Hu Tao Is Monetizing My Existence. [123]

After a long silence, Jiang Bai let out a deep breath and snapped the journal shut.

“If this diary were to be published as a book, I think it’s still missing something at the end—an ending that satisfies the reader.”

Albedo smiled, and even Cartis let out a relieved chuckle.

But the moment was short-lived, as Jiang Bai followed up with—

“Of course, that counts as an additional service. Gotta charge extra!”

“No problem!” Cartis answered without hesitation.

For an adventurer who had braved countless dangers, Mora was never an issue.

“I’ve found plenty of valuable things on Dragonspine over the years, but I couldn’t carry them all down. I can take you to retrieve them.”

“I also have some Mora and valuables stored back at my place in Mondstadt. Those can count as payment too.”

“Perfect!” Jiang Bai beamed, already dreaming of his windfall.

After this job, he wouldn’t be the broke nobody he used to be! Once he returned to Liyue, he’d haul out those sacks of Mora and blind Hu Tao with their shine!

“What about you, Albedo? Want in on this?” Jiang Bai turned to look at him.

Albedo nodded. “Of course. I’m quite interested in this Skyfrost Nail as well. But you can keep the Mora—I don’t need it.”

Originally, he had come to study Jiang Bai. Now, he had a second research subject—an unexpected bonus.

Jiang Bai was deeply moved. Finally, a friend who doesn’t care about Mora!

Cartis looked toward the massive spike in the distance and murmured, “Skyfrost Nail, huh? That’s a fitting name.”

“Mr. Cartis, what should we do with your body?”

Jiang Bai had originally planned to cremate the remains on-site. But since Cartis’s soul hadn’t dispersed, he figured he ought to ask.

“Go ahead with what we originally agreed on.”

His current soul wasn’t tethered to his body, but rather clung to his diary through the chaotic ley energy of the mountain.

How much longer it would hold, he didn’t know. Likely, once he left Dragonspine’s range, he’d fade completely.

“I’m planning to cremate the body. It’s not exactly easy to transport. We’ll rest tonight and begin properly tomorrow.”

“Mm.”

Jiang Bai set up a soul-summoning banner beside the site, then used Geo energy to build a simple cremation furnace. He pulled out firewood and charcoal from his Sanqing Bell storage, clearing out nearly half the space.

Worried it still wouldn’t be enough, he chopped down a few more dead trees nearby.

They were damp, but with a big enough fire, they’d catch eventually.

As the flames began to consume his body, Cartis watched with a complicated expression.

The cremation marked the true end of Cartis’s existence in this world. From now on, his name would survive only in memory.

“Enough with the sentimentality,” Jiang Bai said, smiling as he stoked the fire. “Once we publish your book, the whole world will know the story of Dragonspine—and the name Cartis. As long as that book exists, and we’re still alive, your name will live on.”

“Yeah.”

The fire burned through the night. Cartis stood there, watching himself turn to ash.

At some point, the snow stopped falling, and morning light began to brighten the sky.

When Jiang Bai woke, he pulled out a finely crafted wooden box, carefully gathering Cartis’s ashes inside.

The soul-summoning banner fluttered gently in the snow. The Sanqing Bell at Jiang Bai’s waist gave a crisp chime, as if marking the end of Cartis’s brief but remarkable life.

He tucked the box away with care, slipped the journal into his coat, and finally had a moment to turn his attention to something else.

“Where’s Albedo?”

“He’s over by the Skyfrost Nail,” Cartis replied, pointing.

While Jiang Bai had been busy with the cremation last night, Albedo had stayed near the Nail, researching.

“He didn’t sleep?”

“No.”

Albedo had spent the entire night studying that mysterious spike.

After finishing his preparations, Jiang Bai set off with Cartis to find Albedo.

This thing… if we’re really going to pull it out, we’re going to need that smart little head of his.

The only plan Jiang Bai had come up with was to just brute-force it.

Hearing footsteps, Albedo didn’t turn around. “You’re here. I’ve made some progress.”

As they approached the Nail, the cold intensified. Jiang Bai quickly pulled out the portable heating orb Albedo had crafted.

“What did you find?”

Albedo looked up at the floating fragments of the Nail in the sky.

The material and the patterns etched into the shards were clearly identical to the Nail itself. These pieces must have broken off when the Nail fell and had remained suspended ever since.

“This Nail has innate levitational properties. If we can melt the ice that’s anchoring it, remove the external forces holding it down, it might float up on its own.”

Jiang Bai stepped through the surrounding frozen spires and approached the Nail.

It was massive—so big he figured it would take at least six of him linking arms just to encircle it.

He gave it a try anyway, wrapping his arms around the base and straining to lift it, hoping it might budge.

But he had grossly overestimated his strength. No matter how hard he pushed, the Nail didn’t move a single inch.

Switching tactics, he gripped his spiked club and began hammering away at the ice around the Nail, hoping to shatter it instead.

If he could break through the surrounding ice and then chip away at the layer beneath, it’d be just like melting it.

But this ice was absurdly tough. When his club struck it, it felt like slamming into forged steel—his arms went numb from the impact.

Still, he refused to give up. Blow after blow, he kept swinging until, finally, one of the massive icicles shattered.

Unfortunately, that was just one. There were at least a hundred more surrounding the Nail. At this pace, it’d take three days and nights to finish.

“No good. It’s too damn hard.” Jiang Bai sighed and rubbed his weapon with dismay—the spikes at the head were already starting to blunt.

If brute force wouldn’t do it, fire was even less viable.

They didn’t have enough dry wood, and in this bitter cold, even fire wouldn’t burn hot enough to make a difference.

Cartis hovered nearby, frowning.

He had dreamed of pulling out this divine spike from the sky—but now, standing before it again, he had no idea how it could be done.

“What if we build a crane?” Jiang Bai suddenly proposed. “Tie a rope to the Nail, use the crane to hoist it straight out?”

If muscle failed, tools might succeed.

Albedo shook his head. “A machine that large isn’t practical to transport up here. Not realistic. If we had that much tech, we might as well just blow it up with a bomb and see what happens.”

—

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!