Hu Tao Is Monetizing My Existence. [101]

After reading the mural, my heart feels unbearably heavy. I don’t know if there are more murals ahead—I hope there are—but this path has reached its end. My food is running low, and my torch is almost out. I have to leave.

June 13th. I returned to the base camp at the foot of the mountain today. I hadn’t realized just how many days I’d already spent up on the snowy peak. Even though it’s been a while since I saw the mural, I still feel the same weight in my chest.

What did that ancient kingdom do to bring down such punishment from the heavens? And what sort of punishment could have turned this place into a world of ice and snow? Could the same thing one day happen to Mondstadt?

No… it can’t! Lord Barbatos would never allow such a fate!

October 21st.
Months have passed since I last left the mountain, but I still can’t stop thinking about that mural. I need to know what the punishment from the sky truly was. I reread the diary left behind by the explorer before me—he felt the same.

October 25th.
I returned to the mountain. This time I stayed for half a month. Aside from a few boars frozen in ice, I found nothing.

November 28th.
York said he found an old prison on the mountain, supposedly used to imprison Mondstadt’s former nobles. I wasn’t interested.

January 17th.
I discovered a strange geological formation. I spent half a month solving the mechanism hidden there. When it finally opened, the ground collapsed, revealing a hollow space beneath the frozen surface. I leapt in with excitement—only to find a powerful monster living inside. I barely escaped with my life.

March 8th.
I found a massive cavern deep inside the mountain. It’s enormous—and incredibly dangerous. Icicles constantly fall from above. The hilichurls seem to have made this place their home, but who knows how long they’ve been here…

March 10th.
I followed the cave path upward, hoping to reach the summit, but even the highest exit only led to the mountain’s midpoint. Just how high is the top?

May 15th.
I’ve decided to climb directly up the mountain’s face until I reach the summit. I’ve spent a full month preparing.

May 18th.
I failed. The higher I climbed, the worse visibility became. In the howling wind and snow, my limbs stiffened, and I could see nothing but white. I fell from mid-mountain due to the cold. Luckily, someone rescued me—I would’ve frozen to death otherwise.

November 9th.
I’ve spent over half a year recovering. Once I’d healed, I tried flying from a higher point to reach the summit, but I couldn’t find any place taller than the mountain itself.

March 26th.
I’ve returned to the mountain again. There are more Fatui camps here now. Thankfully, they usually ignore passing adventurers. I’ve no idea why they’ve come to Dragonspine…

January 1st.
Another year has passed. My questions remain unanswered. I still can’t find any way to reach the summit. From time to time, I reread the predecessor’s journal, hoping for new clues.

January 12th.
I finally learned what kind of tree they were worshiping—it was a Ley Line Tree. But what exactly does a Ley Line Tree do?

January 15th.
I found a frozen crown. It was very old in design—white branches bound together in metal. Because it was frozen, its shape was well preserved. I brought it to a scholar friend.

February 18th.
My scholar friend told me it’s called the “Crown of Frost Rite.” It was likely worn in ancient rituals and is of immense research value.

March 20th.
I kept searching near where I found the crown and discovered a stone stele. It had a few brief lines engraved on it, recording that the kingdom once established its capital here:

“Far from ice and conflict, we reached verdant lands and founded our capital. This stele was erected in commemoration. The land was named Sal Vindagnir.”

At last, I know the name of this ancient kingdom buried beneath the ice. It may be even older than I imagined.

March 29th.
I returned to Mondstadt to cross-reference some materials and brush up on Mondstadt’s early history. As I suspected, this kingdom—Vindagnir—predates the founding of Mondstadt itself.

In the distant era of the Archon War, Mondstadt’s lands were cloaked in endless wind and snow, unfit for human life. The people of Mondstadt were imprisoned behind high walls by a tyrant. At that time, the region of Dragonspine was nothing like today—it was a verdant, snowless haven.

Later, Lord Barbatos led the people of Mondstadt to overthrow the tyrant. The wind blew away the snow, and the free city-state of Mondstadt was born.

But that once-lush kingdom… was eventually buried in ice by the punishment from the sky…

—

Cartis flipped through the diary slowly, pouring hot water into his thermos as the kettle finished boiling.

Unknowingly, his footprints now crisscrossed every part of this snowy mountain.

He looked out into the pitch-black darkness beyond the cave, where not even an outstretched hand could be seen, and watched the white snow fall silently from the sky. After a long pause, he exhaled a breath of warm air and turned to the last page of his notebook. With fingers nearly frozen stiff, he began to write.

—

October 13th.
This is probably my last time coming to the mountain.

My body’s not what it used to be. The years of adventuring have left me with all sorts of lingering injuries. My knees ache whenever it gets cold, and my thirst for exploration isn’t as strong as it once was.

I know that if I don’t go now, I may never have the courage to try again.

I don’t even know if I’ll make it to the summit this time… but I truly want to see what it looks like up there.

What exactly was the punishment from the heavens? Will I finally find the answer to the question that’s haunted me for so many years?

But it’s been too long. Aside from the murals, no records of that snow-covered kingdom remain. I don’t even know when it existed.

One thing is certain, though—before the shadow of the draconic Durin fell over Mondstadt, this place had already become a snowy mountain.

Perhaps that kingdom existed before Mondstadt ever came to be.

Still, so much time has passed. Even Durin’s remains have long since turned to bones. Any trace of that divine punishment must’ve vanished as well…

—

Cartis wrote down his scattered thoughts, not skipping a single detail.

Just like how he once stumbled upon a predecessor’s diary and uncovered the tale of the ancient kingdom buried in snow, perhaps one day, his own journal would light the path for someone else.

—

This is a fan translation of 胡桃拿我冲业绩 by 余溯. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!