The Phantom Beast Trial is an extremely painful process.
Moreover, under the dual pressure of heavy snow and lack of oxygen, 10% to 20% of the fantasy beast knights are unable to complete their tasks every year. The most important manifestation is that the fantasy beasts freeze to death on the mountain.
Of course, some fantasy beast knights also froze to death on the mountain.
--"Instructions for the Trial of the Phantom Beast Knight"
Chapter 13 A matter of life and death
After setting out on the road the next day, Xiao Hei was indeed much more honest, basically no longer naughty, and followed Chi Aotian to climb the mountain.
Seeing Xiao Hei's eyes filled with uncomfortable tears and listening to its gasping for breath, Chi Aotian was very worried. According to the instructions for phantom beasts, many phantom beasts come from the tropics or plains and suddenly reach an altitude of more than 3,000 meters.
The plateau, and the temperature was more than 10°C lower than the environment in which they lived. At the end of the snow mountain top, the temperature was minus 20°C. Coupled with the lack of oxygen on the plateau, this almost became the number one killer in the Phantom Beast Trial.
.
Of course, this is nothing to the fantasy beast knights. In order to allow the knights to better pass the fantasy beast trials, all knights who have the opportunity will be sent to climb the mountains in the northern part of the empire for training every year. The average altitude there is also
Above 4,000 meters, it is also covered with snow all year round.
Logically speaking, ground dragons live in temperate hills, with four seasons a year, and the average altitude is more than 1,000 meters, so they shouldn't have such a big reaction.
Chi Aotian took off the belt around his waist, made a loop, put one side around Xiao Hei's neck, and put the other side on his shoulders to facilitate pulling it in difficult places.
Without Xiao Hei running around, the trip went much faster. They arrived at the second campsite at a little after 3:00 the next afternoon. The sun hung high in the western sky, and the golden sunshine was not far away.
Above the snow line, the white ice and snow reflect the dazzling sunlight. Looking further up, there are some ice walls covered with huge ice cones, and you can faintly hear the wind whistling from the valley in the distance.
After a tiring day, Xiao Hei's appetite improved and he ate a lot of meat. Chi Aotian felt a little relieved.
On the morning of the third day, Xiao Hei's condition was still the same. He looked like he had no appetite. Looking at the mountains full of ice and snow, Chi Aotian was very worried and found all the cold-proof clothes for the fantasy beasts that he found at the campsite.
, on his head was a leather hat with only the eyes exposed, a thick animal skin scarf tied around his neck, and a leather armor-type cold-proof suit specially customized for the earth dragon, and finally he tore open a leather blanket
, wrapped around Xiao Hei’s legs.
Although they were worried about Xiao Hei's health, after putting the brown eyes on Xiao Hei, both Xiao Hei and Chi Aotian found it funny. Here and there was a majestic earthly dragon, just like a little old man with a hunchback and a hat.
.
After being fully armed, Xiao Hei was obviously feeling better, and his steps were not so wobbly.
We have just entered the snow line. Although it is white, the color of the snow here is mainly last year's snow and the hoarfrost after the cold dew condenses after autumn. Therefore, although the footsteps make a clicking sound, it basically does not affect the speed of progress. According to
Instructions for Eudemons, after entering the snow line, the daily journey will be much slower, only about 2/3 of the original. When it is time to climb to the top on the last day, it will only be about 1/3 of the usual journey. Chi Aotian also deliberately
I slowed down my pace. Maybe it was really cold. Xiao Hei sneezed a lot along the way.
After entering the snow line, the camping site could no longer provide much firewood. At night, in a sheltered place, Chi Aotian used the limited firewood to build a small bonfire, roasted the meat in a hurry, and gave it to Xiao Hei. In the evening
While sleeping, Xiao Hei huddled up and crawled into Chi Aotian's bed, shivering all the time.
Chi Aotian didn't sleep well all night. He got up from time to time and touched Xiao Hei's body to see if it was normal.
On the fourth day, when Chi Aotian woke up in the morning, he was immediately startled. Xiaohei's eyes were full of bloodshot eyes, his nose was covered with mucous membranes, and his tongue was covered with white coating. His head drooped.
This... is this still the little dragon with the power of a king? Chi Aotian frowned, feeling very heartbroken. He carefully rummaged through the objects in the camp, found some medicine for people to take, and pressed Xiao Hei
He forcefully poured it into his head, and Xiao Hei didn't even have the strength to struggle.
