Liu Dashao glanced behind him. The army of salamanders seemed to sense his intentions and launched an even fiercer attack. Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao barely had any chance to climb onto the icy rock. Right now, they were merely holding on with sheer willpower. If this continued, they would surely be swallowed up by the salamander horde.
Urgently, he shouted at Jia Yuanzhang, “Senior Jia, do you have any way to stop these salamanders from attacking, at least for a moment?!”
Jia Yuanzhang bitterly replied, “If I had a way, wouldn’t I have used it already?”
“What?! There’s absolutely nothing else left?!” Liu Dashao asked.
Jia Yuanzhang responded, “Nothing. Even the throwing knives are all used up!”
Sighing deeply, Liu Dashao said to Jia Yuanzhang, “You go up first!”
Jia Yuanzhang asked, “Then what about you two?”
“I’ll think of another way!” Liu Dashao said.
Jia Yuanzhang nodded, without saying anything further, and nimbly leapt onto the icy rock.
At this moment, only Liu Dashao, Cai Qingchong, and Fan Debiao remained below the icy rock.
Fan Debiao shouted at Liu Dashao, “Master Liu, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and climb up! I can’t hold on much longer!”
Cai Qingchong roared, “Hold your ground! Whoever gives up first is a cowardly turtle!”
Fan Debiao chuckled, “Fine! Then you’re definitely the cowardly turtle!”
As he spoke, he swung his shovel and decapitated two snow salamanders.
Cai Qingchong wasn’t to be outdone either. With one swing of his shovel, he crushed three snow salamanders into pulp.
“I even killed one more than you!”
These two, who always enjoyed bickering and competing, were now encouraging each other in this life-or-death situation. A bittersweet warmth welled up in Liu Dashao’s heart. Seeing the sweat streaming down their faces and the continuous twitching of their facial muscles, Liu Dashao knew they were both barely holding on, at the very end of their strength. Yet, neither of them thought of saving themselves alone, constantly urging him to escape. This deep brotherly bond moved Liu Dashao to tears.
Fan Debiao shouted at Liu Dashao, “Master Liu, what are you doing? We’re not dead yet, and you’re already crying like we are!”
Cai Qingchong said, “If only we had a flamethrower right now! One blast and a whole bunch would go up in flames! That would feel amazing, and these disgusting creatures would be screaming for their mothers!”
Fire?! Yes! Use fire!
Cai Qingchong’s words suddenly reminded Liu Dashao. He abruptly recalled that there was a windproof lighter in his backpack. He quickly said to Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao, “Hold on a bit longer. I’ve thought of a plan!”
Liu Dashao took off his coat and then turned to Jia Yuanzhang on top of the icy rock and shouted, “Senior, throw down your coat!”
Although it was bitterly cold here, Jia Yuanzhang knew he was saving lives, so without hesitation, he threw down his coat. “Junior Liu, catch!”
Liu Dashao lit the windproof lighter. The flame from this lighter was extremely fierce. The blue flame quickly set his coat ablaze. Then, he used the burning coat to ignite Jia Yuanzhang’s thrown-down coat. Next, Liu Dashao held a burning coat in each hand, like two flaming fireballs.
He said to Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao, “After I count to three, I’ll throw these burning coats down in front of each of you. These flames should be able to temporarily block the salamander army. Use that time to climb up onto the icy rock. Got it?”
Cai Qingchong nodded and said, “Got it! Hey, Master Liu, you really do have ideas!”
Liu Dashao said, “No time for chatter! I’ll count to three, and then you both immediately turn and run. Are you ready?”
Both of them shouted in unison, “Ready!”
“Good! One!”
“Two!”
“Three!”
At the count of three, Liu Dashao forcefully threw the two burning coats. They landed precisely in front of Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao.
“Run!” He turned his body, took a big leap toward the icy rock, and without any hesitation, grabbed onto its jagged edges and quickly climbed up.
