After walking another thirty or forty meters, Zhou Xuan looked up with his flashlight and realized that it was less than halfway there, almost only a quarter!
Zhou Xuan couldn't help but smile wryly, thinking that even when his ice energy was intact, it might not be too difficult, but if he had more abundant ice energy, could he directly transform and devour the rock wall to create a ladder to climb up?
It's probably something only a god could do. No one has that kind of strength and ability. But if you could absorb all the powerful energy in the crystal into your own body, it might be possible. But the human body has its limitations. Like a bottle, no matter how you fill it, you can't hold the water of a river.
After resting for a few minutes, Zhou Xuan said to Wei Xiaoyu again, "Xiaoyu, keep trying, we will definitely climb to the top, and we must climb up!"
Wei Xiaoyu simply nodded dejectedly and whispered, "Okay, we must climb up!"
Zhou Xuan climbed upwards again with renewed vigor, this time ascending more than forty meters. Looking down, he had covered nearly half the distance, but when he looked down, he felt dizzy and dared not look any further.
This time, Zhou Xuan was even more exhausted. He felt that less than 20% of the ice energy in his body had been consumed. The less ice energy he had, the greater the loss would be. There was still more than half the distance to go, and he didn't know if he could even make it to the top!
However, we can only advance and not retreat now. If we retreat, there will be no food down below, and it will be a dead end. If we fight on and hold on, there may still be a glimmer of hope. We have already put in so much effort, and if we retreat now, all our efforts will be in vain!
Zhou Xuan gritted his teeth and said to Wei Xiaoyu, "Xiaoyu, try harder, try harder!"
When Zhou Xuan had climbed more than ten meters, he had just hung the rope on the stone hook when Wei Xiaoyu below suddenly screamed!
Zhou Xuan felt a sudden tightening around his waist as the weight increased dramatically. He quickly grabbed the stone hook hanging from the rope with both hands, then looked down and saw that the knot of the rope Wei Xiaoyu was using to hang from the stone hook had come loose. Fortunately, Zhou Xuan had tied his rope and Wei Xiaoyu's together, so even if one end came loose, this was still a safety net.
However, the two of them were now being supported by that single rope, and Zhou Xuan was very worried. If it broke again, Wei Xiaoyu would fall. He quickly said, "Xiaoyu, don't panic, don't panic, fix that knot again!"
Wei Xiaoyu's face turned pale, and with trembling hands she tied the rope joint. However, after tying the joint, she couldn't hook it onto the stone hook because the two of them were hanging vertically, more than a meter away from the stone hook on the rock.
Wei Xiaoyu stretched her hand to its furthest point, but it was still almost half a meter away. When she swayed, the rope around Zhou Xuan's waist seemed to be sizzling. Zhou Xuan's hair stood on end in fright, and he kept praying in his heart: Please don't break, please don't break!
If it breaks at this point, he won't be able to catch it even if he tries with both hands!
"Xiaoyu, don't panic, calm down. I'll gently swing you to the edge of the rocks. Grab the stone hook, and make sure you aim carefully!" Zhou Xuan tried to calm himself down and comforted Wei Xiaoyu.
Although Wei Xiaoyu's face was pale, she calmed down after hearing Zhou Xuan's words and looked into Zhou Xuan's eyes.
Zhou Xuan said in a low voice, "Xiaoyu, you'll definitely be fine. Don't worry, I caught it in no time!" He steadied himself first, then gestured to Wei Xiaoyu and swung his waist against the rock wall. Wei Xiaoyu's body swung towards the edge of the rock, but she didn't dare to use too much force, and her fingertips were still five or six centimeters away from the stone hook.
Zhou Xuan didn't dare to swing too hard, fearing the rope wouldn't be able to support him. The nylon rope could easily support the weight of two people, but Zhou Xuan was most worried about the joints, fearing they might slip again. Secondly, he was concerned about the friction between the rope and the stone hook, though that would be easier.
Sweat dripped even more heavily, but Zhou Xuan's main concern was Wei Xiaoyu's safety; his tiredness and fatigue had long been forgotten.
"Xiaoyu, watch out, I'm going to swing over again!" Zhou Xuan said, instructing Wei Xiaoyu before gently swinging her over. Although it was gentle, he still used some force in his waist, just not too forcefully, so as not to increase the weight that the rope joint could bear.
This time, Wei Xiaoyu put in some extra effort, swinging to the side and grabbing the stone hook with her outstretched right hand. Zhou Xuan watched her nervously as she carefully and forcefully hung the rope on the stone hook before letting go. The pressure on Zhou Xuan's waist immediately eased.
When Zhou Xuan saw Wei Xiaoyu hanging on the stone hook, he breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did he realize that he was sweating profusely, his clothes were soaked with sweat, and he felt trembling. However, his body was suspended in the air, and he felt as if his heart had no place to rest.
After resting for a while, Zhou Xuan didn't dare to linger. The longer they were suspended in mid-air, the more disheartened they would become. It was too difficult, so he couldn't let Wei Xiaoyu lose heart. Only he could encourage Wei Xiaoyu's courage. Although he had superpowers, climbing up and taking each step was still up to Wei Xiaoyu herself.
Zhou Xuanbing was completely exhausted, but had no way to retreat. If he retreated any further, the energy and physical strength he would lose would not be much less than if he had gone up.
Zhou Xuan then transformed and devoured another stone hook above his head. He then struggled to grab the stone hook with one hand and lift the rope up to hang it. Because his physical strength and energy were exhausted, he was only holding on by his last breath. If he did not have that belief, he would probably be hanging in mid-air, neither up nor down, if he lost that breath.
