Chapter 522: The Immortal Realm Is Not That Easy to Reach

The boy’s tearful words resonated with his companions, but at a time like this, empathy alone was not enough. Hunger, low spirits, exhaustion, and injuries had pushed everyone to their limits. Even the boy who spoke felt dizzy when he stood up from the rope.

"Brother Aze, I'm cold, I'm hungry..."

"I'm hungry too..."

It was still very cold in early spring, and their clothes had lost most of their warmth due to the damp mountain environment. Continuously climbing and rushing had made it bearable, but now, even a short rest left them shivering from the cold.

Tear stains streaked everyone's faces, and their exposed hands and faces were covered in wounds from thorns, weeds, and falls.

"We... we need to find a place to rest and stay first, then eat something."

Aze, as he was called, vigorously wiped his face with his sleeve, clearing away tears and snot. The slightly chapped wounds on his face stung intensely as a result.

"Come on, get up, all of you! Don't sit down again, or you'll never be able to move!"

"Everyone, get up! We need to find a place that can shelter us from the wind and rain!"

"Help each other out, make sure no one is left behind!"

"Yes!"

Gritting their teeth, the boys struggled to their feet and continued their journey. The distant mountains remained shrouded in mist; they hadn't seen the sun for days, and in the mountains, they could barely tell directions.

Including the child who was noticeably several years younger, all five of them trudged through the mountains. Exhausted and weak, and with the difficult mountain path, they moved very, very slowly. An hour later, they finally discovered a suitable spot to rest: a corner-shaped rock face. A few jutting rocks above might offer minimal protection from rain, but it was enough to shield them from the wind.

"Over there! There's a good spot over there where we can rest and stay! Let's hurry!"

Aze's voice brimmed with excitement. Hearing him, the others also brightened, quickening their steps as they all headed in that direction.

However, misfortunes never come singly. Just as they leaned against the rock face to rest, eagerly anticipating building a fire for warmth, one boy cried out in alarm.

"It's gone! Where is it? Where is it? It's not here..."

The boy frantically searched through all his pockets, drawing everyone's attention. His face was etched with panic, and after a long moment, he looked at the others in despair.

"The flintstone... it's gone..."

This wasn't a short trip into the mountains, nor were they in the comfort of their homes. There were no ready-made tinder sticks. To start a fire, they needed a special flintstone and tinder cloth. Losing the flintstone was a crushing blow for these boys, so devastating that it took their breath away.

Aze stared blankly at the boy responsible for the flintstone. He wanted to reprimand him, but seeing the boy's panicked face, he couldn't muster the spirit or the strength.

"No! We must make a fire! We'll find a way to start one. We can try with stones, and then with a bow drill! You guys go find some firewood. We've made fires at home before; we can definitely do it!"

But hope was fleeting, and reality was harsh. An entire hour later, Aze and his companions, whose hands were already covered in wounds, had acquired even more blisters, some of which had popped, causing excruciating pain. Yet, they still couldn't start a fire.

The environment was too damp, the wood might not have been suitable, and to top it all off, the boys were already utterly exhausted.

"Rumble... rumble..."

Thunder rumbled in the sky. It wasn't evening yet, but the mountains were already growing dim as a rain cloud drifted over, flashing with lightning.

"Crack... rumble..."

"Ah..." "Waaaaah..."

The youngest child was scared to tears, and the others weren't doing much better. They could only huddle together back against the rock face.

"Huddle closer, let's huddle closer!"

"Crawl into the corner, it'll be warmer if we stay close!"

"If we stay close, we won't be cold anymore..."

"Rumble..."

The sky grew darker and the wind picked up. Fortunately, this corner of the rock face offered decent protection from the wind. While not completely windless, they could see sand and stones flying outside, so it was definitely much better than being out there.

The rain poured down. Heavy rain soon began to fall. The protruding rocks above their heads couldn't completely block the downpour, and with even a slight shift in wind direction, Aze and the two other boys on the outside were easily drenched.

"So cold..." "Move further in!"

"Brother Aze... with such heavy rain now... it's a good thing we didn't start a fire. Otherwise, it would have been so, so uncomfortable..."

The child furthest inside suddenly uttered this, bringing a moment of silence to everyone.

"Hehe, yeah, it's a good thing we didn't start a fire!"

"Hmm... thinking that way makes it feel much better!"

"Hehehe..."

Though they were laughing, their tears wouldn't stop flowing.

Aze untied a cloth bag that had been hanging around his neck. Tilting the opening, he carefully poured out its contents, revealing a small pile of rice grains mixed with rice husks in his palm. The white of the rice stood out, looking so beautiful in the dim light.

