Chapter 831: 502, Choice

The second day hidden in the snowy mountains.

The wind speed on the mountain slightly slowed down. Under the astonished gaze of the little girl, Qing Chen carried his mountain bike to the summit of Mount Okuhotaka.

It was at this moment that Jinguji Maki finally understood why Qing Chen cleared the ridge.

“Onii-chan, are you going to ride the mountain bike on the ridge?” The little girl asked curiously.

“Yes, training will start now,” Qing Chen nodded, “The wind is light today. Wait for me at the summit.”

A challenge is not completed in one go.

When he previously succeeded in the icy dark waters of Greenland, he had hundreds of training sessions in the world as a foundation. This time, he had nothing but immature skills and courage.

As he spoke, he rode his mountain bike, diving down from the highest point.

Jinguji Maki, wearing a red coat, stood atop the snowy mountain. She wanted to stop Qing Chen but ultimately remained silent.

The little girl was somewhat dazed. For some reason, watching the speeding figure descending down the edge felt inexplicably harmonious to her.

She covered her mouth, fearing that any noise she made would distract Qing Chen.

The mountain bike bumped along the ridge. The sounds of the tires crushing stones and Qing Chen’s breathing intertwined.

Only truly starting to train on this ridge did Qing Chen realize how difficult this life-and-death challenge was.

On both sides of your vision were abysses, and the only path lay in front of you.

Your life, too, has only this one path.

Walk it, and you can live more splendidly.

Qing Chen accelerated madly, calculating in his mind how long it would take to reach the 120 kilometers per hour downhill standard.

At this moment, he realized he needed to be even crazier.

120 kilometers per hour—this speed on a highway can make many people’s hearts race.

Let alone that beneath this ridge is a bottomless abyss?

In the next moment, the bike wheel slipped fatally because he lost control.

Qing Chen, along with his mountain bike, fell off the ridge, plummeting into the abyss.

Jinguji Maki screamed sharply from the summit, running down the ridge disregarding her own risk of falling off the cliff.

But she hadn’t run far when she suddenly saw a hand extending from the ridge ahead, gripping the edge tightly.

Qing Chen gritted his teeth, with one hand clutching the mountain bike that almost fell into the abyss, and leaped back onto the ridge with just one arm.

Yet, this was only because he hadn’t used the Reverse Breathing Technique and the speed wasn’t fast enough.

If it were during a real challenge, this fall would mean certain death.

He looked at Jinguji Maki, frowning, “Who told you to come down? In the future, unless I’m with you, you are not allowed to come to the ridge alone. You must wait on the summit platform.”

Jinguji Maki was somewhat at a loss, “Okay…”

Qing Chen thought for a moment, “Continue clearing the ridge.”

“Oh…”

The boy stood on the edge of the ridge, gazing into the distance. This life-and-death challenge was harder than he had imagined.

The little girl glanced at Qing Chen’s hand, where a stone had cut a gash. She finally couldn’t help but ask, “Onii-chan, what are you doing this for?”

Qing Chen replied calmly, “To feel life and death.”

“Huh?”

“Watch closely how I do it. You might have to walk this path in the future.”

“What path?”

“The longest shortcut in the human world.”

Qing Chen had not yet decided whether to make the little girl a Knight.

However, at a certain moment, he suddenly felt like his previous master, looking at his younger self.

Accepting Li Ke as a disciple was because Li Ke had the tenacity and talent. Moreover, his master required him to choose a Knight inheritor from the Li Family.

Hu Xiaoniu leveraged the timing and locations of the Outer World; even without passing the Heart Trial, he could still walk the Knight’s path.

Jinguji Maki was different. She was too young, and Qing Chen didn’t know if she could endure the hardships of the Knight’s path.

…

At night, a battered and exhausted Qing Chen returned to the ski resort with the tired little girl.

The visitor center was no longer bustling as it had been during the day.

Qing Chen’s phone lit up.

Rich Tycoon: “Are you even human? You let such a cute, innocent little girl follow you into the icy wilderness to pick up stones for two days straight. Is this something a normal person would do?!”

Qing Chen raised an eyebrow and typed back, “Let’s talk business.”

Rich Tycoon: “… Many Time Travelers from the Mysterious Business Department have arrived in Osaka City. Including the ones from before, there are now a total of 431. They’ve caught two other fugitive potential Time Travelers, so they know you acted to protect the little girl.”

Qing Chen contemplated. He appeared here as a stranger, so even though they knew it was him, they couldn’t confirm his real identity.

Rich Tycoon: “Interestingly, since they didn’t find you in Shirakawa Village, they believe you might have fled to other cities and didn’t imagine you’d head into the snowy mountains. After all, in this Great Snow sealing the mountains season, a person with common sense wouldn’t take a nine-year-old girl into the mountains.”

