MM Racing Page 248
Page 248
He waved from where he stood, waited for half a minute, and seeing that the skeleton still didn't move, he took out the small gray flag and waved it vigorously.
"..."
Latis stared into the giant's eye sockets for a few minutes. Seeing that nothing had happened, he sighed, thought for a moment, put away the little gray flag, and decided to climb the giant's skeleton.
However, just as he was about to take a step forward, the mountain suddenly trembled slightly. He was surprised and bent down to steady himself, glancing around as if preparing to face a landslide.
"what's the situation……"
The tremors of the mountain gradually subsided. Latis scratched his head, remaining in a prone, ready position, before hesitantly straightening up after a long while.
Whoosh!
A flicker in his peripheral vision caught Latis's attention. He quickly turned his gaze to where the flicker was coming from, and then he discovered... it was the glow of soul fire in the giant skull's eye socket.
A powerful gaze instantly descended upon Latis, and his body made a series of clicking sounds, as if a tremendous force had struck him at that moment.
He raised his head, staring wide-eyed at the heavy gaze, letting his eyes sting as he straightened his body.
The giant was watching him, so he had to watch back.
……
……
"What the hell are you looking at?"
Artur stood on this side of the ridge, looking at Mr. "Sun" who stood with his hands on his hips on the ridge, and asked with a frown.
"I wasn't looking." "The Sun" poked its empty eye socket with its finger and said:
"I am feeling it."
"...Then what exactly are you feeling?" Artur was silent for a moment before asking, "What is it on this mountain that you're feeling for, moon after moon?"
"You'll know."
The sun offered no explanation, perhaps it didn't even know what was on it; such things are difficult to deduce from the behavior of a skeleton.
“Alright.” Artur sighed, thought for a moment, and asked, “If there really is something up there, why don’t you try to get it yourself? You’ve been waiting here the whole time, so you’re no different from me.”
"The Sun" glanced at Artur, shifted its hands-on-hips posture, looked up at the mountain peak again, and calmly said:
“Climbing mountains is a very simple thing for me, but it’s hard to convince you of it.”
"What do you mean?" Artur asked, frowning.
"You won't believe what I saw up there, just as you won't believe what I can perceive from here."
The "Sun" laughed and said:
"But there will be someone who makes you believe, someone who will rise like the sun and then return with its afterglow. When you see him, you will know that even in a world of death, there is meaning to life."
"Is it that centaur from before?" Artur shook his head and said:
"He knows nothing about these things, how could he possibly find an answer for us?"
"What does it matter? I don't remember anything about it anymore anyway."
Under Artur's complicated gaze, "The Sun" confidently patted his chest and said:
"But a man cannot live without his testicles, just as the world cannot live without the sun. If my sun is only enough to shine on you, then his sun has the hope of shining on the world."
Having said that, he raised his finger high, pointing towards the mountaintop, and said loudly:
"God is dead, but we are alive!"
……
……
"I have been thinking about this for many months now."
The giant skeleton stared at Latis, without changing its posture, and simply narrated in silence.
“Some call me a demon, some call me the Grim Reaper, some think I am the guide of the starry sea. They came up to me, sought an answer, and then all left in a panic.”
The muffled sound seemed to emanate from within the entire mountain, causing the surroundings to tremble. The source of the sound could not be found, but Latis knew that it was the voice of the giant skeleton.
The long years have made it one with the mountain, and its answer seems to be the mountain's answer. There seems to be something between it and the mountain that is even more profound than life and death.
These feelings raced through Latis's mind. He took a deep breath, tilted his head back, and asked:
"What question's answer?"
"They asked me if this mountain could connect to the starry sky, and I said no."
The soul fire in the giant skull's eye flickered, and it said:
“Many people don’t believe it and think I’m deceiving them. Even when Starry Night arrives, they will still try to compete on this mountain, but very few people can reach the top.”
"...No?" A wave of immense disappointment washed over Latis instantly. He instinctively took a step back, then, suppressing his confusion and dejection, he asked:
"Why not? And why couldn't they reach the summit?"
"Because I built this mountain, I know it can't be."
The giant skeleton's deep, muffled voice instantly sent ripples through Latis's mind, but it gave Latis no chance to catch his breath, continuing:
"Most people's goal is only the sea of stars, but that's all they care about. Once that goal is removed, they can't continue."
"Wait, wait a minute..." Latis felt his head was a little foggy. He rubbed his temples and asked incredulously:
"Did you build this mountain?"
