Of Mountains and Rivers 49

The darkness below the mountain was not simply pitch-black; more accurately, it was shrouded in an eerie shadow, frozen and motionless. Chu Huan's ears picked up the murmuring whispers again, and suddenly, two strong thoughts surged through his mind.

It was as if two extra voices had appeared. One voice urgently urged him to move forward, deep into the Fallen Land, while the other screamed at him to retreat as far as he could.

Chu Huan pinched his brow, feeling torn between the two conflicting thoughts. He decided to firmly plant his feet in place and continue to observe attentively.

However, Nan Shan wouldn't allow him to stay so calm. He turned back, grabbed Chu Huan by the shoulder, and forcefully pulled him away. "Let's go!"

Chu Huan stumbled as Nan Shan dragged him along. The whispers in his ears grew louder, and he couldn't help but grip Nan Shan's wrist, trying to explain, "I feel that…"

Nan Shan interrupted him, "Don't look, don't listen, don't think!"

Before Chu Huan could finish his sentence, he felt a chill down his spine and quickly turned around. He saw an enormous shadow, like a nightmare, seemingly chasing after them!

Chu Huan shook his head vigorously—wait a minute, how could a shadow "chase" after someone? Even if it did catch up, what could it do?

He couldn't figure out any of these questions, but in that split second, he felt an inexplicable sense of fear.

The fear overwhelmed the allure of the Fallen Land, and they all hurriedly fled.

The giant boulder was covered with ice and frost. As Nan Shan slipped, Chu Huan grabbed his arm to stabilize him. But Nan Shan, using his immense strength, pulled Chu Huan down, pressing him against his chest.

Chu Huan tried to say something, but Nan Shan didn't give him time to adjust. With his back arched, he shielded Chu Huan in his arms and rolled down the mountain.

They rolled and crawled down the mountain in a manner that was almost a free fall. Fortunately, the group was strong and didn't have any elderly or infirm members. Otherwise, this rough journey would have resulted in broken bones.

No one knew why they were running, and what was there to fear about a shadow?

Yet they acted like rabbits encountering a fierce eagle, instinctively horrified by the enormous shadow.

As Chu Huan felt the void below him, he suddenly heard a particular word among the incessant whispers.

"Fire!"

Chu Huan couldn't help but ask, "Fire?"

His lighter had exploded with Misaki earlier, so where would the fire come from? Did he have to spew flames himself?

But as he uttered these vague words, as if invoking some mysterious incantation, a thunderous roar echoed in Chu Huan's ears, and the intense white light almost blinded him.

Could it be that he had actually spewed flames?

No one saw where the white light came from; everyone's gaze involuntarily avoided it.

In a daze, Chu Huan seemed to touch upon some hidden connection, reaching out to an intangible place.

However, this mysterious feeling was fleeting. The next moment, everyone landed heavily on the ground, falling into a slightly concave pit on the slope. Chu Huan deftly supported himself with his hands, his shoulder grazing the ground, rolling to the side, and dissipating the impact, ensuring Nan Shan wouldn't become a cushion for him.

Chu Huan's pupils slowly returned to their normal size, and before him was the same clear and sunny noon sky. The sunlight evenly spilled on the cliff where they had just rolled down, creating a fine halo like a layer of crystals.

The horrifying shadow and the mysterious white light from earlier vanished, as if they were mere illusions.

Nan Shan tried to push himself up with his hands but unexpectedly fell back, indicating that the impact had been quite severe. He was covered in cold sweat, and a terrifying bruise adorned his lower back. If he wasn't naturally tough and resilient as a mountain guardian, his spine might have been broken.

Despite the pain, Nan Shan remained silent, his breathing becoming labored. He clenched his jaw, leaving a mark of determination on his face.

Chu Huan's eye twitched. "Let me see."

However, when Chu Huan reached out to pull Nan Shan, the latter subtly dodged.

"Don't look." Nan Shan struggled to stand, swaying on his feet, almost unable to straighten his waist. "Just go."

"Wait, slow down," Chu Huan called out. "Where are you going? Come here; I'll carry you on my back."

Nan Shan looked deeply into Chu Huan's eyes, then lowered his gaze, avoiding his stare. He then forced himself to straighten his back, walking with some difficulty.

Chu Huan couldn't understand why Nan Shan suddenly seemed distant, but in their current urgent situation, there was no time to dwell on it.

As they crossed a brief, gentle slope, they reached one of the most treacherous parts of the mountain. The cliff was steep and seemed bottomless, covered in tiny shards of ice. Chu Huan's scalp tingled just looking at it—how were they supposed to descend this?

When they climbed up earlier, they almost looked like a group of Spider-Men without masks. However, using the same method to go down was impossible.

Little Fang quickly turned to Nan Shan for advice: "Chief, what should we do?"

