Unlike the open, flat beaches to the south, the northern part of Sheer Cliff Island was filled with towering, bare reefs. Black-brown stone pillars had been forcibly fused together by the mighty force of nature, forming jagged, razor-edged peaks.
Millions upon millions of years of wind and rain had eroded the bases of the stone pillars until they were riddled with cracks. The widest were no more than a palm's length across, yet their depths could not be seen; standing above them, one could only glimpse pitch-black darkness.
"Hiss..."
A boot came down, its sole stepping onto the dark-green moss covering the rock's surface. It was like treading on some kind of water-soaked sponge; along with the sluggish sound of water being squeezed and splashed out came a slick, sticky sensation from beneath his foot.
It was damp year-round. A light swipe of the hand braced against the nearby rock wall left his fingers covered in cold droplets.
Xia Nan's expression was focused. Controlling his center of gravity, he carefully took each step, cautiously moving between the rock walls.
By his ears were the howl of the sea wind, the crash of waves shattering against the reefs, and the strange whistling of air flowing through the cracks in the rock walls on either side.
If he turned his head and looked down now, he would see the light swallowed by the walls below, leaving only a deep, ink-black stretch of sea and black-brown reefs set off by the spray.
If he lost control of his body even slightly and slipped by accident, he would be smashed to pieces.
In his previous life, even the most experienced extreme athletes would not have dared attempt such a climb rashly without long, thorough preparation and expensive, meticulous professional equipment.
For an ordinary person