On the other side, Qin Jue was stuck on the eleventh mountain.
Because Xie Lin Lang walked quickly, she was now nowhere to be found. Currently in front of Qin Jue stood a step from a staircase that was the height of two people.
Calling it a staircase was a pretty accurate description. This mountain was different from the previous mountains in that the trees were scarce throughout the whole mountain, especially near the peak of the mountain. The mountain was completely bald around that area and the walls of the mountain were also completely vertical as if some higher being had randomly cut the stairs with an ax, resulting in varied short and tall walls extending all the way to the horizon.
Qin Jue already had experience climbing the staircase after having climbed all the way up here. But the one with that kind of height in front of him was a first.
He scanned the area, hoping to find another path to head up the mountain but to no avail. There were only steeper walls to the sides of the staircase. In other words, if he wanted to climb the mountain, the ‘rocky stairway to heaven’ in front of him was his only option.
He shifted his vision upwards, pondering how he was going to climb up while warming up his wrists.
He had already become accustomed to the weights wearing down his hands and feet. Although it had been exhausting climbing all the way up here, it wasn’t completely unbearable either. He also learned the method to accurately capture and use his Chi. Only, the Chi was too small of an amount for him to be able to climb over the ‘staircase’ in front of him.
Qin Jue thought of piercing his dagger into the mountainside, using it as a support to propel him up. But as seen from his trials, the wall of stone was extremely firm, so firm that his dagger couldn’t place a dent in it.
His movements were also restricted by the small area of mobility around him so he couldn’t get a running start either. And the main point was that there weren’t any rocks or trees around him so he also couldn’t build a ladder.
So how was he going to get up?
The sky began to darken little by little. As the sun set into the west, the mountain breeze became even colder. After trying all sorts of methods to no avail, he had resorted to using his dagger to scratching at the mountain bit by bit. And after four hours had passed, he finally managed to stick the dagger in!
Now with the dagger as a center point of leverage, Qin Jue wiped the sweat off of his head, backed up two steps, and was able to climb the staircase after stepping on the dagger!
But after he had gone up, not too long after, he came across another ‘staircase’ of a similar shape, except this time it was even taller and smoother than the one from before!
Really… He was clearly very close to reaching the peak of the mountain already. But under the obstacles of these ‘staircases’, his within reach goal only seemed to be impossible to achieve.
At this point, even if he wanted to descend the mountain and change paths it was already too late. In fact, with his current stamina, it was unclear that he could even walk down the steps that he spent so long climbing up. Plus, he didn’t want to turn back now either.
(This translation was brought to you by LeafInBloom on Patreon and Sleepy Translations.)
…The moon slowly ascended into the sky. The mountain became colder and colder, and also even quieter.
But among this silence, occasionally the sounds of running, jumping, and landing echoed through the air and repeated over again.
Sweat the size of beads dripped from Qin Jue’s cheeks. Every time he would try to jump up to the platform, he would miss it by a bit… But he couldn’t stop because the temperature at the mountain peak had already decreased to lower than negative ten degrees. As there were no trees nearby, he had nowhere to seek warmth. So the only option was to try without stopping. If he couldn’t reach the staircase once, then he’ll try ten more times. If ten times didn’t work, then one hundred more times! He’ll reach it eventually!
However, the attempts and failures weren’t just depleting his stamina, but also his patience. After the countless times of running a head start and before he could dash upwards, Qin Jue was finally worn out. The moment he lifted in the air, his knees lost strength and he dropped on the ground. At this moment, he finally felt the needling pain coming from his two knees. It seemed like he was really going to be trapped here.
“Hey look, it seems like our Little Highness found himself in a difficult situation!”
Xie Lin Lang’s voice suddenly rang out from above. He saw her head stick forward from the stone wall above, with her chin leaning on both of her palms.
She spoke while overlooking him, “Seeing that you hadn’t caught up all this time, I even thought you might have been snatched by some sort of wild beast! Who would’ve thought you were stuck here instead. Why didn’t you call for help? If you call my name, I will certainly come for you.”
Perhaps it was because this place was extremely close to the sky, but when Qin Jue lifted his head to her voice, he could only see all of the stars filling up the night weighing down heavily towards her direction. Her eyes were also filled with light as if the stars had somehow managed to sneak their way inside…
“I…” He began, but couldn’t find a way to start.
Was he going to say that he had no intention of calling out for help? Or say that he had stopped trusting anyone else a long time ago? From the beginning to the end, he was only planning to rely on himself. Even if he’s not able to complete the task on his own, he was still going to pointlessly struggle here stubbornly.
Seeing him remain silent, Xie Lin Lang squinted her eyes.
“Speaking of which, I’ve been following you for more than ten days already. During these ten few days, truthfully speaking, you have really impressed me many times…
Many times, I had thought that you had reached your peak and couldn’t proceed anymore, but you always managed to breakthrough in a completely unexpected way. But, do you know? Seeing how strong you have gotten in such a short amount of time, I didn’t feel as happy as I should.”
Why?
Qin Jue furrowed his brows and looked at her.
At this moment, his whole body was showered in starlight. He couldn’t see how worn out he looked, or see the injuries that were still bleeding on his body. The only thing his mind focused on was becoming stronger. So when he looked her way, his eyes were also filled with determination, pure determination. Just like the peak of this mountain, it was tenacious and sharp.
Xie Lin Lang continued slowly, “You have been breaking past your limits. But the thing that’s helping you do that, is the hatred you hold toward your enemies.
Originally, I had thought that this wasn’t a big deal, since it was indeed one method to get stronger.
But in the journey afterward, you clearly had many chances to treat yourself better, or at least avoid many of the injuries. However, your hatred was too powerful. You despise other people, and you despise yourself. That’s why you pay no attention to your own body, forcing yourself into extreme situations again and again…”
Having said this, she paused. The rest of her words softly melted into the passing wind.
“…Maybe…starting from the moment that you brought the Empress’ body back, you had never planned on living any longer. And the Qin Jue in front of me is only a corpse that is controlled by its hatred.
You had returned from hell. No matter how much effort you put in, it’s only so you can bring even more people into hell. If so, how can I be happy?”
Qin Jue lowered his head and stayed silent for a long time. Then he slowly stood up and gave her a ghostly white smile.
“What you said is correct. Right now, I’m only a corpse, merely a puppet on strings. But, what does that matter?”
He lifted his head up at Xie Lin Lang. The sky full of stars reflected on his inky black pupils, and it also shone on his loneliness and solitude.
“…As long as I can get revenge, whether it’s hatred or resentment, it doesn’t matter to me either way.
I also discovered that hatred is the strongest force in the world. It was hatred that helped me survive through the betrayal of friends and family. It was also hatred that helped me survive through the countless life and death situations.
Without it, I wouldn’t even be alive in front of you right now…
Hatred is the strongest strength I possess. Should I not be taking advantage of it?”
Xie Lin Lang was caught off guard by his question. This scene suddenly reminded her of before, when he asked her why his enemies were allowed to be evil people yet he couldn’t?
They were all questions that couldn’t be answered. And so, she stood up slowly, standing upon the edge of the wall, and asked as she looked down toward him.
“If hatred is really that powerful, then will you be able to climb onto this wall under the support of your hatred?”
Having said that, she backed up a few steps and spoke solemnly.
“If hatred can really make someone invincible, then climb up here and prove it to me. I’ll allow you to take off your bindings and use your actions to prove your words.”