Using the MC system to pretend spiritual revival

Chapter 254 Extinguishing the Snow
The icy chill, seeping into the bone marrow and freezing the nerves, silently enveloped the body, both inside and out.

Carrying an unknown power of death and annihilation, it clung to the bone like a maggot.

In just a few breaths, Sato clearly sensed that his life was rapidly slipping away.

Everything in sight was quickly tinged with a cold, icy blue, as if the very soul was gradually freezing.

The body, which was being swallowed up, gradually slowed down its struggles, and a feeling of stiffness and stagnation came back from its limbs.

In the blink of an eye, Sato reacted and tried to open his mouth to make a sound, but it was too late. His vision was already filled with an icy blue, and he sank rapidly as if he were sinking into a swamp.

The biting white snow slid across his body, and the last glimmer of light in his pupils quietly disappeared, as if he had sunk into murky water, leaving only a chaotic mess.

As they sank deeper and deeper, everything around them darkened rapidly, and their consciousness became increasingly blurred.

And it was just when he struggled and begged for help to no avail, and had already given up hope.

A bluish-gray afterimage, accompanied by a crashing sound, suddenly broke through the thick snow above his head.

Then, as if possessed by a spirit, it twisted and turned, quickly arriving in front of the figure that was still sinking.

Then the pointed structure, resembling a noose, suddenly expanded and enveloped him.

Sato felt a tightness in his throat and instinctively raised his hand, grasping the cold, bluish-gray iron chain.

The next moment, they felt an irresistible force coming from the other end.

The body, which was uncontrollably sinking, was pulled upwards by the iron chains as if it were moving against the flow through mud, with a tearing resistance.

I don't know how much time passed, until a ray of dawn suddenly appeared in my field of vision.

……

At this moment, on the snow-covered ground, Zhang A, whose muscles bulged all over his body, was holding a fan-like hand and dragging one end of an iron chain.

Soon, a pale hand covered in ice crystals emerged from the snowdrift in front of it.

Seeing this, he put in even more effort.

Amidst the rattling of the chains, a muscular, blue-faced man with fangs clenched his teeth and let out a furious roar:
"rise--!!"

With a sudden increase in force, he pulled the frozen Sato out and threw him to the ground. Then he restored the iron chain in his hand to its original length and hung it back on his waist.

Then he bent down, scooped it up, and lifted it into the air.

His tiger eyes widened as he stared at the figure in his hand, which was stiff and rigid, its entire body reflecting a crystalline light under the dim hellish light.

For a moment, it was impossible to tell whether it was ice fragments or its own body that had just frozen.

At this moment, perhaps due to the rough handling just now, cracks had appeared on that pale, bloodless skin.

As the cold wind and snow blew across the icy plains, small, pale pink ice flakes fell down in a soft rustling sound.

In just a short while, a layer of crimson accumulated on the pristine white snowfield beneath them.

Upon seeing this, Zhang A, who was holding him in his hand, raised an eyebrow:
"Hey! You're so impatient! I told you to stay behind and not run around!"

"This icy hell may look peaceful, but any spot could be deadly!"

"..."

Sato, whose mind was somewhat clouded by the cold, listened to the increasingly clear reprimands in his ears. His lips twitched from the cracked skin, but he was unable to utter a sound.

However, the eyeballs that had been frozen solid were quickly pushed out of their sockets thanks to the body's self-healing ability, and the newly formed eyeballs regained their vision while frozen.

Under the powerful healing effect, the body trembled slightly and gradually regained its mobility.

"…I…"

Dead flesh crumbled and scattered, and the newly formed throat and tongue trembled from the lingering cold. Its lips moved slightly, but it still couldn't utter any explanation.

In the end, he could only lower his head with a face full of apology.

However, as soon as his eyes recovered, his gaze drifted down to the mountainside below, which was easily caught.

Zhang A, who was holding him, turned his head and looked at the small, recessed area under the snow-capped peak that formed a simple shelter from the wind.

His gaze swept over the huddled, frozen figures, and he quickly figured out the reason.

So he stopped talking for the time being and did not continue to scold.

He then shook his hand, scattering a shower of ice shards, and placed them on the ground beside him.

Watching Sato regain his balance after a rapid recovery, he sighed softly.
"Sigh—! Never mind!"

"Next time you want to do something, ask this family first, so you don't lose your life for nothing."

As he spoke, he shook his body, scattering the thick snow that had accumulated on his shoulders in just a short while.

He raised his hand, took off the bluish-gray iron chain from his waist, and without hesitation, swung it violently towards the bottom of the snow-capped mountain a few steps away.

