Chapter 240: Two Young Men Climbing (Part Two)

When he flipped the person who had fallen from the sky over and saw his face, Gao De froze for a moment.

Seeing that familiar face—the third time he'd seen it—he couldn't help but shake his head.

It's you again. Now I've got no choice but to save you.

Gao De leaned slightly closer to his mouth and nose, then gently pressed his neck artery.

After confirming the man's heartbeat and breathing were both present and perfectly normal, Gao De finally relaxed a little.

He'd merely lost consciousness temporarily.

But whether he'd suffered any internal injuries from rolling down here, I don't know—I'll check later.

"You don't look like a rookie, so how don't you know the basic rule to avoid the wind on a stormy day?" Gao De muttered under his breath.

And I don't know whether to call him unlucky or lucky.

Getting blown down by the wind was certainly unlucky.

But landing so precisely on my tent? That's got to count for some luck.

Otherwise, if he'd kept rolling, it might've been more than just losing consciousness.

Gao De did a quick assessment of the man's injuries and found not even a single obvious external wound.

It seems he cast a protective spell on himself when the accident happened—or maybe he had some auto-triggering supernatural item.

Otherwise, falling like that, he'd never have escaped without a single scratch.

But that's fine—if he'd been seriously injured, I couldn't have done much for him with the resources I have.

The wind outside was still howling.

Or rather, there's no longer an "outside"—the top's gone, so now it's just an open-air tent.

Gao De gently turned the handsome young man's head to one side, confirmed his mouth and nose weren't blocked by snow, and then moved him onto his sleeping bag.

That was to prevent him from losing body heat through direct contact with the icy snow while unconscious.

Froala stared with bright, wide eyes, watching intently as Gao De did all this.

"Froala my lord is eager to learn?" Gao De noticed this too.

"If a mage ever gets blown away by the wind, Froala my lord can save him just like this," Froala said seriously.

Gao De laughed and sighed, "Froala my lord, you're thoughtful."

He'd originally planned to give the young man some warm water.

But the weather was too harsh—no fuel to be found, and even if there were, any fire would be snuffed out instantly.

Helpless, Gao De gave the young man a little cold water instead.

Now all that remained was to wait for the wind to die down and for the young man to wake up.

The two of them—the adult and the child—sat in the tent without a roof, waiting in silence.

Another hour passed, and snowflakes began to drift down.

"It looks like it's starting to snow, Mage."

"Yes."

"But we have no roof."

"Froala my lord isn't afraid of the cold, right?"

"But the Mage is."

"."

"Why aren't you speaking, Mage?"

"I'm thinking—Froala my lord has a truly wise heart."

"What does that mean?"

"Froala my lord is very clever."

"Of course."

Snow mountain. Strong wind.

Before the power of nature, a human is as tiny as a grain of sand.

If not for Froala's company, this journey would've been far lonelier.

As the wind gradually softened, Gao De, busy clearing snow from the roofless tent, suddenly heard a weak voice—strange yet familiar.

"Where… is this?"

Gao De didn't stop what he was doing and answered without turning around, "My tent."

"Tent…?" The young man stared blankly at the open sky.

"Don't you dare say that after what you did," Gao De said, speechless.

Then he turned around and saw the man's face was still pale.

"You're finally awake. How do you feel now?" he asked.

"Fine." Du Wei pushed himself up with his hands, struggling to sit.

His gaze was utterly calm—nothing like the eyes of someone who'd just narrowly escaped death.

This calm was different from ordinary calm.

Calm could be a still sea—deep and quiet.

Calm could also be stagnant water—lifeless.

But his calm was more like an iceberg: motionless on the surface, yet terrifying beneath.

Du Wei never imagined the first person he'd see upon waking would be that rookie.

Honestly, he had no desire to deal with Gao De again.

If not for wanting to prove himself against this "rookie" he'd initially dismissed, if not for trying to leave Gao De far behind, he wouldn't have abandoned his current campsite and climbed higher despite knowing a storm was coming.

The result? After climbing nearly two more hours past that campsite, he found no other suitable shelter.

Then the storm hit.

