Liu Dashao looked back, and the army of salamanders seemed to sense his intent, launching an even fiercer assault. Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao didn't even get a chance to scramble onto the ice rock. They were holding on purely by sheer will; if this continued, they would surely be swallowed by the salamander horde.

He urged anxiously toward Jia Zhuangyuan, "Senior Jia, do you have any way to block these salamanders, even for a moment?"

Jia Zhuangyuan offered a wry smile, "If I had a way, wouldn't I have used it already?"

"Ah?! Then there's nothing else at all?" Liu Dashao asked.

Jia Zhuangyuan replied, "Nothing. I've even run out of throwing knives!"

"Sigh!" Liu Dashao sighed and told Jia Zhuangyuan, "You go up first!"

Jia Zhuangyuan asked, "And you all?"

"I'll think of another way!" Liu Dashao said.

Jia Zhuangyuan nodded, said no more, and agilely leaped onto the ice rock.

At this point, only Liu Dashao, Cai Qingchong, and Fan Debiao remained below the ice rock.

Fan Debiao shouted toward Liu Dashao, "Dashao, what are you dawdling for, hurry up and climb! I can hardly hold on anymore!"

Cai Qingchong roared, "Hold steady for me! Whoever breaks first is a son of a bitch!"

Fan Debiao chuckled, "Fine! Then you're certainly claiming that title!"

As he spoke, another swing of his shovel sent two Snow Salamanders' heads flying.

Cai Qingchong was not to be outdone, bringing his shovel down in a smash that pulped three Snow Salamanders into mere sludge.

"I killed one more than you, old man!"

These two, who always loved to bicker and trade barbs, were actually using this method to encourage each other at this moment of life and death. A bittersweet warmth welled up in Liu Dashao's heart. Seeing the sweat pouring down their faces and the incessant twitching of their facial muscles, Liu Dashao knew they were both pushing far beyond their limits, utterly spent. Yet, neither of them considered saving only themselves; instead, they kept urging him to leave quickly. This profound brotherhood brought tears to Liu Dashao’s eyes in that instant.

Fan Debiao cursed at Liu Dashao, "Dashao, what are you doing? We aren't dead yet, and you're already mourning!"

Cai Qingchong chimed in, "If only we had a flamethrower right now, we could torch a huge area at once. That feeling would be amazing, guaranteed to make these disgusting things cry for their mothers!"

Fire?! Right! Fire!

Cai Qingchong's words jolted a memory loose in Liu Dashao’s mind; he still had a windproof lighter in his backpack. He immediately told Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao, "Hold on just a little longer, I think I have an idea!"

Liu Dashao shrugged off his outer jacket, then turned back to call up to Jia Zhuangyuan on the ice rock, "Senior, toss your jacket down!"

Although the air was freezing, Jia Zhuangyuan knew he intended to save them, so without a word, he threw his jacket down. "Kid Liu, catch!"

Liu Dashao ignited the windproof lighter. The flame it produced was fierce, and the ghostly blue fire quickly caught his own jacket alight. Then, Liu Dashao used this burning jacket to ignite the one Jia Zhuangyuan had thrown down. Immediately, Liu Dashao held a burning garment in each hand, like two miniature fireballs.

He said to Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao, "After I count to three, I will throw the burning clothes at your feet respectively. That should stop the salamander army for a brief moment. Use that time to climb onto the ice rock. Understood?"

Cai Qingchong nodded, "Understood! Hey, Dashao, you really do come up with the ideas!"

Liu Dashao said, "No more chatter! I’ll count to three, then you two turn and run immediately. Ready?"

The two replied in unison, "Ready!"

"Good! One!" Liu Dashao began counting.

"Two!"

"Three!"

At the count of three, Liu Dashao violently hurled the two burning garments outward. They landed exactly where intended, right on the ground in front of Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao.

"Run!" He spun around, launched himself in a long stride toward the base of the ice rock, and without pausing, grabbed an edge and scrambled upward quickly.