As the iron chain drew an arc in the air, it extended, tethering a figure under a clump of snow, and suddenly pulled back.

Seeing this, Sato, who had regained some mobility, hurriedly staggered over to them.

However, upon seeing the face of the person beneath the tattered robes, the anxiety that had been building finally subsided.
"...Thank...it's okay...thank..."

His stammering words were filled with relief.

The figure being dragged by chains was covered in layers of tattered ancient robes, the colors and the extent of the damage suggesting it came from a different era.

Although the owner of the robe had long, flowing hair that covered most of her face, Sato recognized her at a glance as not his wife, but a stranger with a similar build.

Seeing his expression, Zhang A, who was holding the figure, let out a soft snort and casually tossed the frozen skeleton aside.
"You were lucky this time. You just carelessly slipped and fell into the icy snow of this hellish ice mountain. You have the Yin energy left by the registrar to temper your body, so this thing won't kill you for a while. That's why you can be saved."

"However, if someone reacts a moment slower and you sink even deeper, then you might truly be in a situation where you can neither live nor die."

"This extinguished snow is formed from the chilling energy of the icy hell over millions of years, mixed with the despair of those who have frozen to death."

"Don't even mention someone like you who's barely even qualified for Yin Qi tempering; even someone who has achieved great success in cultivation and condensed a Dharma body that is impervious to all spells, if they sink into the Snow Extinguishing Realm without great cultivation and powerful methods, they will be buried forever in the deep ice cave of this frozen hell!"

As he spoke, perhaps he felt that his words were not clear enough.

He then raised his large, thick hand, pointed at the huddled figure on the ground that was gradually being swallowed up, and said in a serious tone:

"Just now, by a hair's breadth, you would have frozen to death in the wilderness like this sinful soul. But you should know that there is no such thing as liberation in this hell."

“These people, whether they are adulterers, gamblers, or those who have corrupted morals and ethics, will never have a moment's rest once they are in this prison; they must keep walking against the wind and snow.”

"If you stop for even a moment, the boundless snowfield beneath your feet will seep into your flesh and freeze your bones like it's covered in icicles."

“But even if we keep walking, we will only avoid being completely frozen. Even if we don’t fall into the snow, the extremely cold wind and snow on this snowfield are something that ordinary people like us can withstand, but those sinful souls cannot.”

"And as soon as you stop, your body and soul will gradually freeze, just like you just experienced."

"But in this icy hell, it's not quite death, but it's hard to call it life either. You're just unable to speak, unable to move, and unable to know anything about the outside world."

"You can only savor the pain before your body freezes to death, until your sentence is over, then someone will come and dig you out."

"In comparison, only by constantly trekking, relying on the fact that the living soul does not need to eat or drink, and walking non-stop against the wind and snow, can one be considered to be slightly better off." "Before being punished, all these people were stripped of their possessions, entered naked, and were only allowed to take half a foot of cloth from the gifts offered by their relatives in the mortal world to cover their bodies."

As he spoke, a clear look of disdain appeared on Zhang A's ferocious, blue-faced, fanged face as he turned to the huddled figure that had been almost completely swallowed by Xi Xue:

"Hmph—you morally corrupt scoundrel, look at this thick winter clothing. To get this far, you must have robbed others of their cloth. This is what you deserve."

The words were delivered in a powerful and clear voice. Sato, who had been listening intently to this information that he would never normally have access to, frowned.

His gaze fell upon the snowdrifts huddled together at the foot of the snow-capped mountain, and he nodded in agreement.

"...So this is where the hellish torment is."

However, after hearing the explanation just now, Sato couldn't help but feel uneasy again after saying those words.

After all, I originally thought it was just a harsh environment, but I didn't expect the torment to be far more cruel than I imagined.

He had already experienced that soul-chilling cold himself.

Let alone hundreds or thousands of years, he estimated that it would probably only last for seven days. Even if his body could fully recover, it was unknown whether his mind could remain in a complete state.

However, before he could even ask a question, Zhang A, who guessed his intention from his expression, could only wave his hand helplessly:
"Alright, no matter how much I say, I'll still feel uneasy if I don't see you in person. Why don't you write it down and come here quickly?"

"But you can rest assured, the Registrar will take care of these matters."

As he spoke, he completely ignored Sato's hesitant expression, turned around, waved, and strode quickly toward a certain direction in the snowfield.

The tall, thin ghost messenger, who had been silent all along, glanced at it and then turned to follow.

