Chapter 289: Hard Climbing the Snow Mountain
"Sadler, what is a hunting group?" Shu Li asked the magician beside him in a low voice.
Before Sadler could answer, Morrissey said, "Hey, you'd better ask me that question. I know better than him."
"Really?" Shu Li expressed doubt.
Sadler elbowed Morrissey in the waist. "Don't keep me in suspense."
Morrissey groaned, holding his waist.
"Hehe~" The others laughed in schadenfreude.
Morrissey received Sadler's warning look, cleared his throat, and explained, "The Hunting Group has existed for thousands of years. Originally formed by a group of ruthless bandits, they were later joined by low-spirited and morally corrupt adventurers, mercenaries, and criminals from various countries. They are numerous and powerful, and anyone who enters the Snow Country is within their range of robbery."
"The Snow Country doesn't care?" Shu Li was puzzled. Wouldn't this be equivalent to cutting off the Snow Country's communication with the outside world?
"The Snow Country can't intervene even if they want to," Morrissey said, spreading his hands. "The hunting groups are cunning. They only target outsiders and don't rob Snow Country residents."
“How can they tell who is an outsider and who is a native of the Snow Country?” Kumandi asked.
Morrissey said, "The people of the Snow Country have very distinctive looks. Their skin is generally white, and most have purple eyes. They also carry Snow Country identification cards, making them easy to identify."
Snow-white skin and purple eyes?
Shu Li and others couldn't help but look at Nasha.
Nasha's mother is the princess of the Snow Kingdom, and half of her blood comes from the Snow Kingdom.
As Morrissey had said, Nasha's skin was two shades lighter than the others, and her eyes were a rare and mysterious violet.
Nasha felt embarrassed by being stared at by everyone, so she pulled up her plush scarf to cover half of her face.
Morrissey and Sadler were both intelligent men, and they immediately noticed Nasha's uniqueness. However, given the mixed crowd, they tacitly avoided pointing it out.
Shu Li sighed and asked, "So, we have to fight the hunting group on our way up the mountain?"
"Yes," Morrissey asked. "Are you scared?"
"Don't be afraid!" Dizio clenched his fists. "If they dare to come, I will kill them!"
"That's right! All bad guys deserve to die!" Budno said seriously.
Morrissey said, "The hunting group is so confident because they have a Saint-level Necromancer in charge. Our goal is to get up the mountain, so don't fight hard. Save your life first. As long as we can escape their hunting circle, we will succeed."
Sadler pointed to a middle-aged man in a brown fur coat not far away and said in a low voice, "He is Nasak. He leads an adventuring group of 100 people and is the hunting group's biggest target."
"Should we stay away from them then?" Angel asked.
"No, we follow them." Morrissey raised the corner of his mouth.
"Why?" Hector was confused. "Since they are definitely being targeted by the hunting group, wouldn't it be more dangerous for us to follow them?"
"It's easy to dodge an open attack, but it's hard to guard against an arrow from the dark." Shu Li's eyes lit up and he said, "Morrisi's idea is to have the 100-man adventure group go ahead to draw the enemy's fire, while we follow behind and fish in troubled waters, seizing the opportunity to escape."
"Smart." Morrissey reached out and touched Shu Li's head covered with a plush hat.
Ace stared at his hand that was touching Shu Li's head and said calmly, "Other small groups think so too."
Morrissey felt an inexplicable chill and withdrew his hand awkwardly.
It's strange. He is wearing a very thick fur coat, so why does he still feel cold?
Sadler said, "With many small groups and dispersed targets, our presence will be reduced, making it easier to escape."
Morrissey coughed twice and said, "The most important question now is, how is your physical strength?"
"Physical strength?" Amanda patted her chest. "No problem!"
No race in the world has better physical strength than the dragon race.
The orcs are not as good as the dragons.
"I'm not worried about you guys," Morrissey said, looking at the two girls. Female magicians were known to have poor physical strength. They couldn't even keep up with the group on flat ground, let alone climbing a snowy mountain.
"Don't look down on others." Siti met the dark elf's gaze unconvinced.
"You'll know how strong we are in a moment." Nasha looked at him sharply.
After two years of special training by Ilio, it’s impossible for him to have poor physical strength.
Sadler elbowed Morrissey in the waist again and said coldly, "Let's go."
