Chapter 452: The Great Cold Current (Requesting Monthly Votes)
Hearing the voices, Su Jiu and Bai Zhi also turned their heads, only to find five people dressed in extremely thick clothing walking towards them. Their gazes swept over them.
Su Jiu noticed that except for the elderly white man at the very back, the other four, two women and two men, were quite young, appearing to be around twenty years old.
Although these people were wearing large padded jackets, their inner linings were sleek, mage-like combat suits. The white elderly man wore a golden medal on his chest. From its appearance and complexity, it was likely that of an advanced Master Adventurer.
Just as Su Jiu was staring at them, the group turned their gaze over as well, seemingly centered around the tall girl with yellowish-brown hair and hiking boots.
She frowned slightly upon seeing the two thousand-carriage vehicles in front of Su Jiu and Bai Zhi. Turning to the shop owner who was chewing betel nuts, she questioned, “Didn’t we say before? We just want to call our companions, and reserve one thousand-carriage to go to Bear Country. And yet, you sold them all?”
The shop owner cast a glance at her, crossed his arms, and said indifferently, “You didn’t pay a deposit, and these two paid generously. It’s normal to give it to them, right?”
“You! How can you do business like this?”
The girl was somewhat exasperated. She stomped her hiking boot on the ground, causing small stones to scatter. Faint flames flickered in her hand, and the air became slightly heavy, as if she were about to teach this unscrupulous con artist a small lesson.
Seeing Qiu Hui’s imposing demeanor, Su Jiu placed a hand in front of Bai Zhi and silently stepped forward, a hint of contemplation in his eyes.
“Qiu Hui, let me,” At this moment, a rather tall and thin young man behind her stopped her. The young man shook his head at her and looked at Su Jiu with a slight smile, saying, “Two students, one of the two thousand-carriage vehicles you bought was reserved by us. And it seems like there should be no problem for your two girls to ride in one. How about you give one to us, and you two ride in one together?”
Without waiting for Su Jiu’s reply, Bai Zhi expressionlessly pressed Su Jiu’s arm down and took two steps forward. She looked up at the young man and coldly replied, “You also have two girls, why can’t they ride together? And you haven’t paid for anything, so what’s wrong with us buying it?”
The Little Flower Fairy wasn’t as familiar with everyone as she was with Erha. When facing people other than Su Jiu, she remained aloof.
“This…” Hearing Bai Zhi’s words, the young man’s face stiffened slightly. He glanced at Qiu Hui, who was glaring at him. He still managed to force a smile and said with considerable sincerity, “We are students from Huainan University. This trip to Bear Country is very important to us. As long as you are willing to let it go, we can offer double the price.”
“Hmph…”
“We don’t need double the price. If you are willing to take us to the safe area together, then you can have this thousand-carriage.”
Hearing this softened tone, Bai Zhi let out a light snort. Just as she was about to say a few more words, a hand was placed on her shoulder. Su Jiu’s voice suddenly rang out from behind her. His eyes flickered towards the elderly white adventurer.
The white elderly adventurer’s appearance clearly indicated he was from Bear Country. He was most likely a guide and bodyguard. Following him would significantly increase their safety and likely help them find the Snow Demon sooner.
As soon as this was said, the young man’s brow furrowed slightly. He turned to look at Qiu Hui, who was deep in thought. After a long while, she looked up and said to Su Jiu in a deep voice, “We can take you with us, but we cannot be responsible for your safety. We will land in a town near the mountain range, and from there, we will part ways.”
Su Jiu’s gaze fell on Qiu Hui, the girl with yellowish-brown hair. His eyes narrowed, and he chuckled, “Deal.”
This was the outcome she wanted. If they went alone, they most likely wouldn’t have a place to stop. It was fine for herself, but Bai Zhi’s strength was only that of an Advanced Stage Warrior, making it difficult for her to survive in sudden extreme weather.
After everyone had agreed, Su Jiu, leading a fuming Bai Zhi, rode on the same thousand-carriage, sitting one in front of the other. Once they were settled, the thousand-carriage’s thick wings flapped continuously, releasing streams of green wind-attribute External Qi from its wings, lifting the two into the air.
“Whoosh—”
As the shop owner’s sharp whistle sounded, the “bang!” of wingbeats echoed, and six thousand-carriages took off in response, letting out loud chirps as they soared towards the northern Bear Country.
Embracing the delicate body in his arms, after passing through the clouds, they maintained a not-too-distant range from their five travel companions. If they used their External Qi to block the airflow, they could still hear each other’s conversations.
From Fuzhou, it was a very long distance to Bear Country. Even riding a thousand-carriage would take about a day to arrive under such cold current weather. As time went by, idle conversation became inevitable.
With Su Jiu’s hearing, it was a mere trifle to hear clearly. With one hand around Bai Zhi’s waist, disregarding her squirming backside, he listened intently.
