The Mount Fuji of the Wa Kingdom, a mountain peak almost mythologized by the people of Wa!
The Wa people refer to this mountain peak as the 'sacred mountain' or 'divine mountain.' It's evident that it's the spiritual symbol of the entire Wa Kingdom!
This mountain peak is the highest peak on the Wa Kingdom Island, with an altitude of nearly four thousand meters, and it boasts many unique landscapes, making it a sacred place for many tourists to visit.
However, precisely because Mount Fuji has been developed extensively, with tourist attractions and facilities surrounding it, Jia Yan once doubted whether his destination was really within this mountain peak!
Nevertheless, that mysterious artifact, even if not on this Mount Fuji peak, must surely be nearby.
After all, the Liqi Chronicles he obtained in the underworld clearly stated so!
Jia Yan decided it was best to first ascend Mount Fuji's peak and then see!
This is a peak with an altitude of nearly four thousand meters, covered in snow year-round, with temperatures dropping even lower as night approaches.
Dark mosquitoes searched for a position where they were unlikely to encounter tourists and flew towards the sky above Mount Fuji!
Climbing a mountain of several thousand meters might not be easy for ordinary humans, but for Jia Yan, it was not particularly difficult!
However, he couldn't be sure whether he could withstand the cold weather at the summit flying to such a high place!
Humans climb this high mountain wearing thick clothes. Jia Yan could only rely on his solidified body to endure!
Whoo, whoo, whoo!!!
As the fierce wind swept past, Jia Yan gradually felt the temperature dropping during his flight!
Naturally, his flying speed was very fast!
So, in less than five minutes, Jia Yan felt that the altitude of his current location was roughly equivalent to the maximum height he had attempted before—1000 meters!
Jia Yan calmed his mind slightly and then controlled his body to search for clues at this height.
A thousand meters in altitude is not considered very high, but it's not densely forested either. Jia Yan searched around and then flew directly around the entire one-thousand-meter-high area of Mount Fuji, circling the mountain peak!
For humans, this might be a major undertaking, perhaps requiring a series of arrangements to accomplish!
But for Jia Yan, who could fly, it was something he could do in just over ten minutes.
After fifteen or sixteen minutes passed, he stopped his flight.
After surveying the area, he knew that there was nothing to be found at this altitude!
"Upwards!" Jia Yan's compound eyes flashed with a faint light as he looked at the higher summit of Mount Fuji. He spread his wings!
Continuing to ascend!
Two thousand one hundred meters.
Two thousand three hundred meters.
Two thousand five hundred meters.
Two thousand eight hundred meters.
Three thousand meters!
Jia Yan began to feel a bit uncomfortable due to the cold!
The oxygen content in the air was also decreasing, but compared to the effect of the dropping temperature on Jia Yan, it wasn't much!
"At an altitude of two thousand meters, my mobility is obviously somewhat restricted. The temperature here has probably dropped to minus five or six degrees."
The giant mosquito looked at the crude 'respiratory organ' that appeared on its ventral side due to mutation. At this moment, it continuously emitted white vapor, which was the body's temperature rapidly absorbed by the cold air!
Jia Yan's body was rapidly cooling down!
Mosquitoes are ectothermic animals, also known as cold-blooded animals. Their body temperature changes with the temperature. Compared to humans, it's much more difficult for cold-blooded animals to survive the winter!
Arriving at this altitude of minus two or three degrees, Jia Yan's body felt slightly stiff, but fortunately, the impact wasn't too great!
"It seems like I can lock in some temperature in my body now. Although I can't maintain a constant temperature like mammals, I can do my best to keep the temperature locked inside!"
Jia Yan felt his body structure. Leaving aside the thick layer of solidified material on his body surface, the exoskeletal defense beneath the solidification was likely able to lock in temperature as well.
Other mosquitoes, under these temperature conditions, would definitely be immobilized, but Jia Yan could still move around!
"Next, let's continue searching at this altitude!"
The giant black mosquito continued to move its body, not only for searching but also as a good way to keep warm!
With movement comes energy and heat dissipation, which can also help to increase the temperature inside the body!
Jia Yan continued to expand his form...
"Bamboo-san, is it really necessary for us to get up so early every day to patrol Mount Fuji? Just to pick up some trash. We could do it later. It's getting colder and colder now, I really can't stand it!"
Just at the altitude of two thousand meters on Mount Fuji, two men dressed in thick winter clothes were climbing the stairs!
As they walked, they observed their surroundings.
When they saw garbage, they went over to pick it up and throw it into the garbage collection bag they held in their hands!
Although the people of the Wa Kingdom are generally clean and civic-minded citizens throughout the world, every place has different people, and the Wa Kingdom is no exception. There are still people who litter.
Every time these two men return early from their mountain patrol, they always fill a garbage bag!
Of course, if this were in China, one or two garbage bags wouldn't be enough to solve the problem.
