In front of a vertical cliff of more than a dozen meters…
Qing Chen asked Jiang Xue to take one end of the nylon rope and walk up to the top of the cliff.
He then took the other end of the rope and tied it around his waist to prevent him from falling during the climb.
This height was already equivalent to the height of six or seven floors. If he fell halfway during his climb without any protection, he would likely die, at least be disabled for sure.
The top of the cliff was bare and had no trees. Jiang Xue could only wrap one end around her waist and step in a hole that she dug to help reduce Qing Chen's impact in case he fell.
As Qing Chen climbed up little by little, she needed to constantly keep tightening the rope, and when Qing Chen fell by accident, she had to pull back on the rope instantly so Qing Chen wouldn't get hurt.
At the same time, she must prevent herself from being carried down the vertical cliff by Qing Chen's falling force.
With the cliff in front of him, Qing Chen looked up in silence.
He thought about what his teacher told him over and over again.
"The cliff looks like an indescribable whole from a distance, but when you get close to it, you can see its fine details."
"At that moment, you will be like in the palm of a giant, and you can see its palm prints."
"That's your shortcut to the sky."
"That's the path the world has left for you, although no one has ever used it before."
The vertical cliff in front of Qing Chen suddenly became three-dimensional in his mind. He saw the slight bumps and cracks in the rock wall.
"Now, you need to unlock the full power of your palms, arms, feet, and legs. Understand them. Control them. Use them."
"By then, the path to the sky will belong to you."
Qing Chen took a deep breath, using everything that could be leveraged with his fingers, and slowly climbed upwards.
He turned every word of teaching the teacher had said into his own knowledge and experience.
Memory, talent, physical strength… Qing Chen had all those.
But he found that in order to reach the place closest to the sky, he still needed a little luck.
Just when Qing Chen climbed around ten meters from the ground, a stone on the rock wall suddenly loosened. His pupils contracted. The triangular support he had was completely destroyed.
He could feel his body slowly leaving the cliff and falling down.
The strong sense of weightlessness made Qing Chen feel like he was approaching death.
Instantly, the nylon rope around his waist tightened, abruptly suspending him mid-air.
Jiang Xue held tightly onto the nylon rope and stood on top of the cliff. She slowly lowered Qing Chen back to the ground.
The rope was tightening around her waist as it rubbed against her hands.
Qing Chen revisited the scene in his mind, and he learned an important lesson: Sometimes, the world might be lying to you. Even the most stable rocks could break at any moment.
This was the world's problem, yet all one could do was to be cautious at every moment.
Qing Chen opened his palm and found that there were small blood blisters on his fingers. It would hurt even with the slightest touch.
Jiang Xue stuck her head out from the cliff and asked, "Xiao Chen, are you alright?"
Qing Chen smiled: "Thank you, Aunt Jiang Xue, I'm fine, let's continue!"
Over the next few days, Qing Chen failed over and over again, but he never gave up, returning to the cliff every time.
Even though his hand got blisters and calluses, the teenager still trained tirelessly.
Looking at the cliff from far away, the gray rocks slowly got a layer of red color It was the blood from the teenager's hands.
If it wasn't for Jiang Xue's salve from the Inner World, Qing Chen's hands would not have been able to withstand such training.
Of the five days, Qing Chen spent almost all day on the cliff. He would only take a break after his body couldn't handle it anymore, while Li Tongyun would buy food for him and Jiang Xue. After eating, he would go right back to climbing.
The next day was October 8th, and school was about to start, but Qing Chen still felt that he still hadn't trained enough.
If it wasn't because he was afraid that taking a couple of days off would attract some unnecessary attention, he could stay at Laojun Mountain until the countdown reaches zero.
Jiang Xue asked Qing Chen, "Why do you want to practice rock climbing all of a sudden?"
Qing Chen answered, "Because after climbing a tall mountain, one's life would be completely different."
Climbing a tall mountain would be the first Life and Death Stage that Qing Chen had to face.
Jiang Xue didn't ask much else.
For her, as long as Qing Chen felt the need to continue, she would do her best to help.
Every day after training, she would carefully clean and wrap Qing Chen's wounds.
After getting rid of all the dirt on the hands, she would apply the salve on them.
The effect of the medication was six hours. Qing Chen had to reapply every night at twelve.
On the fifth night, Li Tongyun noticed that her mom seemed to be in pain lying on the bed.
She lifted the hem of Jiang Xue's clothes and was shocked to see that there was a circle of red marks around the place where she had the nylon rope around her waist. There were several blisters and blood marks as well.
Those were from the countless times that Qing Chen fell from the cliff wall.
Li Tongyun was distressed, "Mom, does it hurt? How come you never said anything about it these days?!"
Jiang Xue smiled, "I'm fine, Xiao Yun."
"We still have a bit of the salve you brought back from the Inner World, let me put some on for you," Li Tongyun said, rummaging for the bottle.
Jiang Xue grabbed the girl’s and said, "No, his hand was hurt again today, and there were scratches on him as well. I only brought a little back this time, barely enough for one. We can't hold him back at this time, understand?"
Li Tongyun's eyes were red, "But you seem to be in paid from the wounds on your waist."
"I know what I can handle," Jiang Xue smiled, "It's no big deal. Moreover, I won't experience any dangers in the Inner World, yet Qing Chen is much different. He had to go through so many difficulties, and we are all he got."
Li Tongyun shook her head, "I also feel sorry for brother Qing Chen, but if he found out about this, he would let you be like this either."
As she said that, she was about to jump out of bed to tell Qing Chen, but Jiang Xue grabbed her arm.
Jiang Xue said solemnly, "Don't tell brother Qing Chen about my wounds, understand? If he finds out about this, he won't want to apply the salve anymore."
Jiang Xue eased her tone and said, "It's a pleasure for us to do something for your brother Qing Chen. We can't let him carry all the burden alone, right?"
"Yeah," Li Tongyun finally gave up.
The two did not know that Qing Chen had been standing outside the door for a while now. He came to discuss the return trip tomorrow morning but ended up hearing this conversation.
The small wooden door of the guesthouse was not at all soundproof.
Standing there and listening, Qing Chen felt that he had found someone dependable in this vast world.
This was a long-lost warmth that he felt again.
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