Chapter 116: Lost in the Snow Mountain 19

Chapter 116: Lost in the Snow Mountain 19

In a corner, by the gray moth sculpture, players huddled together, craning their necks to get a glimpse of the mural carved into the stone.

Unnoticed, not far away on the other side, Guliang was crouched on the ground, furtively digging at something.

Zou Hu was at the very front.

This clue was his find. He had circled the gray moth sculpture several times, carefully running his hands over every inch until he felt an inconspicuous gap on the base.

After prying open the loose stone slab, the mural came into view.

It was a series of connected images, lines and reliefs chiseled into the stone seat, then filled with pigments. The result was a beautiful and intricate picture.

The first image depicted a person standing in the mountains, raising their hands to the sky as if praying for something.

In the second image, numerous tiny holes appeared on the snow where the person stood.

Long, worm-like creatures clung to the person's body, while more worms emerged from the holes in the ground.

These worms burrowed into the person through their eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.

In this image, there was a particularly gruesome focus on a worm crawling into the person's eye socket and into the eyeball itself, a sight that was both horrifying and nauseating.

The third image no longer showed a complete person, but rather an elliptical cross-section.

Initially, the players didn't understand its meaning until Qin Fei suggested that it was likely an internal view of the person's abdominal cavity from the previous two images.

The worms had entered his stomach, nested inside, pupated, cocooned, and finally transformed into the flying moths with compound gray eyes that the players had encountered.

At this point, the environment outside had returned to normal, and the holes in the snow had vanished.

The last image lacked detail, simply depicting a humanoid monster with long, twisted limbs and an abnormally bloated belly lying on the ground.

Clearly, this was the entire process of a human transforming into a snow monster after mistakenly entering the snow mountain.

"I understand now," Zou Hu said, his face pale. "What we saw when we dissected the snow monster and Diao Ming were un-hatched worm cocoons."

After the snow monster died, the cocoons inside melted into clusters of thin black threads, like silkworm silk after being boiled in water.

Those indistinct chunks of strange flesh.

Were they the corpses of the worms inside the cocoons?

Qin Fei's eyelid twitched. "And the holes we saw in the snow."

They perfectly matched the scene in the second image.

Those snow holes were created by the worms.

"Ugh—"

Cen San Ya, who had been standing calmly beside them, quietly raised his hand to cover his mouth.

He suppressed his urge to vomit, his expression unchanged, but a ridiculous thought surged through his mind:

Had those worms already burrowed into their bodies?

Cen San Ya shuddered imperceptibly.

"Could Zhou Li have died this way?" Ding Li asked.

Ying Huo glanced at Qin Fei with a peculiar expression upon hearing this.

Qin Fei had told him about the snow monster in the cabin being Zhou Li, and he had relayed the information to the Dawn Squad.

But aside from them, the other players should still be unaware.

He turned to look at Wen Ren Liming.

Wen Ren Liming turned his head away.

Brat, why was he looking at him? Their current mission to clear the game had changed!

Since Zhou Li had become a snow monster, she must have gone through the processes depicted in the images, but this couldn't be the whole story—if it were that simple, the Living faction should have received notifications of completing their mission by now.

Why did Zhou Li suddenly enter the snow mountain?

What happened during the two months she spent at home after leaving school that made her so strange?

These were questions that still needed to be explored by the players.

For a 100% completion rate, they had only accomplished half of it.

And the remaining 50%...

Wen Ren Liming recalled what Little Qin had said to him this morning, along with that smug smile:

"I can assure you that only players in the Dead faction can clear this instance."

Wen Ren Liming took a deep breath and retreated to the side, pretending to be a quail.

Zou Hu was utterly confused by the exchange between Boss and Ying Huo, and asked, "We...?"

In the pitch-black temple, only the faint light from Zou Hu's flashlight illuminated the area.

The red candle beneath the stone sculpture had been extinguished for a long time, but suddenly reignited.

In the next moment, Guliang's scream echoed throughout the entire temple!

"Ahhhhhh!!!"

A heart-wrenching and excruciating scream suddenly erupted, causing everyone's hearts to jolt!

Zouhu swiftly turned around.

Beyond the towering stone statue, he only saw a gray shadow struggling desperately in the darkness.

Zouhu couldn't even discern what that shadow was.

Was it human, or something else?

The fragmented shadows converged and dispersed on him, Zouhu took two steps closer and exclaimed in horror,

"It's a moth!"

Countless moths!

Gray moths of unknown origin had completely surrounded Guliang, just like locusts eyeing ripe wheat.