Sato was at his wit's end and could only grit his teeth and shake off the various worries and negative speculations in his mind.

Moving my still somewhat sluggish body, I quickly caught up:

"...Brother Zhang—wait for me—!"

"..."

For the rest of the journey, the group kept their pace, but the scale of this icy hell was simply too large, or perhaps the destination was indeed too far away. They trekked for several tens of minutes without stopping.

Along the way, Sato also saw many more people who huddled together for warmth in a sheltered corner, only to freeze to death in the wind and snow.

Even later, thanks to the good visibility of the flat snowfield, one could still see some people moving around.

They were sparsely distributed across the vast snowfield, like a few drops of ink scattered on a blank sheet of paper.

The wind and snow were heavy and didn't stop for a moment.

The figures staggered along, and from a distance, unless you looked closely, you would think they were all standing still.

As for those who were closer, Zhang A and the tall, thin ghost messengers who were walking in front, they were so frightened by just shaking the iron chains in their hands that they turned around and ran away in the opposite direction.

Clearly, in the underworld, these are the wicked people who have committed all sorts of evil deeds and have been sentenced to the prison of hell.

These can be described in some ways as the ghostly guards of the prison, and their attitude towards them is clearly not very peaceful.

But that's understandable, since human rights laws are clearly not followed here, and there's no misjudgment either.

Those who are able to enter, regardless of the reason, are involved in a great deal of evil, and such people do not have a good life in the prisons of the world.

As they continued their journey, perhaps because they were approaching a certain point, more and more figures were stumbling through the wind and snow.

Although the scenery still features flat snowfields dotted with glaciers, there are also some different changes.

For example, just now, Sato looked on in surprise as he saw a small house built from huge ice crystals cut from an iceberg.

After posing his question, Sato received the answer.

That igloo originated from a cultivator hundreds of years ago who, having long understood the rules of the Ice Mountain Hell, chose to build this little house directly.

Finally, he stepped directly in, deliberately letting the cold air freeze his body, using cultivation to pass the time and resist the torment.

Sato was indeed surprised by this, but after learning that most cultivators would experience the same thing when they came to the Ice Mountain Hell, he calmed down.

After the three of them bypassed another iceberg that was tens of meters in diameter and pierced the sky, a cave embedded in the shimmering blue ice wall suddenly appeared before them.

The cave is more than a meter tall, and what's even stranger is that several streaks of firelight are faintly reflected inside.

Seeing this, Sato had some guesses in his mind, but he did not speak out directly. Instead, he continued walking and followed the two ghost messengers into the cave.

"Boom-thump-thump-"

The sound of footsteps echoing against the ice wall reverberated within this massive mountain, entirely constructed of fluorescent blue ice.

Perhaps because the entire structure is made of the same material, a dull, resonant sound echoes with each step.

As they drew closer, the faint firelight refracted through the ice wall gradually became clearer, until the final step revealed a sudden expanse of open view.

After walking more than ten meters through the cave, a spacious, semi-circular cavity, almost the size of a living room in reality, appeared before us.

In the very center of the hollow inside the mountain, a bonfire of pale blue light emitted an eerie and even somewhat sinister glow.

But none of these things mattered to Sato at this moment.

Because at that moment, behind the campfire, two figures, one tall and one short, were sitting there, staring blankly at him.

The eldest was his wife, Sadako Mimura.

Seeing Sato, who had changed drastically, walking towards them step by step, he slowly stood up.

She was wearing a white dress that looked like a bathrobe or casual wear. She was slender and not particularly beautiful, but her features were delicate and the kind of beauty that grows on you.

Judging by appearance alone, they do look much better than the crowds trudging through the wind and snow outside.

However, seeing her blank stare, pale face, and tired expression still made Sato feel a pang of heartache.

He strode forward, walked around the fire, and came face to face.

"...Sadako, I..."

Their eyes met, and in that moment of silence, it was as if they had so much to say, yet didn't know how to begin.

In the end, Sato embraced the figure in front of him who had experienced a life-or-death separation and appeared in his dreams several times.

At the same time, he tried to suppress the emotions rising in his throat and make his tone sound calmer:

"...I did it! I found a job, and this time...I even got a house! I checked it out, it's in a prime area! We don't have to live in that unfinished building anymore...we...we..."

"...We are all fine."

"Hmm~"

Sato's somewhat chaotic and hesitant words ceased, and in response, his wife, nestled deep in his chest, let out a muffled soft hum.

Plain and simple, requiring no embellishment.

As always.

(End of this chapter)