Fortunately, the two heroes did not get lost. Even for idiots of their distinct caliber, the path was virtually impossible to miss. After pushing their way past a rather aggressive thicket of ancient trees and a dense grove of bamboo, the forest simply gave way.
Before them lay the beginning of a stone staircase that seemed to pierce the very heavens.
You see, the winding path leading to the Vulture Pagoda was known in the village as the Thousand Steps of Regret. Carved directly into the unforgiving face of a jagged cliff, the steps were treacherous, uneven, and perpetually slick with mountain mist.
It was an architectural marvel explicitly designed to exhaust the body and break the spirit of any petitioner long before they ever laid eyes on the front gates.
The drop to the right offered a dizzying reminder of mortality, while the rock wall to the left offered nothing but scraped knuckles.