“After we arrive at Rice Town, will we rest for a night?” The yellowish-brown haired girl Qiu Hui was not as brainless as she seemed. She supported herself with her External Qi against the white elderly adventurer beside her and whispered, “I heard that near the Akans Mountain Range recently, there are always [Snow Devouring Beasts] appearing at night. It seems that due to the snow demons’ agitation causing a sharp drop in temperature, these low-intelligence primates mistakenly believe that winter solstice has arrived early.”
“Heh heh…” Chuckling, the elderly white adventurer, without knowing where he pulled out a flat wine bag, took a gulp before leisurely saying, “If your goal is just to collect some snow demon droppings and fallen items for your papers, then there’s indeed no need to venture into the snowstorm.”
Hearing this, Su Jiu increasingly felt that this white elderly man was a local who might know something about the whereabouts of snow demons. His decision to follow them this time was correct.
Just like Su Jiu’s reaction, the yellowish-brown haired girl Qiu Hui’s expression slightly stiffened. After a moment of thought, she asked again, “Listening to you, does it mean that we are more likely to encounter snow demons in such extreme weather?”
“That’s right, didn’t we say it before?” The elderly white adventurer took another sip of wine and said with a smile, “Although this extreme weather is caused by the turmoil of other monsters, it is more often caused by snow demons. These monsters are very special. Their affinity for frost and snow is far greater than other ice-attribute monsters. You could say they are favorites of frost and snow themselves.”
“Qiu Hui, why don’t we try to capture a snow demon for research? I heard that weapons transformed from snow demons can have frost enchantments and are incredibly light. You are already at Half-King Level and preparing to break through to Battle King. Then you can directly contract it…” The young man who had spoken earlier also heard their conversation and quickly approached. He suddenly chimed in, holding two alchemy balls emitting frosty air, playing with them like walnuts.
Hearing this, Qiu Hui’s eyes showed a hint of interest, but she didn’t immediately agree to the young man’s suggestion. Instead, she continued to ask the elderly white adventurer, “With our strength, we should be able to capture a snow demon, right? After all, although they are humanoid monsters, their strength is not considered high among higher races.”
“One Half-King Level, three Advanced Stage Battle Generals… and…” The elderly white adventurer looked up and scanned the surroundings, finally meeting Su Jiu’s gaze for a second. His white eyebrows furrowed slightly, then lowered again. He said softly, “You can, but as I said, the most fatal thing on the snowfield is not the snow demons, but the unknown and the mysterious. You never know what will leap out of the blizzard in the next second.”
“Heh heh, but aren’t you only willing to take our order for the snow demons?” Qiu Hui chuckled, responding somewhat teasingly.
The elderly white adventurer remained silent, implicitly admitting it. He then felt the thousand-carriage beneath him become agitated.
“Damn it, we’ve encountered a monster scar!]!⒍Cage_Era Chess_Long_wu⒘ [cold current tide].” Turning his head to look at the sky ahead, which was whitened by frost and snow, his eyes immediately became solemn. A chilling sensation permeated his bones from the air. He then used his External Qi to amplify his voice: “We’ve reached the north. Ahead is the Great Cold Current. Everyone use your External Qi to protect the thousand-carriages. You might encounter some foraging monsters in the Great Cold Current, and you might even encounter attacks from powerful monsters. Everyone, stay close to me!”
Hearing the old adventurer’s voice, the four Senior Students became vigilant. They all rose to their feet, and energy shields of different colors erupted. They carefully probed their surroundings with their Mental Power.
“You should sleep in my arms. We’ll be there soon.”
“Mmm, so cold…” Looking at the actions of those around him, Su Jiu looked at the misty expanse ahead and felt the body in his arms tighten. He gently reached out and pointed in front of him. The black fire heart’s flames transformed into a thin energy shield, pushing back the cold current, and a faint warmth enveloped the two of them.
“You two, stop hugging and cuddling!! Didn’t you hear the Master Adventurer say that we’re encountering the Great Cold Current and powerful monsters might attack?” Looking at Su Jiu still hugging Bai Zhi, the yellowish-brown haired girl couldn’t help but remind him, but she didn’t dare to divide her attention too much to scan their surroundings. She tightly clutched a fiery red stream of light, a butterfly fan, her fingertips turning somewhat pale.
“Mmm.” After responding, Su Jiu wanted to stand up, but Bai Zhi held onto him tightly. Her face was flushed, like a steamed shrimp. Her eyes were tightly closed, and she muttered softly, “Don’t leave, I’m so cold…”
“Are you having a fever? Even if your cultivation dropped to Advanced Stage Battle General, you shouldn’t catch a cold and get a fever…” Seeing Bai Zhi’s condition, Su Jiu could only sit back down helplessly, frowning as he looked at her. A faint green light flickered from his fingertips, touching Bai Zhi’s forehead and moving along it.
After about half a minute, Bai Zhi was still tightly holding his clothes, and her condition didn’t improve. This made Su Jiu, who was usually calm and composed, start to panic.
“Why isn’t Healing Arts working? What went wrong?!” At this moment, a white figure seemed to flash by in front. The frost mist thickened again, congealing into small ice particles that struck their respective energy shields, making “dada” sounds, dense like the knocking of death’s door.
