After an unknown period of time, Reno opened his eyes.
He saw a huge eye, with white pupils and black eyeballs, coldly staring at him from an infinite distance.
He moved his lips and silently asked, "Do you want to die?"
The second time he opened his eyes, he saw a narrow blue ribbon with a few white ribbons inside, like freshly washed sheets.
He remembered something but couldn't shape it.
The third time he opened his eyes, he saw a gray sky with snow falling and strange howling winds in his ears.
This time, he didn't let himself faint again.
He struggled to move his eyes and slowly figured out the situation.
He had fallen into a narrow crevice and was hanging on a huge icicle, resembling a fang, being pulled by a sled's rope. The rope was tight around his chest and under his armpits, stretching his arms out, with his legs dangling low and leaning against the icy wall, like the crucified Jesus in a church.
He was dazed for a while, memories surfacing.
He fell into the crevice.
But why did he run at that time? If he hadn't run, the ice wouldn't have shattered. But if he hadn't run, he wouldn't have been caught by the ice spike?
Right, or wrong?
He pondered, calmly as if standing on the edge of the crevice and looking down.
But soon, he realized that all of this was meaningless.
His legs were completely numb, whether they were broken or gone.
What should he do? He looked up at the wind and snow and fainted again.
This time, he had a dream.
He dreamed of sitting by his mother's bedside, tightly holding her hand. Her hand was full of sweat, but he didn't have money to buy painkillers, not even enough for a sugared water. His mother was talking incessantly, she had been talking for a long time. But he couldn't listen, he kept crying, asking himself, what should I do, what should I do?
His mother said, "You have to survive."
His mother said, "You have to survive together with your sister."
His mother said, "We will all survive."
But that hand, covered in sweat and tears, gradually grew cold. Until his sister, whom he had pushed away, came back and softly asked behind him, "Brother, what should we do?"
Survive!
Reno let out a painful roar.
He woke up completely.
This time, his eyes were not just calm, but also filled with light.
It was the light emitted from that eye.
No, it was the moon.
Bright moonlight, giving hope!
Reno began to actively save himself.
His backpack was on the sled, and the sled was hanging on a rope not far below him. He moved his body, and a severe pain radiated from his legs. His legs were still there, but they were broken.
Enduring the severe pain, he swayed his body up. Finally, he grabbed the other end of the rope, pulling himself up, and his body fell down. This back-and-forth continued until he grabbed the sled. The backpack was still attached, but there was a hole in it.
He reached out to touch and found the rescue rope, first aid kit, flashlight, and food were all there, but the ice pick was missing. He tightly tied himself and the sled with the rescue rope. He took out the food and water and ate voraciously.
With strength in his body, he began to think about how to climb out of the crevice.
First, climb to the ice spike, use the sled asa support platform, and then chisel an ice path on the icy wall that can climb up to the surface.
But the problem was that he had lost the ice pick, and he had to reach at least thirty meters.
But what could he do?
Reno said to himself, "Just do it," and started pulling himself up. This was relatively easy. He climbed up to the ice spike, pulled up the sled, and finally had a place to stay.
He dismantled the sled fence, secured his broken leg, and then retrieved a short knife and stabbed it into the ice wall. Shards of ice splintered out like flying sparks.
He vigorously chiseled the ice, chiseling for a whole hour, but only managed to create a small pit. But it didn't matter, as long as he persisted, he would surely succeed.
But his movements became slower and slower.
The round moon had also disappeared.
Darkness filled the crevice, filling Reno's heart. He slowly lowered his head, like a dying flower.
If he were to die, what would he remember?
This time, he remembered Vivi.
Vivi was a passionate and daring girl. She took him to warm up against other people's heaters, stole frozen fruit cans for them to eat, warmed his hands with her face, and even stuffed snowballs into his neck.
During the most difficult days, she even stole her father's secret money for him.
If his mother and sister were the moonlight that Reno must survive for, then Vivi was the warm little sunshine he longed to live for.
He said to the image of Vivi in his mind, "What I want is the warmth of your body."
Thinking of this, his eyes suddenly welled up with tears, and tears flowed down uncontrollably, falling down his chin.
Filling the coldness of the protective mask.
He took off the mask and let the tears flow, dripping down his chin.
After crying, his chest felt lighter, and he took a deep breath, cheering himself on.
Warm air rushed into his body, as if he were really sitting next to Vivi.
Suddenly, his scalp tingled, something was wrong, where did the hot wind come from? What did I overlook?
He frantically fumbled for his flashlight, almost tripping because of his nervousness. He had to tightly grip the flashlight, and after ten seconds, he finally turned it on.
In the circle of white light, the ice wall shimmered with a translucent blue light, and there were thick black shadows in the distance.
He stretched his neck, searching up and down.
The side of the ice wall seemed to have an unusually shaped shadow.
He let himself fall and swung his body, heading towards that shadow. Then, he grabbed hold of it.
It was an opening. Unlike a naturally formed one, it had neat edges and an arched dome.
Could this be the treasure location marked on the treasure map?
Reno's heart almost jumped out of his throat. He suppressed his boiling heart and, with great effort, moved his equipment and sled to the opening. He dismantled the sled and made a makeshift crutch for himself.
Then, he looked at the dark passage.
He burst into laughter.
This was laughter in the face of surviving a great danger, laughter that must be followed by good fortune!
He laughed until his body went limp and fell into a drowsy sleep.
This time, he had a beautiful dream, dreaming of a god who could fulfill all his wishes.
YOU ARE READING
Crossing Souls
Fantasy"Crossed Souls" is a gripping post-apocalyptic novel that tells the story of two contrasting characters, the treasure hunter Reno and the princess Selena, and how their paths intersect in the pursuit of their respective goals, leading them to a forg...
