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墨書 Inktalez
When the two groups of Corpses collided, I suddenly realized that they had actually engaged in battle. Both sides swung their weapons and roared as they fought, creating a scene that was truly breathtaking.
Could it be that they were enemies in life? It must be so; otherwise, they wouldn't be fighting so desperately. Although the Ming Corpses were outnumbered, their speed and strength far surpassed that of the Qing Army.
The number of Qing Army Corpses was overwhelming. They crawled out from the underground on the right side of the path, and even now, more Corpses continued to emerge from beneath the ground. How many Qing Army soldiers were buried there? There must be a massive pit; this truly was a 'mass grave.'
In that moment, I found myself somewhat dazed, staring at these Corpses. The brutality of their battle was shocking—limbs and body parts flying everywhere. Yet I couldn't understand how these Qing Army Corpses had come to be.
Just as I was lost in thought, a Ming Corpse lunged at me, swinging its weapon directly at my head. I quickly stepped back, caught off guard by the sudden attack.
This Corpse moved much faster than before. The rusty iron knife flashed past me, and if I hadn't been quick enough, I would have already become its victim.
In that critical moment, a gunshot rang out with a loud bang. The head of the Corpse in front of me exploded, and its body trembled twice before collapsing to the ground.
It was Jiao Ba who fired the shot. He quickly fired several more rounds, taking down a few nearby Corpses as well. "Brother Yi, what are you dawdling for? Hurry up the mountain!" Jiao Ba shouted at me.
Only then did I notice that Mai Lao and the others had already charged ahead. "Loyalty and Righteousness! Jiao Ba! You two hurry up and don't worry about these Corpses!" Mai Lao called out from below.
"Move it, Brother Yi! We're out of bullets!" Jiao Ba said as he emptied his gun and tossed it aside. We both started running up the mountain, and when Mai Lao saw us catch up, he turned and rushed toward the summit.
The mountain wasn't as steep as I had imagined; climbing it was relatively easy. However, there was nothing on this mountain—not a blade of grass or any plants—just bare yellow earth and stones. This cursed place seemed utterly barren; it was quite eerie.
As we made our way to the top, we could still hear the Corpses pursuing us from behind. I suddenly stopped and looked back down; those two groups were still locked in combat. It seemed they wouldn't stop until one side was completely wiped out.
"Brother Yi, what are you looking at? Hurry up! The Corpses will catch up soon!" Jiao Ba shouted from ahead.
I quickly turned back and continued climbing. It was no exaggeration to say that this climb was exhausting; it consumed a lot of energy. Before long, Jiao Ba and I caught up with the others.
Except for Mai Lao and Shunzi, everyone else was panting heavily. Even Changshan was struggling to catch his breath, let alone the others. The round man was particularly exhausted; climbing this mountain was clearly torturing him. He looked drained and was forcing his hefty body to keep moving upward.
Mai Lao and Shunzi had to help him from time to time; otherwise, he would have fallen behind long ago. "I... oh my god, I can't climb anymore. Just let them kill me; this is pure torture," the round man stammered, his breath coming in short gasps.
Changshan pushed him from behind and said, "Enough with the whining; save your energy for climbing."
Jenny and Li Xin were also drenched in sweat, their faces slightly pale. They wiped the sweat from their foreheads as they climbed, clearly struggling. "I... I can't do it anymore; I'm out of strength," Jenny said, stopping to catch her breath, her body nearly soaked through with sweat.
Li Xin turned to look at her and reached out a hand. "Jenny, hang in there a bit longer; we're almost at the top. Come on, I'll pull you up."
Jenny squatted down and shook her head gently. "I can't do it anymore; really, I can't climb."
"You have to keep going. If that group of Corpses catches up to us, you won't even have time to climb," I said as I walked over to Jenny and tried to help her up.
"Loyalty and Righteousness, just leave me; I really can't move anymore. I have no strength left; I can’t even lift my feet," Jenny said, her face pale and her voice weak, likely exhausted from the effort.
What were we going to do? We still had half the distance to the summit, and there was no time to rest. If we stopped now, we would soon be buried alive by that group of Corpses.
"Loyalty and Righteousness, what's wrong with Jenny?" Mai Lao asked as he stopped at the front, looking down at me.
"Jenny can't move anymore; she might be completely exhausted," I replied, looking up at him.
The others also paused at this moment. The round man gasped for air and suggested, "Why don't we take a break? I'm about done for too."
"No way; we don't have time to rest right now. In less than ten minutes, those Corpses will catch up with us, and then we're all finished," Mai Lao said sternly, not giving anyone a chance to argue.
