Ch. 1641..1645: The Secretly Rich Man Chapter 1641-1645
Chapter 1641
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1640
The holy mountain was a few thousand meters above sea level. The higher up the mountain, the lower the temperature and atmospheric pressure would be. Moreover, the condition on the mountain was very harsh now. The wind was fierce, and the snow was heavy. It was very dangerous.
Hence, it could be said that the rescue mission to the holy mountain this time was very risky.
“Everyone, since there will be a Force 6 wind as well as a snowstorm tonight, we have decided to set the departure time at seven o’clock tomorrow morning. I hope that everyone can rest well tonight to conserve your energy!”
Soon, Patrick came and informed Gerald and the rest.
Tonight was going to be a sleepless night.
As the night was getting old, Gerald leaned on his backpack alone and closed his eyes for a short rest.
Just then, he heard something.
Gerald opened his eyes immediately and looked in the direction of the camp Quest and the other two were staying. He saw two figures sneaking out of the tent, and they were acting very cautiously.
Through the darkness, Gerald could see the faces of these two men.
They were none other than Kaleb Wallor and Malcolm Laige.
Seeing this, Gerald couldn’t help but chuckle in silence. He didn’t expect the two people who had been mocking him this afternoon to be attempting to escape. This was indeed too shameful.
After thinking for a while, Gerald got up and quietly approached the two of them.
“Where are you two going?”
At the next moment, Gerald asked as he appeared behind Kaleb and Malcolm.
Gerald’s appearance almost scared them to death. They were so shocked that they fell to the ground.
“You… Why aren’t you asleep seeing as it’s the middle of the night but instead, you’re scaring people here?!”
Kaleb glared at Gerald and shouted with a trembling voice.
“Hah! If I were asleep, how would I be able to see you two escaping?”
Gerald smirked and sneered.
“You… Don’t slander people here. We were just checking the weather!”
At Gerald’s words, Malcolm and Kaleb exchanged glances and refuted, pointing their fingers at Gerald.
“You still don’t want to admit it. How shameless.”
Click!
Right at that moment, the lights came on.
Patrick, Quest, and the rest came out of the tents immediately. They had been awakened by the noise outside.
“What’s wrong?”
Patrick approached them and asked.
“Captain Wang, it looks like you didn’t arrange your men to keep watch at night. These two were in the middle of escaping, and I happened to catch them red-handed!”
Gerald would not hide it for them, and he told Patrick this playfully.
Once Patrick heard him, his face darkened.
Swish!
A figure rushed forward, grabbing the collars of Kaleb and Malcolm’s shirts.
It was Quest Leane. He glared at them angrily.
“You cowards! How dare you escape?! I shall teach you a good lesson!”
Quest roared angrily and wanted to beat them up.
Luckily, Patrick and the other men stopped him in time. Otherwise, Kaleb and Malcolm would have been torn apart by Quest. Nobody would have expected this to happen.
“You two, tell me honestly. What is really going on?”
Patrick stopped Quest and asked as he looked at them coldly.
Chapter 1642
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1642 “I apologize for my earlier bad attitude. With that said, I hope we can cooperate throughout this rescue mission!” said Quest.
Not one to fuss over such small matters, Gerald was starting to feel that Quest was actually a rather nice person. What more, Quest was a professional adventurer with great courage and an adventurous spirit.
With that in mind, Gerald found himself smiling as he returned Quest’s handshake while saying, “Likewise. Regardless, allow me to formally introduce myself. Gerald Crawford!”
“Quest Leane!” replied Quest with his own smile.
Following that, both of them then began chatting rather cheerfully till they eventually drifted off to sleep at around three in the morning…
By seven the next morning, all fifteen of the rescue team members had already assembled and were ready to set off for the holy mountain.
Being the pioneer of the group, Quest was the first in line, followed by Gerald, Patrick, then the other members of the team.
Fortunately, the weather was rather good, so the rescue team’s journey up the mountain proceeded rather smoothly. Even so, the higher they went, the colder it got. Aside from that, the air pressure was also gradually intensifying.
Sensing that, Patrick and the others quickly made sure to put on oxygen masks. Naturally, Patrick offered one to Gerald as well.
In response, however, Gerald simply said, “It’s fine, Captain Wang. I don’t need one!”