This time I really mustered up my strength and climbed more than 100 meters in one go. Looking up, there were only 40 or 50 meters left. I could see that there was only a little bit left. Although I was tired, I was also happy to see that there was hope.
In fact, Zhou Xuan was extremely exhausted, while Wei Xiaoyu was also tired, but much better off than Zhou Xuan. Zhou Xuan was more mentally exhausted because he had to use his ice energy ability, which was much more tiring than physical exertion.
Wei Xiaoyu is not a pampered girl. In the army, she is stronger and more capable of training than those special forces male soldiers. In terms of physical strength and climbing this rock wall alone, she is much stronger than Zhou Xuan. If it were Wei Xiaoqing instead, Zhou Xuan would have to find another way and might not have made it out. Wei Xiaoqing definitely could not climb such a difficult rock wall.
Zhou Xuan nearly fainted. When he transformed and devoured the stone hook again, the stone hook was much smaller. However, the rocks on this rock wall were extremely hard. Even a small piece, only the thickness of a wrist, was enough to support the weight of two people.
But he dared not stop, fearing that if he stopped, his breath would loosen and he would no longer be able to transform and devour the rocks, and he might even faint.
Wei Xiaoyu could feel it from below, because she was doing the same thing as Zhou Xuan. Although she was tired, she hadn't reached the point where she couldn't take it anymore. But for Zhou Xuan, who was on top, the sweat was pouring down like rain, and it never stopped.
"Zhou Xuan, stop and rest for a bit, you're too tired!" Seeing that Zhou Xuan's expression was not quite right, Wei Xiaoyu finally couldn't help but persuade him.
As Zhou Xuan climbed up, he laughed and said, "Xiaoyu, you have to do things in one go. Look, it's only a short distance away. You can rest as much as you want after you climb up. Hehe, you can feel at ease once you're up!"
Wei Xiaoyu knew Zhou Xuan was very tired, but she didn't know he was nearing the end of his life. Looking at the distance above, the hole at the top was indeed right in front of them. She thought Zhou Xuan was excited, so she didn't say anything more and followed him to continue climbing.
Zhou Xuan naturally struggled to climb up, watching the distance decrease from thirty meters to twenty meters, then to ten meters, five meters, four meters, three meters, two meters, and one meter!
When he reached the last arm's length, Zhou Xuan's vision became blurry and he could no longer see clearly. He reached out and groped around in front of him to find three stone hooks. Finally, he let his hand fall, and the hooks hung straight up from the opening at the top of the hole.
Wei Xiaoyu was excited as she approached the cave entrance, but she was startled to see Zhou Xuan suddenly hanging motionless above her head. Her voice trembled as she asked, "Zhou Xuan...you...what's wrong with you..."
Her voice choked as she spoke the last word. At the bottom of the cave, she was content to stay with Zhou Xuan because she was convinced that she would never escape this place again. But that was when there was no way to escape. Now it was different. The two of them had obviously escaped to the last step. Just one small step would have allowed them to completely escape that dead end. But Zhou Xuan had an accident at this last moment. How could she not be shocked?
When Wei Xiaoyu couldn't get a response from Zhou Xuan, she became anxious and quickly climbed upwards. Zhou Xuan seemed to have anticipated this situation, and at the very end, he transformed and devoured several parallel stone hooks alongside him, giving Wei Xiaoyu room to climb up. Otherwise, it would have been much more difficult for her to hang on a stone hook alongside Zhou Xuan, as it would have been difficult for the two of them to climb upwards with their bodies close together.
After hanging the rope on the stone hook at the top of the cave, Wei Xiaoyu climbed up with all her might. Ignoring the fact that she was almost too weak to move, she used her last bit of strength to drag Zhou Xuan up. Then she dragged him more than ten meters away and checked his breathing. Fortunately, Zhou Xuan had only fainted. Only then did she lie down next to Zhou Xuan and catch her breath.
Wei Xiaoyu was too tired to move. It took her a while to catch her breath before she got up and called Zhou Xuan's name.
"Zhou Xuan, wake up, Zhou Xuan..."
Zhou Xuan slightly opened his eyes and asked weakly, "Have you climbed up?"
"We're up, we're up! We're both alright!" Wei Xiaoyu breathed a sigh of relief when Zhou Xuan spoke, guessing that Zhou Xuan was just too tired and exhausted.
Zhou Xuan let out a long breath, then suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, which landed on Wei Xiaoyu's clothes on her chest!
Wei Xiaoyu was shocked. When she tried to help Zhou Xuan up and call out to him again, Zhou Xuan could not wake up. This time, after he completely relaxed, his overloaded body could no longer bear it, and he fainted as he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Wei Xiaoyu was terrified and called out several times, but she couldn't wake him up no matter what she did. Tears welled up in her eyes again. After thinking for a moment, her strong character came over her, and she carried Zhou Xuan on her back and walked out of the cave with a flashlight in hand.
She remembered the direction she came in from, and she also remembered the route she took to get out. There were a few forks in the road, but Wei Xiaoyu was very good at surviving in the wild and had excellent observation skills. She had been rigorously trained, so getting out of the cave was quite smooth. Halfway through, she saw the small space that Zhou had devoured and had let her hide in, so she knew that she hadn't gone the wrong way.
It took forty or fifty minutes to get out of the cave. When Wei Xiaoyu saw the light outside at the cave entrance, she couldn't help but feel a mix of joy and sorrow. Looking at the sun in the sky outside the cave, it was obviously noon. In broad daylight, Wei Xiaoyu finally saw her location clearly, and the small town below the mountain was also clearly in sight.