The players couldn't see Guliang's face; it was entirely covered by the wings of the moths. However, the pool of blood seeping onto the floor and the man's anguished cries were enough to shock anyone.

The players quickly rushed over.

Wu Meng swung his long knife at the moths, countless moths fell to the ground, only for more to fly over from all directions.

Their target was clear, they only focused on Guliang, ignoring the other players.

Guliang's screams never ceased.

The moths' wings gradually turned bloody, the gray wings with fine hairs became crimson, the eyes on the wings were vividly lifelike. As the wings fluttered, they resembled malicious real eyes, staring intently at everyone present.

"The compound-eyed moths appeared suddenly when the red candle lit up."

Qin Fei was the first to react.

He didn't know how long Guliang had been squatting there alone, nor did he know what Guliang was doing.

But Guliang's screams indeed coincided with the appearance of the candlelight, Qin Fei could confirm this.

"Quick, extinguish the candle!"

Wu Meng and Zouhu simultaneously rushed towards the gray moth sculpture.

The red candle flickered on and off, sometimes lighting up, and then automatically going out again. The players failed to figure out its pattern and could only leave it aside.

However, now when the players wanted to extinguish the candle, they realized they couldn't do it at all!

Wu Meng broke out in a cold sweat in the bone-chilling snow mountain temple.

He and Zouhu first blew on the red candle a few times, then knocked it over and beat it with their clothes.

But the flame seemed to be rooted in the wick, burning in an almost absurd manner.

The bloodstains on the floor grew larger, pooling together.

Guliang's voice grew weaker, seemingly on the brink of death.

Initially, the players scrambled to help, but now they had all soberly realized that what they were doing was futile.

They could only stand by dejectedly and bewilderedly.

A few minutes later, the red candle beneath the sculpture went out automatically.

Only then did the moths, already saturated with blood, disperse.

Guliang slumped on the floor, unconscious.

"Hiss..."

The sound of everyone drawing in a sharp breath filled the air.

Guliang's current appearance was indeed terrifying.

His face and body were covered in tiny wounds, crisscrossed with red marks. His facial skin was swollen, barely recognizable as his original features.

These moths didn't just bite, they attacked indiscriminately. Guliang's windbreaker and inner clothing were damaged to some extent, and the exposed parts of his body were just as horrific as his face.

But the most frightening part was his right arm.

The entire sleeve of his jacket was nowhere to be found, from the elbow down to the fingertips, not a single piece of intact skin remained.

The flesh on his arm was gnawed away, leaving gaping wounds, nearly one-third of the lower part of his arm revealed the bone, and the entire hand had almost turned into a skeletal claw.

"Guliang? Guliang!"

Ah Hui called out to him several times, receiving no response. She approached him fearfully to check his breathing.

"He's still alive!"

Ah Hui sighed in relief and hastily rummaged through her personal space for a blood replenishing potion, pouring it into Guliang's mouth.

High-level players weren't short of potions in the instance. After all, they were ordinary medicines available in the mall, so Ah Hui was quite generous.

Everyone surrounded Guliang, some administering medicine, others stopping the bleeding, and they clumsily carried him to the other side.

Only Qin Fei lagged behind.

When no one noticed, he swiftly bent down and picked up a fragment of broken stone.

...

Guliang was force-fed countless health potions by the players, who pried open his jaw.

In truth, the players weren't particularly familiar with each other within the instance dungeon.

The others were less concerned about saving Guliang's life than they were about simply waking him up.

They wanted to hear from him what he had done that triggered such dire consequences.

Fifteen minutes later, Guliang finally regained consciousness with a faint groan.

His first action upon waking was to scream, but his mouth was promptly covered by Wen Renliming's hand.

Guliang's eyes suddenly widened.

After a moment, he came to understand his current situation.

Wen Renliming withdrew his hand and frowned at him. "How did you attract the gray moths?"

Guliang's gaze flickered. "I... I wanted to pry up that floor tile and accidentally spilled blood on the ground."

"Blood??" Ah Hui couldn't help raising her voice. "You knew the rules said no blood, right?"

If it was during a monster attack and breaking the rule was necessary for self-defense, that would be one thing.

But why would someone deliberately do something against the rules?

Ah Hui's expression was complicated. "If you hadn't said before... I'd say you're more like it."

If you hadn't mentioned that you thought Xiao Qin was the deceased, I would have thought you were the one trying to lead everyone astray.

She didn't finish her sentence, leaving some face for Guliang, but his cheeks were already flushed with shame.

