Chapter 660: “To the Bottom of the Cliff (1)”
It was just a mere ten metres and even when facing towards the sun, the visibility was already so low, it would be reasonable to think that not a sliver of light would reach the bottom of the cliff.
Jun Wu Xie brushed away her thoughts and focused on carefully moving herself downwards.
The descent was expected to be a long one, hence, Jun Wu Xie and her companions had before beginning their descent, coiled a loop of rope around their hip, as a precautionary measure.
The climb down was slow and dull, but none of them could relax even a moment. The rope gripped in their hands was the only thing their lives depended solely on and the slightest slip might cause them to fall deep down the bottomless abyss, smashed into countless pieces!
Enveloped in the thick fog, the companions’ grasp on time’s passing was distorted. All around them, they saw only the blinding white, monotonous and unchanging. If they did not feel the temperature around them dropping further and further, they would have felt that they had not moved at all.
Jun Wu Xie refocused herself, and continued with the long and weary descent.
If she was attempting this with just the strength from her past life, she would not have held out till now. But after being reborn, her spirit powers have grown and throughout the climb, those spirit powers greatly helped her reduce the physical strain. Jun Wu Xie’s position was right in the middle of the climbers, merely a metre away from her companions at her sides. The distance between the climbers was deliberate to allow them to look out for each other when needed.
In the beginning, Jun Wu Xie had still been able to see Rong Ruo on her left and Qiao Chu on her right. But as they descended lower, visibility fell further as the fog grew thicker and the sunlight’s penetration gradually waned. The surroundings became dark, gloomy and a clammy cold seeped in.
Jun Wu Xie was no longer able to see Qiao Chu’s and Rong Ruo’s faces clearly and was only able to make out a blurry silhouette of their figures.
They had not even gone half the distance down and the situation was already like this.
At that moment, Jun Wu Xie grew more wary and cautious of what they might have to face at the bottom of the Heaven’s End Cliff.
As they descended further, the temperature dropped to a point that made them start to feel the chill. Jun Wu Xie had no choice but to expend a little of her spirit power to cover over herself, to slow down the loss of her body heat.
“Should we take a break?” Qiao Chu’s voice suddenly reverberated.
“How long have we been climbing?” Fei Yan’s Boyce chirped in, from within the dim surroundings.
“I don’t know. “
Jun Wu Xie paused. “Ten hours.”
She had been counting the seconds in her mind and without realising it, when she reached the six hour mark, half a day had passed.
“Let’s rest a little.” Jun Wu Xie said.
Although her hands were protected by heavy gloves, but after ten long hours of constant friction, it had caused her palms to feel slightly numb.
And that was even when she had her spirit power to protect her body. If they had not made prior proper preparations and did not have spirit powers to support them, they might not even have lasted half the amount of time.
“Alright! I was thinking something didn’t feel right with me. It must have been my hunger. Let’s all rest up a little and get something to eat to regain our strength.” Qiao Chu said, his voice slightly tinged with anguish.
Everyone agreed to the suggestion and they concentrated their spirit powers into one hand to firmly secure their grip on the ropes. They then planted their feet against the cliff face to maintain their balance while they reached into the little bag at their hips with the other hand to take out prepared bits of dried meat to stuff into their mouths to chew and swallow.
Under the low temperature, the meat was hard as rocks and even the water they carried with them was biting cold.
In their current situation, they did not have any other choice but to make do with what they have to fill their stomachs.
“Ye Sha, Ye Mei.” Jun Wu Xie held the dried meat in her hand but did not immediately consume it, but she instead called out for Ye Sha and Ye Mei who had started their descent one step before them.