Wuxia Across the Heavens: I Collect Side Effects

Without further delay, the two continued their climb towards the summit of the snow-capped mountain. They persevered for another hour or so before finally reaching the top.

The wind at the mountaintop was much stronger than at the foot of the mountain, howling and sweeping in, stirring up snow that stung the eyes and made it difficult to even stand.

Su Xin steadied himself by holding onto the boulder beside him, looked around, and thought to himself:

With such fierce winds, even the Five-Colored Snow Spider and the Snow Mountain Jade Spider will have to temporarily avoid the brunt of the attack and will not be exposed to the open air.

He composed himself and began to scan the mountaintop, focusing on finding sheltered and secluded spots.

Only in such a place could the poisonous spider he was looking for possibly be hidden.

Before long, he discovered several caves of varying sizes on a rock wall not far away. The entrances were half-covered by snow, and the dark outlines inside could be vaguely seen. They were perfect places to shelter from the wind.

Su Xin strode over, his mind racing as he recalled the appearance of the five-colored snow spider:

It is about the size of a wine cup, and its body is covered with bright red and green stripes. It is colorful and looks like colorful snowflakes on the snow when viewed from a distance. It is because of this unique appearance that it is named "Five-Colored Snow Spider".

With sharp eyes, he examined each cave one by one and quickly identified a medium-sized cave.

Upon closer inspection, the cave entrance was clean and tidy, without a trace of spider silk.

Su Xin's heart stirred slightly. He remembered that in the records of The Return of the Condor Heroes, the Five-Colored Snow Spider would spin webs at the entrance of the cave to catch prey and cover the entrance. However, the cave in front of him did not match the records.

Despite his doubts, he did not give up and cautiously went inside.

As soon as you step into the cave, the fierce wind outside is shut out, and the cave becomes quiet instantly. The light also dims, and you can barely see a few steps ahead.

Su Xin took out a tinderbox from his bundle, blew on it, and the faint light illuminated the area in front of him. He carried the tinderbox and slowly walked deeper into the cave.

But after taking only a few steps, he noticed something was wrong. A strong, fishy smell filled his nostrils, and he could hear low, labored breathing.

Su Xin's heart skipped a beat. Upon closer inspection, he saw a huge Tibetan bear lying on the snow deep inside the cave, resting with its eyes closed. Its body was covered with thick, dark brown fur, and it looked fierce with a heavy breathing.

He was startled and dared not make a sound. He turned around quietly and quickly retreated from the cave. He only breathed a sigh of relief after he had walked a long way.

"There's a Tibetan macaque here. What bad luck." Su Xin shook his head, suppressing his surprise, and continued searching for other caves on the mountaintop.

Ji Xiaofu, who was standing to the side, was already stiff with cold. Seeing Su Xin still stubbornly searching for the spider, she couldn't help but ask, "Young Master Su, it's windy, cold, and dangerous on this mountaintop. Are you really planning to keep searching like this?"

Without turning his head, Su Xin's gaze remained fixed on the rock face as he said firmly, "That's right. I've heard that the Five-Colored Snow Spiders live on the summit of this snow-capped mountain. We must find them no matter what."

Over the next half hour, the two searched several more caves, but each time they entered, they found them empty, or they encountered small animals such as snow rabbits and snow foxes. They even encountered a small snow leopard, which startled them so much that they hurriedly retreated. However, they did not see any trace of the Five-Colored Snow Spider.

Su Xin stopped in his tracks, his brows furrowed tightly, and he had already made his judgment:

It's obvious that the snow spiders don't live in these caves; it seems he's looking in the wrong direction.

He shook his head slightly, a sense of relief welling up inside him.

Thinking back to when he was searching for venomous spiders in Yunnan, he probably wouldn't have been able to find the spiders he needed if it weren't for Ah Xiu's collection.

Now, alone atop this unfamiliar, snow-covered mountain, without a single clue, searching for the spider is proving to be exceptionally difficult.

Just as Su Xin was at a loss, pondering how to search next, a soft "plop" sound came from behind him.

He turned around abruptly and saw that Ji Xiaofu had fallen straight down in the snow, her eyes closed, her face as pale as paper, her lips frozen purple, and her breath very weak.

Su Xin's heart tightened, and he quickly walked over, squatted down, and examined the area.

He instantly understood that Ji Xiaofu had already experienced the previous battle, which severely depleted her internal energy. She had also been traveling with him all the way, enduring the biting cold wind. In addition, her internal strength was already weak, so she simply couldn't withstand such torment and finally fell ill.

Su Xin frowned, and after a moment's thought, he had an idea.

Ji Xiaofu is currently too weak to continue her journey and can only rest here for the night.

He suddenly remembered the cave where he had encountered the Tibetan bear. It was sheltered from the wind and secluded, perfect for a place to stay. He secretly planned: tonight, I'll eat bear paws to fill my stomach.

Having made up his mind, he bent down and hoisted Ji Xiaofu onto his shoulder. His movements were swift and decisive, as if he were carrying a sack, without any effort. He then turned and headed toward the cave where the Tibetan bear was.

For the next half hour, Su Xin was busy running around, starting a fire, peeling skins, and cutting them up, keeping himself extremely busy.

Once everything was ready, the Tibetan bear had been cut into pieces of fresh bear meat and piled up on the open ground at the entrance of the cave.

He picked up a piece of bear meat and roasted it over the fire. After it was cooked, he took a bite and couldn't help but frown.

Indeed, there's a reason why bear paws are so famous.

The meat from other parts of the Tibetan bear is really unpalatable.

The meat is coarse and tough, requiring a lot of effort to chew, and it has a strong and unique earthy and gamey smell that makes it difficult to eat.

In addition, the Tibetan bear is in hibernation period, and its body is covered with fat, so eating it feels greasy and makes people feel nauseous.

Su Xin put down the bear meat, secretly annoyed:

I should have kept the snow rabbit I saw in the other cave. Snow rabbit meat is tender and delicious, much better than this unpalatable bear meat.

He turned to look at Ji Xiaofu lying on the dry grass. While processing the bear meat, he had used his inner strength to help her regulate her meridians, dispel the cold in her body, and perform simple healing.

Not long after, Ji Xiaofu slowly opened her eyes. She first subconsciously checked her clothes, and after confirming that there was nothing wrong, she breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at Su Xin beside her.

Su Xin was sitting by the fire, intently studying the manual "Frosty Palm" in his hand. Beside him, the Heaven-Slaying Sword still bore traces of undried blood, making it look somewhat menacing.

I must say, it actually works really well!

Ji Xiaofu struggled to sit up and slowly walked over.

Hearing footsteps, Su Xin looked up at her, his tone tinged with helplessness: "If you can't handle it, you should have said so earlier. Why force yourself to endure it? If I hadn't discovered it early, you probably would have been freezing in the snow all night."

Ji Xiaofu remained silent.