Zhang Hubao hesitated: "I didn't finish the seventh and eighth cliffs, and I want to challenge the last one directly. But you can't use a safety rope on the last cliff, or you'll die..."
Yes, safety measures are not allowed in the Knight Challenge; everyone must face death.
Chen Zhuoqu turned and left, her words echoing in the night sky: "Then just pretend you died in that disaster, and only by climbing that green mountain can you be reborn. Do you remember what Brother Qi said?"
Hu Jing stared blankly at the back of the female scroll-reading king.
Zhang Hubao suddenly laughed and said, "What she said seems to make some sense, but what did Brother Qi say again?"
Life is only so far from over. If you don't die, keep moving forward!
...
...
When Chen Zhuoqu arrived at the edge of the green cliff, Qing Chen was already waiting there. She respectfully greeted him, "Boss."
Qing Chen asked, "Your fate is unknown on this journey. Have you thought it through?"
Chen Zhuoqu nodded solemnly: "I've made up my mind."
Fog descended on Whale Island, enveloping the entire verdant cliffs in mist, making them appear exceptionally majestic and mysterious.
Qing Chen handed a bag of magnesium powder and a dagger to Chen Zhuoqu.
The moment the girl took the magnesium powder and dagger, Qingchen suddenly grabbed her wrist and used his breathing technique, "Question the Heart!"
Suddenly, flame-like patterns appeared on Chen Zhuoqu's cheeks, and her breath was like white arrows!
Just a minute later, the girl opened her eyes and repeated what she had just said: "I've made up my mind."
After saying that, she resolutely walked towards the green mountain cliff, following the path that Qingchen had climbed, and soared straight up!
Qing Chen fell silent. He had only wanted to give it a try, but he hadn't expected that there would actually be someone among these people who could truly understand him.
But for some reason, when he thought about Chen Zhuoqu's past behavior, he wasn't particularly surprised at all.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Hubao arrived, without asking any questions.
Liang Mengshun arrived, but did not inquire about the matter.
Ye Han arrived, but did not inquire about Xin's feelings.
Zhang Junli arrived, but didn't inquire about the matter.
Qing Chen was not disappointed. He knew that this was the norm, and that not everyone could face the many hardships in life.
Those wavering hearts can only be cleansed in the process of facing life and death.
Qingchen counted that a total of 63 people had successfully challenged the eighth cliff, but a total of 211 people came to challenge the Green Mountain Cliff.
He admired these people because there were no safety ropes for challenging the sheer cliffs of the mountains. If you died, you died. There was no turning back. Those who dared to stand here were true warriors.
At this moment, Hu Jingyi watched his companions climb up the cliff one by one, but he was still standing in the same place.
Qing Chen looked at him: "It's a path with nine deaths and one life. There are no safety ropes and no protective measures. Think it through before you start."
Hu Jingyi was silent for a moment, then said, "I've made up my mind."
Qing Chen handed him the magnesium powder and the dagger. Hu Jingyi asked curiously, "What's the dagger for?"
“You’ll see when you get up there,” Qing Chen said without explaining, casually placing his fingers on Hu Jingyi’s wrist.
In an instant, Hu Jingyi closed his eyes in pain.
Qingchen knew that it was the result of not being able to bear the questioning of the heart. All the suffering in life would become sharp blades, cutting into Hu Jingyi's heart.
Just as he was about to let go, Hu Jingyi grabbed him tightly with his other hand at the last moment.
Qing Chen said softly, "If you don't let go, you will die."
Hu Jingyi said fiercely, "Then die."
It was at this moment that Hu Jingyi seemed to return to his childhood.
...
...
In the classroom, someone was holding Hu Jingyi's math test paper and jokingly said, "How come you only got 21 points in math? Hahaha."
"Come on, everyone, take a look at Hu Jingyi's test paper. Look, the multiple-choice questions at the beginning were so easy, yet he didn't get any of them right."
Hu Jingyi chased after his classmates, shouting, "Give me back my test paper! Give it back to me!"
In the scuffle, Hu Jing was accidentally pushed down by his classmate, and his head hit the corner of the table, causing him to bleed profusely.
A few hours later.
In the teaching and research office, Hu Jingyi's mother stood next to him, and Hu Jingyi's head was wrapped in gauze.
Across from me was the homeroom teacher, who was unscrewing his thermos and taking a sip of hot tea.
But the homeroom teacher said casually, "This time it was just a fight between students. I asked, and it turns out that Hu Jingyi was the one who pursued the classmate first."
Hu Jingyi's mother said in a low voice, "But my Jingyi said that his classmates stole his test paper and made fun of him."
