Chapter 118: The Furnace Mountain Range

The Lantern Fox panted heavily, wagged its tail, and rested for a moment.

You gaze upon the vast mountain range before you.

You have heard of this red mountain range through the Pestilence Messengers. Beneath its center lies a massive magma lake, and beneath the molten rock slithers a colossal magma serpent. The very heat it radiates as it moves can reduce a person to ashes.

Every year, the Furnace Mountains erupt several times, turning the magma into a boiling inferno, making the entire range resemble a blazing furnace.

For the most part, this barren and desolate range remains uninhabited.

Only the corpse burners, seeking profit, venture here to dispose of unsalvageable filth by casting it into the magma, halting the spread of corruption.

Some daring blacksmiths, drawn by the extreme heat, also come here to forge weapons despite the risks.

Now, a heavy blanket of snow covers the vast mountain range, rendering it eerily silent. Numerous footprints mark the snowy path ahead.

In this harsh winter, driven by rumors of the train of weaving, a steady stream of fortune seekers presses onward, traversing the mountains in hopes of catching a ride.

Perhaps the rumors of the weaving train are even more exaggerated than you imagined.

The Furnace Mountains, huh...

Chenqi opens the Pestilence Messenger map. The range is extraordinarily long.

At the summit of the Furnace Mountains, where corpse burners and blacksmiths arrive each year, a safety point has been established by the corpse burners.

The Furnace Mountains are far from safe, especially at night, when slender ghostly shadows creep throughout the range.

Only the safety point built atop the summit by the corpse burners offers a semblance of security.

This location is specifically marked on the Pestilence Messenger map.

After planning a route over the mountains, Chenqi sets out toward the summit.

For safety’s sake, it’s best to reach the safety point before nightfall.

You look toward the mountain.

In this bitter winter, under the shadow of the rumored train, what was once a scarcely traveled place now bears the marks of many travelers; tufts of brown ox hair lie scattered on the snow.

Chenqi reads the text: indeed, there are footprints everywhere.

Clicking the text, he presses forward toward the summit.

You exhale, wrapping the Lantern Fox tightly as you head toward the peak.

Such an altitude is no challenge for a world traveler... The Lantern Fox bares its teeth, the lantern hanging from its neck glowing brightly as it pushes onward!

You continue ascending toward the peak...

Chenqi claps his hands.

After some time, a message pops up in the game.

Ahead, the terrain grows more complex, and the snow begins to melt like water.

You have arrived at the summit of the Furnace Mountains! A safe haven!

Upon reaching the summit, you see a massive stone pillar erected by the corpse burners to mark the safety point.

Nearby, a wind-shielding hearth stands, alongside a rainproof shelter and a burning campfire.

From the mountaintop, the chatter of many people reaches your ears!

Chenqi breathes out, realizing others have also arrived at the summit.

Near the great stone pillar, some travelers lean against it.

You stand atop the summit, gazing at the dwindling blaze of the white sun—it is fading, about to extinguish...

The laughing moon will soon rise. You must find a place to rest.

Chenqi bites his lip; it seems he is not the only one wishing to rest here.

Moreover, his character’s stamina has been greatly depleted on this journey.

Tonight, he must spend the night here.

Most of the travelers near the pillar are noisy, jostling one another.

“Everyone, your observation skills are shockingly poor. Take my advice: you’d better head home early. For weaklings like you, even if you find the weaving train, it will only be the start of a tragedy!”

“Wait! I’m in for another round! I’m willing to wager 50 Moonday coins and a bottle of a rare elixir personally brewed by a master alchemist! One more round!”

You hear the raucous voices beside the stone pillar.

Chenqi strokes his chin, curiosity stirring. What are these people doing? Another round? Are they gambling?

You find a spot and place the Lantern Fox into the Traveler’s Box, then observe the boisterous crowd.

They quarrel incessantly, like at a lively market.

Do you wish to observe this group?

Yes.

Chenqi clicks the option to observe. There are over twenty people.

Among them are corpse burners, blacksmiths, messengers, the unemployed, and traveling merchants.

Most are low level.

Except for two: one is a level fifteen corpse burner, evidently seasoned, his scarred body a testament to his age and experience.

The other is a man in the center of the crowd.

Chenqi is taken aback.

His level cannot be seen...

And it’s not just that—it is emphasized in bold text, as if signaling that this man is no ordinary person.

Chenqi exhales and looks at the text.

Your gaze falls on the man in the center. He is in his thirties, clad in a black plaid coat, wearing a furry detective hat. His brown curls give him the air of a man from the Steam Age.

“Damn it, my luck is just awful!”

The aged corpse burner pounds the ground. He had just lost something precious to the curly-haired man in the middle.

So they are gambling after all...

Chenqi ponders—it might be how the travelers pass the time during their journey.

The white sun is about to die out, and now that they have reached a resting place, continuing onward seems unlikely.

“What a pity. If the timing had been better, if my luck had been stronger, maybe you would have succeeded.”

The curly-haired man adjusts his hat, snatching the item from the corpse burner’s hand and stuffing it into his satchel:

“Night is coming, anyone else want to play? I’m always up for it!”

You lean in with curiosity and recognize someone familiar—it’s the messenger you met before at the Tower of Herbs.

Chenqi recalls their conversation when accepting the criminal’s quest; the messenger had wished him good fortune on his journey.

“Herb Gatherer!”

The messenger looks at your new clothes and is startled. Your survival means you did not perish on the journey to Mist City!

He had helped the Pestilence Messengers tally the injured and dead from Mist City and had not seen you among them.

He had assumed you died on the road, becoming yet another skeleton in the snow.

Chenqi reflects: the Pestilence Messengers did not spread news of him, but they had informed the Tower of Herbs.

“What a miracle...” The messenger claps his hands together, looking at you in disbelief. This does not fit his strict, meticulous expectations.

You exchange brief pleasantries and ask the messenger about the current situation.

He tells you his mission is to find the weaving train.

Though he lacks the courage to enter the weaving train himself, if he could learn its location and sell that information to travelers, he could make a handsome profit—and then buy a large crow to roam the skies at will!

The messenger’s eyes betray a complex mix of emotions as he presses you about the treasures you might have found on your journey—do you have more than ten Moonday coins?

You signal him to calm down.

This messenger is a bit too excited.

Chenqi exhales; revealing any treasures here is unwise.

You inquire about the mysterious man among the travelers.

(End of chapter)