Such air pressure was nothing to Gerald, and it was evidently nothing to Quest as well since he refused to wear an oxygen mask too. Quest, for one, was a seasoned adventurer, and he was already used to dealing with pressures like these.
Still, he couldn’t help but feel slightly concerned over Gerald’s safety, so he turned around to ask, “Are you sure you don’t want to put one on, Gerald? The pressure’s only going to get lower the higher we get, and air will become much scarcer then…”
Hearing that, Gerald simply shook his head before replying, “Don’t worry about me. I don’t need to wear one!”
Gerald meant every word that he had said. After all, the essential qi in his body actively cushioned the negative effects of the pressure. Due to that, not only was Gerald unaffected by the freezing temperatures, but Gerald was also able to continually maintain his breathing.
With how sure Gerald sounded, Quest didn’t say anything else. Even so, he now had a new outlook on Gerald, thinking that the youth was rather different from the others.
Regardless, the rescue team finally arrived at a resting spot after hiking for a little over three hours.
While taking their temporary rest, Patrick double-checked their location before saying, “Alright, we’re currently at an altitude of three thousand feet up the holy mountain. From what we’ve previously gathered, the other adventure team disappeared at around nine thousand and eight hundred feet. With that said, we’re only at a third of our journey to where we need to get to!”
“I suggest we try to reach our target location before the weather gets too bad, Captain Wang. After all, the weather conditions up here appear to be much worse than what we had initially anticipated! With that said, even the slightest change in weather will hinder our progress up the mountain!” said Quest as he looked at Patrick.
While—the remaining—six thousand and eight hundred feet may not sound too bad a hike on paper, it was, in fact, extremely far from where they currently were.
What more, while it had taken the group about only three hours to get to three thousand feet high, the terrain they had to walk through earlier wasn’t as bad as what was to come. After all, the higher they went, the more uneven the holy mountain’s terrain was going to get. Steep cliffs, for one, would certainly become more frequent, and if they weren’t careful, slipping off one wasn’t completely out of the question…
With that in mind, the rescue team then set off again after completing their brief rest.
It wasn’t long after before the rescue team met with a predicament.
There was no further road to speak of where they currently were! Essentially, that meant that the only way to head forward was to climb a steep cliff before them…
Looking down into the three-hundred-feet deep abyss below him, Gerald could tell that many would definitely feel terror-stricken just from seeing how deep the fall was.
Even so, it wasn’t as if the others had any other choice. After all, it would definitely take way too much time and energy for them to head back and attempt to find another road. With that in mind, the steep cliff truly seemed like their only way of progressing.
Thankfully, this wasn’t Quest’s first rodeo. Quest had scaled cliffs like this before, so it honestly wasn’t anything too difficult for him.
With that in mind, everyone then watched as Quest took a rope—with a hook attached to it—before flinging it toward a rock atop the cliff.
After testing how firm the hook had lodged itself into the rock, Quest then easily climbed up the rope…
Chapter 1643
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1643
Naturally, scaling the cliff wasn’t an issue for Gerald either.
After taking a few steps back, Gerald dashed forward before making a giant leap! Seconds later, the youth then landed right beside Quest!
Upon seeing that, Quest and the others all felt their jaws drop. What immense jumping capabilities! He truly was a person who was training to attain spiritual enlightenment!
Eventually shaking their shock off, the others then quickly began climbing up the rope as well…
It was when most of them had already made their way up the cliff when a sudden roar of thunder could be heard!
Following that, the weather began changing rather rapidly, and soon enough, dark clouds had covered every inch of the sky…
Understanding that the weather was only going to get nastier, Patrick—who was adamant about getting up the cliff last—anxiously instructed, “Everyone, hurry!”
Once everyone had made it to the top, Patrick quickly began climbing the rope as well…
Of course, trouble always came unannounced. The others had considerably worn the rope down, so halfway up, it ended up snapping!
Watching in utter horror as Patrick began falling into the abyss, the other team members instantly began shouting, “Captain Wang!”
Gerald himself quickly untied the rope around his waist before tossing it toward Patrick! Upon coming into contact with the falling man, the rope instantly wrapped itself around him!
Realizing what Gerald had just done, Quest then rushed over to him while shouting to the rest, “Hurry and help him!”