The adventurers who had gone down the mountain had finished going up, and it was their turn to go up the mountain. The adventurers in front of them rushed to the ice and snow gate.
The Light Squad huddled together, leisurely falling behind the Hundred Man Group.
As Ace said, many small groups followed the Hundred Man Group just like them, and fought openly and secretly for a good position.
"Safety first!" Shu Li reminded, "Let's not fight with them. It's better to go slower than to be separated and left alone."
Sadler and Morrissey didn't know the true strength of the Light Team, so they gave them such earnest advice, but Shu Li knew his own team's abilities well, and if they really encountered a hunting group, they wouldn't be afraid of a big fight.
After all, Seleucus, as a demonic sword, is not just for show.
Sadler looked at Shu Li with a little more approval.
After interacting with them for a long time, I realized that the core of Team Light is this young man named Sperian.
Although he was young, he was a steady and cautious person, making him the perfect choice for captain. Even the solitary Seleu was willing to join his adventuring team and follow his instructions, which showed his extraordinary ability.
The way up the mountain was extremely difficult from the beginning. The ice and snow stairs were very slippery. Every time we climbed a level, we were fighting against nature.
Nearly a thousand people entered the snow-capped mountains, and the movement speed was slow. People often slipped and fell because they could not stand steadily, affecting those behind them and causing considerable trouble.
The Light Team formed a long queue, pulling one another along, and walked to the side, trying to avoid bumping into others.
Most of Nasak's hundred-man regiment are burly men. They have been adventuring for many years and walking on the edge of danger. They have long developed strong physiques. The snow-capped mountains cannot stop their progress.
They were moving very fast, and after half an hour, they had distanced themselves from the crowd. Many small groups were left far behind, and only four or five teams of ten people could barely keep up.
Team Light is one of them.
At this moment, the benefits of Ilio having them run around the academy every day gradually began to show.
A strong body is indeed the first element of adventure.
Morrissey saw that Siti and Nasha were doing it with ease and gave them a thumbs up in appreciation.
Siti held her head high and chest puffed out with pride, taking firm steps.
Nasha remained silent, followed the team closely, and looked around vigilantly.
The higher we went, the lower the temperature and the worse the weather became. The steps disappeared, replaced by half a meter deep snow.
Every step requires effort to pull out the legs, which consumes a lot of physical energy.
Shu Li simply couldn't imagine how the people of the Snow Country survived in such a cold region.
Why did they establish their country on a plateau at an altitude of four or five thousand meters?
If it weren't for the snow mountain maze attracting outsiders, they would have been isolated from the world long ago.
An hour and a half later, thousands of people dispersed into dozens of groups. Nasak's 100-man adventure group was far ahead, while Team Light and a mercenary group insisted on keeping up.
This mercenary group consists of fifteen people, three of whom are obviously pampered aristocrats, and twelve are mercenaries.
This group of mercenaries had excellent physical qualities, outstanding abilities, and strong mobility. Even though they were carrying three useless nobles, their marching speed was not affected at all.
They saw Team Light and looked puzzled.
"Is this your first time in the snowy mountains?" a burly mercenary asked with a smile, trying to get close to you.
Shu Li said nothing. He was unsure of the other party's intentions and kept a cautious distance.
Morrissey walked past him and replied casually, "How could it be my first time? I've walked this road at least three times and I know it very well. There's a forest up ahead where we can rest for a while. I think your employer is almost unable to bear the cold. Let's build a fire and make some hot soup to warm him up."
This was said to both the mercenaries and Shu Li and others.
They were equipped with magical equipment and were not afraid of the cold, but ordinary people had reached their limit after walking on the snowy mountains for two hours and it was time to stop and regroup.
The mercenary narrowed his eyes and said with a smile, "Thank you for your reminder."
"You're welcome." Morrissey said calmly.
The mercenary quickened his pace, walked to the front of the team, and whispered a few words to the mercenary leader. The mercenary leader nodded, raised his hand and made a few suggestive gestures, and the other mercenaries immediately quickened their pace.
When they were ten meters away, Shu Li asked Morrissey, "Was that mercenary just now deliberately probing us?"
Morrissey raised an eyebrow: "What do you think?"
Seleu asked, "What do they want to do?"
Although the mercenary was smiling, he clearly sensed a hint of malice from the other party.
Morrissey sneered: "I want to be a robber for once."
Hector was stunned: "Do we look so easy to bully?"