Helpless, he settled for a subpar shelter.

Then, incredibly unlucky, he triggered a small avalanche.

The "culprit"? The very man before him—Du Wei knew this had nothing to do with Gao De; it was entirely his own misplaced pride and stubbornness—but that didn't stop anger from rising in him.

Especially after realizing he'd been saved by Gao De, his emotions grew even more complicated.

The man saved him, yet he was angry at him—what kind of feeling was that? His education and beliefs told him clearly this emotion was wrong, yet he couldn't help feeling it.

This contradiction made his anger burn even hotter.

Of course, this intensified anger was directed at himself.

"You don't look like a rookie—how didn't you know to find shelter in weather like this? Lucky for you, you landed on my tent. Otherwise, you'd be in serious trouble."

Du Wei's expression darkened slightly.

For someone of his status, being scolded like this was an entirely new experience.

Worse still, Gao De was lecturing him on a truth he himself understood perfectly—so he couldn't argue back.

Unless he dared admit he'd lost his reason because of this man.

"I understand," Du Wei muttered.

"You're not sincere," Froala said, watching Du Wei—she saw his answer was forced and reluctant.

Du Wei was startled, only then noticing the child was still there.

Though Froala was unusual, Du Wei had seen too many rare things in his life.

He understood that the world held countless unknowns—he couldn't possibly see or possess them all.

"Froala my lord," Gao De called out.

"Froala my lord has a wise heart," Froala declared firmly.

"Then be sincere," Gao De said, looking at Du Wei.

Du Wei's face stiffened, his lips twitched, then he finally spoke again, solemnly: "I understand."

Froala nodded, satisfied.

Gao De sighed and stood up, pulling out his water flask and handing it to Du Wei.

"Drink some water first. When the wind dies down a bit more, I'll find fuel and light a fire to cook you something hot."

Du Wei stared at the water flask Gao De offered—and suddenly fell into a daze. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he'd eaten or drunk anything given by another person.

Those who wished him harm had a thousand ways to poison his food.

No matter how careful he was, he couldn't guard against every possible method.

And such people were simply too numerous.

So the safest course was to refuse all food and drink from outsiders.

He stared silently at the water flask in Gao De's hand, licked his lips, and suddenly realized they were damp—he'd only just now remembered that during his unconsciousness, Gao De must've already given him water.

Like the final straw breaking the camel's back, a sudden, inappropriate resolve flashed in Du Wei's calm eyes. He tilted his head back and drank the water from the flask in loud gulps.

After this, Du Wei's energy visibly improved.

Seeing his condition had improved, Gao De relaxed a little.

"We've known each other for a while now—I never asked your name," Gao De said sincerely, extending his hand. "I'm Gao De."

Du Wei hesitated, then slowly reached out his hand and replied, "Du Wei."

The day-long gale finally began to subside.

Gao De cast 【Druid's Trick】 again—the tornado of wind had transformed into a golden orb, a sign of clear skies.

Luck was on our side—in Dandong Snow Peak, continuous gales lasting one or two weeks aren't unheard of.

"I'm going out to gather some firewood," Gao De said.

Du Wei, his face back to its familiar blank expression, stopped Gao De. "No need to go to so much trouble."

Under Gao De's questioning gaze, a bright flame appeared in Du Wei's palm, then flew free, swirling and dancing in the air before settling gently onto the ground, transforming into a roaring bonfire.

A fire-summoning spell certainly shouldn't exceed third circle, but Gao De, who had taken the course "General Spell Recognition," had never heard of such a spell.

Clearly, it was a rare spell.

Creating a bonfire out of thin air was truly practical.

Gao De couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

With the bonfire lit, Gao De promptly set up a pot and put in the leftover beef to simmer.

"Eat some meat—it helps restore strength," he told Du Wei.

Du Wei nodded silently.

Gao De secretly felt a measure of admiration for him.

Falling from the mountain, even losing consciousness—of course he wasn't unharmed.

But Du Wei hadn't uttered a single sound the whole time, proving he was remarkably tough.

Gao De focused on the beef in the small pot.

