Night without Borders

Chapter 3 Fire Spring
The flaming spring was surrounded by rocks and was rising with mist. In this world filled with darkness, it looked particularly bright.

Qin Ming squatted down and fished out a glowing stone from the pool. The stone was more lustrous than red coral and shone with rays of light.

The sun stones used by each family come from fire springs. After the stones are extinguished, they can be put back here and will return to their original state after a period of time.

The pool is filled with fiery red light, and although it is as bright red as magma, it is far less hot than the human body surface temperature.

The pool was shimmering and the flames were dancing. It was neither real fire nor spring water, but a very special substance.

Now the day is gone and the night remains, with only the distinction between light night and late night.

In times like this, fire springs are particularly important.

Whether it is the mutated grain silver wheat or ordinary crops such as sweet potatoes, all crops need to be watered by fire springs to grow.

Moreover, if people do not see fire springs for a long time, they will feel unwell.

It can be said that it is the foundation on which people depend for survival.

In this world without daylight, four seasons can still be divided.

Spring and summer are the active periods for the fire spring, which gushes out to meet the needs of farming.

Winter is its drying up period. For example, here in Shuangshu Village, although there is still light in the pool, it can only be used to warm the sunstone for lighting.

Generally speaking, in an age without daylight, people lived by "chasing fire".

The fire spring is so conspicuous in the dark that it will naturally attract the attention of all kinds of creatures in the darkness, but fortunately they all have their own territories and can maintain a certain balance most of the time.

Shuangshu Village was short of food, mainly because it was attacked by strange birds during the harvest season. When the bird's beak touched the wheat ears, it was like a sickle, and one bite would leave several clumps of wheat bare.

In addition, there were ant plagues and some human factors, which led to people almost starving to death in the winter.

It is early night now, the night is relatively light, and there is occasional "ground light" rising in the distance, making the vague outline of the dense forest faintly visible.

As for late at night, nothing can be seen, everything is silent, and the night is dark and eerie.

Qin Ming was wondering when he could go out and solve the problem of severe food shortage.

He looked out into the wilderness. It was very dark and he couldn't see anything in the distance. The snow had already reached above a person's chest, and the living environment was extremely harsh.

At the entrance of the village, the fire spring illuminates a bright area of ​​land.

The cold wind blew past, and the fire pool, which was six feet square, sparkled. The black and white trees in the pool shook off the accumulated snowflakes, which sparkled brightly in the fire.

The leaves of the two trees have a slightly jade-like texture and are not afraid of extreme cold, but they are of little use other than repelling mosquitoes in the summer.

Qin Ming felt the cold snowflakes falling from the tree onto his neck and came to his senses. He realized that he had to rest up after all as it was very dangerous outside.

He walked back along the same route. The lights in each house were flickering, but the wilderness behind him was extremely dark. Everything was withered, as if a giant beast was about to swallow everything.

Qin Ming stood in the yard, practicing various specific movements very skillfully and fluently. Because he had been doing this for many years, it had almost become an instinct.

After a long time, sweat appeared on his forehead and his body felt warm, so he stopped.

He entered the room and took out a pocket-sized crystal bottle, only as long as a thumb, delicately carved, transparent and exquisite, with blue liquid with ice crystals inside.

He looked carefully at the fiery glow of the sunstone.

There are two words engraved on the small bottle: Mineral.

The liquid inside is intoxicatingly blue. When you shake it gently, blue mist flows in the bottle, giving a dreamy feeling.

Qin Ming restrained his impulse and did not open the vial because he had just recovered from a serious illness and using the blue liquid would do more harm than good.

This was something he accidentally found in a dangerous area in the mountains. Before this, he had only heard of "mineral elements" but had never actually come into contact with precious substances of this level.

Using it after the human body has adjusted to its optimal state can improve physical fitness and enrich the spirit.

He fell seriously ill after escaping from the mountains and never had the chance to try it.

"Maybe it can be used in a few days." Qin Ming put away the exquisitely crafted crystal bottle.

A cold wind blew, and sporadic snowflakes fell.

Qin Ming lives alone, and the quiet courtyard is deserted and even a little desolate.

He's used to it.

As time goes by, the night deepens and the light night is coming to an end.

Lu Ze came, accompanied by a boy about five years old. Although he was wrapped tightly, his little face was still red from the cold.