What should I do now? If I continue to move forward, I don’t know if Xiao Hei’s body can hold it. If I retreat, both myself and Xiao Hei will have no chance this time. Moreover, even after two days of retreat, because there is no mount, I want to go back.
It takes at least four days to walk to the nearest barracks, and it only takes seven days to reach the Phantom Beast Holy Garden.
Chi Aotian bit his lip tightly and decided to move forward. As long as he could bring Xiao Hei into the Fantasy Beast Holy Garden, the blood pool there could cure all injuries suffered by the fantasy beasts.
The cold wind began to blow, whining in the mountains. The gray sky, the snow-white mountains, a boy in black clothing and a black ground dragon covered in leather clothing were struggling to move forward in the snow.
With.
The wind was getting stronger and stronger. Chi Aotian walked carefully in front of Xiao Hei, trying to protect him from the knife-like wind. Xiao Hei crawled hard, breathing heavily and whining from time to time.
Choked.
In order to encourage the little guy's confidence to continue walking, Chi Aotian suddenly became more talkative. While touching Xiao Hei's head with his hand, he shouted loudly in the wind. The fierce wind carried his voice to
Quartet.
"Xiao Hei, don't worry, today we only need to walk half of the way yesterday."
"Xiao Hei, I heard that there will be many interesting fantasy beasts when you go to the Magic Beast Holy Garden. You might see a beautiful fantasy beast sister."
"Hi, we're almost there, have you seen it? It says under this road sign that we are only 2 miles away from the camping site. When we get there, I will roast delicious meat for you."
Xiao Hei, pulled by Chi Aotian, finally arrived at the camp on the fourth day. Chi Aotian tried his best to make some simple food, but... Xiao Hei was unwilling to eat anything, just
I drank some hot soup.
The fifth day is the most painful day for all the fantasy beast knights in the trial. It is said that 80% of the failures occur on this day. When you wake up in the morning, you can't see the sun at all outside, and the black clouds seem to be pressing down on you.
It's the same as the sky. You almost don't have to look up. You feel like the red clouds are above your head and floating in your ears. The heavy snow is whistling by with the cold wind. The snowflakes are not flying at all, but are projected on the ground like javelins. On the human body, if there are no signposts outside,
, can’t tell the difference between heaven and earth at all, and don’t know the north, south, east, and west at all.
When Chi Aotian returned to the tent and pushed Xiao Hei, Xiao Hei snorted twice and remained motionless. After pushing again, he raised his head with great effort and struggled to get up, but immediately fell down again, eyes filled with tears.
His eyes were no longer bright and clear, and a layer of black-yellow mucous membrane covered his entire eyes. There were also large pieces of eye droppings condensing in the corners of his eyes, and his nose was constantly flowing out.
Chi Aotian used the last bit of firewood to make a large bowl of hot broth, and poured it into Xiao Hei's belly regardless of Xiao Hei's struggle. Then he cut the entire leather tent into leather strips, and beat several leather strips into one thicker one.
Then tie three thick leather strips into a triangular ring, put it on Xiaohei's tail, pull up the two corners from between its legs, and pull the last corner up from its back, turning it into a ring for carrying people.
pocket. He slowly squatted down, first tied the leather strap pulled up from between his feet firmly around his waist, divided the strap pulled up from behind into two, and pulled it down from his shoulders and waist.
of leather strips tied together.
Chi Aotian took a deep breath, holding an ice pole with one hand and supporting his leg with the other. He stood up with great effort, and the weight of the Dixinglong, which weighed more than 200 kilograms, was immediately placed on his shoulders.
and waist, and start moving forward following the road signs.
If it were on flat ground, with Chi Aotian's physical strength and usual amount of training, it would be very common to carry 200 kilograms of weight forward, and 10 to 20 miles would be normal. But now it is a plateau, the air is thin, and every time he takes a breath, it feels like...
As if he was about to be torn apart, under the huge gravity, Chi Hanfeng had to lower his noble head. Blood rushed from his spine to his head, and his face turned from blood red to ashen.
The wind roared wildly, and the snowflakes were like knives surrounding Chi Aotian, who was struggling to advance. The cold air not only blew in from the gaps in his clothes, but also poured into his pants from under his feet. Walking was even more difficult, and the snow had already covered his calves.