Whoosh! The flickering flames instantly halted the advance of the salamander horde. A few of the lead Snow Salamanders couldn't stop their momentum and plunged directly into the fire, squealing as they burned. After a brief pause of several seconds, the Snow Salamanders quickly split into two torrents, flowing around the two piles of fire and surging toward the group from the flanks.

Seizing the few seconds the Snow Salamanders had paused, Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao abruptly turned, strapped their entrenching shovels to their waists, and sprinted with all their might. Tapping their toes, they leaped up and grasped the jagged edges of the ice rock.

They had followed Da Guoguo for quite some time, traveling far and wide, and they had some skill. Climbing this ice rock, over two meters high, was child's play for them. But the psychological pressure they faced was immense; beneath their feet were millions of salamanders, and one slip would mean instantaneous gnawing down to bare bone by the Snow Salamanders.

Cai Qingchong glanced back at the Snow Salamanders below. They were clustered so densely at his feet that it terrified him into scrambling up the ice rock in just a few hasty movements, collapsing at the edge, gasping for breath.

"Don't look down!" Liu Dashao yelled to Fan Debiao.

Fan Debiao turned back and continued climbing, then stopped with a distinct snap.

"What is it?" Liu Dashao asked tensely.

Fan Debiao replied, "Something seems stuck!"

Liu Dashao looked down and saw that his entrenching shovel, strapped to his waist, was jammed tight in a crevice in the ice wall. Apparently, he had swung it with too much force; the shovel was lodged deep. Fan Debiao twisted his waist, but the shovel wouldn't budge. At this moment, Fan Debiao's hands were firmly gripping the edge of the ice rock above, his feet dangling with no foothold, so he couldn't free his hands to yank out the shovel. He began cursing in frustration, "Why am I so unlucky?"

Liu Dashao told Fan Debiao not to panic, that he would climb down to help pull out the shovel. Just as Liu Dashao was bracing himself on the jagged edges of the ice rock, preparing to descend, he was stunned to see the Snow Salamanders employing a human-ladder tactic.

One Snow Salamander climbed to the base of the ice rock, and another immediately climbed onto the first one's back, with a third climbing onto the second—they stacked themselves like human pyramids, rising higher and higher, launching a frenzied assault toward Fan Debiao, who was stuck halfway up the rock.

Soon, there were more than ten stacked formations below the ice rock. The Salamanders behind them surged forward like a tide, stepping on the bodies of those in front, relentlessly climbing upward, as if Fan Debiao were the most delicious meal they had ever seen—they absolutely could not give up this prize.

"Mama, Dashao, Grandpa, hurry and save me! Those disgusting things are about to bite my butt!" Fan Debiao shrieked, drenched in sweat from panic.

Liu Dashao slid rapidly down the ice wall, quickly reaching Fan Debiao's side. His feet found purchase on two irregularly shaped ice spikes, giving him a foothold. Then, gripping a protruding edge with his left hand, he reached out with his right to grasp the handle of the entrenching shovel and pulled hard. To his surprise, the shovel was truly stuck fast; Liu Dashao’s pull didn't dislodge it. Meanwhile, the salamander 'meat-ladder' troops had already reached their feet in an instant, some snapping at their boots.

Squirt! One salamander bit down hard on the edge of Liu Dashao's boot. He shook his right foot vigorously several times but couldn't fling it off. So, Liu Dashao gritted his teeth, angled the edge of his boot against a sharp ice spike, and slammed it upward.

Chik! The sharp ice spike punctured the salamander's head. The creature convulsed like a loach pinned to a board, twitched twice, and went still.

"Hah!" Liu Dashao twisted his torso and delivered a fierce kick to Fan Debiao's rear.

Fan Debiao cried out, cursing, "Are you trying to make me die faster? You want to kick me off?"

