Walnut used me to boost her sales performance.

"I've spent half my life exploring this snow-capped mountain; it has become my second home. In the process of uncovering its history, I feel as if I've returned to a once-prosperous ancient kingdom, becoming a powerless part of it all..."

Cartis's voice was filled with a deep sense of powerlessness. He reached out to try to touch the snowflakes falling from the sky, but they were already separated by two worlds, and there was nothing he could change.

"Why the sky had to send down punishment is no longer something I can explore, but now that I know all this, I can no longer pretend that nothing happened."

Even though this country has long since vanished into the snow and no one remains, I still want to do something for this lost ancient nation, even though I can't change anything...

Jiang Bai and Abedo remained silent, listening quietly to his story.

"...Perhaps you will think I'm being delusional and dreaming, but I really want to, really want to pull out this nail that destroyed the ancient kingdom!"

However, he was already dead, killed while getting close to the nail.

He has lost the ability to fulfill his wishes.

Snowflakes falling from the sky danced and landed in the fire, only to be instantly vaporized by the flames, like moths that recklessly tried to fly away.

But even more "moths" in the sky followed one after another, ignoring the scorching heat of the flames, throwing themselves into the sea of ​​fire in an attempt to extinguish the blazing inferno.

Jiang Bai added a handful of firewood to the fire, stabilizing the flames that had shrunk.

"This will be difficult."

It was so difficult that he had no idea what to do.

Katis gave a helpless smile. "I know, but we have to try, right?"

Since they didn't directly refuse, it's worth trying.

He is no longer alive, and the only way to realize this outlandish idea is to rely on the living.

A cold wind howled from afar, but was blocked by the boulder. The flames crackled and burned, and no one spoke.

Aberdo rested his chin on his hand in deep thought, a posture he had maintained ever since he first met Catis.

He looked at Jiang Bai, waiting for his reply.

Jiang Bai flipped through the diary in his hand until he reached the last page.

Chapter 123 is still missing an ending.

After a long while, he took a deep breath and slammed the diary shut.

"If a book were to be published based on the contents of this diary, I feel that it would be missing an ending, an ending that would satisfy the readers."

Abedo smiled, and Katis also showed a relieved smile.

But in the next moment, Jiang Bai said:

"However, this is an extra service, so it will cost extra!"

“No problem!” Katis agreed readily.

For an adventurer like him who has traversed various dangerous places for many years, Mora is no longer a problem.

“I found quite a few valuable things in the snow mountain, but I didn’t take them because I couldn’t carry them all. I can take you to get them.”

“I also have some Mora and valuables at my house in Mondstadt, which can be used as payment.”

"Great!" Jiang Bai was overjoyed at the prospect of receiving a large sum of Mora.

After completing this order, he was no longer the penniless man he once was!

When he returned to Liyue, he took out Mora and dazzled the leader!

"What about you? Abedo, do you want to join?" Jiang Bai asked Abedo.

Abedo nodded. "Of course, I'm also very interested in this Frostfire Nail. But I'll pass on the Mora; I don't need Mora."

He originally intended to study Jiang Bai, but now he has gained another research subject, which is an unexpected bonus.

Jiang Bai was deeply moved by Abedo; he desperately needed a friend like this who didn't love Mora!

Katis gazed at the distant spikes and remarked with a touch of melancholy, "Calling it the Spikes of Frost is quite a fitting name..."

"Mr. Cartes, what should we do with your body?"

Jiang Bai originally intended to cremate the body on the spot, but since the soul has not yet dissipated, he will leave it to the individual's opinion.

"Just do as we originally agreed."

His soul is not currently attached to his body; it has merely possessed his diary through the chaotic ley lines of the earth.

He didn't know how much longer he could exist; he estimated that his soul wouldn't be able to sustain itself once he left the snow-capped mountains.

"I plan to cremate the body, since it's not easy to carry. Let's rest for one night, and we'll officially begin tomorrow."

"Ah."

Jiang Bai placed the soul-summoning banner aside, used rock elements to build a furnace for cremation, and took out the firewood and charcoal he had stored in the Three Pure Bells, clearing out more than half of the storage space.

Fearing it wasn't enough, they cut down a few more dead trees from the surrounding area.

Although these trees are quite damp, they can still catch fire if the fire is big enough.

As he watched his own body burn in the flames, Katis's gaze was filled with complex emotions.

The cremation of the body also means that the person, Katis, has passed away in this world, and from now on, his name will only live on in people's memories.

"Stop lamenting. Once our book is published, everyone will know the story of the snow mountain, and everyone will know your name, Katis! As long as this book exists and we exist, your name will live on forever."

"Um......"

The flames burned all night, and Katis watched himself turn to ashes.

The snow had stopped sometime earlier, and the light gradually illuminated the surroundings.

Upon waking up, Jiang Bai took out an exquisite wooden box and collected the ashes, placing them inside.

The banners for summoning souls, stuck in the snow, fluttered in the wind, and the bells at her waist rang crisply, announcing the end of Katis's short but brilliant life.

After carefully placing the urn and tucking the diary into his pocket, Jiang Bai finally had time to pay attention to other things.

"Where is Aberdo?"

