Ch75 - Fear of the Full Moon

The fire was quickly put out by the cold. The embers shone red on the ground for a while before being wiped out by the snow.

Nan Zhou knew that they still weren’t out of danger. The male corpse he faced had no intention of letting them go. 

A face with no eyes. Facing them were two dark, deep cavities. In contrast, the moonlight behind the male corpse shone brighter. This made light shine through the cracks in his face that were difficult to fit together perfectly. It looked particularly hideous and weird.

Nan Zhou thought about how Jiang Fang was by his side and his heart beat faster. He felt a bit confused because he didn’t think the other person was scary. The situation in front of him might be dangerous but for Nan Zhou, it was far from desperate. Previously when he was alone, he had faced many such harsh faces. He should’ve forgotten what nervousness was.

Fortunately, Nan Zhou’s tension didn’t show on his face. His brain was moving swiftly as he thought about what to say to dispel the male corpse’s hostility in the shortest time.

The answer was simple. Give him what he wanted. 

Nan Zhou was about to open his mouth but Jiang Fang had already given the answer that Nan Zhou originally wanted to give.

“We know where that group is.”

“If you follow us, you will find them.”

The muscles on the man’s face slightly twisted. The flesh moving under the skin was like worms. There was no expression management at all and Nan Zhou read a hint of anger from it.

Wrong.

It wasn’t this sentence. They were wrong.

Nan Zhou lowered his head slightly only to find that he and Jiang Fang were each clutching the other person’s clothing, trying to protect the other person. Nan Zhou looked at these beautiful fingers and his heart quieted down. Nan Zhou raised his eyes and changed his words. “You can’t leave here. Moreover, they don’t want to come here.”

“They don’t even allow any outsiders to come near here and find you.” 

“We can help you.”

The man’s drooping eyelids leaped. Immediately, his eyelids lifted up slightly to expose the two eyeholes more clearly. Even the frozen white slurry of his brain was vividly visible. He opened his mouth. Since Nan Zhou had seen the man’s broken body, he could easily imagine a soft, weak and even icy vocal cords shaking and vibrating in his body. He muttered in a horribly cold voice. “They are afraid to come here. No one dares come.”

Nan Zhou relaxed and let go of the hand protecting Jiang Fang’s chest. However, he arbitrarily placed his hand on Jiang Fang’s waist. It was safe for the time being.

At this time, the eyeball with the legs saw the smoke rising from the base and rushed back. The hand with the legs was holding a bunch of snow rabbits. Upon seeing this, Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang understood why the legs were wandering aimlessly when it met them. After handing the snow rabbits obediently to the male corpse, the male corpse put them away, opened his mouth and wolfed down dry and cold herbivore food. 

The legs didn’t look violent. It carried the ear of the male corpse and silently sat cross-legged beside the male corpse, looking like a scary and funny pet. The man wiped the grass off the corners of his mouth but accidentally dislodged his jaw. He didn’t show any expression as he straightened the bone with a click.

As he was doing this, Nan Zhou took the eyeball out of the snowball and returned it to him. After taking back the eyeball, the broken male corpse finally put down most of his guard against the two visitors. He tugged at his nearly scrapped vocal cords and whispered his story. It was just that he couldn’t say sentences that were too long. His ability to express himself was as fragmented as his body.

“I like to climb mountains. I’ve climbed many mountains.”

“This was the first time I climbed a snowy mountain.” 

“My friend arrived the next day but left due to severe altitude sickness.”

“I didn’t want to go. I wanted to try it.”

“I wanted to climb to 4,000 meters before going back.”

“On this mountain, you are only allowed to climb 4,000 meters. This is a rule. If you want to climb a bit higher, you must apply to the Mountaineering Association in advance. This way, they can verify that you have professional qualifications and avoid danger.” 

“I met a team at a rest point under the mountain.”

“They said they could take me and we would go together.”

“I originally wanted to find an experienced team to go with so we registered and went together.”

“They also lent me equipment that I hadn’t prepared.” 

“I thought they were good people.”

Nan Zhou thought, ‘Sure enough. There are two groups.’

Jiang Fang slightly frowned. He realized what would happen next.

“The first day was sunny.” 

“The next day as well.”

“On the third day, we reached the 4,000 meters boundary marker and the weather was still good.”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“They suggested to go up.”

“P kjrc’a mfgajlc. P tjvc’a xcbkc jybea atlr yfobgf.” 

“P kjr jogjlv la kbeiv yf vjcufgber ab ub vbkc atf wbecajlc jibcf. Dfrlvfr, P tjv jigfjvs gfjmtfv atlr qblca. P kjcafv ab xcbk ktja atf abq bo atf wbecajlc ibbxfv ilxf.”

“P jrxfv atfw lo atfs tjv gfqbgafv la ab atf Zbecajlcffglcu Crrbmljalbc.”

“They said they reported it.”