Today, these two men were still engaged in such activities. Mount Fuji has a total of four tourist routes, and in the other three routes, there are also people doing similar things.
Whoo, whoo, whoo!!
Just as the two men grumbled and searched for trash...
One of them seemed to hear something and quickly looked up!
Just at the moment he looked, a huge black shadow happened to flash into a turn!
"What's wrong?" The other person saw the strange look on the man's face as he gazed at the sky and couldn't help but ask in confusion.
"Oh, it's nothing!"
The man chuckled, but still kept his gaze on where he saw the black shadow.
Could it be an illusion? That shouldn't be the case. They've been working in this position for seven or eight years. It's not logical for them to suddenly start having illusions!
The people of the Wa Kingdom believe in ghosts and spirits. When this man's chaotic thoughts turned to the black shadow, he suddenly felt that the environment he had been working in for seven or eight years became somewhat eerie!
"Not far from us is the so-called Suicide Forest. I don't know how many people commit suicide there every year, and there have been people who said they saw evil spirits there. Could it be that I'm going to encounter one today?!"
This man was suddenly filled with fear and shook his head repeatedly, reassuring himself that what he had just experienced was just an illusion. He mustn't overthink it!
However, just as he bent down to pick up an empty drink bottle...
Whoo, whoo!!
Another eerie sound appeared beside the two men.
This time, even the other person felt it!
"What's that thing!"
The two of them turned their heads quickly, but they didn't see anything.
These two men suddenly felt a chill on their backs, and after glancing at each other, they both saw cold sweat dripping down their companion's face!
"How eerie! I remember hearing from old folks that there are spirits on Mount Fuji. These spirits were brave warriors who feared neither swords nor spears in life. However, after death, they were trapped in this cold place, unable to ascend to heaven! So occasionally, they appear before people, giving them a scare, just to derive some satisfaction from it."
The two men continued discussing the topic, unexpectedly delving into stories of supernatural legends from the past!
Actually, what startled these two men wasn't any heroic spirits or ghosts!
It was actually Jia Yan, the giant mosquito!
As dawn approached, Jia Yan began to feel anxious. He noticed some people climbing on the Mount Fuji road in the dim light, eager to witness the sunrise!
Should he put aside the search for the core of Mount Fuji for now, return to the foot of the mountain, and wait until midnight tomorrow to investigate again?
Just as Jia Yan pondered this, he suddenly made a discovery with his compound eyes!
Mosquitoes have heat detection abilities!
However, because this ability wasn't very familiar to Jia Yan, he usually automatically suppressed it!
But now, lost in thought, he involuntarily focused his attention on this external sensing ability!
He then discovered that the entire supposed-to-be cold foothills of Mount Fuji had many places where the temperature was noticeably different from elsewhere!
"What are those things?"
Jia Yan was greatly surprised to find so many high-temperature reactions in the freezing Mount Fuji!
For a moment, he couldn't figure out whether his brain had frozen, as he couldn't come up with a reason!
In fact, the reason was simple.
Mount Fuji is actually a volcano!
And it's an active volcano!
Its most recent eruption was in 1707, which is quite recent in modern terms. As an active volcano, despite its appearance of perennial snow, its interior definitely maintains a high temperature, and who knows when it might erupt!
The numerous temperature anomalies Jia Yan observed were unique cave systems formed by the volcano. Some of these caves led directly to the volcano's crater, and some even connected to the magma. They were truly terrifying!
Jia Yan noticed that most of these temperature anomaly caves were located slightly higher than where he was.
To investigate further, Jia Yan needed to push his limits - continue upwards!
"I've only dared to fly up to a thousand meters at most, but today I'm expected to break through to two thousand meters in one go, reaching three thousand meters or even higher?"
Jia Yan couldn't help but feel a bit wry about it.
But these caves seemed really suspicious. Who knows, maybe the artifact was in one of those caves!
Of course, even though this possibility didn't seem very plausible upon careful consideration, it's better to be safe than sorry!
After all, he had traveled all the way from the island, so was there any reason to retreat when things got tough?!
None!
So Jia Yan felt it necessary to investigate!
The giant mosquito glanced again at the few humans nearby, realizing that it was still unlikely for them to spot his form, before gently spreading his wings...
Continuing to fly upwards!
Two thousand one hundred meters.
Two thousand two hundred meters.
Two thousand three hundred meters!
Two thousand four hundred meters!
The giant mosquito's body became somewhat stiff and difficult to move!
He felt that his six legs were difficult to control, and even the muscles of his continuously flapping wings had lost most of their sensation due to the cold!
The temperature here was below minus twelve or thirteen degrees Celsius, and the surroundings were already covered in pristine ice crystals!
"Just a little more to go, keep going!"
Jia Yan gritted his teeth, his goal was right in front of him, how could he give up!
The giant mosquito continued to spread its wings and fly upwards!