"Your son, Hu Jingyi, is really not cut out for studying. He's already in fifth grade and he's always dragging my class down. He's almost become the laughing stock of the whole school, so it's normal for everyone to laugh at him. If you ask me, this parent, why don't you take him to get his intelligence tested? If all else fails, you could send him to a special school."
Hu Jingyi's mother was walking home with her child when he said, "Mom, how about I transfer schools? Otherwise, the homeroom teacher keeps calling you over, and I really can't learn anything."
His mother didn't say anything, but simply led him as they continued walking in the sunset.
Until the sun sank below the horizon and the crescent moon hung in the sky.
"Mom, please transfer me to another school. I don't want to go to school anymore," Hu Jingyi said, crying.
His mother finally turned around and looked at him silently: "Are you sure?"
Hu Jing was stunned. He felt as if the question was a knife hanging over his head, cold and cruel.
His mother continued, "Are you sure you're going to give up on school, stop trying, and just drift through life like this?"
This isn't a question about Hu Jingyi at age 11, but rather about Hu Jingyi's 18 years of life.
You were last in your class in elementary school.
"My high school was the worst."
"Still ranked last in high school."
"You can't beat others in basketball, you don't understand how to play football, and you don't dare to talk back when others insult you."
"During your senior year of high school, you slept only four and a half hours a day, vowing to get into a prestigious university. But you stayed up late doing math problems with a flashlight and stood under a streetlamp at 4:30 a.m. to memorize things. After a whole year of hard work, you only got into a second-rate university."
"You clearly realize that no matter how hard you try, you are still just an ordinary person."
"You failed at the first eight cliffs, every single one of them. How dare you directly challenge the ninth cliff, the Green Mountain Cliff?!"
"Wouldn't it be more comfortable to give up on this kind of life? If you could live your life again, would you continue to strive, or give up?"
Young Hu Jingyi stood in the night and gradually stopped crying.
His expression gradually calmed down, and he opened his eyes: "Life is only just beginning. If you don't die, keep moving forward!"
Qing Chen said, "Congratulations. From now on, it's a new chapter in your life."
Hu Jing stared blankly at Qing Chen.
Qingchen gave him courage: "That last challenge was called 'Asking the Heart.' Out of 211 challengers, only you and Chen Zhuoqu passed it. You are not a loser, at least not at this moment. Go, keep your current breathing rhythm, and you will soar to great heights."
Carrying magnesium powder and a dagger, Hu Jing slowly climbed towards the top of the sheer cliff.
As the saying goes, diligence can make up for lack of talent. Although Hu Jingyi is not the smartest person, he is definitely the most hardworking person among all the challengers.
He practiced his rock climbing skills again and again, and whenever Chen Zhuoqu took a break, he would practice for another two hours before resting.
At this moment, the skills I knew by heart finally came in handy.
Hu Jing first saw the inscription on the cliff of Qingshan.
62 meters, left by Zhou Peng.
83 meters, Zhao Yongyi stayed.
Only then did he realize that Qing Chen had given them daggers so that they too could leave their names on this cliff.
At 99 meters, he suddenly heard a scream and saw a challenger fall off the cliff with a wail, falling into the white mist below them, and finally coming to an abrupt end with a 'thud'.
Hu Jingyi was scared.
One after another, challengers fell, dropping past all the other cliff climbers, their screams chilling the hearts of the rest.
On this precipice, death falls around everyone, whistling past!
Give up?
At that moment, Hu Jing looked up and saw a hundred meters away.
"The rest of my life is a journey ahead."
“Qing Chen Liu”
These are the words Qing Chen left when he rebuilt this sheer cliff, and they are also what he wanted to say to all challengers.
Qingchen could have climbed four or five hundred meters in one go to leave his name, but he stopped at 100 meters because of Cao Wei's crossbow pursuit and the strong winds in the mountains.
However, it was here that he saw through the illusion of life and death and chose to continue forward despite the threats behind him.
The predecessors inspired Qingchen, and now Qingchen inspires others; this is the spirit of inheritance.
Hu Jingyi gradually stopped trembling. He carved his name at 99 meters and then continued to climb upwards!
367 meters, left by Li Shutong.
599 meters, Ren Xiaosu stayed.
Hu Jingyi didn't know how long he had been climbing, nor how many people had fallen from the cliff. He only felt that the long night was gradually passing and the sky was gradually brightening.
When he looked up again, he saw the rock protruding from the cliff.
In that instant, Hu Jingyi finally understood why the first eight cliffs had such an almost impossible obstacle at the end.
Hu Jing looked down and saw what seemed like an unfathomable abyss behind him.
It turns out that at the end of this road, there really is a threshold; leaping over it leads to life, while falling into it leads to death.
"Do you think he dares to jump out?" Zheng Yuandong asked, standing at the foot of the sheer cliff.