Chapter 87: Never Abandon, Never Give Up

In the valley.

After forcing himself to calm down, Ren Ye started thinking of ways to “leap” across the canyon.

The canyon in front of him, which extended horizontally, was not excessively wide. From Ren Ye’s position to the opposite cliff, it was about eleven or twelve meters.

But this small distance was enough to be life-threatening. It was almost impossible to rely on one’s own strength to jump across after a running start; it was akin to a fool’s dream.

The only way to succeed in “leaping” over was to utilize all the available resources to build a “floating bridge” capable of supporting one person and providing leverage.

After some careful thought, Ren Ye decided to give it a try. He approached the edge of the cliff, using one arm to steady himself against a copper pillar while his other hand tried to grab the rope hanging from the cliff face.

After the floating bridge broke, half of it was still hanging on the cliff, with some ropes and wooden planks remaining.

Ren Ye stood with his feet barely an inch away from the cliff, his body battling the cold wind blowing downward, his posture precarious and about to topple.

At this point, any mistake could send him plummeting into the abyss, where his body would be shattered upon impact.

“Smack!”

Ren Ye tried his best to avoid looking at the bottomless abyss, instead reaching out with his hand to grab the rope, pulling hard upward.

“Whoosh, clatter!”

The rope hanging from the cliff moved upward a little, but quickly fell back down.

“Dammit, it’s a bit heavy,” Ren Ye muttered, staring with wide eyes. He tried pulling again, but the skin on his palm began to sting as if he were grasping a steel nail.

“Hiss!”

He inhaled sharply, instinctively retracting his hand into his sleeve and stepping back.

The rope with the wooden planks of the floating bridge had already frozen stiff from the extreme cold. When Ren Ye grabbed it, the sensation wasn’t cold but excruciating pain.

It was like reaching for a metal rod frozen for who knows how long in Siberia. After just two or three seconds of contact, the pain would be unbearable.

Ren Ye tried pulling the rope twice, but irritation started to well up inside him. He kept his right hand tucked in his sleeve for a few seconds before it felt a bit more relaxed.

Wait, hold on…

Just as Ren Ye was about to think of another way, he suddenly realized a detail he had overlooked.

His eyes brightened, and he quickly reached up to touch his fur robe, only to find that it hadn’t frozen stiff in the extreme cold.

It was still soft and elastic, just like before.

No. 4’s skin is pretty good…

Damn, what was I even thinking!

Ren Ye’s thoughts wandered. He immediately took off his fur robe and tossed it onto the ground, then huddled down, waiting quietly.

After a short while, he began to feel the skin on his body becoming itchy from the cold, and his ears started to heat up. He placed the hem of his robe on the cold ground to cushion himself.

After adjusting everything, he sat on the robe’s hem, hugged his knees with his left arm, curling up his body as much as possible. He draped the robe over himself with his right hand, using his knees to hold the lower edge, and clasped the top with both hands, fully enveloping himself in the robe.

A faint warmth spread through him, and he could no longer feel the cold from outside. Even his head, tucked inside the robe, was free of the sharp pain from the cold.

Damn it!

This robe… it’s the 11th coffin!

Earlier, his attention was focused on descending the mountain and the broken bridge. But now, upon careful reflection, after the drastic temperature drop, the robe was still warm, just like before. This definitely wasn’t an ordinary item!

In terms of resisting the cold, this thing was stronger the more extreme the conditions.

I knew it! After barely surviving the first challenge, enduring several rounds of targeted attacks from other players, they couldn’t possibly reward me with something useless like “clothes,” right?

Now, it seems that the reward from the first challenge was actually a setup for the second challenge.

However… this Star Gate doesn’t like to blatantly tell you about life-or-death decisions. It forces you to figure it out on your own.

Ren Ye stayed warm in the robe for a while, then suddenly stood up, put the robe back on, and moved toward the cliff edge.

He used the robe to cushion his hands, then grabbed the rope, pulling with all his strength.

At this critical moment, Ren Ye could have stayed inside the robe, spent the night on the mountain, and not bothered to descend.

The risk of building another suspension bridge was too high. Even if he managed to build it, running out of the mountain path from here would take at least 45 minutes, and too much could go wrong during that time…

But after thinking for just a moment, he decided to take the risk.

It was simple. That “bastard,” after cutting off his bridge, would have no time to gather wood. So how would he spend the night?

It was obvious—he would try to steal.

Just now, on the left mountain path, there was an unusual scene. While Ren Ye couldn’t be sure what happened there, he instinctively thought of the Princess…

Xu Qingzhao walked on the left mountain path. Would she be in danger?

Also, if Li Yan and Tang Feng found out he hadn’t returned, would they step in? Would they clash with other players?

Buddha, please protect us—please don’t let there be a conflict. If they step in, then Prince Huai’s faction will definitely be exposed, and they might even face a joint attack from other players.

Stay calm. I’m not dead yet.

If I die, the Star Gate will notify the faction about the loss of members. Don’t act impulsively.

As for Xu Qingzhao, if she is truly in danger, I must save her.

Whether I can save her is one thing, but whether I do is another.

Professionally, Ren Ye was once part of an anti-fraud team. He didn’t have the habit of abandoning his teammates. As for human nature, if Princess hadn’t helped him in the first act, he would have been dead by now.

Why did Princess Anping fall in love with Li Mu?

It was because of that one promise: a man’s word is as heavy as a thousand pieces of gold.