, the pants were covered with ice stubble, and one foot was high and the other was shallow, slowly moving in the wind and snow.
Suddenly, the body of a phantom beast that had been dead for a long time was revealed on the roadside in front, which seemed to be some kind of deer. Chi Aotian was shocked, wiped the sweat that had condensed on his face and turned into ice particles, and then moved forward.
After walking a few steps, a figure suddenly appeared behind a huge ice wall. After taking two steps, he could see clearly: it was a fantasy beast knight frozen by ice and snow, and beside him was a large shrunken beast.
The phantom beast seems to be a rhinoceros native to the tropics, and it seems to be a victim of an avalanche.
Everything in front of him showed that if he was not careful, he would very likely become a relic of history. Chi Aotian bit his lip tightly, explored the road more carefully with his ice stick, and moved forward slowly and cautiously.
The road suddenly narrowed in front. Two mountain peaks sandwiched a small and slender valley, only two people wide. The raging snowstorm was forced into the canyon cracks by the valley, constantly beating the valley. Chi Aotian held on with his hands.
The ice wall moved forward bit by bit, and the strong wind hit him like an iron cone, forcing him to keep retreating. Finally, he had to kneel on the ground and walk forward.
After leaving the gorge, Chi Aotian was almost in despair. He thought he was at the top of the mountain just now, but when he looked up again, he realized that there was still a hillside and a peak in front of him. At this time, his legs were almost numb.
, the palm of my hand was also cut by an ice blade during the march just now, and the blood was frozen as soon as it flowed out. The hand was swollen very high, the face felt like a knife cutting the skin, and the ears were almost frozen off. How can such physical strength be achieved?
Can you climb a 200-meter-high snow peak?
The sky is getting darker and darker, and there is no reliable timing tool - the sand in the sand bucket timer I carry with me has long been frozen on the crystal wall due to the water vapor, and it cannot be used since yesterday. I don't know why.
The clouds are getting heavier and heavier, and the sky is getting darker. The sign on the roadside says: 1000 meters away from the next campsite, it should be 1:00 pm. Unfortunately, this time no longer has any reference value.
He took out a few pieces of beef jerky from his arms and stuffed them into his mouth. He picked up a ball of snow stubble from the ground and stuffed it into his mouth. "Hiss--" It was so cold that my teeth couldn't bear it. The snow slowly melted in my mouth.
Then, he chewed the beef jerky with the snow water, chewed it up, and spit it into his hand. He then pulled Xiao Hei's head over and stuffed the minced beef into his mouth while it was still hot. Xiao Hei stretched out his arms with great effort.
He stretched his neck and swallowed the beef.
The beef juice flowed into Chi Aotian's stomach along the esophagus. His stomach, which had not eaten anything for a day, began to churn, as if a knife had been hung. However, when he touched the meat in his arms, there was really not much left. If
He couldn't find a campsite at night, so... he'd better save some money. At this moment, he regretted that he should have torn the dead phantom beast apart and carried a part of it.
In the sky above the snow peaks, since the sun will soon enter the embrace of the mountains once it sets in the west, night comes very quickly. Just after Chi Aotian felt that the sky had turned gloomy, night fell without even taking a few steps. It was estimated that he was leaving the camp.
The ground might be only a few hundred meters away, and Chi Aotian knew that if he couldn't reach the campsite tonight, then he and Xiao Hei wouldn't be able to reach there in this lifetime.
Maybe...if you put Xiao Hei down now, you still have a chance to walk over by yourself.
Every year, a few knights have no choice but to give up the trial due to the bad weather, throw the dead phantom beasts on the snowy mountains, and walk back by themselves. If one year, all the phantom beast knights complete the trial, most of them will
news.
Do you want to do the same thing yourself?
However, if you don't do this, it will definitely be difficult for you and Xiao Hei to get through this level. In the ice and snow, with no food and no calories, what lies in front of you is a dead end.
Moreover, with Xiao Hei's current body, even if he can reach the camp today, or even if he can survive today, the chance of reaching the Phantom Beast Holy Garden alive is extremely slim. In this case, perhaps it is the wisest thing for him to put it down.
Choose. Keep the green hills and don’t worry about running out of firewood.
Life? Or death? Chi Aotian raised his head, looking at the black night sky with confused eyes, and his heart began to shake.