Chapter - 57 Who Sends an Ice Barge to Your Birthplace (2)

Zhang CuiShan hesitated a bit, said, "I think we wouldn't have been this close this quickly. Besides…. There would be lots of problems. Our sects are so different…" Yin SuSu sighed, said, "I feel the same way. That's why when you were matching palms with Xie Xun on the boat, I thought about firing my silver needles, but in the end did not."

Zhang CuiShan asked, "Oh yeah, why didn't you? I've always thought that you couldn't see clearly in the dark. That you were afraid to unintentionally hit me." Yin SuSu whispered, "That's not the reason. The reason is, had I injured him, and we ended up back on the mainland, you wouldn't want to be with me."

Zhang CuiShan felt his heart melting away, yelled, "SuSu!"

Yin SuSu said, "Perhaps you might blame me in your heart. But at that moment, I only wanted to be with you, go to a deserted island, where we can be with each other forever. Therefore, what Xie Xun proposed was my wish too." Zhang CuiShan never expected her love for him to be so strong. With much appreciation in his heart, Zhang CuiShan said soothingly, "I would never blame you. Instead, I thank you for being so good to me." Yin SuSu remained in his embrace, looked up into his eyes, said, "I don't blame Heaven at all for sending us to this cold, hellish place, for instead I feel happy. I only hope this iceberg would never go south, for should we one day returned to the mainland, your master would hate me, and my dad might kill you…"

Zhang CuiShan said, "Your dad?" Yin SuSu said, "My dad is White-Browed Eagle King Yin TianZheng, the leader of the Heavenly Eagle Sect." Zhang CuiShan said, "Oh, I see. Don't worry. I told you I'd always be with you. No matter how mean your dad is, he's not going to kill his son-in-law." Yin SuSu's eyes brightened, her cheeks turned red, said, "Oh, do you really mean that?"

Zhang CuiShan said, "Let us get married right now."

The two of them then got on their knees. Zhang CuiShan said loudly, "With the Heaven above watching, Zhang CuiShan today will marry Yin SuSu. Share our blessings together, endure our hardships together, never to be apart." Yin SuSu prayed sincerely, "Please let the Heaven bless us, so we can be couples for all lifetimes [1] ." She paused a bit, then added, "Should we ever return to the central plains, I will renounce my old ways, change for the better, and follow my husband to do only good, never to kill again. If I fail to do so, then banish me down to the depths of Hell."

Zhang CuiShan, exhilarated at her promise, held her tightly in his arms. Despite being soaked in icy cold water, the two people's hearts felt warm and dry, as if blown by spring wind."

After a long time, the two of them realized that they have not eaten for a long time. Zhang CuiShan looked over the edge with his silver hook, only to see fishes swim on the sea surface, and caught some. The fishes in this region are filled with fat to counter the cold weather, which made them extremely smelly, but also really reenergized the two. Sitting on this iceberg, Zhang and Yin knew there's no chance for them to return, but neither felt sad because of it. They were now no longer bothered by the long days and short nights, and stopped bother to count the days altogether.

One day, Yin SuSu suddenly saw a stack of smoke from the north. Shocked, she yelled, "Fifth brother!" and pointed at the smoke as she spoke. Zhang CuiShan, happy and surprised, yelled, "Could there be people living there?"

Although the smoke looked big, it's still far away. Even after a day of travel, the smoke still seemed just as far. However, the smoke eventually grew bigger and bigger, until later on, they could see sparks of fire.

Yin SuSu asked, "What is that?" Zhang CuiSHan shook his head, did not respond. Yin SuSu screamed, "Oh no, this is the end! This is… is the door to the underworld." Zhang CuiShan had also been alarmed for some time now, but he still tried to sooth her, said, "Perhaps someone's making the fire over there." Yin SuSu said, "Who can make a fire this big?"

Zhang CuiShan sighed, said, "Since we're have no other choice, let's just see what the Heaven has in store for us. If Heaven doesn't want us to freeze to death, but rather burn to death, then we don't really have a choice."

Oddly enough, the iceberg headed exactly towards the direction of the stack of fire. Zhang and Yin didn't know the reason, thought that they must have been fated to go there. In actuality, that stack of fire is a volcano. With the fire spurting out, the neighboring waters warmed up. Warm water flows south, so the southern cold water obviously moves north, towards the island to take its place.

After another day, the iceberg finally reached the bottom of the volcano, only to see the fire stack surrounded by green vegetation, for it's actually an island. Neither of them had ever seen a volcano, so they didn't know this island was created by the eruptions. The eastern side of the island had no vegetation, though, as it's the path where the lava traveled down to the water. This place is quite close to the North Pole, but due to the continuous volcanic activities, the island had weather similar to the Long White Mountain and the Black Dragon River regions [2] . Snow covered the upper mountain, but plants filled the lower parts. Pine and Cypress trees here are incredibly big, plus there are all sorts of strange flowers and tress, none seen on the mainland.

Yin SuSu stared for a while, then with both hands held Zhang CuiShan's neck, yelled, "Fifth brother, we're arrived at a celestial island!" Zhang CuiShan was also joyous, but could not find any words to say. He then saw a drove of spotted deer eating grass. Looking around, Zhang CuiShan could not find anything scary other than the fire stack.

But just as the iceberg neared the island, the warm water gave it a push backward, and it began to float away. Yin SuSu yelled in a hurry, "Oh no! We can't get on the celestial island now!" Zhang CuiShan realized that if they didn't get on this island now, they'd be washed away. He quickly chipped off a big block of ice, and then let it drop with them down into the water. After paddling with their hands for a while, they finally reached land.

When the drove of deer saw them, they only stared, as if wondering whom these humans were, but certainly not afraid. Yin SuSu moved close, reached out and patted one of them on the back, said, "If there were some celestial cranes here, I'd say this would be the Celestial Region of the South Pole." Suddenly the ground under her shook, and she fell down. Zhang CuiShan yelled in shock, "SuSu!" As he tried to help her, he also felt his legs wobble, and unable to maintain his balance.

Only to hear a thunderous sound, the earth shook, for the volcano erupted some lava. After getting over the initial shock, and saw no other troubles, both people got up giddily. Due to their exhaustion, the two then slept for about eight hours.

When they woke up, the sun still had not set. Zhang CuiShan said, "Let's go look around, see if there are any people, or perhaps poisonous insects or wild beasts." Yin SuSu said, "Just look at how tame these deer are. Looks like this celestial island is quite peaceful." Zhang CuiShan said with a smile, "I hope that's the case. But if so, we should at least go pray to the celestial being here."