Buying Medicine

Qing Chen understood that even if he left Takayama Hida now, he would not be able to find another place suitable for challenging the Ice Consolidation.

The only solution is to change the project.

There are not many people qualified to become knights.

There are even fewer places that qualify as locations for Life and Death Trial challenges.

The knights' predecessors accumulated thousands of years of experience in the Inner World.

If Qing Chen were in the Inner World, he could find challenging places based on the experience of his predecessors.

But he didn't have that opportunity this time, which meant he had to figure things out all over again on his own in the Outer World...

When Qing Chen wanted to surf, he waited for half a month and tried two different sea areas before he finally got to do it.

Li Shutong's achievement of Ice Consolidation was also fraught with difficulties.

This master first entered the snowy mountains of Southwest China and recruited a strong man from the Huotang tribe to be his guide.

We first camped at an altitude of 6,200 meters in the southwestern snow-capped mountains for a month to allow our bodies to gradually adapt to the low-oxygen environment of the plateau.

Then they continued to a location at an altitude of 7100 meters to camp for the night.

Finally, we made a final sprint and reached the main peak of the Southwest Snow Mountain.

He leaped from an altitude of 8,000 meters, completing the challenge of Ice Consolidation at a speed of nearly 180 kilometers per hour with unparalleled skill.

Li Shutong said that the most difficult part is that when entering the 6,200-meter altitude, every rider must enter a reverse breathing state to allow their body, which has its Gene Lock closed, to adapt to the high altitude.

The second difficulty lies in how to prevent the strong men around the fire pit from noticing that he has become an ordinary person at an altitude of 6200 meters.

You need to acclimatize to the high altitude in advance because if you start using reverse breathing after you reach the summit and begin the challenge, you will instantly experience altitude sickness, your brain will become sluggish, and various altitude-related illnesses will also appear.

For Li Shutong, the challenge was even more difficult because he was climbing the main peak as an ordinary person, and after jumping down from the peak, all that was needed was courage.

Qing Chen could actually find a snow-capped mountain like that, such as Mount Everest.

The snow there is extremely firm, and the north slope is steep but not so steep as to become a cliff, just right for skiing.

The problem is that he can't climb Mount Everest, or any other mountain with a similar altitude, during this season.

Keep in mind that while many people summit Mount Everest throughout the year, those are all events that take place after May.

Even the local Sherpa wouldn't attempt to summit Everest in winter—it's suicidal!

Summer is the hottest time of the year, and the chances of ice storms on Mount Everest decrease.

Even so, all those attempting to reach the summit must constantly monitor the weather, setting off when the weather is best and leaving before the ice storm arrives.

Therefore, the Ice Consolidation will have to wait several months before the most suitable time arrives.

But Qing Chen was not discouraged; on the contrary, he was extremely excited because he had a new idea.

Right now.

Qing Chen lay in the snow, looking at the staggered mountain ridges above the distant mountains.

With just a little calculation, it was found that... if the main peak opposite is 3190 meters high, then the valley between it and the peak of Mount Karasawa Mountain would have a drop of nearly 1900 meters.

The curves of the staggered mountain ridges looked exceptionally beautiful to Qing Chen at that moment.

The blade formed by the immense power of nature is as clean and decisive as if it had cleaved the sky in two.

This is where he aims to complete the "Surge of Strength".

Like a fool, Qing Chen grabbed a handful of powdered snow, smeared it on his face, and then lay motionless in the pit.

Enjoying the joy of unexpected turns of events.

At this point, even professional downhill ridge riders would hesitate to attempt this ridge.

First of all, the ridge is too winding and too narrow.

The ridge has a cross-section of at most 0.4 meters, which means that if you turn even slightly off course, you will ride straight into the abyss.

Secondly, the drop is too large, which means that the speed cannot be controlled.

You can't brake arbitrarily during a downhill descent; even a slight squeeze of the brakes could cause the vehicle to overturn.

The immense inertia will cause the rear of the car to lift up, and then flip the car over along with the people inside.

But Qing Chen no longer cared.

How could a knight's Life and Death Trial not be accompanied by danger?

Qing Chen stood up.

With a new goal in mind, it's time to start planning everything anew.

With only 27 days left until the crossing, it's a tight schedule for a Life and Death Trial challenge, and he must cherish every moment.

Many people at the ski resort saw Qing Chen leap down and fall into the powder snow.

They laughed heartily. Just yesterday they were wondering why this kid was climbing the mountain, but they never expected him to be a novice who wanted to challenge the powder snow on the mountain.

But before they could laugh for long, they found that the young man had already gotten up and headed towards the distant main peak.

It disappeared again into the snowstorm.

Ridge downhill riding isn't as simple as finding a trail and starting to ride.

Qing Chen needs to clear away the loose rocks and scattered snow from the entire ridge in the remaining 27 days.

The Knight's Life and Death Trial is about experiencing life and death, not about courting death.

In front of the hot spring inn.

Jingūji Maki sat on the wooden steps, wearing a scarf, and rested her chin on her two small hands.

She stared at the large snowman in front of her, occasionally letting out a silly laugh.

She sat there from 7 o'clock until 7:59 o'clock when Qing Chen came back from outside.

