Chapter 571

After a while, horse hooves sounded faintly in the distance.

Everyone got off the carriage and looked up toward the source of the sound.

Two horses came from far to near; they were Xiao Er and Lu Qi.

On each horse's back rode a tiny figure.

The man trembled all over, stared fixedly at the two horses, raised his hand to point but could not speak.

Sa Dike looked at the two children limp on the horses' backs, stunned: "Really, really found them?"

Xiao Er and Lu Qi reined in, dismounted, and carefully lifted the two children down.

They were covered in dust, lips chapped, faces devoid of color, heads drooping weakly, near death.

Tuan Tuan shouted anxiously: "Master! Master, come quick and see!"

The man lunged forward, shouting loudly: "Aleteng! Aiyiku!"

Xue Tong bellowed: "What are you shouting for!"

The man blinked, realizing that little girl had also shouted just now!

Xue Tong grabbed Sa Dike's water-bag strap and nearly pulled him off the carriage shaft.

"Hey hey hey! What are you doing!" Sa Dike flailed and managed to steady himself.

Xue Tong crouched, opened the water bag, and poured water onto one child's lips.

The water trickled down the chapped lips, slid into the corner of the mouth, then flowed out again.

Xue Tong frowned, both hands reaching out to rest on each child's wrist.

The man gaped: "I've never seen anyone take two pulses at once! Truly a Divine Doctor!"

Xue Tong gave him a sideways glance: "Shut up! Stop sucking up!"

"Oh." The man shrank back.

Tuan Tuan whispered: "My master hates people talking while he treats illness!"

The man nodded repeatedly, raising a hand to cover his mouth.

Everyone watched nervously.

After a moment, Xue Tong released his grip: "No serious problem, just frightened badly and dehydrated; a few doses of medicine will fix it."

He glared at the man: "What are you staring at? Come over! Help pour water into them!"

The man then came to his senses, lunged forward, knelt on the ground, and tremblingly stretched out both hands.

Everyone gathered around, gently prying open the children's mouths.

"Let me, let me!" Tuan Tuan cradled the water bag and carefully poured water slowly into their mouths.

One drop, two drops, three drops...

Finally, Aleteng's throat moved and he swallowed the first sip of water.

Immediately after, Aiyiku made a weak swallowing sound.

The two children slowly opened their eyes, looked blankly around, their gaze landing on the man's face: "Uncle?"

The man's legs gave way; he knelt and sat on the ground, tears streaming down.

Xue Tong roared again: "Where's the snow lotus? Bring it over!"

The man jerked his head up, eyes wide: "Heaven... Heavenly Mountain snow lotus?"

"Nonsense!"

Xiao Ningxun turned, climbed onto the carriage, and fetched the bundle wrapped around the snow lotus.

Xue Tong opened the bundle, tore off a few dry petals, poured water onto them in his palm, soaked them soft in a few moments, and stuffed them into the children's mouths.

"Hold it, don't swallow. Wait until the bitterness fades, they turn completely soft, then chew fine and swallow."

The two children nodded slightly.

Only then did Xue Tong relax, plopping onto the ground: "All right, no trouble; their lives are saved."

Kang An puzzled: "Not, no, serious?"

Xue Tong glared at him: "Nonsense! Could I tell them you're about to die?"

"As long as they don't die, to me it's no big deal."

Kang An stared, then nodded: "Oh!"

"Pfft—" Tuan Tuan couldn't hold back, laughing: "Xiao An'an, you're so cute!"

"Master, you're even cuter!"

Everyone laughed.

The man scrambled up, roughly wiped his face with his sleeve: "Your great kindness and virtue, I, Huerman, will never forget!"

He lifted his head, eyes still red but face showing a smile: "Our Golden Camel Tribe isn't far; just over that ridge ahead and we're there!"

"Please do come sit, have something to eat before you leave! If the chieftain knew I let you go like this, he'd skin me alive!"

Xiao Ningyuan glanced at the two weak children: "We might as well eat; since it's not far, let's go."

He and Xiao Ningxun carefully lifted the two children into the carriage; Xue Tong led Tuan Tuan and Kang An inside as well.

Huerman swung onto his horse and led the way ahead.

The party followed him, crossed the dirt slope, walked a short distance, and arrived at a valley where a large patch of tents was scattered, over a hundred in number, stretching and joining into a continuous expanse.

Between the tents were tethered countless camels; a few children chased and played on the open ground; women squatted by crude earthen stoves cooking something, cooking smoke curling upward.

Huerman spurred his horse into the camp, shouting loudly: "Found them! Found them! The children are found!"

The whole tribe instantly erupted.

From the tents rushed a crowd; leading them was a man about forty, his face full of Luosaihu beard, behind him followed a woman with sallow complexion and eyes swollen like peaches.

The two lunged to the carriage just as everyone was lifting the two children down from it.

The woman clutched the child and cried out loudly.

The strong man stood nearby, his tears finally gave way and ran down his beard.

Huerman quickly recounted the incident: "It was their horse that ran off on its own to look for it!"

"That old man examined the pulse with both hands and even fed them the Tianshan Snow Lotus!"

When the words "Tianshan Snow Lotus" were spoken, gasps of cold air rose and fell around them.

The strong man shivered all over, fell to his knees with a thud, his wife hurriedly knelt as well, and the whole tribe knelt as one.

The strong man's voice was hoarse: "Benefactors! Thank you for saving the lives of my two children!"

"From now on, as long as my Golden Camel Tribe lives for even a day, you will be the closest brothers of my Golden Camel Tribe!"

The crowd hurriedly helped them up, and Xiao Ningxun said: "Please rise quickly; this is proper—there's no reason to stand by and watch someone die."

Sa Dike, upon hearing that, silently lowered his head.

The strong man got up, shouting orders: "Slaughter a sheep! Build a fire! Bring out the finest mare's milk wine!"

The people were ushered into the largest tent at the center of the tribe.

Soon, a variety of delicacies were brought out, and the strong man personally poured mare's milk wine for them.

He lifted his wine bowl: "Benefactors, I, Bogeda, will first drink in respect!"

After speaking, he tipped his head back and drained a full bowl of mare's milk wine in one gulp.

The crowd each raised their wine bowls and took a big sip.

Just after setting it down, a young man sitting across the table spoke: "Aleteng! Aiyiku! From now on you can't run so far to play; you've made your father and mother extremely worried."

The two children were now sitting on either side of their mother.

They had already swallowed the Snow Lotus in their mouths, and their spirits were noticeably better.

Aleteng looked up: "We were actually playing right beside you."

"An uncle told us that if we crossed this hill, we could find the stone Dad was looking for, so we went."

Aiyiku, beside him, nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes! If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have gone so far, nor would we have encountered the sandstorm."

Huerman frowned, set down his wine bowl: "What does that person look like?"

Aleteng thought for a moment: "He covered his face with a scarf, only his eyes were visible."

The young man slapped the table, shaking the wine bowls so they jumped, his angry eyes wide: "It must be someone from the Black Wolf Tribe! They've been trying to devour us, it has to be them!"

"How vile! They would even lay a hand on children this small!"

The men inside the tent instantly swelled with collective fury.

"We can't just let this be settled like that!"

"Right! Tomorrow we'll go kill them; our Golden Camel Tribe isn't easy to mess with either!"

"Exactly! Let's fight them!"

As the voices briefly subsided, a soft voice suddenly sounded.

Tuan Tuan tilted her little head and looked at the young man: "Uncle, isn't that person the one you brought?"