178: Melk Peak

The location of Mount Melk was indeed ridiculously remote, hidden deep within desolate mountains far from any traces of civilization.

Great Master Melk's workshop was situated right at the summit of the steepest peak.

The path leading to the summit was a "Heavenly Ladder" composed of countless massive stone steps. Each step was exaggeratedly high, feeling like a small wall to an ordinary person.

"Why... why were these steps designed like this!" Erina gazed at the seemingly endless "Stonehenge" before her, feeling her calves begin to ache.

That wasn't even the most troublesome part; all sorts of bizarre beasts would leap out to attack from time to time, and there were also eerie plants with hallucinogenic abilities that could catch one off guard if they weren't careful.

Several times when she snapped out of it, she found herself either on Lin Luo's back or being carried in his arms. And every single time, this guy would tease her about it!

"Hey, Erina, stop complaining. You probably won't make it up these steps on your own." Lin Luo had already crouched down in front of her, patting his back. "Come on, I'll carry you up."

Erina huffed. Instead of climbing on, she stepped on his back to gain leverage and leapt forcefully.

"Look! I made it up!" She stood on the high step, looking back at Lin Luo triumphantly, though her breathing was still a bit unsteady.

Lin Luo stood up with a dark expression. "...Is that how you 'go up'? You're using me as a stepping stone, aren't you?"

"Stop talking and hurry up and crouch down!" Erina stood above him with her hands on her hips, looking like she was in command.

Lin Luo was amused by her attitude and reached out to pinch her cheek, which was slightly flushed from the exercise. "With that tone, are you training a dog?"

Erina slapped his hand away, sounding perfectly justified. "I'm training you! Who told you to choose this path?"

"Fine, you're the boss." Lin Luo raised an eyebrow. Suddenly, his body moved, leaping up as light as if he had no weight. With a few light taps of his toes on the rocks, he floated up several steps.

He sat leisurely on the edge of a stone step, swinging his legs and waving at Erina below with a smile. "I'll wait for you here. Hurry up and climb. It's getting dark, and these mountains aren't peaceful at night."

"Lin Luo! You bastard!" Erina gritted her teeth. Seeing his leisurely, spectator-like attitude, she was absolutely fuming.

She took a deep breath, looked up to estimate the height, backed up a few steps, took a running start, and jumped with all her might! Her hands barely caught the rough edge of the next step. With a pull of her arms and a twist of her slender waist, she managed to flip herself up with some effort, landing on the second step, panting slightly.

The sound of clapping immediately came from above.

"Great job! Erina! Keep it up, you're only a few steps away from me!" Lin Luo's voice came down, filled with unconcealed amusement.

"You... just you wait!" Erina took a few breaths and looked up to glare at him. "When I get up there, see how I deal with you!"

Lin Luo shrugged indifferently, even adjusting his sitting position to be more comfortable. "I'm right here, not going anywhere, waiting for you to 'deal with me'."

A sharp, strange bird cry suddenly came from the sky—or rather, it was more like the hiss of a creature's wings vibrating against the air at high speed.

Erina instinctively looked up, her pupils shrinking as she cried out in fear, "What is that?!"

She saw an extremely bizarre creature circling above them. It had massive leathery wings like a bat, but its body was long like a snake. More eerily, it dragged nine wriggling tails behind it that looked like octopus tentacles. Its head had no obvious facial features, only a mass of tangled, writhing small tentacles, and within that mass, two massive curved fangs could be seen glinting coldly.

This thing... completely subverted the concept of a normal bird. Its appearance was so eerie it made one's skin crawl.

"Oh, that," Lin Luo glanced at it and looked away, his tone as casual as if he were introducing a fish at a market. "That's a Flying Squid. Haven't you cooked this kind of ingredient before?"

The moment Erina cried out in shock at the monster's appearance, Lin Luo's figure blurred, and he landed steadily beside her.

Her shock somewhat subsided, Erina immediately converted her fright into "anger." Seizing the opportunity, she balled her fists and hammered Lin Luo's arm a couple of times, only to find his muscles were as hard as stone. Unable to hurt him, she vented by stepping on his feet a few times.

"I've never seen it alive and flying! Who knew the 'Flying Squid' sliced up on a cooking station looked so... so challenging to the imagination in its true form!" she said indignantly, clearly annoyed by her own loss of composure.

Lin Luo easily caught her wrist as she tried to cause more trouble, lowering his voice with a threatening smile. "If you keep getting 'handsy', I'm going to have to get 'handsy' with you too."

"You... you rogue!" Erina's face turned red as she tried to pull her hand back but couldn't break free.

"Tsk, is this already rogue behavior?" Lin Luo raised an eyebrow. He stopped wasting words, swept his arm around her, and picked her up in a princess carry. "Hold on tight. If we dawdle any longer, we'll really have to spend the night here."

"Ah! Let me down! I can..." Erina's protest wasn't finished before she felt her body suddenly become light, and the wind began to howl in her ears!