The little girl looked up and saw Qing Chen, then quickly stood up and waved, "Onii-chan~!"

Qing Chen glanced at her and said, "Mm."

Then he walked straight past the little girl.

Jingūji Maki didn't care. She now understood that her brother from afar was cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and didn't really dislike her.

She took slippers out of the shoe cabinet, neatly arranged them on the floor, and said with a smile, "Grandma woke up this afternoon, and her appetite has improved. I made her a thick omelet and fried fish, and she said it was especially delicious. Grandma also said that she will recover soon."

Qing Chen glanced at the little girl in silence.

A sudden increase in appetite in a late-stage lung cancer patient is not a good sign.

No one told the little girl that lung cancer was actually incurable. The doctors kept it from her, and even her grandmother kept it from her, always saying that the disease just required more rest.

She took care of her grandmother every day, naively hoping that one day her grandmother would wake up from a nap and be cured.

Upon entering the house, Qing Chen noticed that the little girl had brought an even more lavish spread of food than usual.

In addition to the usual rice, fried fish, tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelet), and miso soup, there was also a slightly charred grilled beef.

Qing Chen looked at the roast beef, then glanced at the gloves the little girl was still wearing when she came in. "Take off your gloves."

Jingūji Maki hesitated for a moment, but finally took it off. There were burn marks on her right hand, probably left when she was cooking beef.

The little girl lowered her head as if she had done something wrong.

Qing Chen: "You..."

The little girl looked up at the older boy, thinking he was about to say something caring.

Qing Chen: "Don't burn the beef next time you cook it."

Little girl. "... Oh."

Qing Chen finished all the food on his own.

Jingūji Maki sat to the side and said cautiously, "Onii-chan, I'm taking the bus to Nakatsugawa City Gifu Prefecture tomorrow to buy medicine for Grandma. I promise I'll be back before 7 pm, so I won't be late to cook for you, okay?"

In an island nation, a prefecture is a region, equivalent to a provincial-level administrative unit in a country, and Nakatsugawa City is the closest city to Shirakawa-go.

She's the only one who can work at this hot spring inn. If she leaves, it means that when Qing Chen comes back at noon, he might not be able to find a place to eat.

Although Qing Chen only came back at night every day, her sudden departure was somewhat irresponsible, so the little girl was a little uneasy.

But Grandma's medication has been interrupted for several days. Previously, she didn't have money to buy medicine, but now that Qing Chen has advanced the rent, she has to hurry to the Takayama Hospital in Gifu Prefecture.

Qing Chen glanced at the little girl. "You're going to Gifu Prefecture alone?"

"Yes," Jingūji Maki, "It won't interfere with Onii-chan's dinner."

Qing Chen was worried that the little girl might get lost or encounter someone with ill intentions if she went to Gifu Prefecture alone.

What the little girl was worried about was that Qing Chen would not agree to let her leave.

"Go ahead," Qing Chen said, then got up and went back to his room to go to sleep.

The door closed and then reopened. Qing Chen handed the little girl a small bottle of black ointment. "Apply it to your hands."

After saying that, the door closed again.

Early morning.

Jingūji Maki got up early as usual. She prepared a meal for her grandmother and left it by her bedside, put her brother's bedding in the closet, and then went out.

But when the little girl opened the bedroom door, her eyes widened as she stared at Qing Chen's figure. "Onii-chan?! What are you doing here?!"

In the past, Qing Chen would have left before she woke up.

At this moment, Qing Chen glanced at her and said, "I happen to have something to do in Gifu Prefecture today. Hurry up and get ready so we can take the first Nohi Bus."

Jingūji Maki was lost in thought for a few seconds, then her big eyes lit up. "Okay, okay, Onii-chan, wait for me a moment, I'll leave after I've saved some food for Grandma."

While the little girl was busy, Qing Chen searched for shops selling mountain bikes in Gifu Prefecture on his phone.

With a new Life and Death Trial, new equipment is naturally needed.

It doesn't need to be complicated; all you need is a sturdy mountain bike.

He could have had Si Nianhua deliver it directly, but even Si Nianhua doesn't know his whereabouts or what he's doing in the island nation.

Based on the principle of not revealing his whereabouts, Qing Chen felt it was safer to buy it himself.

It's not that I don't trust Si Nianhua.

Qing Chen felt that Si Nianhua was very likely not from the Outer World. Among the Time Walker controlled by each conglomerate, there would be some who used neural connection technology to reverse the body possession. These people were the leaders of the Outer World.

All conglomerates do this, and the Keung family is probably no exception.

He trusted that Si Nianhua would resolutely carry out the Shadow's orders, but if someone on Si Nianhua's side had been exposed and was targeted by the Gods, it would become a hidden danger.

Before he could overcome the Life and Death Trial, he didn't want to reveal his whereabouts over such a trivial matter.

Half an hour later, the two boarded the first Nohi Bus. Jingūji Maki sat on the left side of the last row, and Qing Chen sat on the right side of the last row. The two kept their distance from each other as if they were complete strangers.

Jingūji Maki didn't know why Qing Chen did this, but having someone accompany her to Gifu Prefecture was something to be very happy about.

There's one more chapter coming up. I've finished writing it, but I need to revise it a bit. Please wait a moment.