Although they didn’t have a dramatic slogan or a partnership that could shake the heavens, ever since entering the tomb, his beloved consort had been helping him!

Thinking of this, Ren Ye gritted his teeth, braving the cold wind on his face, and used both arms with all his strength once again.

“Whoosh!”

The rope was pulled up by a large amount, and Ren Ye seized this opportunity to wrap it around his waist and secure himself to the copper pillar, starting to spin vigorously.

The half-broken suspension bridge slowly rose, and in no time, it was hauled up.

At this point, Ren Ye’s body was beginning to stiffen from the cold. He hid inside the cloak to warm himself for a while before coming back out to quickly disassemble the wooden planks of the bridge.

Each wooden plank was about three meters long, and when the four were combined, they formed a length of twelve meters, which was just enough to span the two sides of the cliff.

But the problem was, how to connect these four wooden planks together and make them stable?

This was something that Ren Ye, with his sharp mind, had already figured out while inside the cloak.

The four planks were laid vertically to form a twelve-meter long board. Then, at the connecting points beneath them, he tied additional planks with rope, forming an inverted triangle to secure the structure.

With the ropes securing it, the “planks” could bear some weight.

However, it was still not stable, and whether it could bear a person’s weight was uncertain. If it collapsed underfoot, death would be inevitable.

Therefore, Ren Ye moved on to the second step of his plan.

He took out a water pouch from his cloak and began to pour water onto the triangular connection points of the wooden planks. Thanks to the cloak’s insulation, the water inside hadn’t frozen yet. He intended to use the extreme cold to freeze the connecting points of the planks together.

Unfortunately, the water wasn’t enough, and after soaking two of the connection points, it was used up.

“Damn it!”

Ren Ye unbuckled his belt, took a moment, and then used the water pouch to urinate into it.

After filling the entire pouch with his yellow fizzy water, he bent down, wrapped himself in his cloak, and carefully poured it over the connections.

In the Star Gate, it was all about using your wits and your reactions.

“Whoosh!”

The steaming yellow liquid poured slowly over the ropes and wooden planks. It quickly turned to ice shards and began to form a layer of ice.

…

Some time later, on the winding mountain path.

Xu Qingzhao walked very slowly.

Her body was covered in a thin layer of frost and snow, her limbs stiff, hobbling as she moved up the mountain.

Not long ago, after exiting her own mountain path, her first reaction was to head to the starting point.

But what Xu Qingzhao found was that at the starting point, there were only eight snow-capped coffins lined up in a row. She tried attacking one, attempting to kick the coffin lid off to find the person who had ambushed her, seeking revenge.

But to her surprise, her body was repelled by a burst of red fluorescent light.

Upon further thought, she realized that the Star Gate might have provided magical protection to prevent players from being ambushed while lying in their coffins at night. The coffins could only be opened from the inside.

At the same time, it seemed that the coffins were isolated from the outside world. She tried calling out but received no response.

The hour had passed, and the snow-capped coffins were now sealed off from the world. She had fallen into a trap.

But why were there only eight coffins at the starting point? Who else hadn’t returned besides herself?

After a brief thought, she guessed that the four people who ambushed her had probably also betrayed No. 5.

And No. 5… was that smooth-talking little guy.

For some unknown reason, as she faced death, she felt an impulse to go to the little guy’s mountain path.

Once entering the Star Gate, life and death were no longer fully within her control.

Since Xu Qingzhao had chosen to come to this place, she had already considered the possibility of failure. After all, no one had special privileges here.

If she were to feel any resentment, it was a bit of frustration.

However, that was not due to any attachment to this world. Her outwardly cold demeanor and lofty status made her the consort of Prince Huai of the Great Qian Dynasty, as well as the legitimate daughter of the First Minister of the Great Qian Dynasty… She had always been focused on her cultivation, giving the impression of someone who kept others at a distance and turned a blind eye to the mundane world.

But even if she was truly a celestial being, could she completely rid herself of humanity and forsake all desires and emotions?

Xu Qingzhao didn’t know, but she understood that she wasn’t as strong as she appeared. She too had grievances, despair, and even a bit of cowardice and self-doubt…

From birth, she had been treated as an outsider, growing up surrounded by rumors and discrimination.

She vaguely felt that she didn’t belong to this world, nor to the world of “outsiders”…

She had once tried to fit into the family that had raised her, but unfortunately… those “relatives” saw her only as something that could change the family’s fortunes. Perhaps they showed some outward respect, but secretly, there was nothing but gossip and contempt.

She slowly became more reserved, avoiding contact with others, and immersing herself in the pursuit of the Dao.

Today, she might die…

But when she thought about it, perhaps it wasn’t such a bad thing. The Dao follows nature, and when life reaches its end, it is the end.

However, that little guy had once casually mentioned the outside world…

“The outside world… is it as cold as this?”

Unknowingly, Xu Qingzhao stopped in her tracks.

She looked up at the bright moon and the wind and frost above, murmuring with a faint laugh, “Heh, I once thought that as a couple… though it was a falsehood, if I can leave, I’ll bury your body.”

“Forget it, I can’t move anymore… There’s no longer any white-clad guest in the world, from now on, a lone person enters a lonely tomb.”

“I’m luckier than Anping, in the White Mountain Snow Valley, two people are buried here.”

As her words ended, Xu Qingzhao stood there, slowly closing her eyes.