"Here, a small handful for each of you. Since we have no fire, just eat it like this. Chew it thoroughly!"

"Okay!"

The boys beside him carefully took the coarse rice with both hands. Aze then poured out another small handful for each of the others, and only after everyone had some did he take some for himself.

He weighed the cloth bag; there wasn't much left inside.

"Crunch... crunch... crunch..."

The coarse rice, not cooked, was incredibly dry and abrasive to chew. The boys gnawed on it, and when they couldn't swallow, they cupped their hands to catch rainwater and drink it. However, the warmth provided by the small amount of food was far less than the chilling effect of drinking the rainwater.

Except for the two youngest boys, who were slightly better off, every one of them was trembling from the cold.

"Hoh... hoh... it'll be light soon, very soon..."

Deep into the night, the rain had stopped, but the boys were still awake. Even though they were utterly exhausted, it was truly difficult to sleep without a fire in such an environment; they felt too insecure.

"Brother Aze, what if a wild animal comes?"

"If one comes, good! Let's see if it eats us or we eat it!"

"Right! That's perfect!"

The boys in front gripped their tools: one clutched a machete, another held a wooden stick, while Aze had a dagger in a leather sheath, a small section of its blade glinting coldly as he drew it.

"Ah Ni, Ah Long, go to sleep. Ah Gu and I will keep watch."

"Okay..."

The boy and the child nestled furthest inside, unable to hold on any longer, finally fell into a deep sleep. Even the boy slightly further out quickly drifted off. Only Aze and the other boy on the very outside clung on, gripping the machete and dagger desperately.

"Aze, if I fall asleep, make sure to wake me up!"

"Okay!"

Less than an hour later, Aze and Ah Long both fell asleep...

Faint footsteps approached in the mountains. The steps were so light that they couldn't possibly wake the sleeping boys.

It was a dark brown leopard, with long fur, sharp claws, and thick paw pads that allowed it to move silently. It crept closer to the boys, step by step, until it was just a pace away.

"Hiss... hiss..."

The leopard's curled lip revealed sharp fangs as it sniffed toward the boys.

Just then, a short staff tapped the leopard's head, making it flinch. It turned out an old man in green robes was sitting on the leopard's back.

"Oh, these children..."

With a sigh, the old man pointed his short staff forward, and the clothes on the boys and children instantly dried. Then, twirling his staff, he pointed it to the side, and not far from where the boys were sleeping in the corner, several logs and tree stumps appeared, with many perfectly grown mushrooms on them.

Having done all this, the leopard slowly turned and gradually walked away, carrying the old man on its back.

"Ah, the immortal realm isn't so easy to reach. It would be best if they turned back soon..."

The next day, sunlight shone on Aze's face, stinging his eyes. He rubbed them hard before finally managing to open them.

'Damn it! I fell asleep!?'

Aze anxiously looked around, and only when he saw that everyone was accounted for did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"Ah Long, Ah Long, wake up, Ah Long."

"Huh!?"

Ah Long jolted, his first instinct to raise his machete. Only after seeing the situation clearly did he let out a great sigh of relief, turning to look at Aze.

"Aze, why didn't you wake me up...?"

Aze didn't say that he had also fallen asleep. It wasn't to take credit, but because admitting it might make everyone even more fearful later. So, while secretly reminding himself to be vigilant when it was his turn to keep watch, he forced a smile and said,

"It's fine. I saw you were sleeping soundly, so I didn't wake you."

"Brother Aze, is it morning?"

"Yes, it's morning!"

Aze and Ah Long moved aside, allowing everyone, whose legs had gone numb, to stand up and stretch. It was a rare day of good weather since they had entered the mountains.

"It's been so long since we've seen the sun, this is great!"

The child also twisted and moved his legs, walking around. Suddenly, a few logs not far away caught his eye, and joy instantly lit up his face.

"Brother Aze! Mushrooms! There are so many mushrooms over there! Big white mushrooms, big white mushrooms!"

"Where?" "Over there! Over there!"

They all jogged over and, seeing that they were indeed large white mushrooms, and quite a lot of them, they burst into happy laughter.

"This is great, we have mushrooms to eat!"

"They really are big white mushrooms!"

"Fire! Fire! We must start a fire!"

At that moment, Aze and all the others were filled with renewed energy. Finally, after another hour, they produced a spark from their fire drill. The spark ignited the tinder, and they managed to build a bonfire.

They set up their own pot, found mountain spring water, and added a little coarse rice with many, many mushrooms. The moment the aroma wafted from the pot was a moment of pure happiness for the boys.