Nan Shan didn't respond immediately. He bent down in pain, and the large bruise on his back had already turned purple. Visible blood vessels formed a web-like pattern underneath the skin, looking ghastly and resembling a large python coiled around his waist.

Chu Huan firmly pressed down on Nan Shan, carefully examining the injury. He gently touched the swollen skin, feeling the warmth radiating from it.

Nan Shan suppressed any sound of pain but couldn't help trembling.

"No, we can't." Chu Huan turned to Little Fang. "Brother, go and see if there are any sturdy vines nearby. Cut a few long ones and tie us together."

The cliff was covered in many unknown vine plants, and Little Fang agreed without hesitation, immediately taking action.

Meanwhile, Nan Shan once again avoided Chu Huan's gaze, subtly trying to withdraw his arm.

This time, Chu Huan couldn't ignore the obvious. Nan Shan was deliberately avoiding him.

For no apparent reason, why did Nan Shan suddenly become distant?

Chu Huan didn't have time to think it through, and he couldn't waste any time. He reached out, firmly grasping Nan Shan's wrist, and sternly said, "You can't walk on your own. Either I carry you or I hold you. Choose one."

Nan Shan pondered for a moment, seeming to fortify himself mentally. Soon, he steadied his gaze and glanced over the fresh wounds and old scars on Chu Huan's body. Then he answered objectively and calmly, "Your wounds haven't fully healed. It was already difficult to come down from here, and if you carry someone else, your wounds will definitely reopen. I'll recover overnight, but you won't."

His reasoning was sound, leaving no room for rebuttal.

At that moment, Little Fang returned with the sturdy vines. Yuan Ping walked over, tossing one end of the vines to Chu Huan and saying, "He's right; step aside fragile dog. Chief, make the binding more secure, and I'll carry you down this section."

Yuan Ping loved teasing Chu Huan almost as frequently as eating and drinking. Chu Huan had gotten used to it, but this time, an inexplicable rage surged within him, and he felt an itching in his hands to do something about it.

However, at his age, Chu Huan had long outgrown the impulsive tendencies of his youth. He concealed the fire within him and suppressed the urge to react. Given their current life-or-death situation, there was no room for jealousy or theatrics. Therefore, Chu Huan didn't say anything. He reached out, tested the strength of the vine, and then bent down to loop it around Nan Shan's legs securely, creating a tight knot.

Afterward, Chu Huan picked up the vine, passed it over Nan Shan's back, and patted the young man's shoulder, asking him to step back while he took the lead in exploring the way down.

Chu Huan had never envied the tough bodies of the mountain guardians or gatekeepers. Nan Shan had mentioned "blood exchange" several times, but Chu Huan had mostly brushed it off, not seriously considering it as a viable option. To him, it was unnecessary.

In Chu Huan's view, each race was born with a particular type of body. He was born with this mortal form, and there was nothing to be concerned about. Just like birds were born to fly and fish to swim, when humans were born, they were like helpless turtles on their backs—unable even to turn over.

Sometimes people might be limited by their natural talents, but so what? Wasn't being "strong" about continually surpassing one's innate limitations and living life to the fullest?

Chu Huan had a broad mind when it came to this question, at least until this very moment. For instance, right now, he can't help but feel troubled.

Yuan Ping's intentional or unintentional remark of "fragile dog" unexpectedly pierced Chu Huan's long-untouched pride, causing a sharp pain in his heart.

They had spent the morning to noon ascending the mountain, but descending took them all the way from noon until early morning the next day.

When there was light, Chu Huan was leading the way, but during the night, his night vision wasn't as sharp, so Little Fang took over as the pathfinder.

The atmosphere was heavy and tense, and no one dared engage in casual conversations. It wasn't until the next day's dawn that they successfully conquered a steep cliff and reached a gently sloping terrain where they could walk upright, although there were no stone steps.

Nan Shan's injuries indeed healed rapidly. After just one night, the swelling had reduced, and the bruise turned a more terrifying deep purple. However, the internal bleeding had somewhat dissipated, and although it looked severe, it seemed to no longer affect most of his movements.

They cut through the vines and didn't rest. Without stopping to rest, they marched back the same way they came until they returned to the cave where they had rested midway. They took a temporary break there, preparing to discuss how to deal with the eye-eating beasts and the returning sound beasts, as they knew they would likely encounter them if they continued forward.

They needed to conserve their strength for the inevitable confrontation.

Relying on memory, Nan Shan drew a detailed local map on the ground. He had walked this path since the age of thirteen or fourteen, during the two rounds of mountain patrol every time the mountain gate reversed. He could draw the terrain with precision even with his eyes closed.

"This time we've gone the farthest here, and the Stele Forest is here." Nan Shan marked the large mountain they had climbed and extended the route by about one-fifth of its length. "We've covered eighty percent of the journey, following a primary river. Some of the tributaries are deep, and I've already marked them. These areas are likely to be frequented by sound beasts."

