A Time-Traveling Mishap: I Became an Ancient Nobleman

Chapter 144 Arrival at the Stone Mountain

Gu Qingfeng was delighted to hear that someone had praised him. "I know a lot of things, so please don't think of me as a burden."

"How could that be?"

Even if Gu Qingfeng is truly a burden, she will never say it out loud.

"Alright, if you were really a burden, your father wouldn't have let you come along. Wouldn't that be a bad thing?" Zhou Hanzhang said irritably.

"Hey, you know me best."

……

Before long, Shi He brought over the cooked porridge and found bowls from somewhere. He first served one bowl to Zhou Hanzhang and then another to Gu Qingfeng.

Finally, it was just him and the wolf cub.

The little wolf cub had smelled the meat porridge earlier and had been trying to get closer to the pot, but it couldn't get down because it was in Zhou Hanzhang's arms.

Now that things have finally gotten better, the little wolf cub, taking advantage of Zhou Hanzhang's momentary lapse in attention, stuck out his tongue and licked Zhou Hanzhang's bowl of meat porridge.

Zhou Hanzhang wanted to stop it, but it was too late.

The moment the little wolf cub's tongue touched the bowl of meat porridge, it immediately withdrew it, baring its teeth and looking pitifully at Zhou Hanzhang with its teary eyes.

It was also sticking out its tongue and making a whimpering sound.

The group couldn't help but laugh upon seeing this.

"People say you can't rush things, but you're in such a hurry, you're bound to get burned," Zhou Hanzhang said to the little wolf cub with a smile.

She leaned closer and looked at the wolf cub's mouth and tongue. Finding that it was alright, just a little red, she was relieved.

"Let's see if you can remember this in the future: you have to wait for something this hot to cool down before you can eat it."

Fearing it might misbehave again, Zhou Hanzhang simply held it in his arms to keep it from moving around.

The little wolf cub had just been scalded, but he was being very well-behaved, just snuggling into Zhou Hanzhang's arms as if he were being affectionate.

"This little thing is quite clever."

After Gu Qingfeng finished speaking, the little wolf cub seemed to understand, howling at Gu Qingfeng and giving him a smug look.

Gu Qingfeng thought he was seeing things. "Hey, do you think it understands what I'm saying?"

He found it very novel.

"No way, it looks like it was only born recently, and it doesn't seem like it's ever been in contact with humans..." Shi He began to have some doubts.

Zhou Hanzhang, however, looked at the wolf cub and said, "That's not entirely true. Many animals in nature are very intelligent, and perhaps it really can understand."

"It's no use if it can understand. It's so small. If it hadn't met us, we don't know if it would have survived."

"Why can't it survive? It's the daughter of the Snow Wolf King. The Snow Wolf King must have encountered some difficulties and just happened to see us come in, so he entrusted it to us."

After a while, Zhou Hanzhang noticed that the meat porridge wasn't so hot anymore, so he put the little wolf cub down and said, "Alright, eat up."

The little wolf cub happily began to eat the meat porridge, and soon the bowl was empty.

After finishing its meal, it tried to drag the bowl to the pot, but it was too weak and could only drag it a short distance before it could stop.

Zhou Hanzhang picked her up and looked at her belly, which was already round. "You're still small, so you can't eat too much. If you like it, I'll make it for you later."

In the end, Zhou Hanzhang ate one bowl, and the rest were finished off by He Shi and Gu Qingfeng.

This caused Cuiyan to keep watching them and howling.

The group was both amused and exasperated. Zhou Hanzhang gently patted Xiao Cuiyan's head, and it soon fell fast asleep.

"This little thing is quite cute; it sleeps as soon as it's full."

Looking at the little emerald flame in Zhou Hanzhang's arms, Shi He was still a little worried. "Young Master, do we really want to take it with us?"

"Of course, since we promised the Snow Wolf King, let's take it with us. It's still small, it won't be a problem."

Since Zhou Hanzhang had already made this statement, there was nothing more for him to say.

I'll just bring it with me.

When we reached the cave entrance and looked out, it was already dark, and the wind and sand seemed tireless in their rolling.

"Young master, the sandstorm outside is still very strong, and I don't know when it will stop." He was very worried.

“It’s alright, let’s rest here tonight and see how things go tomorrow. Xiangxiang told me that the weather in the Stone Forest and Stone Mountain is very unpredictable. It can be sunny one moment and pouring rain the next.”

The sandstorm looks really strong right now, but I think it shouldn't last long before it clears up.

Zhou Hanzhang wasn't entirely confident in his statement, since Xiangxiang's original words were that the weather here was so bad it would make even ghosts shudder. Since she could say something like that, the weather must be a major challenge that shouldn't be underestimated.

However, her words offered some comfort to the remaining two.

They spent the night in the cave like that.

When they got up early to check the weather, sure enough, the sandstorm outside had stopped. They washed their faces casually in the pool of water and then went out of the cave.

Looking up at the sky, it was a clear blue, but there was still no wind. It was only morning, but the air was already stiflingly hot.

Zhou Hanzhang took out the map and looked at it again. The route on the map still existed, and there was no indication that the road had disappeared due to a sandstorm.

She looked around again, but there were no signs of erosion from the sandstorm. Yesterday's sandstorm seemed like a dream.

It was indeed strange.

"Am we... dreaming?"

Looking at everything before him, Gu Qingfeng truly felt as if he were in a dream.

However, the little emerald flame beside him cried out, telling him that none of this was a dream.

It circled around Zhou Hanzhang, and seeing that she had no intention of leaving, it grabbed her trouser leg and tried to pull her onto the road.

Seeing this, Zhou Hanzhang had no choice but to focus his attention back on the map, carefully examined the route, and after confirming that it was correct, led the two forward.

Along the way, Zhou Hanzhang sometimes held Cuiyan in his arms, and sometimes let it walk on its own.

At first, Cuiyan disappeared, which frightened Zhou Hanzhang so much that he wondered whether he should go look for it.

Fortunately, she was told in time that if the snow wolf had made up its mind about her, it would come back to find her no matter how far it went.

With a mixture of belief and doubt, Zhou Hanzhang continued walking forward. Sure enough, Cuiyan disappeared for a short while and then reappeared on the path they were walking on.

After repeating this process several times, Zhou Hanzhang finally felt completely at ease.

Aside from this minor hiccup, they traversed the vast and intricate stone forest without any major setbacks, eventually arriving at this mysterious and unpredictable mountain range.

The group stood at the foot of the stone mountain, looking at this strange place hidden in ancient legends, as if it were an unknown secret of the world, quietly standing deep in the wilderness.

For some reason, Zhou Hanzhang felt a sense of unease as he looked at the stone mountain.

He Shi and Gu Qingfeng also looked solemn, but Cui Yan seemed very happy, whimpering around Zhou Hanzhang as if she wanted him to go up the mountain as soon as possible.