Wen Renliming was perplexed. "Why would you go and pry up the floor tiles for no reason?"

Guliang looked at Wen Renliming's face, which was close to his, then turned to Qin Fei standing in the shadows behind them. His face paled.

He dared not admit that he had intended to pick up whatever Xiao Qin had missed.

Guliang stammered a few times, then simply closed his eyes and feigned unconsciousness.

The others stared blankly.

Could you make your acting any worse!

Wen Renliming sighed. "Since he attracted the monsters due to his injury, we should be fine if we're more careful after tonight."

The temple had been thoroughly searched several times, and aside from the murals beneath the pedestal, the players found nothing else of note.

The group returned to sit in the corner.

This time, Guliang was genuinely unconscious; his injuries were too severe, and the health potions could only barely sustain his life.

Wen Renliming arranged a watch schedule for the group, with two people taking turns every hour to keep watch and monitor Guliang, feeding him health potions to prevent him from dying in his coma.

Players not on duty went to rest nearby, while Qin Fei huddled in his sleeping bag. He chose a very secluded spot, precisely in the darkest corner where others couldn't clearly see him.

This was a position he had deliberately selected.

The red candle on the statue's pedestal lit once again, its flame casting a thin layer of black silhouette on the wall next to the youth's profile.

His pale skin, the graceful lines of his profile, and the thin lips drained of color due to hypothermia took on an almost rebellious and sinister charm in the dim red glow.

The barrage of comments instantly filled with praise.

"Wife is truly beautiful!"

"Huh? You don't need to compliment the streamer every time, okay? And besides, if you want to compliment someone, go compliment your own wife! Why are you complimenting my wife?!"

"Is there anyone who knows how to do business? I need merchandise related to the streamer! Merchandise, I tell you!!!"

The infatuated viewers writhed in agony and ecstasy on the other side of the light screen, while those more interested in the plot couldn't take their eyes off the live broadcast.

The streamer was holding something in his hand!!

"I have a feeling that this time, the exploration level of the snow mountain instance will be unprecedentedly high."

A high-level spirit, glowing with golden light, stood before the light screen in the A-class streaming hall, his eyes brimming with excitement.

The snow mountain instance was rarely deployed, and its exploration level had never been high.

In every previous stream, the living faction always emerged victorious.

What dead faction? What guiding place? The audience had never even seen the mission prompts!

The spirit's eyes burned as he fixed his gaze on Qin Fei's hand.

There was a stone slab, which Qin Fei was playing with between his fingers.

The youth's expression was cold, and his light-colored eyes appeared dark in the shadows, making it impossible to discern what he was thinking.

The stone slab was small, no larger than a palm, and it bore an image carved using the same technique as the statue's pedestal.

Compared to the murals, the picture on this stone slab seemed overly abstract.

At the center of the image was an irregular circle, inside which were two downward-pointing lines.

...What does this mean?

Qin Fei scrutinized it for a long time but could not make heads or tails of it.

The black crystal ring emitted intense heat again when he touched the stone slab, then calmed down and did not transmit any new information.

This stone slab was what the black crystal ring wanted him to find.

To be honest, Qin Fei had obtained this item thanks to Guliang.

Under the guidance of the black crystal ring, he searched inch by inch through the temple floor, and after much effort, he finally pinpointed the location. However, he could not find any clues on that tile no matter what.

Qin Fei had originally thought about lifting the tile to take a look, but the stone slab was not something that could be easily broken.

Coincidentally, there was a new development with the statue, so Qin Fei rushed over to check. He had initially intended to borrow Wu Meng’s knife that could cut through iron like butter along the way, but he never expected Guliang to be hiding behind and taking advantage of the situation. He was so fierce that he went straight in with his bare hands!

The small stone slab was hidden under that tile, but as soon as Guliang lifted the tile, the candles in the temple lit up.

He was besieged by the gray moth swarm and naturally had no time to do a second check.

Thus, Qin Fei picked up the leftovers again.

As Qin Fei thought about it, he carefully examined the stone slab in his hand.

What did the drawing on it mean?

There was no trace of contamination on this broken stone piece. The fragment of the source of contamination would definitely not be hidden here.

Then, could it be a map-like search item?

Perhaps the picture drawn on it pointed to the direction where the source of contamination was hiding.

Was it a guiding place?

Qin Fei felt like his head was going to explode.

His soft fingertips caressed the black stone piece repeatedly. Qin Fei was at a loss and fell asleep without realizing it.

He woke up groggily after an unknown amount of time.

