Chapter 280 Avalanche (Part 1)
Ye Ci have never felt so frustrated in both her lives before.
Why did I decide to show him some benevolence? Screw the alliance! Screw helping each other out in hostile land! It’s all bullshit! Thought Ye Ci. Reality had proven to her that nothing good would come to her when she meddled in the business that had nothing to do with her.
Ye Ci activated Featherfall as large chunks of ice and rocks fell all around her. The safety of Spotless Autumn who was no longer in sight was not a concern of hers. Her only priority was to keep herself alive.
Featherfall was able to slow down her fall, but did nothing to protect her from the avalanche that came crashing down.
She was peppered by chunks of ice of varying sizes as she floated down onto the ground. And due to her inability to maneuver herself in the air, Ye Ci could not avoid any falling object that went her way.
Lucky would be something that she had to rely on. A hit from a blob of snow might not be fatal, but a glancing blow from even a solid block of ice could potentially take her life.
Perhaps God had decided that it was not the time and place for Ye Ci to die yet, and that was why she miraculously managed to avoid all the large chunks of ice. She was able to stay alive by gulping down bottles of Health Potions.
When she was 8 yards away from the ground, however, a large chunk of snow flew straight at Ye Ci. She had seen it coming, but she could not adjust the direction of her fall when Featherfall was in effect. This meant that she could only watch as the blob of snow fell right on top of her. She glanced at her health bar. It was full. Of course, she did not forget to hurl more curses at Spotless Autumn before she was engulfed with snow.
Pain.
Cold.
And darkness.
Those were the only sensation Ye Ci could feel as she was washed away by the avalanche. Did she feel anything else? No. Because she had already passed out at that point, but she was quick to regain her consciousness.
Players, veterans and newbies alike, maintained a habit of always paying attention to their HP bar. Is it full? Or is it almost empty? These questions had always been the concern for players in any game.
Ye Ci was no exception. She immediately began examining the status of her character once she was certain that she was still alive.
Great, I still have 60 HP left... Ye Ci, who was at lvl60, had nearly 8,000 HP. It was nothing to a Warrior, but the amount was formidable when compared to characters of similar classes like the Rogue, Ranger and the Hunter class. The large blob of snow dealt more than 7,000 damage points to her, and she was still suffering from damage over time due to the cold. Even though it was dealing a mere 10 points of damage to her health every 10 seconds, Ye Ci would still not last very long.
She might have lost her life had she not regained her consciousness.
Ye Ci immediately recovered her health with a Large Health Potion before she could finally shift her attention elsewhere. Due to its limited number in the market and high demand, a bottle of Large Potion cost 2,000 gold coins. But due to the efforts of Upwards Ho!’s Potion Makers, the guild had a small supply of Large Health Potion.
They were usually placed in the guild warehouse, but she was handed a dozen of them by Lovely Fruits for her trip to the Northern Continent as Bai Mo and Timely Rain were worried that she would not be able to resupply.
She had initially thought that she would not need the potions at all, but she had been proven wrong.
Ye Ci felt gratitude for the two nosy men from the bottom of her heart. Sometimes, it really pays to be prepared.
She began observing her surroundings once the threat of death was gone.
White. Everything before her eyes was white. Ye Ci extended an arm towards the whiteness in front of her, and something cold fell onto her face.
It was snow.
And the snow was loose. She was buried under a pile of snow formed by the large chunk that landed on her earlier on. As the snow was loose, Ye Ci could still move her limbs.
She began digging upwards with her arms and legs.
But she was not met with success.
As she dug her way upwards, more and more loose snow fell onto her, pinning her down and restricting her movements. She cold from the snow was dealing damage to her as well, stacking up a Cold debuff that had no limit. This debuff would slow her movement speed down and deal a small damage over time to her. While a singular stack of the debuff was miniscule and inconsequential, the effects of 20 of such debuff that Ye Ci had accumulated over the span of a mere 10 minutes was something that she could not ignore.
Ye Ci was forced to consume a bottle of Cold Resistant Potion and a bottle of Health Potion before she could resume her efforts. She knew that she had to dig her way out or she would eventually die from the cold.
She could still hear rumbling as she dug. It was apparent that things were continuing to fall, adding more weight onto the snow.
