Cornflower Witch

Chapter 223 Climbing Up the 'Mortar'

The wind howled, and the iron chains swayed in the air, making a desolate sound.

This is a steep canyon in the Dark Mist Mountains, with cliffs on both sides as if cleaved by a knife, and sharp-edged rocks among them.

Below the mountain wall lies a bottomless, pitch-black canyon. It's difficult to find a foothold in sight; it's either shrouded in black mist, like an abyss, or there are sharp, sword-like, towering rocks.

This is the 'Iron Cliff' outpost, one of the canyons connecting the inside and outside of the Dark Mist Mountains, and also one of the six most dangerous frontline outposts of the Woodland within the Dark Mist Mountains.

Along the gray iron corridor that blends seamlessly with the mountainside, soldiers patrol with torches in hand. The flames, like tiny red dots of ants, appear and disappear in the night and mist amidst the massive cliffs and canyons.

The environment here is harsh. The 'Iron Cliff' base is built on the mountain walls on both sides of the giant canyon. It can be said that the base was carved out of steep and desolate mountain walls.

The mountain fortresses on both sides are connected by thick iron chain walkways. Only every few days, a small team will brave the fierce canyon winds to traverse the walkways and deliver supplies or information.

In the past, during the early wind season, the environment here was relatively calm. However, with the arrival of the gale season, the living environment at the 'Iron Cliff' base has become increasingly harsh and difficult.

As time passed, the wind in the mountains grew stronger, its howling sound drowning out the soldiers' conversations in the corridor.

"Whoosh—" Hot air escaped from inside the armor mask.

After their patrol, the soldiers sat down to rest at a small lookout post. A charcoal fire burned in the post, emitting a gentle warmth that helped them relax after their long day.

"I'll lean back and take a nap." A soldier turned to his side, leaning against the back of the circular chair, tilting his head to one side, and soon began to snore.

"This guy's snoring again." His companion, who had added some charcoal to the fire, was also getting sleepy.

"Why don't we take a nap? No one's going to come here anyway."

"Too."

The remaining three soldiers were also a bit tired. No one objected, so they all leaned back in their chairs, swaying back and forth, finding a comfortable position to rest.

The charcoal fire in the stove emitted a dark red glow, while the cold wind outside the window continued to howl, occasionally bringing a few ice pellets and snowflakes.

Amidst the snowstorm that engulfs the world, the two-thousand-meter-high mountain wall, with its cold gray hue, stands unchanging.

At the base of the mountain wall, some strange 'plaster' was slowly moving upwards in the wind and snow. They were silent, and if it weren't for their slowly changing position, they might have been mistaken for dust on the mountain wall.

Despite its slow speed, the 'plaster' was gradually pushed closer to the upper part of the mountain wall by the strong winds in the canyon, getting closer and closer to the corridor embedded in the mountain wall.

It was another afternoon, and the soldiers, who were used to taking a nap at the lookout point, were resting here as usual.

Today, however, several pieces of 'plaster' crossed the windowsill of the lookout point and slowly climbed inside. They crawled slowly like slugs, then came to the sleeping soldiers and silently clung to their bodies, gradually merging into the inner layers of their clothes.

……

For some reason, the patrolling soldiers have been feeling particularly tired these past few days. They often forget to eat as soon as they get back, and fall asleep immediately, feeling extremely sleepy.

Fortunately, he was not the only one in this situation; several of the people patrolling with him had similar experiences.

"Maybe I've been too tired lately," a companion said, yawning.

"The wind was strong, and walking on the cliffside corridor in armor was especially cold and tiring."

“I think so too,” the rest of his companions agreed.

Since everyone was in the same boat, it couldn't be his problem, so the soldier continued his daily work and life with a clear conscience, until one day...

"What? The entire squad is fast asleep at the lookout post?"

The commander of 'Iron Wall High Cliff' stood up in surprise and paced back and forth in the room.

"Were they frozen to death? Or were they attacked and died in some kind of accident?" Several high-ranking officers from the outpost were also in the room, discussing the intelligence they had received.

"There were no wounds on his body. When he was found, there were still a few embers in the stove, so he probably didn't freeze to death."

"Later, the local doctor examined them and said that the deaths were probably due to extreme fatigue and malnutrition."

“I understand they are tired, but are they malnourished? Have they not eaten? There is indeed not enough food at the current camp, but it has not reached the point of famine.”

"According to reports from the people they usually come into contact with, as well as members of the restaurant canteen, they did forget to eat a few times, but only a few times. They still eat every day."

"It's weird..."

The group failed to reach a substantial conclusion, but several similar incidents occurred over the next month, which finally alerted the local personnel.

"This is definitely not an ordinary accident, but rather an attack by some hidden force or creature that is reducing our personnel!" The highest commander of the garrison ordered the garrison to immediately enter a state of martial law and organized a special team to investigate.

After the incident, time passed day by day, and then more people died, and some members began to report that they were not feeling well recently.

Gradually, the real culprit behind the patrol soldiers' deaths began to surface.

"It's such an inconspicuous thing."

During a high-level meeting at the base, everyone gathered around a transparent glass cage to observe the 'plaster' constantly crawling inside.

"Its shape is not fixed and can change at any time, simulating many things," a scholar standing nearby reported, holding up the findings of his investigation.

"The most dangerous thing is that they don't emit any obvious 'sexual' scent, nor do they have a heartbeat, blood, or even organs. If they are by the roadside, they are basically the same as stones and won't attract any attention."

"But in reality, once it gets close to the human body or other living organisms, it will slowly absorb their nutrients and energy, making them tired, hungry, and eventually dead."

Is there any way to deal with them?

"If it's fire, it requires extremely high temperatures to kill. Only a small number of professionals with the 'blazing sun' attribute can cast spells that reach such temperatures, and they are prone to damaging the built environment." The scholar shook his head.

"Secondly, there is the chopping with knives and axes. Although it can cut them apart, it is only cut. The mortar that is divided into two pieces still has a certain activity and can continue to exist."

"Finally, freezing can suppress their activity if the temperature is extremely low, but it won't kill them."

"So, besides collecting them and incinerating them at extremely high temperatures, there's no other good solution?"

"It's difficult. Their sexual origin should be 'mushroom silk,' but under the pollution and erosion of the Sea of ​​Monsters, they have undergone countless mutations and distortions in the abyss. Their current sexual form has turned into 'distortion,' and the monsters that can survive in that environment all have their own unique ways of survival, which are difficult to eliminate by conventional means."

"These ash particles range in strength from 'first-tier' to 'third-tier', and they can continue to split, making them extremely difficult to remove completely."

"This……"

"If we catch them, we can indeed treat them with high temperatures, but they are now everywhere in the Iron Wall and High Cliff. They may be in some corner of the wall or under some floorboard. Their properties are extremely weak and fragmented, and we simply cannot clean them up completely."

"Furthermore, if they are not completely eradicated, they will resurface and spread everywhere over time."

"This is such a headache..." The commander covered his head.

A few minutes later, he sat up straight and informed the people present.

"We need to ask the association headquarters for help. This is a problem that we can no longer solve on our own."

"Yes, my lord."

　Sorry, I missed yesterday's update due to some things. I'll catch up later.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)