The Emperor’s Daily Nitpicking - CH 23.2

However, if they had climbed two-thirds of the thousand metres, only several hundred metres were left. If they thought of it as walking on level ground, it indeed made them feel better.

But…..

Was the leader a fucking monster?! Why was everyone already tired like a dead dog, but he could still talk without flushing? It was fine to speak, but he even fucking dared to look back!

A group of big and small elite legion officers finally could feel the injustice of the gods. Why was the gap between men so wide?! Why was there such a prodigy like Fassbinder!

Kevin climbed forward a little further until the rope tied between him and Ben tightened again before stopping once more. Only this time, instead of calmly turning back to talk, he pressed his ear to the wall and held his breath for a moment to listen.

A faint rustling sound came along the hard rocky mountain wall as if something was moving inside the mountain.

Luckily, the others were so focused on their nearly numb hands and feet that no one noticed this creepy sound that made one’s blood run cold when recalled.

Kevin listened for a moment and lifted his head with a frown, his calm, relaxed expression finally showing signs of tensing up.

So, they should have rushed when climbing this damn mountain…..

He lamented in his heart but didn’t look back to urge the others to climb faster because there wouldn’t be any result in urging them.

“In a while, you guys may see some hideous things falling from the peak.” Kevin’s tone was still flat, as if he was instructing some ordinary things. “Don’t care about it and continue to climb well. But avoid it a little so you won’t be smothered back down after climbing up so far.”

When they heard him say that at first, the first thing that came to their minds was falling rock from the mountain. Except for a couple of sighs, they didn’t really think it was that scary. It was not until they heard a sudden sound above their heads from some distance away.

It was a bizarre sound; the tone was like a human’s voice, but it was obscure, and they couldn’t hear the content clearly.

If one had to describe it, it was like a group of people with their tongues pulled out, communicating by yelling, but no one could understand what they were shouting about.

Why would there be a sound like this at the peak?!

When the crowd thought about it, they felt their scalps tingle slightly.

“The world is big, and we have to accept the existence of every kind of ethnic group calmly.” Kevin’s voice came from overhead. That pervert actually had the strength to tease them at a time like this. “You can’t discriminate against them even if they look ugly.”

Everyone: “…..”

Kevin grasped a stone in one hand and chiselled the short knife into the mountain wall with the other, quietly leaning on the rocky surface and squinting at the milky white fog hanging over the summit like a snake slithering against the wall and waiting for an opportunity to move.

Suddenly, the outlines of dark shadows appeared one after another in the milky white mist.

Kevin’s body tensed: Here it comes!

Almost in the blink of an eye, the black shadows in the fog leapt down with great speed. They seemed to have suckers on their hands and feet, and instead of rolling straight down to the foot of the hill, they bounced down and met Kevin in two steps.

Kevin’s words just now weren’t a mockery; these things were truly ugly.

There was almost no “neck” between their large heads and their bodies, as if they were carrying an old pumpkin on their shoulders. The upper part of their bodies was almost as thin as a match, and even the ribs were clearly defined. But they had a perfectly round belly as if they were inflated, and further down were two skinny legs, so thin that they looked as if they could break with a pinch.

In fact, Kevin actually raised his hand to pinch it.

The skin on these creatures was like the bark of a hundred-year-old tree. When they were crushed, they made a crunching sound as if trampling on dead leaves; it sounded indescribably disgusting.

They were fast and strong. As long as their fingers, which were like dried firewood, touched a human, they would firmly cling to them. Amidst the pull and tug, someone climbing the mountain would easily be pulled straight down and fall into a pile of mush at the foot of the mountain.

Kevin firmly gripped the hilt of his knife with one hand, which had been chiselled deep into the rock, and he hooked the monster’s leg like a gust of the wind with the other hand. As the weird creature was about to grab his arm, he broke its bones with a loud “click” and threw it off without a second thought.

As the seven or eight monsters lunged in quick succession, Kevin climbed again with his free hand and pulled out the short knife he had chiselled into the wall in a flash. Then, without further ado, he lifted it and cut the creature.

The monster’s large belly was probably the softest part of its body, and Kevin was able to cut one off with a single slice of his blade as if cutting a bean curd.

