Chapter 830: 501, choose your own path
“Onii-chan, what are we doing? Can we go down the mountain…” The little girl walked on the narrow mountain ridge, looking to both sides, with abysses thousands of ters deep on either side.
If she accidentally slipped on this ridge, she would surely be shattered to pieces.
“Continue,” Qing Chen said calmly, “Continue clearing the debris.”
Here at Mount Okuhotaka, it’s over ten kiloters away from the ski resort. No tourists would co here at this ti; the whole world seed to have only Qing Chen and Jinguji Maki.
Qing Chen, as if nothing had happened, continued to clean up the debris on the ridge.
It was not until now that the little girl understood what Qing Chen had been doing every day when he left early and returned late.
No wonder the skiers said they had never seen Qing Chen, simply because he never skied.
However, Jinguji Maki didn’t expect that Qing Chen would bring her to this ridge and have her help clean up the debris.
Even though she said she was scared, Qing Chen showed no sympathy.
Qing Chen said, “If you want to give up, just tell , I can take you down. When I co up to clean the debris every day, you can wait for at the mountainside.”
Upon hearing this, Jinguji Maki suddenly pursed her lips and silently continued to clear the debris.
The wind on the ridge was fierce and wild, sotis making it hard for Qing Chen to steady himself, let alone an eight-year-old girl.
But unexpectedly, since Qing Chen said those words, she never ntioned going down the mountain again and just quietly did her work.
Several tis, she almost got swept off the ridge by the mountain wind, but she only cried out and then silently found a stone to steady herself.
At this mont, as the little girl lowered her head, transparent tears fell from her long eyelashes, blown into the valley by the mountain wind.
Qing Chen said, “I’m not forcing you to stay here with . Even if you want to go down the mountain, it’s perfectly normal.”
Jinguji Maki suddenly wiped her tears stubbornly, “I’m not afraid!”
From the mont she left Shirakawa Village, she almost thought her life was turning towards the light.
But who could have expected that she would face even greater hardships than before?
Even working in the hot spring inn, she never had to endure such dangers.
But Jinguji Maki said no more.
Now, Qing Chen sped up his pace to clear the path, as he wasn’t sure if the Mysterious Business Departnt would find their way here, or how many people they might bring…
Without any virtues to protect themselves, no matter how strong Qing Chen was, he couldn’t possibly fight off hundreds of enemies carrying firearms in this ghostly place.
A gust of mountain wind ca, and Jinguji Maki almost lost her footing, nearly getting swept off the cliff.
Just as she thought she was about to die, Qing Chen reached out and grabbed her by the collar, pulling her back, “Continue.”
“Mm,” the little girl responded.
This naive little girl not only had a childhood experience similar to Qing Chen’s.
At so point, Qing Chen even felt that her personality was sowhat similar to his.
It wasn’t just that she was “sensible” because she didn’t want to be “annoying.”
It was also the stubbornness and resilience that refused to admit defeat in the face of hardships.
When running the hot spring inn, her grandmother fell ill, so she learned to do the cooking and laundry.
When clearing the debris on the ridge, even though she was scared to death, she never complained again.
At night, Qing Chen carried the little girl down the mountain, taking advantage of the ski resort being closed, and hid in the ski resort’s visitor center.
There was nowhere else to stay in the mountains, and no food could be found. Although there were still staff on duty at the ski resort, they usually stayed in their office and didn’t co out to patrol easily.
Jinguji Maki whispered, “Onii-chan, there are caras.”
“Don’t worry, they can’t see us,” Qing Chen said nonchalantly.
He knew that the surveillance caras inside the visitor center must have been disabled by the Internal Test Player from the Outer World.
Ironically, Qing Chen didn’t have anyone he could trust when he ca to Shirakawa Village this ti, except for an Artificial Intelligence from the Inner World that had once destroyed humanity in a previous civilization.
With the lights off in the visitor center, Qing Chen took Jinguji Maki to the ski shop, “Take whatever you want to eat.”
The little girl hesitated, “Onii-chan, stealing is bad.”
Qing Chen glanced at her, “Don’t worry, I’ll pay for everything when we leave in a few days. I originally intended to take so food from the hot spring inn, but it burned down because of the fire you set.”
“Oh…” The little girl nodded, carefully taking a piece of bread and a bottle of mineral water.
Qing Chen had intended to stop her at that mont, but he thought about it and realized it would seem petty to worry about a bit of food when she was trying to bury her past with fire.
So, he didn’t stop her.
Seeing her reluctance to take more, Qing Chen grabbed two boxes of biscuits from the shelf and stuffed them into her arms, “If you don’t eat enough, how will you manage to go up the mountain tomorrow?”
After that, he took the little girl to the outdoor equipnt section and set up two tents.
Sleeping in the visitor center overnight was risky because if they left traces, they would be discovered eventually.
If the rchandise count was off or the tents had been moved, these could beco clues, helping the Mysterious Business Departnt find them.
But Qing Chen was about to face his fourth test of life and death, and still badly injured. It was impossible for him to risk staying in the freezing cold; he needed to stay in good condition before the challenge.
Being hunted by the Mysterious Business Departnt was a consequence he had foreseen when saving Jinguji Maki.
He was ready to bear that consequence.
Qing Chen lay alone in the tent, listening to the neighboring tent where Jinguji Maki sounded like she was nibbling on food like a little mouse, “Zhenji, do you have any strange mories, like of a more technologically advanced world?”
“No.”
“What did your ancestors do?”
“Grandma said that Grandpa was the Mountain Chief in charge of rituals at the Shinto Temple in Shirakawa Village. Grandpa’s grandpa was too. My dad was supposed to take over at 48, but sothing happened to him. When he was a guide, a tourist had an accident and fell, causing Shirakawa Village’s inco to drop significantly. So the villagers didn’t like us much. It’s said that long ago, our ancestors were envoys of the God, mastering the divine war dance.”
“I see.”
Qing Chen was contemplating sothing. The surna Jinguji was quite special, holding significant status in the mythology of Shintoism.
He even thought that the Jinguji clan’s ability to conduct rituals at the Shinto Temple in Shirakawa Village was due to so kind of inheritance, which was later lost.
It was like the Breathing Technique.
Qing Chen still didn’t understand why Jinguji Maki could directly inherit the Breathing Technique. If she wasn’t an Internal Test Player, then it must have sothing to do with this mysterious bloodline inheritance.
…
…
On the second day, Qing Chen folded the tents and took the little girl up the mountain again before the ski resort opened.
According to his calculations, it would take at most a day and a half to clear the entire path, and then he could start his full training.
Jinguji Maki was suffering. Her little hands were red and swollen from repeatedly picking up debris.
Qing Chen asked again, “Do you want to give up?”
“No,” the little girl replied calmly.
Qing Chen said nothing more.
This little girl was like an unpolished gem, so kind-hearted that she could pass the Heart-Testing instantly. Without a doubt, after passing it, she could beco a Knight.
But passing the Heart-Testing was just the foundation of becoming a Knight. The path was so hard, tiring, and dangerous that even after passing, one might not be able to persist.
So Qing Chen left the choice to the little girl herself.
If she gave up, Qing Chen would smuggle her back to the country to escape the pursuit of the Mysterious Business Departnt.
If she didn’t give up, they could continue traveling together.
This was a test that Qing Chen had experienced, and every Knight had to go through. Jinguji Maki was no exception.
…
The recent updates definitely can’t be strong. You can wait for half a month before checking back.
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