This was a source of great displeasure for Ye Ci. The large pile of snow was hard as rock and twice as dangerous. As they melt and harden into ice, their sharp surface could potentially cut a character and deal damage. At the same time, remaining buried meant that Ye Ci’s supply of air was limited. She would slowly suffocate to death even if she could survive the cold.
Ye Ci could already see a “Suffocating” on her character status. Her health was dropping as a result, and as the “Suffocating” debuff stacked, she would suffer more damage. This debuff would not be removed unless she received fresh air.
She tried her best to move, but the snow was stacking up onto her. The thick fur coat that she had worn to combat the cold was beginning to get torn by the mixture of snow and ice. She did not suffer from injuries that would bleed, but she could feel a sharp pain on one of her legs.
It seems that a particularly sharp chunk of ice has pierced the skin of my hip as I was moving around. Ye Ci’s heart sank, but not because of the injury. It was due to the realisation that her situation was rapidly worsening and she would end up as a corpse if she did not act fast.
Her thoughts drifted towards Spotless Autumn. It would be nice to have him around at a time like this. He can just blast the ice away or simply make them melt with his spell. My only choice now is to continue digging, but it’s no longer possible to pull it off with my bare hands. She moved her hand towards the dagger on her hip, and each movement she made brought pain when the ice punctured her skin.
It took great effort for Ye Ci to reach her dagger.
But she was faced with yet another problem. With the dagger now firmly gripped in her palm, she found herself not able to maneuver her arm.
She narrowed her eyes, and pulled her hand upwards. Pain immediately shot up from her fingers up her arm. She gritted her teeth at the sensation. It was not pleasant, but her hand was once again near her chest. The ice near her chest began to slowly melt away, and soon she was able to freely move her head again.
This meant that she could finally inspect her hand. The gloves that she had worn to resist the cold were already shredded to pieces, and the back of her right hand was badly mangled.
Ye Ci ignored the wound once she was certain that it was not causing her damage over time. As long as she could dig her way out, she was willing to sustain more injury.
The dagger enabled her to quickly widen the space around her, and she was able to free her body. She immediately gulped down another Cold Resistance Potion and a Health Potion when she realised that her character was near death due to the cold and suffocation debuff, and resumed her work.
The dagger allowed her to escape at a significantly higher speed. She was not buried very deep, but due to her misfortune, she had fallen into an indented area of the ground.
The chilly fresh air entered Ye Ci’s lungs with one final swing of the dagger, dispelling her suffocation debuff in an instant.
She could finally see the outside world.
And she began working on expanding the small hole into an exit that she could finally crawl through.
It had been a struggle.
Ye Ci knelt on the ground to rest once she was free, and took in a deep breath to enjoy the fresh air.
What is happiness? It was a question with no definite answer.
Happiness meant different things to different people. For some, happiness meant the ability to afford the best food, the best clothing, and the best car. Others perceive happiness as having a stable life. Some do not need to be rich to be happy, while many more would simply be content with leading a healthy life.
Happiness can be as big as the salvation of mankind as a whole. It can also be something very personal. If you and I are having aching stomachs, and I am in a toilet while you are not, then I can be said to have been happy.
It was a very subjective word.
For Ye Ci, happiness was when she was able to enjoy fresh her after surviving death twice.
But just as she enjoyed the bliss of breathing in lungfuls of fresh air, a crackling sound entered her ears.
It was not loud, but the sound occurred regularly. Ye Ci studied her surroundings, but could not find the source of the sound. It was the sound of the skill of a particular character class.
She was able to quickly triangulate the source of the sound. It came from underground, not far away from her. The name of a certain man immediately entered her mind, but she shook it off immediately.
She struggled onto her feet and stood on unsteady legs. She needed to locate a safe spot to replenish her exhausted Stamina, but it was not at this spot. She wished nothing more to do with the bringer of bad luck.
But there were times when reality betrayed one’s expectations.
Before she could even get 10 yards away from her spot, a familiar voice rang out behind Ye Ci, “F*ck me, I’m finally out. God, it’s so tiring.”
Come on, hurry up!
Ye Ci forced herself to pick up the pace. She had a feeling that she would continue to be showered by bad luck if she was anywhere near that man. She must get away.
“I thought that was the end. Damn, I’m so lucky!” Spotless Autumn enjoyed the fresh air as well when he finally managed to free himself. He was glad to have brought so many potions along with him. He studied his surroundings, and was quick to spot Gongzi You who was limping away. I’ll be damned, Gongzi You is still alive! I thought she’s dead!