Shu Li was shocked: "Are the mercenaries so unethical? They even dared to act like robbers while carrying out their mission."
Morrissey held up a finger and shook it. "No, no, no, they're doing this as a side hustle."
Shu Li was so angry that he laughed.
Dixie gritted his teeth: "I really want to teach them a lesson."
Angel rolled his eyes. "Let's talk about it after dark."
Kumandi frowned: "Don't make things complicated."
Although the other party had their eyes on them, they did not take any actual action.
Ace said, "If the other party crosses the line, we don't have to be polite."
Shu Li agreed and said, "That's right."
Since we know that the other party has bad intentions, we must take precautions before it happens.
Angel pointed at the back of Shu Li's hand and whispered, "We won't take the initiative to provoke them, but we can let Farm scare them."
Being attacked by monsters in the middle of the night, you can’t blame others.
Shu Li looked at the smile on his face and thought to herself: He is indeed a bit cunning and has a lot of tricks up his sleeve.
Farm, who was sleeping soundly in the Seal of the God of Fire, had no idea that he had been entrusted with an important task.
After another forty minutes of walking, we finally arrived at the forest that Morrissey mentioned.
The Hundred Man Group stopped to reorganize, and the Mercenary Group and Team of Light followed suit to rest.
They flattened the snow, piled up a one-meter-high snow wall, formed a circle, picked up dead branches to light a fire, put up an iron pot, and directly threw a handful of snow into it to cook.
The mercenary group and the Light Squad set up camp nearby, a few meters apart so as not to interfere with each other.
Under Shu Li's influence, the Light Squad paid great attention to hygiene, unlike the Hundred Man Group who directly boiled water with snow.
The snow-capped mountains are rich in water elements, and you can condense pure water by simply reciting a low-level water spell.
Seeing this, the three nobles were not happy and asked the mercenary group to pour out the snow water and replace it with clean water condensed by magic.
There is a high-level water magician in the mercenary group, but he is arrogant and demands extra money before he is willing to cast spells.
The nobles were angry but helpless, they had to rely on them to go up the mountain and they could only pay.
After the water magician poured clean water into the iron pot, he stared at Shu Li sharply, as if he had done something unforgivable.
Shu Li felt puzzled.
He pays attention to hygiene, so is there anything wrong with drinking purified water?
In the Centurial Regiment camp, Nasak gnawed on a piece of dry, tough beef and drank soup made from snow water, mumbling, "Young people are particular."
Deputy Head Joseph said, "Newbies are all like this. Once they've suffered, they'll even dare to drink urine."
"Don't mention piss. I feel sick just thinking about it now," said a burly bearded man. "Three months ago, I was trapped in the Ergoja Desert and was forced to drink urine for three days. It suffocated me!"
"Hahaha, it's good enough to have urine to drink. I'm just worried that I'll get sunburned and lose all my urine."
"Don't even mention peeing! I still want to drink soup and eat meat!"
"Have you ever considered my feelings, you rough guys? Shut up!"
"Oh my, big sister, I'm sorry, hahahaha——"
On Team Light's side, Shu Li and the others wanted to cover their ears. Listening to the rude words of the Hundred Man Group was simply disgusting.
"These old guys are deliberately disgusting you!" Morrissey handed the heated barbecue to Sadler and said to the others, "Eat quickly. Only when you are full will you have the strength to continue on your journey."
Amanda asked innocently, "Why do they want to disgust us?"
Morrissey took out a second piece of frozen meat, heated it close to the fire, and gave Amanda a wicked grin.
"To pick up the bodies."
"Wha…what?"
The others stared in surprise.
Sadler's elbow hit Morrissey's waist mercilessly, and he immediately screamed and dodged to the side.
Dizio made a face at him.
Serves you right!
Sadler said in a voice only they could hear, "Although the adventure group won't attack us, they will deliberately trip us up. When we get into trouble, they'll come and strip the clothes and equipment from the bodies and make a fortune."
"Hiss~~~" Shu Li got goosebumps and leaned towards Ace involuntarily.
Ace's arms reached behind him in a hollow hug.
"It's so hard to climb the snowy mountain." Hector sighed, "There are pits everywhere."
Harris drank his hot cereal silently, secretly thanking himself for meeting the experienced Morrissey and Sadler.
Although he had many adventures, they were far inferior to theirs.
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