The bone-chilling wind gushed into the room through the gaps in the outer wall bricks. The entire temple was as cold as an ice cellar, and the wind crept into his clothes through his collar.

Qin Fei frowned with blurred eyes.

The faint light in the temple was enough to indicate that it was already dawn.

The task prompt on the attribute panel had refreshed, showing that the task was completed.

Most players were resting, and Qin Fei sat up halfway.

Wu Meng and Zou Hu were sitting by the door, keeping watch.

Qin Fei should have been woken up in the middle of the night for his shift, but no one came to call him. Perhaps Wen Ren Liming had given him another favor.

Qin Fei always felt that Wen Ren Liming’s attitude towards him now was strange.

A little bit of awe, a little bit of flattery.

And a little bit indescribable.

Guliang lay beside Wu Meng, and he had also woken up. He was staring blankly at the air with his eyes wide open.

The wounds on his face and body had been treated with medicine, and the redness and bleeding had subsided significantly, but the arm muscles devoured by the moths would not grow back.

He looked at his hand, pondered for a long time, got up slowly, and went over to say a few words to Wu Meng.

Qin Fei did not hear the content of their conversation clearly, but Wu Meng seemed very surprised. After confirming with Guliang several times, he pushed open the temple door and led Guliang out into the snow.

One minute later.

All the players who were still sound asleep were startled awake by an exceptionally piercing scream.

…

"Guliang is really ruthless."

Ah Hui secretly glanced at the youth being supported by Duan Nan who was following behind them and whispered to Ding Li with lingering fear.

Although Guliang had managed to save his life, his arm was injured too severely, and the debuff could not be eliminated.

He had to keep drinking health potions to barely maintain his health points above the minimum requirement.

In this state, it was obviously impossible to survive for long in the instance dungeon—the living conditions in the snowy mountain instance dungeon were harsh, and even for players with healthy bodies, it was equally difficult to bear.

In order to restore himself to the best possible condition as soon as possible, Guliang requested Wu Meng to chop off his arm with one slash.

A wound from a severed arm was much easier to deal with than an entire useless arm.

After applying medicine and bandaging the wound, the weakened state would automatically disappear after resting for some time. It was just that the inconvenience caused by the loss of an arm would remain.

"Sigh." Ah Hui sighed.

Guliang’s choice of treatment had obvious benefits, but the drawbacks were also significant.

In the instance dungeon, as long as one did not suffer too severe injuries, they could automatically recover when they left the instance dungeon and returned to the central city.

However, if the injury was too severe, it would not work.

Like Guliang directly cutting off a section of his arm with flesh and bone, it was impossible for it to automatically recover.

After returning to the central city, he would have to spend a huge amount of points to exchange for higher-level healing medicine; otherwise, he could only remain crippled for subsequent instance dungeons.

Those points weren't something the average player could afford to lose.

And in a high-level instance world, how many broadcasts could a player with a missing arm survive?

Ding Li thought Guliang had made the right choice.

One had to preserve their life first before they could talk about the future.

Today was the third day for the players in the instance, and the temperature on the snowy mountain had dropped even further.

The thermal effect of their jackets continued to decrease, and the snowshoes were no longer effective. Heavy snow fell into their shoes, causing their feet to crack from the cold.

Fortunately, there was still plenty of food and water left, which helped ease everyone's anxiety.

"Don't be too nervous. Our mission completion rate is getting higher and higher."

Wen Ren Liming held the map and compass, pushing forward against the wind and snow.

After successfully completing the temple check-in, they began to move towards their next destination, and so far, the journey had been relatively smooth.

Aside from the heavy snow making the mountain path difficult to traverse, the players hadn't encountered any other obstacles.

Their destination was now within sight.

Wen Ren Liming stopped, his expression somewhat strange.

"Captain?" Wu Meng stopped alongside Wen Ren.

They were now standing at the edge of a cliff, facing an abyss of the snowy mountain that seemed bottomless: "How did we end up here?"

Wen Ren closed his eyes: "We've arrived."

At the fourth check-in point indicated on the map.

It was this very cliff.

Wu Meng couldn't believe it: "Arrived??"

Indeed, they had arrived, and the system promptly issued the task.

"Congratulations to the players for successfully reaching the Snowy Mountain Secret Realm (4/5). Please descend the cliff wall to the Ostadia Snow Mountain Canyon and cross the entire canyon!"

(Please note: Check-in location 5 requires crossing the Snowy Mountain Canyon to reach successfully. This is the only passable route in the instance.)