“Hmm.” The giant skeleton said calmly, “But I can’t remember exactly how long it took to build. There weren’t so many people around here back then, so time passed quickly.”
Latis took a deep breath, feeling countless questions swirling in his mind, yet unsure where to begin. He rubbed his head and sat down on the ground, remaining silent for a moment before asking:
"Sir, how should I address you?"
The soul fire in the giant skull's eyes flickered, and it said:
“I have many names. Over tens of thousands of white moons, many people have called me in their own way… I remember that long ago, before this mountain was this high, I had many friends. Although they have all passed away over the years, I still remember what they called me—Sisyphus.”
"Sisyphus?!" Latis exclaimed in surprise. Could the giant before him be the legendary god?
The giant was silent for a moment, then chuckled and said:
“I know I am not Sisyphus. I have a real name, but that no longer matters.”
Its voice paused, then it said in a low, muffled tone:
"This name is also one of the questions I've been thinking about, but there are too many questions, and I haven't been able to come up with answers for all of them yet."
Latis stood up and paced back and forth a few steps.
Although the giant skeleton's body remained still, Latis could feel its heavy gaze fixed on him, as if waiting for him to ask the next question.
"Lord Sisyphus."
Latis hesitated for a moment, then used the same form of address, tilting his head back to ask:
"So why did you build this mountain?"
"Because at the time, we wanted to give people another way to reach the stars."
Sisyphus answered without hesitation, indicating that he had already thought through these questions thoroughly.
“The distance between Mount Augusta and Mount Sankturi is too great. I must build a third mountain between them so that the beings of the Bone Spirit Realm can travel to the Star Sea.”
"Wait, Sankturui Mountain? Does that mean there's another mountain?" Radist was immediately delighted and quickly asked.
"Yes, that mountain is in a very far place; you can see its silhouette from here."
Upon hearing this, Latis immediately sprang into action. He bypassed Sisyphus and rushed towards the cliff edges in all directions. Finally, after circling almost the entire area, he saw a hazy mountain silhouette, hidden at the edge of the clouds, its distance almost impossible to estimate.
"That's great!" Radist immediately breathed a sigh of relief, ran back to Sisyphus, bowed, and asked:
"Lord Sisyphus, does that mountain lead to the stars?"
Sisyphus was silent for a moment, then said:
"I do not know."
"Huh?" Latis was stunned.
“Perhaps it is precisely because I do not know that most challengers have given up on finding that mountain.” Sisyphus’s tone was somewhat uncertain. “They would rather believe that I am deceiving them, but I am not.”
“…I see.” Latis seemed to have been doused with a bucket of cold water, instantly calming down. He thought for a moment, then made up his mind and said:
"I will go and find that mountain, regardless of whether it leads to the sea of stars or not."
The giant remained silent, seemingly beginning a new round of contemplation.
Latis gathered his thoughts, glanced around the precipitous mountaintop, and seeing that the giant still showed no sign of speaking, he took the initiative to ask:
"Lord Sisyphus, what do you think about most of the time?"
Upon hearing this, Sisyphus moved for the first time. It slowly lowered its hand that had been supporting its chin, turned its massive head toward the edge of the cliff, and whispered:
"I don't know what I should be thinking about. Bai Yue has made me forget so much that I'm not sure what my original purpose was in building this mountain."
"...Isn't it to give people another way to reach the stars?" Latis scratched his head and asked, "Didn't you just say that?"
"how can that be possible?"
Sisyphus's tone held a strange hint of amusement. It paused, then said:
"Who would believe they could actually build a mountain leading to the stars? I just wanted to give people hope to persevere."
“Persistence…hope?” Latis repeated blankly.
"Hmm." Sisyphus seemed to be trying to recall a story from the past, but he couldn't remember it at all, so he could only sigh and say:
"It's probably... a bet, right? I told my friends that although climbing Mount Augusta and Mount Sankturi is very difficult, building a new mountain is not easy either. We can make a bet to see if I give up building the mountain first, or if they give up climbing it first."
"and then?"
"Some of them died, some reached the stars, and some are now just bones, yet they are still climbing the mountain."
Latis looked up in shock, and on the eerie white bones, he vaguely saw the sunlight.
Chapter 254 Brother Niu's Double Jump Saved My Life
What will it gain by persisting in this endless cycle? Or has it already forgotten even the definition of "gain"?