"Wenrui has grown a little taller." Qin Ming gestured at the boy's height.

"Uncle, are you feeling better?" Lu Wenrui asked with concern, looking up. His eyes were big and clear, just the innocent and lovely age.

Qin Ming smiled and replied: "No problem, I will help you catch the 'Yu Que' you've been dreaming of in a few days."

"Is it true that Yuque can talk to people? That's great!" When little Wenrui heard this, he was extremely happy, and his eyes were full of sparkling light.

"Something's going wrong out there lately." Lu Ze spoke up, handed the lunch box to Qin Ming, and told him not to rush out.

Although the rock rice was relatively rough and had a hard texture, Qin Ming still salivated. He only had two meals a day and was really hungry. There were actually a few red dates in the rock rice, which was exceptionally soft, smooth, delicate, sweet and delicious.

Qin Ming discovered that Xiao Wenrui was staring at him and swallowed.

He felt guilty, squatted down, and said, "Wenrui, tell your uncle, are you still not full?"

Lu Ze shook his head and said, "No, he must have seen the red dates."

Qin Ming immediately picked out a few red dates and handed them to the handsome and simple little boy to eat.

Lu Ze stopped him and said, "This is what your sister-in-law put in there specifically to replenish your blood and energy. Don't give it to him."

At this time, Liang Wanqing also came and looked at Wen Rui, saying, "Your uncle Qin is weak and has no meat or tonic now. Don't be greedy."

She had a good heart. She had previously thought that Qin Ming would not survive like the other three villagers, and that it was useless to help him, so she quarreled with her husband. Now that she saw that he was beginning to get better and was no longer groggy, Liang Wanqing still wanted to help him even though she knew that her family's food reserves were running low.

Little Wenrui nodded obediently, blinked his big eyes, and said, "Uncle, eat quickly and get better soon. I'm not hungry anymore."

How could Qin Ming possibly eat it? He insisted on feeding the dates to little Wenrui. At the same time, he felt very upset and decided to take a walk in the jungle soon.

He was very grateful to the couple, but he didn't say many polite words. He just asked them about the current situation outside.

Liang Wanqing sat down and chatted for a while before going back because she had a two-year-old child at home who needed to be taken care of. "There have been huge monsters in the dense forest recently, and some people have been killed or injured..." Lu Ze told him that he couldn't act alone now, as it was very dangerous outside.

Qin Ming nodded and listened carefully.

I don’t know if it’s because of the raging blizzard that’s making it difficult for mountain animals to find food, or for some other reason, but there’s a lot of noise in the wild.

Especially in the area where Qin Ming contracted the strange disease, there were pupils brighter than sunstones that pierced through the darkness of the mountains, causing the dense forest to become silent instantly.

When hearing this, Qin Ming inevitably thought of the dangerous experience a month ago.

On that day, in the dark forest, he and his three companions suddenly stepped on empty air and fell into a crack in the ground.

The underground was quite unusual. After the extreme darkness, there was a dazzling light that made people's eyes hurt and tears flow.

What made him most uneasy was that his heart began to beat excessively, like beating a drum violently, and the strong and powerful sound could even be heard outside his chest.

When he recalled this, he still felt a lingering fear.

At that moment, he was unable to move, the blood in his body flowed faster, and he heard the sound of a waterfall in a trance.

Qin Ming thought he was going to die and felt his heart was going to explode.

Soon, the glare in the depths of the crack was no longer so bright. He saw silver light after silver light, like silk and spider webs, intertwined together, making people confused and losing their sense of space.

Qin Ming felt dizzy at the time, while the other companions fainted.

It was not until the silver light suddenly disappeared and it was completely dark that Qin Ming's heartbeat gradually returned to normal and his body was able to move. He led his three companions out of the crevice one after another and waited for a long time before they woke up.

During this process, Qin Ming also found several corpses not far from the crack in the ground. They were well dressed and had probably died not long ago.

In line with the simple principle of not wasting anything, he made a quick inspection and that’s when he found the crystal bottle containing the blue liquid.

Qin Ming did not mention the small bottle to Lu Ze, because the dead people looked important and he was afraid that something might happen.

There are many ferocious beasts in the mountains. I guess there will be nothing left there and all traces will be wiped out.