Hearing that, the rest of the team members quickly snapped out of it and began grabbing the rope as well. After a bit of effort, all of them were successfully able to pull Patrick back up…
Thanks to Gerald’s quick thinking and actions, Patrick was able to avoid a truly horrible fate…
Though he was now safe, Patrick—who was drenched in cold sweat—still found himself shivering slightly. After all, he had thought that it was all over for him just seconds ago. Panting as he walked over to a rock, Patrick then sat on it to slowly recover his cool.
Seeing that, Gerald then walked over to him before squatting by Patrick’s side and asking in a concerned tone, “Are you alright, Captain Wang?”
Still quivering slightly in fear, Patrick then shook his head as he replied, “I… I’m fine… Regardless, thank you, Gerald…! If it wasn’t for you, I’d be dead by now!”
In response, Gerald simply smiled subtly before humbly replying, “There’s no need to thank me. It’s my duty to help a teammate out!”
Despite the touching moment, it was then when snow began falling heavily.
With how frigid the winds were getting, Quest then yelled, “…Things are looking bad. We need to find someplace to settle down first!”
Attempting to scale the mountain in such weather was practically suicide and everyone understood that. While it was true that they were undergoing a rescue mission, it wasn’t big enough an emergency for all of them to risk their lives for. With that in mind, the best they could do at the moment was to seek shelter and wait the snowstorm out.
After looking around for a bit, Quest managed to locate a spacious area underneath a steep cliff.
As all of them quickly—and gladly—entered the area to take refuge, everyone heard as Quest suddenly shouted, “…Hey, look there! There are signs that others have stayed here before!”
Upon hearing that, Gerald and Patrick quickly ran over to Quest’s side.
True to his words, a pile of burned charcoal could be seen there… It was evident that others had made a fire here before.
“The adventure team could have stayed here before in order to avoid a snowstorm!”
Chapter 1644
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1644
After squatting to inspect the pile of burnt charcoal for a brief moment, Patrick then said, “…This is still relatively new. The ones who lit the fire should have stayed here around two days ago!”
Hearing that, Gerald and Quest turned to look at each other. This was good news! After all, it at least proved that the adventure team was still alive two days ago!
“…Alright, let’s just take refuge here for the moment. We’ll continue our journey once the snowstorm is over!” said Quest as he laid down his backpack before sitting to conserve energy.
While the rest did the same, Gerald chose to continue inspecting the surrounding cliff area instead. After a while, Gerald called Quest and Patrick over.
“Mr. Leane and Captain Wang, I’ve scouted the surrounding area for a bit and I’ve found that there aren’t any other paths to proceed to. The only way to ascend the mountain from this point on is by climbing. To support that statement, just have a look there. If you squint a little, you can see friction marks! I’m assuming that’s where the people from that adventure team hung their rope!” explained Gerlad as he pointed at the traces.
After hearing all that, both Quest and Patrick agreed with Gerald’s analysis.
“Hmm… Tell me, Gerald, how do you say we should proceed with this?” asked Patrick as he turned to look at Gerald.
“Well, from how I see it, our best option right now would be for me and Mr. Leane to head up to scout ahead. You and the others can wait here for us. Once we’ve located the adventure team, we’ll then reunite with all of you! How’s that sound?” replied Gerald.
It was a very steep climb, about thirty feet high. With that in mind, Gerald was afraid that a precarious situation—similar to what Patrick had earlier faced—would repeat itself if too many people went scouting.
Regardless, after hearing that, Patrick then turned to look at Quest before asking, “What do you say to that, Mr. Leane?”
“I’ll have to agree with Gerald. We’ll be scouting ahead then!” replied Quest in agreement.
“Very well, then! Since there aren’t any objections, let’s just go with that!” said Patrick.
Following that, both Quest and Gerald immediately began getting themselves ready. After packing all the necessary equipment into their backpacks, they returned to the thirty feet high cliff…
Looking up, Quest found himself frowning slightly as he asked, “A bit too high for my tastes… How do you reckon we get up there?”
Quest’s concern was warranted since not only was the cliff extremely high, but there also seemed to be very little that looked sturdy enough to be used as leverage. Of course, while Quest found it to be a rather hopeless situation, it wasn’t a problem for Gerald.
“Just leave it to me, Mr. Leane!” replied Gerald with a confident smile as he took out a piece of talisman paper as well as a pen.
“…Hmm? Could… it be that you know how to craft secret technique talismans?” asked Patrick—who had followed them there together with the rest of the team to see them off—in a surprised tone.
