May 10, 2014. High on the snow mountain, the icy-blue sky was pristine and cloudless. Looking up from the towering ridge, it seemed one could see through the vault of heaven into the world beyond the universe.
Winter had not yet arrived, and the weather was fine. Thousands of climbers had gathered here from all over the world, led by local guides as they ascended this snow mountain known as the highest peak in the world, displaying their courage and power in conquering nature.
Every year, people exhausted their strength and left their corpses on the mountain; every year, foolish youths driven by some unreasonable obsession came one after another. Old corpses were frozen into sculptures, becoming markers for those who came after; fresh corpses lay shallowly buried in the snow, adding colorful ornaments to the white mountain.
Qi Si sat beside the mountain trail, chin propped on his hand, watching the climbers—faces and hair covered in ice crystals—trudge unsteadily uphill with utter boredom.
These people could neither see nor hear him. Though they were close enough to touch, they clearly belonged to two separate worlds. Fortunately, three people from Ark Guild were traveling with him. The four of them chatted aimlessly about their analysis of the current situation and speculated about future developments, at least keeping themselves from forgetting how to speak.
Qi Si could not help recalling a science fiction novel he had once read: after the end of the world, humanity reached its final road, and the last survivor in the universe went mad from extreme loneliness and terror.
Right now, the four of them watched the bustle of the sea of people yet could not join it. As ghosts who had come from another time and space, they wandered about helplessly, not even knowing whether they