Chapter 23.5

The officers were filled with a mixture of guilt and shame. They had originally thought that they were coming to help Kevin, but now they realized that they had only made things worse. They had been a hindrance to him, and they had put him in danger.

They vowed to themselves that they would make it up to Kevin. They would do whatever they could to help him reach the top of the mountain and complete his mission.

Sure, here is the formal version of the text:

"What is that?" asked the officer who had asked whether to climb the mountain or go around it. "How come they come down from the top of the mountain and live on the mountain?"

Kevin considered his words for a moment, then said, "No, they live in the mountains."

"..." The officer did not understand the difference, as the meanings of "on the mountain" and "in the mountains" were not too different.

"As for what it is... just think of them as the natives of White-headed Hill," Kevin said, not knowing how to explain the existence of these creatures.

He continued to climb while saying, "Didn't you just say that we have to accept the existence of various ethnic groups?"

"You said last night that there were troublesome things on the mountain, is this what you meant?" Ben asked, breathing heavily.

"Almost," Kevin said. He wanted to say not all, but he was afraid that if he said that, the people behind him might slip and fall, which would not be so wonderful. "As far as I know, those things like to come out at night. A few of them are probably not working properly."

He intentionally said a few more words to relax everyone who was suffering from exhaustion and shock. He hoped that they would focus on his words so that they would not be so tired when they got up.

"If I had come last night, I would have encountered more than that. Maybe they would have come down in groups," Kevin clicked his tongue twice. "It would be like a rising tide, and I wouldn't be able to stop it."

Everyone imagined the scene for a moment, and their faces turned green.

After several words, they climbed up for a long time.

Although everyone was on edge, they were lucky. The last section was considered safe and smooth, without encountering any other creatures. The only danger was that the mountain wall was covered with some snow and ice, which felt piercingly cold and slippery.

However, each of them had a saber in their hands, and they were not afraid of slipping when they chiseled into the stone wall. They were already sweating all the way up, so they did not mind the cold. They just wanted to cool down.

"It's here," Kevin's faint words were more exciting than any stimulant.

The eyes of the people who felt that they were about to die suddenly came alive, and they sped up like flashbacks, urging the people in front of them to hurry up.

Kevin reached out his hand to touch the stone platform on the top of the mountain, and then with the strength of the dagger, he turned over and went up to the top of the mountain.

A group of people climbed up one by one, and then collapsed on the ground with their arms and legs spread out like dead dogs, panting heavily.

Kevin also sat down, with one leg bent, one elbow resting loosely on his knee, and the other hand fanning himself.

The ground here was actually covered with a layer of snow that was neither thick nor thin, and it had been trampled so much by something that it was almost crushed into ice. A group of people froze on the ice for a while, too lazy to move a finger.

It was not until they were almost frozen that they became sticks, and then they sat up one after another and asked, "What do we do next?"

The young lion cubs were full of energy, and soon they were jumping up and down again, walking around in a circle.

From the outside, the mountain appears thin due to its height and straightness, as if it is only the size of a needle tip when it reaches the top. However, when they actually climbed up, they found that the mountain is still very hidden.

The area of the top of the mountain is much larger than they had imagined. It is not flat at first glance, but rather consists of strange rocks that are stacked in layers. It is easy to get become disoriented when made several turns.