As a person from Jaellatra, Patrick definitely knew about talismans, and though Gerald didn’t reply, Patrick got his answer when the youth began drawing on the talisman paper!
A few seconds later, Gerald tossed his complete talisman into the air… and just like that, the talisman materialized a golden ladder out of thin air!
“After you, Mr. Leane!” said Gerald as he turned to look at the shocked Quest.
Upon hearing his name, Quest quickly snapped out of his shock and began climbing the golden ladder.
Patrick, on the other hand, still had his jaw gaping wide. He hadn’t expected Gerald to actually be a Talisman Master who knew how to make his own secret technique talismans! It made Patrick admire Gerald greatly. What more, it explained why Gerald had been so confident in rescuing those people.
Thinking about it, Gerald’s presence was definitely an honor to the rescue team. If he hadn’t decided to come along, they would’ve surely faced much more trouble and possibly even fatalities…
Chapter 1645
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1645
After bidding farewell to Patrick and the others, Gerald and Quest then began scaling the rest of the holy mountain.
Though it was still snowing rather heavily—with occasional freezing gusts of wind—Gerald and Quest managed to find a cliffside to proceed under. In other words, they had minimal contact with the actual snowstorm.
As they walked on, Quest found himself asking, “What would you say are the survival odds of the adventure team, Gerald?”
“I can’t say for sure, but I think they should still be alive. I’m assuming they’re currently trapped someplace on this mountain!” replied Gerald with a hopeful tone.
Gerald, for one, certainly hoped that they were still alive. He couldn’t bear the thought of Nori dying in this snowstorm.
Shaking the thoughts off, Gerald then asked, “Regardless, how much progress have we made, Mr. Leane?”
“From what I can gather, we should now be at an altitude of seven thousand and five hundred feet. If that’s the case, then we should be two thousand feet from where the adventure team disappeared! Judging from our current progression speed, we’ll need about two more hours to reach that place!” replied Quest as he read out the information that his smartwatch was showing.
While they were certainly much closer to the area now, the journey there was still far from over…
At that moment, an ear-piercing roar of thunder could be heard! The sound was so loud that the entire mountain instantly began shaking slightly!
Realizing what was happening, Quest quickly said, “This… This could be the sign of an avalanche!”
Hearing that, Gerald instantly began looking around to survey the area… But to his dismay, there was nothing to shield them against an incoming avalanche! Sandwiched between two stone walls, both of them knew that if they didn’t think quickly, they were going to be hit by the avalanche and subsequently thrown into the abyss at the end of the valley! By that point, they’d surely be in pieces!
“There doesn’t seem like there’s anywhere to hide, Gerald…! What should we do…?!” asked Quest rather anxiously.
Despite being a person with abundant adventuring experience, Quest was now feeling slightly terrified in this seemingly hopeless situation.
After a few seconds, Gerald then quickly retrieved his talisman-making kit before saying, “Don’t worry, I have an idea!”
With that said, Gerald rapidly began drawing on the talisman! The second he was done, Gerald then threw it forward, prompting a golden ray of light to envelop both of them!
A shield of light formed just in time as the avalanche came crashing down on them! Thankfully, the golden shield was sufficient in guiding the avalanche away from them, keeping Gerald and Quest safe!
After what seemed to be an eternity, no further sounds could be heard. Still safe underneath a layer of snow, Gerald then cleared out the snow above them… They were safe!
Once Quest climbed out with a huff, Gerald then followed after.
Sighing in relief, Quest—who was honestly still quivering a little—then said, “Thank god you’re here with me, Gerald… Otherwise, I’d surely be doomed!”
Smiling back at him, Gerald simply shook his head in silence before resuming the journey up the mountain together with Quest. It was about an hour and a half later when they finally reached the spot…
Arriving half an hour earlier than anticipated, the area they were in was at an altitude of nine thousand and eight hundred feet. Now much nearer to the mountain’s peak, Gerald and Quest began scanning the area below them. Unfortunately, thick, misty clouds—that were everywhere below them—covered most of their view. Due to that, neither of them was able to find any hints of what could have happened to the adventure team…
After a while, Quest walked over to Gerald before asking with a deep frown on his face, “…There doesn’t seem to be any traces of them being here at all… Could it be that nothing really happened to them here…?