Huang Liang stood on the edge of the cliff, one foot already dangling over the edge. Had Hong Kui not pulled him back, he would have already fallen to his death. But strangely, Huang Liang felt a supporting force on his dangling foot, as if he were stepping on something. He tried to shift his weight slightly forward. Sure enough, there was something under his feet, just like stepping on solid ground.
Hong Kui also sensed that something was wrong with him, thinking that he was still in a dream and his mind was not in control of itself, so he pulled him even harder.
Huang Liang grabbed Hong Kui's hand that was gripping his collar, patted it gently, and said, "I'm fine. I feel like there's a road ahead."
The snowstorm had stopped, but the night remained hazy. Only the distant icicle still hung upside down in the air, its reflection—the snow-capped mountains, the Sun, and the stars—on the ice surface, seemingly chaotic yet orderly displaying its splendor.
Huang Liang withdrew his foot. After all, there was a cliff ahead. He wasn't sure if his mind had been affected in some way, causing his nerves to control his muscles and creating the feeling of solid ground beneath his feet. It was like a dream, where anything could happen that defied the laws of physics. But if this was a Real-Scene Dream, it meant danger. Some sleepwalkers would jump off buildings in such dreams, but that wasn't considered suicide because they didn't know they would die from the fall. It was just that when the dream and reality overlapped, something extra appeared, like a skybridge in front of the rooftop that didn't actually exist. When the dreamer stepped onto it, they fell to their death.
Huang Liang felt that this was very likely the situation he would face.
Hong Kui asked him, "What happened? Did you see something?"
Huang Liang said, "I didn't see anything, but I felt there was a path ahead of the cliff. I think I stepped on something just now."
Excitement gleamed in Hong Kui's eyes.
"Hold me up," he said.
He took two steps forward, stepping one foot over the edge of the cliff. However, he found nothing beneath his feet.
Huang Liang helped him up and asked, "How are you? Is there something there?"
Hong Kui's feet were stomping around in the air, and his body was even leaning out. If Huang Liang hadn't been holding him up, he would have fallen.
He withdrew his foot in disappointment, shook his head, and said, "No, nothing at all."
Huang Liang said, "I'll try again."
He stretched his foot out again, stepping over the edge of the cliff. This time, he still felt something beneath his feet. He stomped his foot lightly twice, and his knees and thighs clearly felt the vibration. He even heard a thud as his foot landed on the stone slab.
Hong Kui, standing nearby, became even more excited. He took a rope from the equipment being pulled by the Alaska Malamute brought by the Indian guide and said to Huang Liang, "Tie this rope on, I'll pull you, and you walk forward. Don't worry, just try walking forward."
Huang Liang pulled the rope over, wrapped it around his waist twice, tied a knot, took a deep breath, and stepped forward with his right foot, feeling his foot touch solid ground.
Hong Kui urged from behind, "Hurry up, keep going! Don't worry, I'm holding your hand!"
Huang Liang closed his eyes, used his right leg as support, lifted his left foot, and took a step forward. Visually, he had completely stepped into the void outside the cliff, but he did not fall; instead, he stood there steadily.
His heart pounded, and he suddenly opened his eyes, looking down to see a deep, misty valley below the cliff, its bottom invisible.
Although the snow has stopped, the wind on the mountain is still strong, causing the mist to drift erratically.
He composed himself, turned to Hong Kui, and said, "It seems we can go."
Hong Kui was overjoyed. While tightly holding onto the rope binding Huang Liang, he said, "This is the Heavenly Road! I've dreamt of the unseen Heavenly Road before, but I could never seem to walk it."
A moment later, his face filled with disappointment, "But only you can go up there, I can't!"
Huang Liang found it strange and asked, "Why is this happening?"
Hong Kui said, "Do you know why I insisted on bringing you here?"
Huang Liang said, "Didn't you say you needed a trustworthy helper? Back in the Harding Icefield, you sustained the dream, following the white wolf into a deeper spiritual space to search for clues to the Holy Land. But you couldn't leave, because the dream would collapse if you did. So you need a helper, a trustworthy helper, to enter the mysterious space from your dream and help you find the clues."
Hong Kui laughed and said, "I could find 100 people like that! Of course, you are undoubtedly the best candidate among them. But that's only one aspect. The most important thing is not that, but the invisible Heavenly Road before us. Someone must walk this Heavenly Road to obtain the key to the Holy Land Heavenly Road its end."
"A key?" Huang Liang stared in surprise at the inverted icicle in the distance. "You mean that's a key?"
"I'm not sure either," Hong Kui said. "All I know is that we must get it to enter the Holy Land."
"You..." Huang Liang hesitated, wondering whether he should pry into someone's privacy. "You've never been to the Holy Land, so how did you know?"
"A hint from a dream."
"A hint? Is it the White Wolf?"
"No!" Hong Kui gazed at the distant ice, "It's a memory etched into my genes from my ancestors. I unlocked it in my dream. It was blurry and incomplete, but I could understand its meaning."
"Then... why? Why was I able to walk this Heavenly Road? I can't see him at all."
"This is why I chose you. I've studied this Heavenly Road in my dreams for a long time. I don't know where it is, or under what circumstances it will appear. But I do know one thing: our ancestors, or perhaps the gods, set a rule when they created it—love! You must possess love! You must possess the greatest love of mankind, the most profound love, to embark on the Heavenly Road. Only when you can see the image of your loved one in that piece of ice can your spirit resonate with the characteristics of this Heavenly Road, and only then will it become tangible beneath your feet."
I don't have many trustworthy people around me, but I'm not exactly strangers either. However, there are very few people who are both trustworthy and genuinely loving, who have an incredibly deep attachment to this world and its people. Moreover, such a person also needs a certain level of Mental Power.
Huang Liang involuntarily looked ahead, where a holy light shimmered on the crystal-clear ice surface suspended in the void. Among the Sun, moon, stars, and all things, he saw countless human faces—
His father and mother, his childhood playmates, his school classmates, his hospital colleagues, and the patients he had helped... they were all smiling at him. Of all the faces, three were the clearest and largest.
The first picture is of his younger sister. She still looks like she did when she was young, with two ponytails, bangs on her forehead, and two shallow dimples when she smiles.
The second face was Old Yu. Old Yu's wrinkles were deeper, and his hair was much whiter than before. But he smiled brightly and happily, revealing a mouthful of teeth that were yellowed and blackened by smoking.
The third face is Martha's. She's smiling happily, just like on her wedding day. When she smiles, she has two shallow dimples, just like her sister's.
As Huang Liang watched, he gradually began to lose sight of Martha and her sister. The two faces on the ice began to merge into one, becoming the same person. He didn't know if it was his wife or his sister. Perhaps deep in his heart, they were the same person, the one he cared about most and loved most.
He felt a flame rise within him, burning in the icy snow, gradually melting away the surrounding ice and snow.
The mist was dispelled by the warmth, and the firelight illuminated his heart and the entire world. He saw a path. A Heavenly Road paved with neatly cut ice blocks. At the other end of the path, there was the mysterious, upside-down iceberg.