Making a run for it

Deep snow covered his ankles as he made his way into the dry bed of the Dry River. Everywhere he looked was white, with most of the rocks buried beneath the snow.

Lu Heng crouched, brushed aside the surface snow, and felt the rocks underneath. The gravel scattered across the ground was all too small to meet the requirements for upgrading the Shelter and was completely unusable. Only four or five whole boulders lay embedded along the riverbank, frozen firmly into the soil. The only way to take them was to pry them out by force.

He drew the Bronze Hunting Blade and wedged it into a crack beside a rock for leverage. The riverbank soil was frozen solid, and every attempt required him to lower his stance and use all his strength. The ice beneath his feet was slick; the slightest lapse could send him stumbling. After several attempts, his thigh muscles trembled with soreness, a layer of cold sweat soaked his back, and his stamina drained rapidly.

After a long struggle, he barely managed to pry out three suitable pieces of stone, leaving him almost completely drained.

Lu Heng braced himself against a dead tree trunk and gasped for breath, casually wiping the loose snow from his eyebrows and eyes.

Though the riverbed held plenty of rocks, the snow, ice, and uneven ground made it difficult to traverse, and extraction was far too inefficient. After weighing his options for a moment, he gave up searching along the riverbed, hauled himself laboriously up the steep slope to the high bank, and followed the gentler slope upstream.

The view upstream was open, with large exposed rocks visible at a glance and reserves far exceeding those downstream.

Lu Heng had only just begun to relax and was about to head down the slope toward the rocks when a dull sound of something heavy crushing snow came from deep in the channel. A large mass of snow collapsed with a crash, throwing up a white haze.

He froze instantly, then immediately crouched against a tree trunk to hide, even softening his breathing as he quietly looked toward the sound. A Coldrock Bear strode out through the thick snow, its hide wrapped in a layer of hard stone armor. It headed straight for an unfrozen pool in the middle stretch of the channel, stepped into the icy water, and lowered its head to search for prey.

Lu Heng lightly pressed his bracelet with a fingertip, silently bringing up the appraisal panel and targeting the massive beast.

[Name: Coldrock Bear]

[Rank: Black iron]

[Description: Thick-bodied and possessed of terrifying brute strength. Its thick hide and hard armor are difficult to penetrate, and a single strike from its claws or fangs can tear flesh open. Extremely territorial, it relentlessly pursues any living creature that enters its domain. Unafraid of bitter cold, it forages year-round. Once locked in combat, it will not stop until one side is dead.]

Behind the tree, Lu Heng's heart sank heavily. The gray-white corpse figures roaming the woods were stiff and slow, and he could still contend with them by maneuvering and keeping his distance. But the Coldrock Bear was agile, with physical defenses pushed to the limit. With his current half-baked blade skills, he had no chance whatsoever in a head-on fight.

The Coldrock Bear buried its head in the icy pool, then suddenly raised it a moment later with a large fish caught in its thick, long fangs. Icy water dripped steadily from its fur. It climbed back onto the snowy bank, sat down, and lowered its head to tear into the fish. The sounds of its chewing were especially clear in the empty river channel.

Before Lu Heng could steady himself, the heavy tremors of footsteps through snow came from the woods across the river.

The feeding Coldrock Bear abruptly stopped, fish flesh hanging beside its mouth. Its head whipped toward the sound, its cloudy eyes locked onto that patch of snowy woods, and its entire body instantly tensed with ferocity.

Lu Heng's nerves stretched to their limit. He lowered himself deeper into the snow, letting the freezing layer cover his outer clothing and animal hide, allowing loose snow to coat his neck and the top of his head. Using the snow to mask his living scent, he dared not make the slightest unnecessary movement.

Before long, another Coldrock Bear pushed through the snow and emerged.

This one was a size larger, with thick, dark stone armor across its back. The ground trembled slightly whenever its paws landed in the snow, and the oppressive presence bearing down with the cold wind made it hard to breathe.