Before the goosebumps of the people climbing the mountain below could be subdued, they heard a mournful shriek from the top of their heads; the howl was so loud that it hurt their eardrums.

Immediately afterwards, black shadows endlessly fell from both sides, so fast that the crowd was overwhelmed.

The officer at the far end of the line could not help but glance after the falling shadows, and his calf twitched – the strange creature’s old bark-like face was horrifying, but the abyss beneath his feet, which he couldn’t see the end, was even more terrifying.

He looked away and firmly stared at the stone wall that was so close, silently mouthing several times: “Don’t look back; almost there. Don’t look back; almost there.” His heart, which was about to burst out of his throat, calmed down slightly.

Oswald had a good saying, “Even if you don’t get injured, you only have one head and two hands. To take on a thousand with one is only a dream.”

No matter how agile Kevin was, he only had two hands. Besides, one had to cling to the wall. He could only hold off the strange creatures for a moment.

Luckily, there weren’t too many strange creatures coming down the mountain, only eight or nine. Kevin was able to get them all down before his arm cramped up. He spun his wrist to relax his muscles a little, then chiselled his blade into the wall and said to those below.

Everyone had mixed feelings for a while.

When they came out of the Wujinxuan Palace, they had the idea of helping Kevin out in their hearts. After all, anyone in their right mind would have thought that “going alone to the Tomb of the God Phae is courting death,” but they didn’t have the heart to say it.

They felt that having so many people together would undoubtedly make it easier for Kevin.

Before the climb, they had been very firm in their thinking. After all, they had done most of the work of setting up the tents, finding food, boiling water, and feeding the hippogriffs, including the night watch. But now, they were a little embarrassed, as if they had been slapped in the face with a hot, straight slap.

Help? Made it easier for him?

Hehe.

Everyone practically let out a hollow laugh in their hearts.

From the moment they climbed up the wall to the higher they climbed, they realised that they were not here to help but were sent by the enemy to act as undercover agents for Kevin, the kind of people dedicated to holding him back.

If not for them, Kevin would have been standing at the peak by now and naturally wouldn’t have had to go through the wave of physical combat he had just experienced. Despite that, he still sounded as if he was relaxed.

“What were those things?” It was still the same officer who asked about ‘climbing or going around the mountain’ who spoke first. “Why did they come down from the peak? Did they live on the mountain?”

Kevin deliberately chose the words for a while before finally answering, “It’s not like that. They live in the mountain.”

“…..” The officer couldn’t grasp the difference for a moment. After all, when you usually said ‘on the mountain’ and ‘in the mountain,’ the meaning was not significantly different.

“About these things…..Take them as Whitehead Hill’s native.” Kevin also didn’t know how to explain the existence of this thing. He continued to climb up the wall while saying, “Didn’t we already discuss this before? We have to accept the existence of every kind of ethnic group calmly.”

“Did you mean these things when you said we would encounter some troublesome things last night?” Ben gasped and followed behind him while asking.

“More or less.” Kevin wanted to say that it wasn’t all but was afraid that it wouldn’t be wonderful if the person behind him rolled off with a slip of the hand after hearing that. “As far as I know, those things just now like to come out at night. The several ones just now probably didn’t have a good routine.”

He deliberately said more so that the crowd, who were suffering from both exhaustion and shock, would ease up a little; focussing on the words probably would make the climb less tiring.

“We wouldn’t only meet these few if we came up last night. Maybe they would have come down in large numbers.” Kevin clicked his tongue twice. “They would rush down like a high tide, and I couldn’t have blocked everything.”

Everyone slightly imagined that scene, and their faces turned a little green.

In between saying these words, they had climbed up another section.

Although everyone was worried, they were lucky. They passed this section smoothly without mishap and didn’t meet any tricks. The only danger was that the wall was covered with snow and ice, making it cold and slippery to the touch.

But they had a sabre in each hand to chisel in the wall, so they were not afraid of slippage. Moreover, they were already sweating from the climb, so it didn’t matter if they touched it; they could cool off.

“We’re here.” Kevin’s two faint words were more uplifting than any stimulant.