His voice rose sharply. His entire body trembled due to excessive anger and the loosely assembled parts spasmed and shook. It seemed like they would leave their place at any time and turn into dregs. His body language clearly told Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang that this somewhat reckless university student had encountered the deadliest lie of his life. 

“Then once we were beyond 5,000 meters, the sky suddenly changed.”

“First, there was heavy snow. The world was completely snow.”

“Then the avalanche hit.”

“Snow. It was all snow.” 

“It poured into my nose and my mouth.”

The man’s throat made a muffled sound like he was drowning in the snow. He was still immersed in the nightmare he couldn’t walk out of.

“I was crushed by the snow.”

“Fortunately, I was buried a bit shallower.” 

“I crawled out. A stone had hit my chest and my rib was broken. I don’t know if it was one or two. I didn’t feel it at the time because I wanted to save people first.”

“Everyone was buried in the snow.”

“I saved Brother Li. Brother Li was fine and he went to save others.”

“For the time being, no one had died.” 

“However, the satellite phone and food were lost. The map and compass were gone.”

“We looked for a long time and only found the tent and a small amount of supplies.”

“Sister Peng had been buried for too long. Her pants were torn and her legs had frostbite. She was in a very serious condition.”

“I was busy moving with them. The more I was busy, the more I felt chest pain. In the end, I couldn’t stand the pain and fell down.” 

“Brother Li hurt his calf but it was fine.”

“Sister Peng and I were the only ones seriously hurt.”

Nan Zhou thought that the Brother Li in his mouth was probably the big, bear-like man. The male corpse sat under the moon and raised his neck, revealing a stiff and blue neck. His two frozen hazel eyes stared straight into the sky.

“I had a fever. It should be pneumonia. I felt pain all over and kept coughing.” 

“I asked them when the rescue would come.”

“Brother Li and the others said that a helicopter would be sent when the snow stopped.”

“However, the snow stopped and the helicopter didn’t come.”

“…I was so hungry.” 

These four ordinary, slightly drawn out words crossed the snow and wind and gave people goosebumps.

“Sister Peng was in a more serious state than me.”

“Her legs got gangrene.”

“Group Leader Lu said that without amputation, her legs would turn into a bacterial culture medium.” 

“They persuaded Sister Peng that she wouldn’t be able to live without amputation. Even if she waited for rescue, she wouldn’t survive.”

“Sister Peng agreed.”

“However, after the amputation, Sister Peng was no longer conscious.”

“That day, I suddenly smelled something outside the tent. It was fragrant.” 

“Brother Li and the others stuffed a bit of meat into the unconscious Sister Peng’s mouth. Then they went to my tent and told me they encountered a snow deer.”

“They fed the meat to my mouth.”

“I ate it.”

“I knew. How could there be deer on the mountain?” 

“I also knew that they were the ones most afraid of dying if rescue didn’t come.”

“Still, I was afraid to say it.”

“Thus, I ate the meat.”

He pulled up the legs of his trousers. Large clumps of white cotton were stuffed into the trouser legs. The cotton used to keep warm stuffed the legs of the mountaineering pants into the shape of a radish. After removing the cotton, a large area of white bones with the flesh cleanly removed was exposed. The male corpse continued to whisper. 

“I wasn’t dead. I was alive.”

“But they were hungry.”

“Sister Peng was their friend.”

“They couldn’t find a valid reason to justify it and couldn’t speak.” 

“But I… wasn’t their friend.”

The male corpse’s mood gradually stabilized as he talked about himself. It seemed that the sadness, anger and hatred of being deceived were gradually brought to the top of the mountain beyond his reach by the vigorous wind.

“One day, I was lying in the tent and Brother Li came in.”

“He checked my breathing.” 

“Then he called out suddenly and said that Xiao Zheng was dead.”

“I told them that I wasn’t dead.”

“Group Leader Lu and Brother Yuan came in.”

“They wondered how Xiao Zheng died.” 

“I told them that I wasn’t dead.”

“They didn’t listen to me. They didn’t need to listen to me.”

“They had knives.”

“My head rolled to the side and I could see my body. They were scraping at the flesh of my cheeks to eat it.” 

“I heard that the cheek meat of fish is the most tender.”

He stared blankly at Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang.

“The meat smelled good.”

Jiang Fang took a deep breath and used the cold air to suppress the chill that surged to his throat. 

Nan Zhou asked Xiao Zheng, “These legs…”

“They are Sister Peng’s legs.” Xiao Zheng answered calmly. “I don’t know about Sister Peng’s other half. This half stayed here with me. It has always been with me.”

The straightforward, unembellished narration brought an unusually terrible shock to people’s souls. Nevertheless, Nan Zhou’s expression didn’t change too much as he asked a direct question. “What is your name?”

Xiao Zheng was taken aback. The remaining human emotions in his body made him unable to understand Nan Zhou’s fearlessness. He pulled at his terrible vocal cords. “Zheng Xinghe.” 