Qin Ming and his companions gradually felt unwell on the way back to the village. They staggered and their consciousness began to become dizzy.

The three companions died on the same day they returned, their bodies turned black. Only Qin Ming took a month to recover.

After eating the brown rice, Qin Ming and Lu Ze chatted for a long time.

Wenrui was very sensible and listened quietly.

Afterwards, the atmosphere relaxed. Qin Ming looked at the slightly shy boy and said, "Wenrui, when your uncle recovers, I'll let you eat as much dates and hazelnuts as you want."

"Is there any meat? I... haven't eaten it for a long time." Little Wenrui said in a low voice, and couldn't help swallowing his saliva again, as if he recalled the taste of the past, and his rosy little face was full of hope.

"It will happen!" Qin Ming touched his head lovingly.

As the night deepened, Lu Ze stood up and left with Wen Rui.

Inside the room, the flames from the sunstone in the copper basin dimmed.

Qin Ming sat quietly with his eyes closed, shaping his own image in his mind, practicing various specific movements, exercising his consciousness, until he finally emptied his mind.

The moment he opened his eyes, he vaguely saw a faint silver light flash and disappear.

"Is it an illusion?" Qin Ming was stunned.

Although it was just a quick glance just now, he believed that he was not mistaken. There were indeed faint silver ripples on the surface of the body that dissipated and disappeared in a flash.

He has been sticking to this special exercise method for many years, but there has been no "movement". Today, something unusual happened!
Qin Ming found that there was a fine layer of sweat on his body, as if he had experienced a strenuous exercise, but he was in high spirits.

He came into the yard, his eyes shining, and performed one set of specific movements after another with his body.

He was so absorbed in the subject that his body soon began to heat up and he felt a surge of vitality, like a light rain in a long-dry desert.

After a long time, Qin Ming was sweating profusely, white mist came out of his head, and he felt very comfortable all over. The last bit of the illness seemed to be discharged with the large amount of sweat.

Until he felt tired and stopped this special exercise, he clearly saw a very faint silver light emerging from his body surface and then quickly dissipated.

"It's really different." This time he saw it clearly.

Qin Ming had a sense of satisfaction, and there was a real warmth flowing in his body, slowly nourishing his whole body. His energy became more and more sufficient.

After a short rest, he wanted to practice those specific movements again, but his stomach growled and he felt hungry, but he had already had dinner.

Qin Ming stopped immediately, not daring to waste his energy. He didn't have the face to ask Lu Ze for food again.

He was wet all over, his clothes were completely soaked with sweat, and he went downstairs to boil water to wash.

Qin Ming looked at the handsome face reflected in the basin. It was no longer pale but had a rosy complexion. He said to himself, "It's almost recovered. We'll leave tomorrow morning."

He didn't want to cause trouble to others or become a burden. When he was able to move again, he wanted to solve the food problem as soon as possible and get out of his current predicament.

Qin Ming returned the extinguished sunstone to the fire spring, and when he came back he only took a small piece to light the way.

The lights of each house dimmed one after another, and the entire village merged into darkness.

A strong wind blew on a cold winter night, and the snow in the wild was blown up, covering a vast expanse of white. A lot of the snow fell in the village, flooding many yards.

"I'm so hungry!" Qin Ming was so hungry before it was time to go to bed. His stomach felt like it was on fire. Not to mention delicious food, he would want to eat even a gopher in front of him.

Unfortunately, in this kind of year, the rat holes in the village are deserted.

Qin Ming tried to hypnotize himself to go to bed early, but he was so hungry that he could hardly fall asleep.

He forced himself to divert his attention and think about some beautiful people and things, such as the blurry faces in his mind.

Then he thought about his special way of training, which was really different. It actually began to show "movements", causing very faint silver ripples to appear on his body surface. This made him quite looking forward to it. What changes would happen next?
Then his mind wandered to the sweet berries covered in snow in the dense forest and the golden lamb legs roasting on the campfire.

"I've crossed the line. How could I think like that?" He quickly pinched himself.

He decided to set off as soon as Qian Ye arrived, all for the purpose of fulfilling Xiao Wenrui's wish as soon as possible, and then he couldn't help swallowing.

With the desire and longing for food, Qin Ming finally fell asleep slowly.

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(End of this chapter)