Whoosh! The flickering flames immediately stopped the salamander army in their tracks. A few snow salamanders at the front couldn’t stop in time and plunged headfirst into the flames, shrieking as they burned. After a brief pause of a few seconds, the snow salamanders quickly split into two streams, bypassing the flames from both flanks and surging toward the group.
In those few seconds of hesitation by the snow salamanders, Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao suddenly turned around, tucked their shovels into their belts, and sprinted with all their might. With a powerful leap, they grabbed onto the jagged edges of the icy rock.
They had followed the big grasshopper for quite some time, traveling far and wide, and had developed some skills. Climbing a two-meter-high icy rock was practically effortless for them. But their psychological pressure was immense because beneath their feet was an army of millions of salamanders. If they slipped and fell, the snow salamanders would devour them in an instant, leaving nothing but bones.
Cai Qingchong glanced down and saw the snow salamanders densely gathered beneath him. Horrified, he scrambled up the icy rock and, upon reaching the top, gasped for breath.
“Don’t look down!” Liu Dashao shouted at Fan Debiao.
Fan Debiao turned his head back and continued climbing upward. Suddenly, there was a loud “clack,” and he stopped climbing.
“What’s wrong?” Liu Dashao anxiously asked.
Fan Debiao replied, “Something must be stuck!”
Liu Dashao looked down and saw that Fan Debiao’s shovel was jammed deep in a crevice of the rock wall. Apparently, he had used too much force earlier, and the shovel was stuck tightly. Fan Debiao twisted his waist, but the shovel didn’t budge at all. Right now, both his hands were tightly gripping the jagged edges of the icy rock, his feet dangling without any foothold, so he couldn’t free his hands to pull out the shovel. Desperately, he shouted, “Why am I so unlucky?”
Liu Dashao told Fan Debiao not to panic and said he would go down to help him pull out the shovel. Just as Liu Dashao started climbing down the icy rock, gripping its jagged edges, he was shocked to see the snow salamanders using a human-ladder tactic.
One snow salamander climbed onto the icy rock’s base, and another immediately climbed onto its back. A third climbed onto the second one’s back, stacking up like a human pyramid, getting higher and higher, launching a frantic attack toward Fan Debiao, who was stuck halfway up the icy rock.
Soon, there were more than ten such human-ladder formations below the icy rock. The snow salamanders behind surged forward like a tide, stepping on the bodies of those ahead, climbing upward relentlessly, as if Fan Debiao was the most delicious morsel they couldn’t afford to miss.
“Mommy! Master Liu! Grandpa! Hurry and save me! These disgusting things are about to bite my butt!” Fan Debiao screamed frantically, sweating profusely.
Liu Dashao tightly gripped the icy rock’s surface and quickly slid down, soon reaching Fan Debiao’s side. His feet found purchase on two jagged ice ridges, giving him a stable foothold. With his left hand, he tightly grasped a protruding edge, and with his right hand, he reached out to grab the handle of the shovel, pulling with all his might. Unexpectedly, the shovel was stuck extremely tight, and Liu Dashao’s first pull didn’t budge it at all. Meanwhile, the snow salamanders’ flesh-ladder army had already climbed to their feet in the blink of an eye. Some salamanders had already opened their mouths, biting at their shoes.
Puchi! A snow salamander clamped tightly onto the edge of Liu Dashao’s shoe. He shook his right foot several times but couldn’t shake it off. Liu Dashao gritted his teeth, aligned the edge of his shoe with a sharp ice ridge, and swiftly struck it.
Crack! The sharp ice ridge pierced the snow salamander’s head. The creature was like a leech nailed to a board, writhing for a moment before going still.
“Hmph!” Liu Dashao twisted his waist and gave Fan Debiao’s butt a powerful kick.
Fan Debiao cried out in pain, “Are you trying to kill me faster by kicking me down?”
Before Liu Dashao could respond, Cai Qingchong, from atop the icy rock, said, “Hey, you ungrateful guy! If it weren’t for Master Liu’s kick, your butt would have already lost a chunk of flesh!”