Before Liu Dashao could reply, Cai Qingchong's voice drifted down from the ice rock, "Hey, you really do repay kindness with malice! If it weren't for Dashao's kick, I think a chunk of your backside would have been bitten off!"

"What?!" Hearing Cai Qingchong, Fan Debiao immediately turned to look, and the sight struck terror into his soul. The flesh ladder built by the Snow Salamanders was right up against his backside, and the one on top was stretching its neck, head raised, ready to nip at his rear.

"Waaah! Dashao, Grandpa, hurry up and help! I'm still so young, I haven't even gotten a girlfriend yet, I can't go like this!"

Liu Dashao saw that Fan Debiao was quite unstable emotionally and shouted sternly, "What are you yelling about? Calm down!"

Liu Dashao assessed the situation; he feared that before he could pull out the shovel, Fan Debiao's round backside would be compromised. The priority now was to destroy the salamander meat ladder and buy more time.

With this in mind, he urgently called up to Yang Weidong on the ice rock, "Weidong, quickly strip off your coat, light it, and throw it down!" As he spoke, Liu Dashao pulled the windproof lighter from his pocket and flung it upward.

Yang Weidong, quick-eyed and quick-handed, snatched the lighter out of the air. He then took off his outer coat and swiftly ignited it using the windproof lighter.

Liu Dashao asked Yang Weidong to hand him the burning coat, and Liu Dashao then held the flaming garment in his right hand, waving it constantly. The roaring flames hissed and popped against the salamanders stacked in the pyramid, releasing a thick, foul stench of burning flesh.

The Snow Salamanders feared fire intensely; they had virtually no defense against the flames. In short order, the carefully constructed meat ladders collapsed under Liu Dashao's fiery assault, crumbling and crashing down. The area beneath the ice rock instantly descended into chaos, with charred salamander corpses bobbing and sinking in the tidal wave of the horde.

The flames quickly spread to Liu Dashao’s fingers, forcing him to toss away the coat, which was nearly reduced to ash. The immediate crisis was averted, and Liu Dashao let out a long breath.

He looked down at the Snow Salamanders. Their innate fear of fire hadn't stopped their chaos yet, and it would likely take them some time to regroup and build another ladder. He had to seize this brief opportunity to help Fan Debiao.

Liu Dashao extended his right hand, gripped the shovel handle again, and pulled with every ounce of strength he had, inch by painful inch. If he were on flat ground, he could probably pull the shovel out quickly with both arms, but here, he could only free one arm, and his left arm was already using a large portion of his energy just to support his entire body weight. Thus, the force he exerted was likely only half of what he usually could.

"My dear Dashao, can't you hurry? I... I can't hold on much longer..." Fan Debiao said, his face contorted in pain.

Liu Dashao shot him a look, "Can you stop talking and conserve your strength!"

"Dashao, hurry! Those Snow Salamanders are coming up again!" Cai Qingchong yelled down from the ice rock.

Hearing this, both Liu Dashao and Fan Debiao looked back. The salamander horde had quelled their confusion and were already reorganizing their strength, beginning to construct a new round of meat ladders. Having learned from the previous attempt, they built the second round much faster, cutting the time by at least a third.

Fan Debiao stared at the rising salamander stacks, his face pale, muttering incessantly, "Don't come up! My butt smells foul! I often don't wipe after I go! Don't come up! Don't come up!"

"Hey, Fan Debiao, for someone who looks so presentable, I never thought you were such a slob in private!" Yang Weidong said, pinching his nose.

The carefree Cai Qingchong chimed in agreement, "Exactly! We finally see your true colors today!"

Fan Debiao cursed back at Cai Qingchong, "You're inhuman, you have no sense, may you never have sons..."

As Fan Debiao was mid-rant, there was a light snap. The entrenching shovel was finally yanked free from the rock crevice by Liu Dashao.

"Still yelling? Get up!" Liu Dashao slapped Fan Debiao hard on the rear. Fan Debiao let out a quick squeak and shot upward.