"He's at the Nail of Frost," Katis pointed out the direction to Jiang Bai.

Last night, Jiang Bai was busy cremating his body, while Abedo was conducting research near the Nail of Frost.

"Isn't he asleep?"

"Ah."

Aberdo didn't sleep a wink last night, he was studying the Frostbite Nail.

Jiang Baijiang packed his things and led Katis toward Aberdo.

How to pull this thing out is up to Aberdo's clever little brain.

All he could think of was to pull it out by brute force.

Hearing footsteps, Abedo didn't turn around. "You've come. I've made a discovery."

The closer Jiang Bai got to the Frost Nail, the colder it became. He quickly took out the hand warmer that Abedo had made.

"What was discovered?"

Abedo looked up at the fragments of the Frostfire Nails floating in the sky.

Judging from both the patterns and the materials, these fragments are an integral part of this Frostfire Nail.

These fragments must have broken off when the Frost Nail fell and then floated in the air.

"This nail from the frozen sky has the property of floating. If we melt the ice layer that is freezing it, without the applied force, it should be able to float on its own."

Jiang Bai walked through layers of enormous ice crystals and reached the front of the Frost Nail.

This Frost Nail is truly enormous; Jiang Bai felt that it would take at least six of him to encircle it.

He tried to grip the icy nail and exert force, hoping to move it a little from the ice.

However, he overestimated his strength. Even with all his might, the Frost Nail did not budge an inch.

Unable to move the nails of ice, Jiang Bai changed his approach. He gripped the gleaming spiked club and smashed it forcefully against the massive ice shards, attempting to shatter them.

If you break the icicles and then break the layer of ice underneath, it's roughly equivalent to the river ice completely melting.

However, these icicles were quite hard. Jiang Bai felt as if he had hit a piece of refined iron, and his arm went numb from the recoil.

He stubbornly continued smashing, and it took him quite a while to finally break the icicle.

But there's more than just one icicle around the Frost Nail; there must be at least a hundred. At his current rate, it might take him three days and three nights to smash them all.

"No, it's too hard." Jiang Bai touched his spiked club with some heartache; even the tips of the spikes were no longer sharp.

They couldn't be broken open by smashing, let alone melted by fire.

Putting aside whether there's enough firewood, it's so cold here that even a fire probably wouldn't get hot enough.

Katis floated in mid-air, his eyes filled with sorrow.

Although he wanted to pull out the long nail from the sky, he had no idea how to do it.

"Is it possible to use a crane? Tie ropes to the ice nail, and then use the crane to pull it out directly?"

Jiang Bai put forward a bold idea.

Since manpower isn't enough, let's use tools.

Abedo shook his head. "It's impractical to use a crane to pull up something that big. It's better to try using a bomb to blow the nail up than to use a crane to pull it out."

Chapter 124 You're back?

Since it has fragments, it means that it can be damaged.

If we can blast it into pieces, then pulling it out piece by piece will be much easier.

bomb?

Jiang Bai felt that this method was far too simple and crude.

But it certainly sounds very feasible.

"Then let's give it a try!"

Anyway, there's no proper way, so we can only give it a try. Maybe by sheer luck, they'll manage to get the nail in.

"Just to blow up such a big nail, we would need a huge amount of explosives. How are we going to get so many bombs?"

How did we get so many bombs, and how are we going to transport them up here? That's the question.

“Bombs are not a problem. I have plenty at home. If I bring them all here, I should be able to blow this place up.”

Abedo spoke softly, "Since a method has been proposed, there must also be a solution."

"It's just that Mondstadt is quite far from here, and with so much stuff to carry, even if we travel all night, it will take at least three or four days to reach the top of the mountain."

Moreover, he has a little one at home who will definitely want to follow him if he sees him carrying so many bombs. How to refuse him is a problem.

Jiang Bai waved his hand, "Time is not a problem for me, the main issue is whether Katis can hold out until then..."

Jiang Bai has no shortage of time, but the key question is whether Cartis can hold out until they bring the bombs over.

“No problem, I feel great. As long as I don’t leave here, it won’t dissipate anytime soon,” Katis said, indicating that they didn’t need to worry about him.

His existence depends on the chaotic ley lines here, and he will not disappear until this nail is pulled out.

Although Katis said that, Jiang Bai, who had lived in the Hall of Rebirth for a while, knew that souls could not remain in the world for long, otherwise they would be easily influenced, lose their minds, and become evil spirits or demons.

Katis looks fine now, but as time goes by, memories and feelings will fade away, leaving only obsession.

He might not even remember that his name is Katis by then.

"Okay then, I'll go get the bomb."

Jiang Bai volunteered, saying that he could teleport through the ley lines, and that once the path was cleared, travel would be quick.

"Can you manage it all by yourself? Besides, the routes in the snow mountain are complicated, and it's easy to get lost." Abedo looked over, not entirely at ease.

"It's alright, I can teleport through levitation anchors. There should be levitation anchors in Mondstadt too, I just need to activate them and I can teleport directly from Mondstadt."

Jiang Bai originally didn't intend to expose this matter, but there was no point in hiding it forever, as it would eventually be exposed when he carried out missions everywhere.

"So ley line anchors have this kind of use?" Abedo rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought once again.