“What?!” Upon hearing Cai Qingchong’s words, Fan Debiao immediately turned to look. What he saw terrified him beyond measure—the flesh ladder built by the snow salamanders was approaching his butt, with the topmost salamander stretching its neck and raising its head, ready to bite his butt at any moment.
“Waaah!” Fan Debiao quickly straightened his chest and tucked in his stomach, lifting his butt half an inch higher. “Master Liu, help me quick! I’m still so young, and I haven’t even had a girlfriend yet! I can’t die like this!”
Seeing Fan Debiao’s unstable emotional state, Liu Dashao sternly shouted, “Stop yelling and stay calm!”
Liu Dashao assessed the current situation and realized that before he could pull out the shovel, Fan Debiao’s round butt might already be in danger. The urgent priority was to destroy the snow salamanders’ flesh ladder to buy more time.
With this thought, he hurriedly shouted to Yang Weidong on top of the icy rock, “Weidong, quickly take off your clothes, light them, and throw them down!” As he spoke, Liu Dashao took out the windproof lighter from his pocket and swiftly threw it upward.
Yang Weidong, quick on the uptake, caught the lighter mid-air. Then he took off his coat and quickly lit it with the windproof lighter.
Liu Dashao asked Yang Weidong to pass him the burning coat. Holding the flaming coat in his right hand, he swung it around vigorously. The roaring flames burned the snow salamanders stacking up like a human pyramid, creating loud crackling sounds and a strong smell of burnt flesh.
The snow salamanders were extremely afraid of fire, having practically no defense against it. Soon, the flesh ladders painstakingly built by the snow salamanders collapsed and disintegrated under Liu Dashao’s fiery attack. With loud crashing sounds, they all fell apart, causing chaos below the icy rock. The charred bodies of the snow salamanders floated and sank in the surging tide of the salamander army.
The fire quickly spread to Liu Dashao’s fingers, and he hurriedly threw away the nearly burnt-out coat. The crisis was temporarily relieved, and Liu Dashao let out a long sigh of relief.
He looked down at the snow salamanders. Their innate fear of fire had not yet subsided, and it would likely take some time before they could organize another flesh ladder. He had to seize this brief opportunity to help Fan Debiao.
Liu Dashao extended his right hand again, gripping the handle of the shovel, and began pulling it out slowly with all his might. If he were on flat ground, using both arms, he could probably pull out the shovel quickly. But now, he could only use one arm, and his left arm had to bear a significant portion of his body weight to maintain his position. Therefore, the strength he could exert was probably only half of his usual.
“My dear Master Liu, can’t you hurry up? I… I can’t hold on anymore…” Fan Debiao said with a pained expression.
Liu Dashao shot him a glance and said, “Can’t you stop talking and conserve your strength?”
“Master Liu, hurry up! The snow salamanders are coming again!” Cai Qingchong shouted loudly from atop the icy rock.
Hearing this, both Liu Dashao and Fan Debiao turned their heads simultaneously. They saw that the salamander army had already regained order and was reorganizing, beginning to build another flesh ladder. With the previous experience, this time they built the ladder much faster, cutting the time by at least a third.
Fan Debiao, his face pale, kept muttering as he watched the ever-growing snow salamander tower, “Don’t come up! My butt stinks! I often don’t wipe after pooping! Don’t come up! Don’t come up!”
“Huh, Fan Debiao, you look decent, but I never imagined you’d be such a messy person!” Yang Weidong said, pinching his nose.
Cai Qingchong, without a care in the world, chimed in, “Exactly! Today, we’ve finally seen your true colors!”
Fan Debiao shouted at Cai Qingchong, “You’re heartless! You’re brainless! May your son be born without…”
Before Fan Debiao could finish his tirade, there was a soft “click,” and finally, the shovel was pulled out from the crevice in the rock wall by Liu Dashao.
“Stop talking and climb up!” With a slap on Fan Debiao’s butt, Liu Dashao sent him shooting upward.
“Master Liu, hurry up and come up!” Cai Qingchong and the others anxiously shouted at Liu Dashao.
