Young hero, stay put and don't be reckless.

Chapter 119 I'm used to it

The closer you get to Kunwu Mountain, the worse the weather becomes.

The wind cut like a knife, the snow hit our faces like sand, and the horses became restless, snorting and refusing to move forward.

As we approached the foot of the mountain, my worst fears came true.

First came a muffled "boom" from the mountaintop, like thunder, or like something had collapsed.

Huang Hu's expression changed, and he shouted sharply, "Avalanche! Get out of the way!"

Before the words were even finished, a large expanse of white snow cascaded down from the mountaintop, like a white waterfall, rushing down with overwhelming force.

Wherever it passed, trees snapped, rocks crumbled, and the thunderous roar made people's ears ring and the ground beneath their feet trembled.

"Over there!" Chen Lei pointed to a huge rock. "Get behind it!"

Everyone ran desperately behind the rocks.

Jiang Xun ran a few steps, then suddenly realized something was wrong. He turned around and saw that Ye Qingying was not by his side, and Sun Xing and several guards were also gone.

"Where is Miss Ye?" he asked loudly, his voice half-swallowed by the wind and snow.

A guard, panting, pointed behind him: "They're over there! Captain Sun and a few other brothers were separated by the snowstorm; they seem to be trapped in a crevice over there!"

Before the words were finished, a faint cry came from the wind and snow, as if pleading for help.

Tuoba Feng had already dashed off, his speed astonishing, disappearing into the vast white snow in the blink of an eye.

Jiang Xun and the others reacted and followed closely behind.

The snow under my feet was already above my ankles. With each step, I sank in, pulled out, and sank in again, making it extremely difficult to run.

After walking about a hundred paces, I finally saw a figure.

A bottomless ice fissure lay before us, about two zhang wide, with jagged edges, like a gaping giant mouth.

Ye Qingying hung on the edge of the crack with one hand, while holding a sword in the other, the blade deeply embedded in the ice wall, barely managing to steady herself.

Beneath her feet lay a dark abyss, with pebbles and ice cascading down with a crashing sound, the bottom inaudible.

Sun Xing was also in the crack, but in a lower position.

They clung to protruding rocks on the ice wall, their situation even more precarious than Ye Qingying's.

One of the guards could no longer hold on; his fingers were slowly slipping away.

"Junior Sister Ye!" Chen Lei rushed to the edge of the crevice, bent down, and reached out, "Grab me!"

Ye Qingying looked up and shook her head: "I can't reach it, it's too far."

Without hesitation, Tuoba Feng untied his belt, threw one end to Chen Lei, grabbed the other end, and jumped down.

He slid down the ice wall and landed steadily beside Ye Qingying, one hand around her waist and the other holding her belt.

Ye Qingying blushed slightly, but didn't say anything.

"pull!"

Chen Lei and Jiang Xun pulled together, lifting the two of them upwards.

Ye Qingying was pulled up. Just as Tuoba Feng's foot left the edge of the crack, a large chunk of the ice wall beneath his feet suddenly collapsed, sending rubble and ice blocks crashing into the depths.

Jiang Xun breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could speak, another muffled sound came from the mountaintop, even deeper than the first one—the second avalanche had arrived.

Huang Hu's face turned green: "Run! It's too late!"

Everyone looked up and saw a huge wall of snow pressing down from the mountaintop, wider and more powerful than the first wave, swallowing everything in its path.

They were only a few hundred feet away; in the time it took to catch their breath, the impact would hit them on the head.

But Sun Xing is still trapped in the ice crevice.

Sun Xing looked up at the snow piled up on him, gritted his teeth, and shouted upwards, "You guys go first! I can get up!"

He untied a thin iron chain from his waist, the end of which was a three-pronged iron hook, strangely shaped like a scorpion's tail that had been tucked up.

With a flick of his wrist, the iron hook flew out and snagged precisely on a protruding rock above the crack.

He gave a sudden tug, and his whole body slid up the ice wall, quickly flipping out of the crack.

The movements were quick and steady, flowing smoothly without any unnecessary actions.

Jiang Xun frowned as he looked at it—he felt as if something had just clicked in his head.

Before they could think any further, the avalanche was already upon them.

"Let's go!" Huang Hu shouted.

Without further hesitation, everyone took off running.

Sun Xing lagged behind, relying on the scorpion tail hook to always narrowly avoid the snow flow.

Finally, everyone rushed behind the giant rock. The avalanche roared past on both sides like two white dragons, sweeping away everything in its path, but it did not harm the people behind the rock.

As the roaring sound faded into the distance, the group peeked out from behind the rocks.

The world was a vast expanse of white, and even the wind dared not breathe loudly.

Jiang Xun leaned against the rock, his ears ringing, his mouth full of the bitter taste of melting snow, but his gaze unconsciously fell on Sun Xing.

Sun Xing was squatting on the ground, slowly wrapping the iron chain around his waist, as if nothing had happened.

The group climbed out of the snowdrift and helped each other walk back.

A headcount revealed two dead—two guards who had gotten lost in the snowstorm, fallen into an ice crevasse, and were found frozen stiff, their faces and lips blue.

Huang Hu sighed and told Sun Xing to lead the remaining men to set up camp. Then he called Chen Lei and the other four men together.

"As you might have guessed, Kunwu Mountain is just ahead." Huang Hu pointed to the dark mountain silhouette in the distance. "The rest of the way is for just the few of us. The mountain path is too treacherous; the guards can't make it up."

The group looked up and saw a majestic snow-capped mountain, its peak hidden in the clouds, its white snow so dazzling it hurt their eyes.

Below the mountainside are dark brown rocks and sparse coniferous forests, with the mountain wind howling and whipping up snowflakes.

Chen Lei nodded and asked, "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow, wait for the wind to stop," Huang Hu said. "Get a good rest tonight and recharge your energy."

…………

Kunwu Mountain was much harder to climb than Jiang Xun had imagined.

The beginning was alright; although the path was steep, at least there was a road.

The higher you go, the narrower and more dangerous it becomes. Eventually, the road disappears, leaving only bare rocks and thick snow.

The wind was so strong I couldn't open my eyes, the air was getting thinner and thinner, and my chest felt tight with every step.

Jiang Xun gripped the cracks in the rock face with one hand and leaned on a tree branch with the other, inching his way up step by step, his palms sweating profusely.

The highest place he had ever climbed was Wushan in Qiantang, and he had never seen anything like this before.

After walking for less than half an hour, I was already panting heavily.

"Are you alright?" Ye Qingying walked ahead and glanced back at him.

"N-nothing...it's nothing." Jiang Xun leaned on his knees, panting heavily. "It's just...a little stuffy."

Tuoba Feng caught up from behind and handed him a water pouch: "Drink some water and walk slowly."

Jiang Xun took two sips and felt a little better.

"Do all of you northerners have goat hooves?" He watched Tuoba Feng and Xiao Rui walk steadily on the snow, feeling resentful. "How come you're not tired at all?"

"The North is not like the Central Plains; the conditions are just like this." Xiao Rui said with a half-smile, "We grew up in places like this; we're used to it."