Wu Meng: "…"

Threat, this was definitely a blatant threat!!

Guliang's face turned a ghastly white this time.

Whether it was when he was nearly bitten to death by the moths or when he begged Wu Meng to help him sever his own arm, Guliang had never felt such profound despair.

He had just cut off his own arm, how could he possibly descend this cliff?!

He opened his helpless eyes, looking around frantically. When he met Qin Fei's gaze, he was momentarily stunned by the casual smile in the other's eyes.

"You..." Guliang stuttered but couldn't get the words out.

Qin Fei smiled insincerely: "Actually, you don't have much to fear."

Guliang didn't understand what he meant.

Qin Fei's gaze shifted towards the nearby area.

On the snow-covered ground beside them, Cen San Ya had silently moved next to Wu Meng after the task was issued. Now, the two were whispering to each other, heads close together.

"Just watch, he's definitely going to have Wu Meng carry him down," Qin Fei declared.

Cen San Ya's physical condition was terrible; he panted after every three steps. Asking him to go rock climbing was no different than asking him to jump straight down from here.

"You figure it out yourself," Qin Fei said indifferently, strolling aside to join Wen Ren Liming in studying the canyon terrain.

A spark of hope rekindled in Guliang's eyes.

...

"How come I feel like this cliff isn't that hard to climb?"

Wu Meng's strong hands tightly gripped the ice-covered rocks, taking steady steps at each position.

Cen San Ya was tied to his back with a rope, resembling a bundle of vegetables strapped to someone's back at a market.

For a player with Wu Meng's exceptional physical strength, carrying a person on his back wasn't a big deal.

During their squad's regular training, they would practice carrying weights, running cross-country while supporting or assisting their companions, all to simulate any possible unexpected situations that might occur in instances.

Compared to the other burly men in Dawn Squad, Cen San Ya was almost laughably petite and frail.

Guliang wasn't much either.

Guliang had found Zou Hu to help him down the cliff. Not far from the two, Ying Huo was carrying NPC Kong Siming on his back.

The others were relying on themselves to climb.

The members of Y University's club had professional rock climbing equipment in their backpacks, including chisels, hand ascenders, and climbing ropes.

Although this cliff looked terrifying to the naked eye, in reality, there was an outward slope at regular intervals.

The climb was risky but not fatal.

The players' expressions were gradually improving.

But Qin Fei's heart sank inch by inch.

Every side mission released by the system had its dangers and challenges. In practice, this cliff turned out to be easier than the steep slope they had climbed before heading to Snow Village. It was hard for Qin Fei to believe that the instance would be so merciful.

If rock climbing wasn't difficult, the real challenge might only erupt after they officially entered the canyon.

No one knew what awaited them below,

If it was a narrow canyon bottom like a thread of sky, once attacked, escaping would likely be very difficult.

After an unknown amount of time, everyone's breathing grew heavier as their strength waned.

Finally, the bottom of the canyon came into view.

Zou Hu suddenly found renewed energy, his movements quickening with a whoosh. In no time, he reached their destination.

He unclasped the chest harness and placed Guliang on the ground.

Guliang was still shaken.

Although he didn't have to do anything himself, the fright Guliang experienced on this journey was no less than any other player.

Although Zou Hu had agreed to take him down the mountain, they had also made a clear agreement.

Given the special terrain of the cliff, if any emergencies occurred on the cliff, in order to protect himself, Zou Hu would immediately unclip the chest harness and drop Guliang.

At that moment, death would be certain.

Standing on solid ground, Guliang broke out in a cold sweat, feeling a sense of joy at surviving a close call.

He looked around.

This was a very narrow canyon path, sandwiched between two towering snow-capped mountains. When looking up, all one could see was a thin, straight strip of sky.

The road inside the canyon was flat, and the entire canyon was extremely long. Standing here, whether looking forward or backward, one couldn't see the end.

Thick snow piled up at the bottom of the canyon. Guliang stood in place, waiting for the other players to descend.

Guliang felt a bit ashamed, wondering if Little Qin had noticed his suspicions about him earlier.

Last night in the temple, Little Qin had given him some wound medicine and health potions.

Just now, at the edge of the cliff, he even reminded him that he could seek help from the Dawn Squad.

Guliang now deeply regretted his actions. He felt that he had been too clever for his own good, thinking the worst of people.

They were clearly, all excellent companions.

As Guliang pondered this, his eyes casually glanced over and spotted a strange, bulging snow pile not far away.

It was as if... something was buried in the snow.