“Okay. Zheng Xinghe, why can’t you get out of here?”

“I was eaten here and I can’t leave this place.”

“Sister Peng’s legs left with your eyes and hand.”

“Only a part of me can leave. My body parts can’t be separated from each other for too long.” 

Zheng Xinghe’s situation was similar to that of an earth bound spirit. In the camp, he was free to move around. Then after leaving the camp, the necessary connections between his body parts had to be maintained.

After leaving the camp, his disassembled body parts were too easily deactivated. Even so, parts of his body were gradually liquefying, turning into gel and turning into plastic no matter how careful he was. It was just like his ears or his face full of muscles.

Zheng Xinghe smiled and the muscles of his face started to move around again. “Sooner or later, I will become mud.”

“Then they don’t have to be afraid.” 

Nan Zhou got it now. It wasn’t known how the climbers turned into monsters but it was known that they couldn’t face their sins. Therefore, they stayed at 4,000 meters above sea level, getting rid of all climbers who might peek at their secrets.

Zheng Xinghe concluded, “I can’t leave.”

Nan Zhou casually said, “I have a way.”

Zheng Xinghe abruptly looked up, hazel eyes faintly shining in the moonlight. “What is the method?” 

“Answer my question first.” Nan Zhou asked, “Have you ever heard of the moon god on the mountain?”

Zheng Xinghe thought about it before replying, “I don’t know what the moon god is. I have never heard of such a legend.”

Nan Zhou gave a hum in response, his eyes a light color. No one knew what he was thinking.

*** 

Li Yinhang was very glad that Jiang Fang and Nan Zhou didn’t follow He Yinchuan’s team.

In the second half of the journey, there was a distance of 50 meters where they climbed up at a right-angle slope of 80 degrees. The rock wall under their feet was constantly sliding and beneath them was a hundred meters of snow. As they climbed, they were always worried that someone would catch up behind them. Therefore, they focused their energy on how to step on the slippery snow rocks steadily and quickly to climb to the top in the shortest time.

It wasn’t until they reached a platform and found a slightly flatter place that the boiling adrenaline stopped. Li Yinhang almost fell down in one breath. Fortunately, their efforts bore fruit. The climbers didn’t seem to catch up.

Lu Bifang and Zhou Ao took turns exploring the way. Zhou Ao went in a circle before successfully joining up with them. He sorted out the bandages in his hands and talked while releasing white fog from his mouth. “The side of the mountain is too flat.” 

This meant they couldn’t go there. Too flat meant there was nowhere to hide. The road they were walking right now was rugged and changeable, with erratic rocks. However, if they calculated the angle well and changed the route a lot while moving forward in a roundabout way, they could hide their whereabouts.

Meanwhile, Lin Zhisong took advantage of the break to once again come to Li Yinhang’s side. He said quietly, “You really don’t think there is a problem with Nan Zhou?”

Normal people who had been frustrated by Li Yinhang for so long should be able to read the air and know Li Yinhang’s position. Obviously, Lin Zhisong belonged to the type of person who wasn’t normal.

Li Yinhang simply adopted a non-violent and uncooperative attitude. She lowered her head without saying a word. 

Liang Shu quietly pulled Lin Zhisong aside. “What is the use of saying this?”

“It is useful. There must be something wrong with that Nan Zhou.” Lin Zhisong explained. “I’ll say it a few more times so she has a shadow in her heart.”

Liang Shu smiled helplessly. “Why don’t you just tell her directly to be more careful?”

Half of Lin Zhisong’s face was in the shadows and wasn’t very clear. He said, “Kind reminders are of no use. Doubt is the best way to make her vigilant.” 

His young face was tense as he stared at the place where Li Yinhang was sitting in a strange manner. Then Liang Shu slapped him in the head and destroyed his posture.

Lin Zhisong, “……”

Liang Shu hit the nail on the head. “You are trying to sow discord.”

Having said that, Liang Shu turned and left. She didn’t forget to look back and give Lin Zhisong the middle finger to warn him not to do this type of thing again. 

Lin Zhisong rubbed his head.

…It hurt.

He kept a robotic face as he stubbornly spoke to himself. “There is a problem.”

Meanwhile, He Yinchuan didn’t care about these small troubles in the team. He looked up at the top of the mountain. The wind and snow obscured his sight and gave him the illusion that there was no end to the mountain peak. He shook his head and got rid of such empty and pointless thoughts. He turned around and smiled to encourage everyone. “I might not know how far we are from the top of the mountain but at the very least, those ghosts can’t run in front of us—” 

He was just speaking when a strange shadow appeared from behind him and swallowed up the light and shadows on his face. It was like a bear standing in front of everyone. The huge and vague moon shadow was projected from behind the bear, making him look like a monster walking out of the moon. The so-called moon god…

After being in a daze for a moment, Li Yinhang recognized the identity of the figure. The bear-like man! He licked his lips as he smiled, making his dry lips shine slightly. “—I’m hungry.”