"Dashao, hurry up and climb!" Cai Qingchong and the others urged anxiously.

Liu Dashao looked back; the closest Snow Salamander had its jaws open, snapping toward his trouser cuff. He quickly tensed his abdomen, stomped his feet against the ice spikes, and scrambled upward, causing the salamander to miss with a gaping lunge.

Everyone finally managed to climb onto the ice rock, temporarily escaping the pursuit of the salamander army, allowing them a brief moment to catch their breath. Liu Dashao looked at the rock where they stood; it was about the size of half a basketball court, dotted with more than a dozen bamboo-shoot-shaped ice spikes, their crystalline surfaces reflecting shimmering light.

Behind the ice rock was a chasm nearly ten meters wide, as if cleaved open by a giant axe. Great plumes of cold vapor rose from the depths of the gorge, and the biting wind howled with a chilling cry that sent shivers down their spines.

The group was now in an awkward predicament: a massive chasm lay ahead, and the menacing salamander horde loomed behind. They were completely trapped, unable to advance or retreat.

"Dashao, what do we do now?" Fan Debiao asked.

Liu Dashao shook his head helplessly and sat down on the rock. This massive ice rock was like an isolated island, and they were the castaways trapped upon it. Below, the salamander army surged like a tide, a sea of white, resembling restless, crashing waves all rushing toward the ice rock. There must have been thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of Snow Salamanders—a sight that reminded Liu Dashao of the man-eating ants on the African savannah, leaving nothing behind in their wake.

Cai Qingchong gasped, "Heavens! How can there be so many salamanders here?"

Fan Debiao sighed, "Looks like we're going to be trapped and starved to death here!"

Jia Zhuangyuan suddenly turned and called out, "Everyone, snap out of it! Those Snow Salamanders are climbing!"

The others startled, rushed to the edge of the ice rock, and looked down. Indeed, the Snow Salamanders had constructed numerous meat ladders, and countless creatures were climbing like besieging warriors, using these ladders to ascend.

Liu Dashao yelled to Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao, "Quick! Stop them! Don't let them get up here!"

Fan Debiao rubbed his aching arms and grumbled, "Damn it, they won't even give me a moment to rest!"

Cai Qingchong grabbed his entrenching shovel and rushed to the edge of the rock, swinging it down again and again to knock the ascending Snow Salamanders back. But there were simply too many; as soon as he knocked some down from one side, others climbed up on the other. Cai Qingchong scrambled frantically, shouting to Fan Debiao, "Stop complaining and help out!"

Relying on their superior high ground, the group successfully repelled the first wave of the Snow Salamander assault. Hundreds of corpses lay scattered below the ice rock, their black blood slowly dripping down the cliff face.

Before Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao could catch their breath, the Snow Salamanders launched a second assault. Liu Dashao and Yang Weidong took the shovels from Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao and joined the defense.

A few salamanders broke through the line and scrambled onto the ice rock, only to be sent flying back down by a few sharp kicks from Jia Zhuangyuan. After fifteen minutes, Liu Dashao and Yang Weidong, panting and exhausted, managed to neutralize the second wave, adding another thick layer of corpses below the rock.

After a brief rest, Cai Qingchong and Fan Debiao took the shovels back from the other two, cycling into rotation. The Snow Salamanders seemed utterly tireless and utterly devoid of the concept of death. After two failed assaults, they initiated a third.

Again and again, the salamander army launched a total of five assaults, all of which were stubbornly resisted by the group. However, these five waves left everyone utterly drained, feeling the exhaustion deep in their bones. Below the ice rock, the bodies of over a thousand Snow Salamanders had piled up nearly a meter high, effectively reducing the height difference between the rock and the ground, making it easier for the subsequent salamanders to climb up.

Fan Debiao wiped the sweat from his face and said to Liu Dashao, "Dashao, this won't work if we keep this up. If these disgusting salamanders launch a few more attacks, we won't be able to hold them off eventually!"