"Exactly; we need to move immediately without delay. Come on, everyone hold on a little longer; we'll be there soon," Changshan added before turning back to continue climbing.
Big Guy and the others had no choice but to follow suit. Mai Lao's expression turned serious as he said, "If she can't go on, then someone needs to carry Jenny. We can't stay here any longer."
I glanced at Jenny, who was crouching on the ground. "Come on, I'll carry you."
I squatted down, indicating for her to climb onto my back. There was no other way; I couldn't just leave her here. I had to tough it out.
"You're this exhausted; can you really carry her?" Li Xin asked me, looking concerned.
"I'll carry her as far as I can. What else can we do? We can't just abandon her here." I was indeed very tired; climbing the mountain had already been a challenge, let alone carrying her.
"Brother Yi, let's both help and lift Jenny," Shunzi said as he approached and nodded at me.
Alright then, let's do it this way. Two of us lifting her was better than one person trying to carry her alone. Shunzi and I each took one of Jenny's arms and hoisted her up, supporting her as we climbed further up the mountain.
Along the way, Changshan and Jiao Ba switched with us once, taking over for a bit since they had a bit more stamina. At least this way, we could ensure no one fell behind. Fortunately, Jenny recovered quickly; by the time we reached the top of the mountain, she was able to walk on her own again.
I lost track of how long we had been walking, but it surely felt like ages. Everyone, including Mai Lao, was utterly exhausted by the time we were nearing the summit.
I felt like I was about to fall apart, pushing myself through sheer willpower. The sky remained blood-red. Jiao Ba looked up and said, "Damn it, I'm dead tired. Finally close to our destination."
The peak of the mountain seemed almost to touch that blood-red sky. Climbing from the bottom to the top took several hours at least; thankfully, the path wasn't too difficult. Otherwise, I couldn't imagine how exhausting it would have been. From below, the mountain didn't seem very high, but climbing it made me realize just how tiring it could be.
The higher we went, the stronger the wind became. We were practically battling against fierce gusts as we climbed; anyone with slightly less stamina could easily be blown off balance.
After struggling for a while longer, we finally reached the summit. The top was surprisingly spacious—much larger than I had imagined—like an open field with nothing on the ground. Standing there made me feel as if I could reach out and touch the sky; that blood-red expanse felt so close.
"Oh my God, how high are we? Look at that sky; I could almost touch it," Big Guy said as he reached up as if trying to grasp it.
"We've made it up here, but where's the path? Where do we go now? Behind us is just a cliff; where do we head from here?" Mantou looked around in confusion, clearly not seeing any way forward.
I walked over to the edge of the cliff and glanced down. Instantly, I felt dizzy; it was incredibly high up here. I quickly stepped back a few paces—if I lost my footing for even a moment, I could easily fall and meet my end.
"There is no way out. I've looked all around; we're trapped on the mountaintop," Changshan said to everyone, clearly feeling helpless.
Mai Lao's face turned pale as he said, "Could it be... are we really going to die here? This is a dead end."
Upon hearing Mai Lao's words, everyone was stunned. If there was no way down from the mountaintop, it meant we were completely trapped, with no chance of turning back. We had hoped for some miracle to occur, but nothing happened. This deserted island, aside from the group of Corpse below, seemed to hold nothing else.
Just as everyone was growing anxious, a group of Corpse began to crawl up from below, their numbers steadily increasing. "It's the Corpse! They're coming! We're done for!" Big Guy shouted in fear, backing away continuously until he was nearly at the edge of the cliff.
I grabbed him and pulled him back. "Stop retreating! Be careful not to fall off and die."
"I'd rather fall to my death than be skinned alive by them!" Big Guy yelled back.
"Shut the hell up! What are you shouting for? It's not the time for this!" Even Mai Lao couldn't help but curse now; at this life-and-death moment, we could only leave our fate to chance.
We huddled closely together, and I could clearly feel someone trembling in the crowd. I didn't know who it was, nor did I have the time to pay attention; perhaps I was shaking too. It seemed we had truly walked into a dead end this time.
These Corpse were all from the Ming Dynasty; not a single one belonged to the Qing Dynasty. From what I could gather, they seemed to be guarding something. Although they had climbed up, they no longer advanced but instead paced back and forth at the edge of the mountaintop, similar to how the red insects had hesitated to enter the jungle before.
They appeared anxious, continuously roaring at us from the mountaintop. The sound of their howls shook the entire peak, yet they dared not approach us. They were like ants on a hot pan, frantically moving in circles...
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