Following Keith, the group walked for almost an hour before arriving at the foot of the mountain.
Looking up, the snowflakes flying in the air turned the mountain into a pure white silhouette, resembling a huge painting, with only some withered branches and leaves dotting the scene at the edges.
"So cold..."
Everyone stopped. After walking for so long, they already felt exhausted even before starting to climb.
After all, when the human body fights against low temperatures, it naturally consumes a lot of heat in a short period of time. Moreover, at this moment, not only were white threads falling from the sky, but there were also raging winds. Even with thick clothes and scarves, the wind could still penetrate like a cold, sharp knife cutting into their bodies.
"The finish line is on the mountain side!"
Keith pointed at the snow mountain and said with a wide-open mouth. It had to be said that everyone admired him—in such cold weather, he still had the energy to shout loudly.
"There are warm houses and delicious food up there! Once you reach it, it's all yours!"
These words made everyone's eyes light up. Indeed, these two things were what everyone craved most right now.
"Then, let's go!"
Keith stepped aside, and everyone had nothing to say, starting to walk up the mountain road. The mountain road split into six or seven paths right from the beginning, obviously meaning there were six or seven choices.
No one knew which path was the right one. Under the heavy snow, visibility was extremely low. Looking up, the end of each path was just a vast expanse of white.
It was possible that several paths were correct; it was possible that only one was correct and the others were dead ends. In short, no one knew.
"Looks like we have to make our own choices," Jean said, walking at the front. He looked at the several paths and directly chose the one in the middle. "Then I'll choose this seemingly spacious and bright road!"
His team went onto that path, and the other teams also chose different paths and began to move forward.
"Which one should we choose?" Krista was a little indecisive. She was the leader of the group, the one who gave orders.
"Ymir, what do you think?" She looked over for help. As girls in the same dormitory who had lived together for more than half a year, she was naturally closer to Ymir.
The latter looked around but didn't speak directly. Instead, she glanced at Rayan. "Shorty, do you have any ideas?"
"..."
Rayan naturally didn't know which path was the right one either. Asked at this moment, he casually said, "Whatever, it's all the same." As he said this, he glanced at the conflicted Krista and casually pointed to a relatively secluded path. "How about this one?"
Daz, whose physical condition wasn't good, had been walking for more than an hour. His face was as pale as paper, and even speaking was difficult. He just nodded. "Anything is fine..."
"Krista, just choose the one you like the most," Ymir suddenly said after Rayan finished speaking. "No need to listen to the shorty."
"...Venomous-tongued woman, you're really boring."
"Then let's take Li..." Krista suddenly paused, frowned slightly, and changed her mind before finishing her sentence. "We'll take this one."
She pointed to a path, the one adjacent to the one Rayan had suggested.
After saying that, she took the first step and walked away. Rayan pursed his lips and followed. However, Ymir slowed down at this moment, walked parallel to him, and then whispered, "Krista really thinks about you."
"I know that without the venomous-tongued woman telling me."
Rayan naturally knew Krista's consideration. This choice of path seemed casual, but in fact, there was a matter of responsibility involved.
Because this training counted towards the overall score, if they chose the wrong path and wasted time, the final score would definitely be low. Then—who would bear this responsibility?
It would definitely be whoever chose the path.
After all, these groups were formed temporarily, and the members' relationships might not be very good. Many hadn't reached the point where they were willing to share responsibility together.
So, Krista hadn't initially realized this, which was why she had asked Ymir for her opinion. But after Rayan made a suggestion, she suddenly realized it, so she immediately took the responsibility upon herself and made a choice. What a silly girl.
Thinking this, he took a step. "Let's go, venomous-tongued woman, say a few less words. In this kind of weather, saying one extra word consumes one extra bit of energy."
"Tch, do you think I like talking to you more?"
The four chose a path and entered it, quickly disappearing into the vast snow like the other groups.
...
...
Whoosh—whoosh.
The north wind howled, carrying involuntary snowflakes, covering the sky and the earth, but also drilling into people's necks.
Rayan shivered.
The four had been walking for an hour. Even though his physique was very good at the moment, it couldn't increase his resistance to cold and heat much. And if he, a boy, was this frozen, let alone the two girls.
Krista kept her hands in her pockets, her body slightly hunched forward as she walked. Obviously, standing straight would expose her to more wind and snow. Her dark eyebrows were completely covered in frost, and there were ice marks at the corners of her eyes, the frozen remnants of tears caused by the wind.
Ymir was better off in comparison, but she hadn't said a word for a long time. Just as Rayan said, speaking one extra word outside in this weather would waste some precious energy.
Of course, the most important thing was that the finish line was nowhere in sight. They had been walking for so long, but the front was still a vast expanse of white. It seemed as if the few of them had walked into a painting, and no matter how they walked, they were just going in circles in a blank space.
The key was that the few of them didn't know if this path was right or wrong, but...the way back was already covered in ice and snow, and turning their heads to look behind them was also a vast expanse of white. Fortunately, they had companions with them. If they were walking alone in this environment, they would probably have a mental breakdown before freezing to death.
"Thump."
Suddenly, a muffled sound. The few of them looked back and saw Daz, who was walking at the very end, fall to the ground.
"Daz!"
Krista hurriedly walked over, while Rayan had already squatted down and checked his condition.
Daz's eyes were tightly closed at the moment, and he was unconscious. Rayan took off his gloves and placed the back of his hand on Daz's forehead. His expression immediately changed slightly.
It was clearly icy and snowy, but Daz's forehead was scorching hot, almost hot enough to boil eggs. He had obviously developed a high fever!
"He has a fever," Rayan said, putting on his gloves and taking off the scarf around his neck, wrapping it around Daz's face. "We must find a..."
"There's a cave here!" Ymir's voice came from ahead.
Rayan picked up Daz. He was heavy, but it was nothing for Rayan.
"Be careful..."
Krista reached out to support Daz's body from the side and walked forward together. When they reached the front, they found a cave by the roadside. At this moment, Ymir had already put down her backpack, taken out an oil lamp from it, and used the backpack to block the wind in front, lighting the lamp.
A dim yellow light illuminated the area.
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