"Now we're at this location, and on this side, the dense forest occupied by eye-eating beasts." Nan Shan pointed to a spot and then drew a circle, patting the soil on his hand. "Eye-eating beasts usually dislike migration unless their original habitat becomes uninhabitable. They mostly need trees and water, so I can deduce that they came from the south. This time, we should try to head north, follow along the base of the mountain, and circumvent it slightly rather than directly confronting them."

Chu Huan interjected lazily, "That group of eye-eating beasts live in colonies, and their fragrance can spread for miles. Other animals can't possibly miss it. Flat-slice people and sound beasts should also try to find a way around. We should avoid them, and it's best not to come across them at all."

"Flat-slice people are quite intelligent; they probably won't actively provoke large groups of sound beasts. They are good at group attacks, but even if they hunt, they should target individual prey," Yuan Ping continued. "So, they should avoid areas with more water. The mountains are the most likely place for them, where they can find clean and safe water sources nearby."

Da Shan asked, "Chief, if both the mountain roads and waterways are unsafe, what should we do?"

"I know a way," Little Fang suddenly interjected. "There's a shortcut—a frigid pool that runs through the mountains. The cave is small, so the sound beasts can't enter. We won't have to climb or go around the mountain; we can swim directly across from below. Flat-slice people are not good swimmers, so they probably won't venture into the mountain pool. Even if they encounter Mutayi, without flat-slice people commanding them, they should be easy to deal with."

When they came, nobody knew that the forest they passed through had been occupied by a group of eye-eating beasts, so Little Fang didn't have a chance to propose this idea. But now, it could come in handy for their return journey.

Nan Shan promptly agreed and nodded, "Good, everyone rest for a while. We'll set out at daybreak tomorrow."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Huan stood up and declared, "I'll take the first watch." Without waiting for a response, he walked to the cave entrance.

Nan Shan looked at his thin figure and opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but ended up staying silent, letting Chu Huan be.

Chu Huan sat alone near the campfire, clasping his hands behind his head, as he lay on the ground, gazing up at the faint Milky Way above.

Regarding the Fallen Land, Chu Huan was still confused. It was something he had never seen before and couldn't comprehend, but he instinctively knew it was extremely dangerous.

After two days of frantic escape, Chu Huan had calmed down. He realized that Nan Shan had become distant from him, seemingly after witnessing the Fallen Land.

Connecting the dots, Chu Huan could easily understand what Nan Shan was thinking. The changes in the world probably exceeded Nan Shan's expectations. If their enemy was a person, even if it were a bizarre monster, it could still be defeated. However, what if the "enemy" was the world itself?

Nan Shan likely realized that he might not find any hope in their sacred scriptures, and when the mountain gate reversed again, with Nan Shan's stubborn character, he might just push himself out without a word, forever banishing him from this absurd and perilous world.

Chu Huan sighed, thinking of some wild stories he had read in the past. Those tales from the borderlands were both lurid and venomous, describing how some mysterious ethnic groups used all sorts of means to ensnare outsiders and how ruthless and fanatical they were, like saying, "If I die, you'll die too," or "Dare to betray me, or I'll leave your bones behind."

There were countless bizarre methods in this place, and since it was the territory of the mountain guardians, they could do whatever they wanted without consequences. It was indeed a perfect opportunity for Nan Shan to be more selfish and ruthless.

After spacing out for a while, Chu Huan realized he was seeking self-inflicted suffering. He couldn't help but deride himself, muttering, "Stupid bonehead."

However, Nan Shan remained silent and firm, and Chu Huan couldn't do anything about it.

In the latter half of the night, Nan Shan came over to relieve Chu Huan from his watch. He had a look of detachment and boundary-setting, telling Chu Huan, "Go rest for a while."

Chu Huan's gaze shifted, focusing on Nan Shan, saying nothing, just observing him.

Under the weight of Chu Huan's silent gaze, Nan Shan seemed like he wanted to flee. After a while, he squatted down and slowly removed the ring from his finger, placing it beside Chu Huan.

Chu Huan sat up, picked up the platinum band, and flipped it around in his hand, letting the reflected light sting his eyes.

Suppressing his emotions, he asked with an emotionless face, although he knew the answer, "What do you mean by this?"

Nan Shan's voice was hushed, as if he didn't want anyone else to hear, "I'm giving it back to you." After a pause, he seemed to steel himself, taking a deep breath and speaking in a business-like tone, "The sacred scriptures say there will be someone who can bridge the past and the future, the present world and the end of the world. I always thought that person was you, but now it seems unlikely. We're surrounded by the Fallen Land, and it's too late to determine whether you are the chosen one or not. Once this winter is over and the mountain gate reverses, I'll send you away. Don't come back, and let's not see each other again."