In the end, Liz, Ciri, and Trissy decided to visit the mountain to find out what was going on. They left the children in the care of the owner of the inn, and the three of them packed up a little. They walked past the hill and came to the mountain that the locals were talking about.
"… It's really strange."
Although she had heard about it from the owner of the inn, Trissy had to admit that the mountain was indeed strange after seeing it with her own eyes.
The reason was simple.
The mountain was too tall!
How tall was it?
It was so tall that even when the three of them looked up, they could not see the top of the mountain. They could only see the mountain covered by clouds and mist!
Trissy was sure that she had never seen such a mountain in the Northern Region before. Although there were towering mountains at the edge of the Northern Region, unique mountains like this were quite rare. Unlike ordinary mountains, this one felt as if it had been uprooted from the ground by something. It was steep and precipitous, especially when it was set off by the surrounding low and flat hills.
"Let's go this way …"
Looking at the small path beside them, Lisi directly walked up, with Hiri following closely behind. Only Trissy frowned and carefully examined the path in front of her, her eyes revealing a look of doubt.
Although in the eyes of ordinary people, this was just an ordinary path paved with cobblestones, but for the meticulous Warlock, it wasn't so simple. In this world, the development of civilization itself was at a very low level. This could be seen from the roads. Generally speaking, only cities and their surrounding areas would have cobblestone roads. Most of the other places were basically dirt roads. Needless to say, in the mountains, these roads were either people's paths or the paths of wild animals.
It was simply a waste to use cobblestones to pave a path at the foot of such a mountain. In addition, this place was almost uninhabited. Who would spend so much effort to build a road here?
Trissy also had some doubts about this, but she calmed herself down and continued to follow the two. The scenery at the foot of the mountain was almost no different from other places. Apart from the green grass and a few trees, there was nothing special about it. But as they walked along the stone path to the end, the scene in front of them suddenly changed, and they could not help but be surprised.
"This is …"
Even Trissy couldn't help but gasp when she saw the scene in front of her.
After they turned around the mountainside, they saw a long staircase paved with pure white stone slabs extending all the way up. From afar, it looked like a stream flowing down the mountain, forming a zigzag shape that extended all the way into the clouds.
"Mr. Fangzheng, are you trying to kill us?"
Even Ciri's expression had changed. She was now certain that this mountain was one hundred percent Fangzheng's handiwork. She could tell from the death-inducing staircase in front of her that there was no one else who would be so bored as to spend so much effort to pull such a prank.
As for Liz, she was expressionless. After all, as Fangzheng's students, the girls had been tricked by Fangzheng more than once and were already used to it.
"Why don't I go up and scout the path first?"
Trissy's expression became much more serious. Fortunately, as a Warlock, she had the ability to teleport, so she didn't have to walk up like the others. After saying that, a light flashed on her body, and then …
"It's useless?"
Trissy was dumbfounded when she saw that she was still standing in the same place.
"What's going on? Why is it useless? "
"Ah … Miss Trissy, you'd better not think about teleporting in Mr. Fangzheng's territory … He won't let you succeed …"
Ciri cursed speechlessly. She recalled the time when she first woke up after crossing to the Semlia Continent. Because of the language barrier, she thought that the other party wanted to lock her up. So when she failed to break through, she tried to teleport away, but she didn't expect to fail.
At that time, Ciri was very puzzled. She later asked Fangzheng and found out that he had already taken precautions against this. After all, Fangzheng had teleported to countless worlds and had seen many people with teleportation magic and abilities. Therefore, in order to prevent these people from rushing into his bathroom while he was taking a bath, Fangzheng would usually lock down the space so that no one could enter or leave.
This also meant that even Ciri had to rely on her own strength ….
"… Let's go."
There was a saying that went, "The mountain in sight runs the horse to death."
This saying was also very suitable for this situation. They went all the way up, but as far as they could see, apart from the beautiful scenery, there was only steep, almost endless stone steps that seemed to extend all the way to the sky. In the beginning, the three ladies could still climb up with the attitude of enjoying the excursion, but soon, they found that they were simply suffering.
"We … we should go back and think of another way."
Trissy leaned against the railing and panted. Ciri also sighed helplessly.
"Are you sure? Trissy? Should we go down now? "
"Well …."
Trissy was speechless when she heard Ciri's question. She looked down and saw that they were already halfway up the mountain. Looking into the distance, they could even see the village they were in before. The houses looked smaller than stones …. Did they climb hundreds or thousands of steps?
Trissy's legs turned to jelly when she thought about how they would have to continue going back.
Not only that, Trissy now discovered that the design of this place was quite sinister. At first, the surrounding scenery was very beautiful, and the steps here were not tall and narrow, but smooth and wide stone slabs. This way, people would feel very relaxed while climbing up the mountain, and they would not feel that climbing the mountain was a very tiring thing.
However, when they were about to die of exhaustion, they would find that they had already climbed halfway up the mountain. They did not have the strength to continue going up, nor did they have the strength to go down ….