Though conditions were limited, the agricultural people's reverence for food made him carefully control the heat, striving to make the clear beef broth as palatable as possible.

While he concentrated on cooking, Du Wei had silently scanned Gao De with sharp eyes.

His age, height, clothing, belongings—nothing escaped his notice.

Du Wei even noticed that, though Gao De showed no overt wariness toward him, he had consistently and instinctively guarded the bundle beside him.

Clearly, the bundle contained something he valued deeply—or perhaps something precious.

Du Wei had no interest in discovering what lay inside the bundle.

First, Gao De had saved his life; to violate his privacy would violate Du Wei's own principles.

Second, for Du Wei, there were very few things in this world worthy of being called "precious."

After assessing Gao De, the last trace of Du Wei's vigilance vanished.

Meanwhile, Gao De had finished simmering the beef broth and brought it over to Du Wei.

Du Wei made no complaints or formalities.

After swallowing a bowl of hot broth and chewing on a few still-fresh, tender pieces of beef, and resting a while longer, his spirit and condition improved markedly.

He leaned back casually against the tattered tent.

Du Wei knew he owed Gao De a debt.

Moreover, he had seen in Gao De's eyes a sincerity he had rarely encountered.

A sincerity untainted by any ulterior motive.

To Du Wei, this was a rare thing.

Gao De, equally perceptive, noticed that the other's gaze, beyond calmness, now carried a touch of gentleness.

But this gentleness was not warm—it carried a tone of superiority.

Gao De found it uncomfortable.

He was not foolish; he had long deduced from Du Wei's casual offering of a first-circle spell formula and his bearing that Du Wei came from wealth.

But that had little to do with Gao De.

Though he was indeed short on money and loved it, he was used to earning it himself.

Moreover, Gao De's entire focus now was on planting trees.

Though eager to depart, having saved the man, Gao De could hardly abandon Du Wei, who had only just regained consciousness.

Following the principle of seeing a task through to the end, Gao De decided to stay two more days at this wind-sheltered slope until Du Wei fully recovered.

Consider it a mid-journey rest—he thought to himself.

Only after half a day did Du Wei realize, belatedly, that Gao De had chosen to stay because of him.

—In his past life, it had been perfectly normal for people to revolve around him.

Once he realized this, he spoke slowly: "Thank you. I can take care of myself. You don't need to delay your journey on my account."

Gao De raised an eyebrow, casually replying: "No problem. I'm not in any particular hurry."

After another moment of silence, Du Wei asked: "Is this your first time attempting the snow mountain?"

Gao De nodded.

"I climbed Dandong Snow Peak for my own reasons. What about you? Just to challenge yourself?"

"Not at all. I just happened to be passing through."

Gao De's voice paused again.

Dandong Snow Peak, regarded by the Li Shi family as one of the "Eight Glorious Trials," was spoken of by him as mere "passing through."

As if Dandong Snow Peak weren't the continent's highest peak, but some insignificant hill.

This emotionally unsettled Du Wei.

He fell silent for a moment, then asked again: "Passing through?"

"I'm heading into the Northlands," Gao De shrugged.

"The Northlands?" Du Wei frowned, clearly unable to understand why Gao De would want to go to that frozen wasteland.

Then he suddenly noticed a detail he had overlooked until now.

"You haven't learned 'Endure Environment' yet, have you?" he asked.

Because Du Wei realized Gao De emitted no magical aura—meaning he had not cast any spell on himself.

"I learned it. Not needed yet," Gao De replied.

"Not needed yet?" Du Wei's eye twitched.

He glanced at Gao De's clothing—clearly not any magical gear capable of shielding him from the current temperature of nearly minus fifty degrees.

"You really are thick-skinned," Du Wei complimented.

Not sarcastic. Genuine praise.

No wonder such an obvious novice had never slipped away from him.

He must have an extraordinary talent.

With his experience, Du Wei understood that at such temperatures, it wasn't merely a matter of physical constitution.

The reason this man could endure it so well was most likely due to a "specialization."

The "talent" Du Wei imagined was precisely this specialization.

(End of Chapter)