent-mindedly… …

…