Rich Tycoon: “So, they only left dozens of people to search the mountains, while the rest went to Nakatsugawa City.”

Qing Chen nodded, considering it good news: “Did they come to the ski resort?”

“They searched but found nothing. They are waiting for headquarters in Osaka City to send professional mountaineering equipment, which should take one day to arrive.”

Qing Chen: “Got it, thanks.”

Rich Tycoon: “Treat the little girl better!”

Qing Chen turned off his phone.

He was a bit surprised that the Outer World’s Fenyi seemed to like Jinguji Maki so much.

He even wondered if Fenyi knew something special about the little girl, just like how he was noticed immediately upon arriving at Prison 18.

The visitor center was dark and silent.

Now, only the sound of Jinguji Maki’s aggrieved sobbing from the adjacent tent remained. She was doing her best to suppress it, but it was still prominent in such a quiet environment.

“Does it hurt?” Qing Chen, lying in his tent with his head resting on his arm, asked.

It was already the second day since he had taken Jinguji Maki into the mountains. The little girl’s tender hands were blistered from clearing the debris on the ridge.

“It doesn’t hurt,” Jinguji Maki stubbornly replied.

“Pain is an objective sensation; there’s no need to avoid it,” Qing Chen said calmly, “It won’t disappear just because you ignore it.”

“It hurts…” Jinguji Maki said, her voice filled with grievance.

“Do you resent me?” Qing Chen asked.

“A little, but then it went away quickly,” Jinguji Maki whispered.

“Why?” Qing Chen asked again.

Jinguji Maki murmured, “Although it’s very tiring and painful, I also worry about Onii-chan being alone on the ridge. It must be very boring to clear the debris alone. In the previous days, Onii-chan must have been up there alone, feeling lonely. That’s why you wanted me to accompany you.”

Qing Chen was silent for a moment. What a mess! The imagination of a little girl truly can’t be fathomed.

He thought for a moment and said, “Come here, I’ll pop your blisters, apply some medicine, and you’ll be fine after a night’s sleep.”

Jinguji Maki quickly came to Qing Chen’s tent door but hesitated, “Will it hurt?”

“No,” Qing Chen shook his head.

Jinguji Maki, reassured, knelt outside the tent, carefully spreading out her hands. There were twelve blisters on her small hands.

“Wait here.”

Qing Chen went to the visitor center to find a first-aid kit. As he passed a television, he saw it turn on by itself.

In such a dark environment, a television turning on suddenly was quite terrifying.

Qing Chen looked on expressionlessly and saw a line of text appear on the screen: “Buy the little girl a phone. Take the money from my payment.”

“You like her?” Qing Chen asked calmly.

“Somewhat.”

“If it’s only somewhat, then I won’t buy her a phone,” Qing Chen responded indifferently.

“Very much.”

“Then the money for the ointment I’m about to use on her hands also comes from you,” Qing Chen said.

“You are ruthless, cold, and unreasonable.”

“What nonsense are you watching lately…” Qing Chen muttered expressionlessly as he walked away.

Since he had arrived in the Island Country, Outer World’s Fenyi had been with him here.

It seemed Fenyi particularly liked the little girl; otherwise, he wouldn’t have suggested buying her a phone in the middle of the night.

Qing Chen retrieved the first-aid kit, took out a sewing needle, and held Jinguji Maki’s small hand.

The little girl looked at him anxiously, “Will it really not hurt?”

“Mm.” Qing Chen nodded.

The next moment, as Qing Chen popped the blister, pulling her skin, tears of pain welled up in the little girl’s eyes, “Onii-chan, you said it wouldn’t hurt!”

Qing Chen: “Mm, it doesn’t hurt me.”

Jinguji Maki: “…”

Qing Chen took out a Black Ointment from his pocket. He had brought it from his homeland, initially intended for himself, as he knew he would get injured during the Knight’s life-and-death challenge training.

Now, most of it was used on treating the little girl.

This money must indeed come from the Outer World’s Fenyi.

“Onii-chan, why does life have to be so hard?” The little girl murmured.

“Pain, setbacks, misfortune—they are the steps for the talented, the baptism for the faithful, and the abyss for the weak. Fate only gives you choices, and how you choose is up to you.”

“Oh.”

After Qing Chen painstakingly finished treating the blisters on the little girl’s hands, he found her hugging his arm and falling asleep while he was packing the first-aid kit.

He sat cross-legged.

The little girl laid her head on his lap, her long black hair spreading out like a blooming black flower.

He tried to move her away, but she murmured in her sleep, “Onii-chan, don’t go.”

Qing Chen sighed, sitting there for the whole night.

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