Lin Luo exerted force with his legs, launching forward like an arrow from a bow. Holding Erina, he moved at high speed across the massive stone steps that were insurmountable for normal people as if he were on level ground.

Four thousand meters of altitude and nearly twenty thousand exaggerated steps were seemingly compressed in an instant under his inhuman speed and strength. The surrounding scenery flew backward, turning into blurred blocks of color, with only the sound of the wind whistling in their ears.

Erina instinctively grabbed the lapel of Lin Luo's shirt, burying her face slightly in his chest to withstand the fierce wind pressure.

Halfway up the mountain, Erina suddenly looked back. "Something is chasing us!"

A cloud of rolling dust was rapidly approaching. Lin Luo swept his Divine Sense over it and said without looking back, "It's a pack of Finny Baboons. Let's hurry, those things look like they'd taste terrible."

He immediately sped up, trying to pull away. But at a bend in the mountain path ahead, a group of wolf-like creatures with hideous fangs and strange forms had already blocked the way.

Lin Luo came to a sudden halt. Erina looked forward and gasped in fear, "What are these now?!"

"We're being pincered," she said, her voice tight.

Lin Luo was speechless. "I'm right here, what are you afraid of?"

"You're still talking big! Think of something!" Erina gripped his clothes tightly.

Lin Luo didn't say anything more. He stomped his foot, and holding Erina, he soared into the air, turning into a streak of light as he charged forward. A faint halo enveloped them, shielding them from the wind pressure of high-speed flight.

"You can fly?!" Erina finally reacted, saying in surprise, "I completely forgot!"

Lin Luo curled his lip. "What can you actually remember?"

Erina reached out to pull at the corner of his mouth in annoyance. "Can you not talk without mocking me for once!"

Bickering all the way, they easily bypassed the encirclement of the beasts on the ground and continued flying toward the summit.

At the summit stood a solitary house built of massive stone blocks, rough and primitive.

A thin wisp of cooking smoke curled up from the stone chimney, bringing a touch of human life to this desolate mountain peak.

The moment Lin Luo's feet touched the ground, his keen perception detected the situation inside the stone house—two fresh life signatures.

Almost simultaneously, several subtle but exceptionally sharp auras, like the thinnest blades, brushed past his cheeks soundlessly. Although they caused no actual harm, the cold sensation made his skin prickle slightly.

Erina looked around. Aside from the stone house and the jagged rocks, the summit was unexpectedly empty. "Is this Great Master Melk's residence?" She tilted her head slightly, her long golden hair fluttering in the wind. "It feels... different from what I imagined a legendary craftsman's home would be like."

Lin Luo rubbed his chin, looking at the orientation of the stone house and the clearly unkempt surroundings. Thoughtfully, he said, "Is it possible... that we arrived at the back door?"

"Huh?!" Erina turned to glare at him in disbelief, her purple eyes screaming 'you've got to be kidding me'. "How did you lead the way! No wonder there were weird steps and monsters all along the path!"

Lin Luo shrugged, looking innocent. "How do you know the path to the front door would be easy to walk? Student Erina, you're suffering from a preconceived 'stereotype'."

"Waaaah—!" Erina's cry suddenly interrupted his "lecture." Like a startled rabbit, she jumped back, almost hiding behind Lin Luo, her fingers tightly gripping the fabric of his back.

Not far ahead was an exceptionally massive, gorilla-like creature—a Giant Kong.

It was covered in dull, rough green scales that glinted coldly in the sunlight. A single, massive, blood-red eye was currently staring fixedly at them. Its bloody maw was slightly open, and a forked, slimy snake tongue hissed in and out. Coupled with its hideous appearance, it exuded a strong sense of danger and discomfort.

"Quick! Drive it away! Deal with it!" Erina's voice was filled with obvious tension and disgust as she pushed Lin Luo's back. "How can a creature look so... so terrifying!"

Lin Luo, however, didn't seem to care about the frightening beast at all. He even had the leisure to turn his head and wink at Erina hiding behind him, his tone teasing. "Student Erina, this won't do. How can you be so shallow? Although this guy looks a bit... well, unique. As the saying goes, when something is ugly to the extreme, it's a specialty. Maybe its meat is firm and the flavor is unique and delicious?"

Erina peeked half a head out from behind Lin Luo's shoulder and then quickly retracted it, her face full of doubt. "Really? Generally speaking, among the known delicious ingredients my teacher had me practice with, none looked like this! This... no matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like something that belongs on a dinner table!"

Looking at her fearful yet curious expression, Lin Luo finally couldn't help but laugh. He spread his hands and said, "Fine, I admit it—I'm lying. I actually have no idea if it tastes good or not."

"Lin Luo!!!" Erina instantly blew her top, forgetting her fear. She moved to his side and hammered his arm forcefully, pointing angrily at the Scaled Kong that was beginning to grow impatient, growling and locking its single eye onto them. "Then what are you waiting for! Get rid of it!"