The Coldrock Bear beside the pool immediately raised its head, releasing the large fish from its fangs. Its massive body went taut like a drawn bow, a deep, hoarse growl rolled from its throat, and every stiff hair on its body bristled as it stared fixedly at its counterpart across the river. The fish fell into the snow, warm blood spreading out and staining a small patch of pure white.

The two black-iron beasts faced off across the river, their alternating growls echoing through the valley. The air brimmed with ferocity ready to erupt at any moment.

Hidden behind the tree trunk, Lu Heng's heart clenched hard. His fingers unconsciously tightened around the snow. Bone-chilling cold slipped into his collar, yet he felt none of it, his mind filled only with fear at what might have happened.

A moment's greed for more stone had led him rashly into the boundary area upstream. If he moved even slightly now and made the faintest scraping sound, the two enraged beasts would immediately abandon each other and converge on him. He had been injured fighting just one Cold Stiff last time. Facing two Coldrock Bears at once would only leave his bones buried in the snow.

The entire stretch of river upstream had become the two beasts' contested territory. No amount of stone was worth trading his life for.

Resolve quickly settled in Lu Heng's eyes, and he spared no lingering desire for the heaps of rock before him. While both beasts were focused entirely on each other, occupied with threatening growls and unable to scan their surroundings, he hunched close to the tree trunks and stepped through the soft, thick snow. Following the marks he had carved high on the trunks on his way in, he retreated downstream along his original route, his steps almost silent.

He dared not pause for even half a second along the way, keeping low and watching for any disturbance throughout. Before long, he returned to the riverbank where he had first pried out the stones.

Only a few scattered rocks lay frozen into the ground here. Extraction was laborious and yielded little, nowhere near enough for the Shelter upgrade. Lu Heng looked around without lingering, then used the shadows of the trees along the bank as cover and continued downstream along the gentle riverbank to try his luck.

After he traveled a little over a hundred meters, the channel abruptly widened. Underfoot, hard frozen soil gave way to layers of mud, sand, and gravel spread everywhere, looking like a shoal left behind by flash floods.

Rocks of all sizes lay half-buried in the snow and sediment. Suitable large stones were everywhere, with reserves far exceeding those of the previous two stretches of riverbank. All around was silent, without the growls of massive beasts or the heavy tremors of footsteps through snow. Everything was peaceful.

Standing at the edge of the shoal and looking at the stones covering the ground, Lu Heng felt somewhat conflicted.

Retracing his route to avoid the upstream stretch had seemed like a pointless detour. If he had been bold enough to head straight downstream earlier, he could indeed have saved himself the exertion of doubling back.

But when he recalled the two massive beasts facing off upstream, a chill ran down the back of his neck, leaving him filled with relief.

This stretch of riverbank lay on the outskirts of Frost Forest, where only scattered gray-white corpse figures, Cold Stiffs, roamed. He had long since figured out these monsters' patterns. Even with two or three together, he could still maneuver around them and protect himself. As long as he avoided large groups, the risk was manageable.

The pool upstream, on the other hand, bordered the dense woods and belonged to high-tier beasts like the Coldrock Bears. The difference in their fighting strength was like heaven and earth. With his current equipment and blade skills, he had no means of opposing them at all. Had he hesitated and lingered even briefly, he would have been doomed.

After confirming that no hidden dangers lurked nearby, his concerns dissipated completely. Lu Heng wasted no more time and prepared to extract stone on the spot.

First, he slowly patrolled the entire rocky shoal, his gaze sweeping over the shadows of the woods and the raised mounds of earth. He carefully checked every blind spot where a corpse figure might be hiding. Only after confirming there was no unusual movement nearby did he choose the spot with the densest concentration of rocks and take his position.

He brushed the thick snow off a rock, revealing a large piece of hard stone with regular dimensions beneath. He wedged the Bronze Hunting Blade into the gap between the rock and the frozen sediment, spread his legs to brace himself on the slippery mud and sand, lowered his stance, and gradually applied force to pry the rock loose.