Chapter 205 – Over the Summit (XI)

Chapter 205

Over the Summit (XI)

It was about four hundred yards from the castle (give or take) that we had to actually take out a rope, reinforce it with Qi, and tie it around ourselves so we wouldn’t get lost.

No, seriously.

It was actually impossible to see anything. At least for the kids and me.

An unexpected hero emerged, however–though I wanted Long Tao to take the front and just yank us up, Rayce volunteered.

A bit miffed and a bit worried, I decided to be the second in line just so I can immediately stop in case something goes wrong. As such, we began an even slower version of an already crawl-like climb.

Never again.

As soon as we cross this fucking mountain, I am screaming ‘Never Again’ until the entire world hears me. I’ve experienced a lot of bad things in this world, but this, legitimately, is the one that made me feel the most helpless.

Mother Nature remains unconquered even here, it seems–at least on this level of cultivation.

We moved at about half a mile an hour, if that, pausing frequently as we’d come across a good foot or two of snow that we’d have to slowly either melt or shovel out of the way. When it became outright impossible to keep moving as the speed of winds kicked up massively, we’d just crouch in place, pull over the thickest ‘blankets’ we had, use Art of Surviving on them, and just… wait.

As per prior agreement, Rayce would stop and wait for us if he found a remotely feasible shelter, which he did at around the 650-yard mark. It was a small alcove of sorts, carved into the side of the mountain, with just enough room for all of us to bunk while pressed into each other.

Light sat up on my lap and immediately fell asleep, while Xi Zhao and Dai Xiu practically blended into one another, falling asleep as well. Long Tao sat on the very edge and immediately started cultivating, as though he was out on a casual stroll, while Wan Lan started a small fire so she could boil some rice.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” I turned toward Rayce, trying to start a conversation. “How are you navigating through it all?”

“A small combination of spells,” he replied. Light was kind of right–his voice did have a strange level of depth to it that drew your attention, even if you didn’t want to give it. “One scries the terrain in a mile radius, another one sends a small bundle of energy in the most direct path possible over it to the other end, and the third one regales that path back to me.”

“Oh, wow. Is that something you were taught or…?”

“No,” he said. “I mean, individual spells themselves probably exist in one way or another, but most Shamans, at some point, start forging their own Words. We usually start off with a familiar template and then build off of it. Iry–he, uhm, he taught me principles of survival. Strangely, though, he only did so for the forest and not for the snowed-in mountains. Though, in hindsight, it makes sense.”

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“What are you going to do in Silvercrest City?” I asked. I was quite curious, actually, to know what the boy’s–well, he wasn’t really a boy. He was a young man, in his twenties already.

“… I don’t know.” He hung his head low suddenly, digging his finger into the dirt and drawing something. “Shaman Lilia suggested a few things, but… they all ring hollow.”

“How so?”

“… I thought I was fighting for something real,” he said. “That, despite betraying my birthplace, I was doing so for the right reasons. That my actions were justified. I’ve killed seven other Shamans in the process of escaping and evading pursuit. Seven. I should have been brought back home, quartered, and hanged publicly, not given another lease on life.”

Hmm.

Right.