r18novel Chapter 451 Going down the mountain
Chapter 451 Going down the mountain
Wasim squatted on the other side and brushed the snow off the male corpse's face.
He was a tall, young man with thick eyebrows, a square face, and grayish-blue skin.
His eyes were open, his pupils dilated to almost fill his entire iris, cloudy and empty, staring straight at the cobalt blue sky above.
His mouth was slightly open, his lips were cracked in several places from the cold, revealing his gums that had frozen into a dark red color.
He was wearing the same blue hiking suit that matched the female corpse, and the soles of his hiking boots had separated from the uppers, revealing his toes, which were frozen black.
In the crowd, someone turned their face away and let out a soft gagging sound.
Some people showed a mixture of pity and sorrow on their faces.
Xia Ning's gaze slowly swept across everyone's faces as she spoke, word by word:
"Time is of the essence, hurry up and carry the body down the mountain."
"Remember, once you carry the corpse down the mountain, the eerie aura of the snow mountain will begin to take effect."
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. Finally, the real test was about to begin.
Lin Feng subconsciously glanced at the watch on his wrist—
It was exactly 1 p.m.
The mission is set: the body must be transported back to the temple before sunset.
Sunset is around 5 p.m., so there are only four hours left.
In addition, the eerie atmosphere of the snow-capped mountains continues to erode the area, and the risk of zombie transformation could erupt at any time. Going down the mountain is much more time-consuming and laborious than going up, and the danger ahead is doubled.
"Group A, male corpse," Xia Ning's voice was crisp and clear. "Group B, female corpse. Take your positions."
The two burly men from Group A immediately stepped forward and squatted down on either side of the male corpse.
They first laid the stretcher flat next to the male corpse, then one person lifted the shoulder and another the leg, and with a low shout, they lifted the stiff and heavy body onto the stretcher.
The body was heavier than expected.
The hypothermic corpse had its internal fluids frozen into ice, making the person look like a human-shaped ice block.
The veins on the foreheads of the two burly men bulged as they finally straightened the male corpse on the stretcher.
Then they took ropes out of their backpacks and began to tie them up to prevent slippage on the way down the mountain.
Meanwhile, Group B also sprang into action.
Lin Feng and Wasim were responsible for carrying the female corpse.
Although the female corpse was not light, it was nothing to Lin Feng.
The portion of divine power he inherited from his son flowed slowly within his body, so much so that he could barely feel its weight.
If it weren't for the rules, he could have carried the woman's body all the way down the mountain by himself.
Just as Vassim was getting into the swing of things, Lin Feng had already easily lifted the corpse's shoulder off the ice. Vassim glanced at Lin Feng but didn't say anything.
Once the body was placed on the stretcher, the two men moved even more swiftly.
Lin Feng was in charge of binding the upper body, and his fingers flew across the bandages, wrapping them around several times.
Wasim was responsible for the lower body, and the two worked together seamlessly, completing the fixation in less than half a minute.
Both groups checked the tightness of the ropes and, after confirming that everything was in order, looked up at Xia Ning at the same time.
Xia Ning nodded: "Set up the frame and descend the mountain."
The two groups acted simultaneously.
Two strong men from Group A bent down, gripped the ropes on both sides of the stretcher, looped the ropes over their shoulders, and simultaneously lifted the stretcher off the ground.
The rope tightened around their shoulders, causing them to sink slightly before regaining their balance.
"Walk."
In Group B, Lin Feng and Wasim started their runs simultaneously.
Wasim had broad shoulders, the rope tightened around them, and his steps were steady and powerful.
Lin Feng, on the other hand, was much more relaxed. The rope was only loosely draped over his shoulder, and he carried most of the weight with his hands, moving with light and unhurried steps.
Xia Ning's voice came from behind: "Group B, go first, Group A, follow behind. Keep a distance of five meters. I and the two deacons will cover the rear."
No one answered.
The two teams descended in silence along the mountain path they had come from.
Going down the mountain—it sounds easier than going up.
but it is not the truth.
When going uphill, the weight of your body presses down, making each step feel solid.
Going downhill is the opposite; with each step, you have to use your muscles to control the inertia of the fall, and the pressure on your knees is more than three times that of going uphill.
What's more, they were carrying a heavy corpse.
What's more—an eerie aura has arrived.
At first, it was just the feeling of the wind on my skin that changed.
The mountain wind was still the same temperature, still just as biting, but it carried something indescribable—
It felt like countless extremely fine ice needles, not piercing the surface of the skin, but drilling into the pores and traveling deep into the blood vessels.
Evelyn was the first to sense it.
The cold wasn't from the outside; it grew from within the body, as if something was quietly taking root, sprouting, and spreading in the bone marrow.
She frowned, but didn't stop walking.
The blond youth shivered, his whole body jerked as if he had been electrocuted, and then he suddenly gripped his collar tightly.
"It's so cold..." His voice trembled. "It's not the cold outside... it's the cold inside..."
"Shut up and get on with your feet," Evelyn snapped without turning around.
The blond youth bit his lip and stopped speaking, but his face had already begun to turn pale.
The invasion of the eerie aura is uniform and indiscriminate.
Everyone could feel the speed at which the chill was spreading through their bodies.
It's not fast, but it's very determined, like the second hand of a clock, moving forward step by step, unstoppable and irreversible.
It will invade the bone marrow in thirty-five minutes, at which point it will be impossible to purify.
The corpse is rotated every five minutes, which is a "refresh" and an opportunity to remove the evil energy from the body.
Group A was walking behind, about six or seven meters away from Group B.
The eerie aura was even more pronounced on Group A.
Their overall physical condition was already much worse, and with two people already dead in the team, this fear would act as a catalyst, amplifying the chill brought by the eerie aura.
The one-armed man's lips had turned bluish-purple, but he gritted his teeth and remained silent.
A thin young man next to him started to stagger, only to be snapped back to reality when someone behind him slapped him on the shoulder.
"Five minutes are up, time to rotate!"
Xia Ning's voice came from the back of the line.
Lin Feng and Wasim simultaneously lowered the stretcher slowly until the wooden bar touched the ground.
Carrying the corpse for five minutes was almost effortless for Lin Feng, and Vassim was only slightly out of breath.
Immediately afterwards, Evelyn and the one-armed black man stepped forward to take over the stretcher.
Evelyn was originally a special agent, and after undergoing four rounds of physical enhancement, her figure was steady and unwavering.
Although the strong black man only had one arm, he was in excellent physical condition. The rope around his neck distributed most of the weight, and with Vassim walking beside him and occasionally offering a helping hand, he was able to walk steadily.
Group A then rotated in.
When the two burly men put the stretcher down, they were panting heavily, and fine beads of sweat had already seeped from their foreheads.
They were replaced by a white man and a red-haired girl, both of whom were of average physical fitness and struggled to lift the stretcher.
The white man was walking ahead when he suddenly slipped on a slope. Fortunately, someone nearby reacted quickly and caught him.
Lin Feng then moved to the side of the group, his gaze falling on the stretcher.
The woman's body remained lying there quietly, the ropes still in place.
But his brow furrowed slightly; something seemed off about the woman's face...