This was definitely a design with ulterior motives!!
The three of them rested on the platform for a while, then continued to climb. After spending a long time, they finally reached the end of the stairs.
"There's really no end to this."
Looking at the narrow gap in front of her, Trissy could not even sigh. When they finally reached the end of the stone steps, they were surprised to find that there was an even narrower path ahead, one that could only fit one person at a time. There were steep and smooth stone walls all around them, but in front of them was a path that could only fit one adult man. When they looked up, they could even see a thin line in the sky above them ….
The three of them could only grit their teeth and continue forward. But then they found that they were facing an even more bizarre scene.
After walking out of the narrow path, they were faced with a strangely shaped stalactite cave. Although there were no monsters inside, the strange stalactites alone were enough to make them feel uneasy. For some reason, under the illumination of the fire, Trissy felt that the swaying shadows seemed to be living creatures. There were a few times when she felt like she was being watched by something hidden in the darkness.
Not only that, but what was even more depressing was that the exit of the stalactite cave was cleverly designed and concealed. It even made use of the color of the surrounding environment and the principle of light and shadow. If Trissy did not have other spells at her disposal, the three of them would have probably gotten lost in the stalactite cave.
However, the trial did not end there. After leaving the stalactite cave, they had to face a steep cliff …. On the smooth, vertical stone wall, they carefully climbed up by stepping on small potholes. By now, Trissy was really about to give up. If not for Ciri and Liz's help, she would have already raised her hands and surrendered.
"I … I can't do it anymore …."
After climbing to the top with much difficulty, Trissy fell to the ground like a puddle of mud. When she looked down, she could no longer see the ground. All she could see were thick clouds appearing in the forest. The howling cold wind mixed with snowflakes blew against her face, covering everything in the white snow.
"Come on, Miss Trissy. We should be there soon … probably."
"Probably what the hell!?"
Hearing this, Trissy really wanted to jump down from there. However, she gritted her teeth and stood up. With Ciri's help, she continued walking forward. At the same time, Liz passed her a kettle of hot soup and jerky.
If not for these things, Trissy would not have been able to last until now.
"I … I say, is this really done by … Mr. Fangzheng? Did we come to the wrong place? "
The more Trissy thought about it, the more she felt that something was wrong. Why did she feel like she was exploring some ruins deep in the mountains? It did not feel like she was looking for someone at all. But when they heard her question, Ciri and Liz looked at each other and nodded.
"Definitely."
"We can be sure that this is done by Mr. Fangzheng!"
"… .Is that so …."
Who the hell is that guy called Fangzheng!?
"… .Who the hell is that Mr. Fangzheng?"
When Trissy regained her senses and followed the two along the cold mountain and the road to the end, the scene in front of her made her ask the question in her heart.
It was no wonder she was so surprised. In front of the three was a huge and heavy stone door that was dozens of meters tall. On both sides of the stone door, two huge statues of warriors that were also dozens of meters tall stood there. They held long swords in their hands, wore armour, and had their eyes closed. They looked lifelike and lifelike, as if they could come to life at any time. As for Triss and the other two, they weren't even as tall as the two statues' toes ….
"What do we do now?"
Trissy panted and looked at the two people in front of her. They looked at each other.
"Anyway … .let's call for the door first."
"Well …. Mr. Fangzheng, we're here ….!!!"
At the end of his speech, Hiri took a deep breath and shouted loudly. Then, layers of echoes could be heard drifting in the mountains, gradually fading away.
Following that …. Accompanied by a thunderous roar, the huge stone door slowly opened a gap.
"Phew …. Looks like it's true."
Ciri breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this. He waved his hand.
"Let's go in."
The three of them walked through the stone door, and the stone door closed again.
The moment they walked through the stone door, they were hit by a dazzling light, causing them to involuntarily close their eyes. But when they opened their eyes again and looked forward, they were completely stunned by the scene in front of them.
In front of them was a stretch of green mountains and clear waters under the warm sunlight. There were green grass, lush trees, bright and warm sunlight, and even waterfalls and clear ponds. All of this formed a sharp contrast with the cold and snowy world outside. For a moment, Trissy and the others even wondered if they had been teleported to some other place ….
"It's so beautiful …."
Seeing the beautiful scenery in front of her, Lisi could not help but sigh. But at that moment ….
"Moo —!!!"
Accompanied by a sound that sounded like a cow's cry but was many times louder than a cow's cry, a huge figure walked out of the forest in front of them. It had a body as large as a hill, thick limbs, and a long neck and tail.
"What, what monster is this!!"
Trissy was almost scared out of her wits. At the same time, a clear and gentle voice rang out.
"Ah, don't worry, this is a plesiosaur …. Hello, Miss Lisi, Miss Ciri, welcome."
"Miao Jie?!"
Hearing the voice, the three hurriedly turned their heads. Not far away, a girl with soft green curly hair was looking at them with a smile.
"Thank you for your hard work. Mr. Fangzheng is waiting for you. Please follow me."
(End of this chapter)
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