Liu Dashao looked back and saw the nearest snow salamander opening its mouth, aiming for the hem of his pants. He quickly sucked in his stomach and pushed hard against the ice ridge with both feet, rapidly climbing upward. The snow salamander missed its target entirely.
Everyone finally managed to climb onto the icy rock, temporarily escaping the pursuit of the salamander army and catching a brief respite. Liu Dashao looked around at the icy rock where everyone was standing. The entire rock was about half the size of a basketball court, with more than ten bamboo-shoot-shaped ice spikes standing on its surface. Crystalline light shimmered between the ice spikes, dazzlingly bright.
Behind the icy rock was a wide chasm, nearly ten meters across, as if someone had struck it with a mighty divine axe. Thick, cold mist rose from the chasm below, and the piercing wind howled fiercely, sending chills down their spines.
The group’s current situation was rather awkward. Ahead lay a massive chasm, and behind them loomed the menacing salamander army. They were completely trapped, unable to advance or retreat.
“Master Liu, what do we do now?” Fan Debiao asked.
Liu Dashao helplessly shook his head and sat down on the icy rock. This massive icy rock was like a solitary island, and they were like fugitives stranded on it. Below the icy rock, the salamander army surged like a tide, a sea of white undulating like waves, all rushing toward the icy rock. There were at least thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of snow salamanders. The sight reminded Liu Dashao of the army of flesh-eating ants on the African savannah, leaving nothing behind in their wake.
Cai Qingchong exclaimed in awe, “My god, how can there be so many salamanders here?”
Fan Debiao sighed, “Looks like we’re going to be trapped here to death!”
Jia Yuanzhang suddenly turned around and shouted, “Everyone, stay alert! The snow salamanders are about to climb up!”
Everyone’s hearts sank. They rushed to the edge of the icy rock and looked down. The snow salamanders had already built many flesh ladders, and countless snow salamanders, like brave warriors attacking a city, were climbing up these ladders relentlessly.
Liu Dashao shouted at Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao, “Quick! Stop them! Absolutely don’t let them reach the top!”
Fan Debiao, rubbing his aching arms, cursed, “Damn it, not even a moment’s rest!”
Cai Qingchong grabbed his shovel and rushed to the edge of the icy rock, swinging it repeatedly to knock down the snow salamanders that were about to climb up. There were just too many of them; knocking some down only allowed others to climb up from elsewhere. Cai Qingchong was frantically busy, shouting at Fan Debiao, “Stop talking nonsense and come help!”
Relying on their advantageous high ground, the group successfully repelled the snow salamanders’ first wave of attack. Below the icy rock, hundreds of snow salamander corpses lay scattered in disarray, their black blood slowly dripping down the rock face.
Before Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao could catch their breath, the snow salamanders launched a second wave of attack. Liu Dashao and Yang Weidong took over the shovels from Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao, beginning the second round of defense.
A few salamanders managed to break through their defenses and climb onto the icy rock, but Jia Yuanzhang kicked them off with powerful flying kicks. After a quarter of an hour, Liu Dashao and Yang Weidong, panting heavily, finally managed to repel the second wave of the salamander army’s attack. Another thick layer of corpses had accumulated below the icy rock.
After a brief rest, Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao took back the shovels from Liu Dashao and Yang Weidong, rotating into the battle. The snow salamanders seemed completely unaware of fatigue and had no concept of death. After failing in two waves of attacks, they launched a third.
Again and again, the salamander army launched a total of five attacks. Each time, the group stubbornly held them off, but these five attacks had exhausted everyone, leaving them feeling physically drained. Below the icy rock, the bodies of over a thousand snow salamanders had piled up to nearly a meter high. This effectively shortened the height difference between the icy rock and the ground, making it easier for the following snow salamanders to climb up.
Wiping the sweat from his face, Fan Debiao said to Liu Dashao, “Master Liu, we can’t keep this up. If these disgusting salamanders launch a few more attacks, we’ll eventually be overwhelmed!”
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