Chapter 456 Frost Ghost (3k)
On the flat avenue leading to the Akans Mountain Range.
In the vast snow forest, the unique big-tailed squirrels of this snow country occasionally darted through. Under the blowing frost and snow, the surroundings were covered in silver frost. Occasionally, one could see the figures of monsters flashing through the gaps in the bushes.
In this snow field, several figures opened energy shields to resist the wind and snow, forging ahead. The yellow-haired woman at the forefront stopped from time to time to check if the frost and snow under her feet was just ordinary snow.
“It’s almost noon, let’s rest for a while. I need to study whether there is any snow demon feces in these samples.”
Finally, in a place with a large rock as a shelter, as the woman at the forefront shouted, everyone finally slowed down. The male students were responsible for setting up the camp, and the girls collected firewood to boil water. A moderately sized alchemy energy shield was erected outside the camp.
“We should not be far from where that bearded old uncle said. Frost Ghosts are one of the tribes that battle with snow demons in novels. They are indeed cunning by nature, and their intelligence is no lower than that of humans.”
The black-skirted girl stomped her feet, leaped up, and sat on the rock. She looked towards the distant snow field and took out a small piece of bread to eat.
“We haven’t encountered any monsters along the way, not even a single Snow Hunger Beast. I don’t know how the collected samples are…”
A white light flashed, and two cat ears popped out on Qiu Hui’s head. She then sniffed several test tubes. The test tubes contained snow mixed with different colors of snow, some black, some yellow, and green…
“Green, slightly sour, no, this is a herbivorous monster; yellow, smells very wet, human (to be confirmed)…”
She then baked it with the small fire from her fingertips, then held it to her nose and fanned it with her hand, narrowing her eyes as she distinguished carefully.
Her practical actions fully demonstrated her scientific research attitude.
“Are you really boiling snow? This snow is not that snow! Can you stop boiling it inside the energy shield!”
Looking at the former’s actions, Su Jiu smelled the strange smell from her nose again, her face changed slightly, and she felt her stomach acid surging. The bread in her mouth was also spat out, with even a bit of residual retching.
Just as Su Jiu was feeling uncomfortable and was about to find a place to hide from the smell, a “whoosh!” sound of an arrow suddenly came from afar. An ice arrow pierced the energy shield outside the camp at an extremely fast speed, shattering it instantly and emitting a faint glow.
Then, the faint light spread rapidly throughout the energy shield like a powder, and then erupted with dazzling brilliance. The location of everyone in the snow field became exceptionally conspicuous.
“It’s a tracking arrow! A special skill of those humanoid races!”
Mr. Ludon, the old adventurer who had not moved, quickly got up, his eyes full of surprise as he looked in the direction of the arrow. A white light flashed on him, and his eyes turned into those of a hawk as he looked at the silhouette in the far right. He licked his lips and whispered,
“We might have really encountered snow demons. Although I can only see the human figures, I can be sure that the other party must be snow demons.”
Su Jiu slowly got up from the rock and followed Mr. Ludon’s gaze to the figures flying through the snow forest on the heights in the distance, casting shadows. Her brows couldn’t help but furrow, and she murmured to herself, “In this direction, I remember it’s where the Frost Ghosts are. Could those figures be Frost Ghosts?”
“But this snow with ice elements doesn’t have the refreshing scent of the glowing grass that snow demons have, but rather a…”
Hearing Mr. Ludon’s words, Qiu Hui, the “historian,” put down the test tube in her hand. She did not agree with his judgment but offered another idea. She paused and said softly, “The smell of human feces.”
As soon as she said this, the scene fell silent. Su Jiu and the old adventurer were stunned. A sharp glint flashed in the former’s eyes, while the latter fell into thought. He looked up in that direction again, but there were no figures anymore.
The male student who had previously talked to Su Jiu about exchanging Qian Cheng looked puzzled. He took a few steps forward, scratched his head, and asked with a strange expression, “Qiu Hui, what do you mean? What do you mean by human feces?”
Glancing at him, Qiu Hui put away the samples and, to the frankly simple-minded classmate, took out a photo from her pocket and explained helplessly, “With feces of this size, it must be a small monster. It’s unlikely to be a [Snow Hunger Beast]. The smell that resembles humans proves that the other party is omnivorous, but most small monsters are herbivorous…”
After a brief pause, Qiu Hui also turned her head to look at the coniferous forest in the distance and said solemnly, “Before coming here, we conducted a detailed investigation of the information. There are not only Snow Hunger Beasts and Snow Demons in this area, but also other carnivorous monsters, the most secretive and dangerous of which is…”
“Frost Ghosts… They only eat meat. According to the information, they have very high intelligence and love to feed on small animals, and humans are also one of the desserts on their plates.”
Listening to this introduction, the male student swallowed and turned his head to look at the tips of the trees in that direction, as if meeting a pair of blood-red eyes. He felt a chill surge from his feet, and as if to comfort himself, he chuckled dryly and said, “Hey… With Mr. Ludon here, even if we encounter that kind of group, it won’t be a big deal, right? How powerful can they be against a Battle King?”
“If it is indeed a Frost Ghost group, I may not be able to deal with it.”
Before Qiu Hui could speak, the old Mr. Ludon stretched out his hand and warmed himself by the campfire, as if trying to dispel the chill. A trace of solemnity appeared on his face. “They are mortal enemies of the Snow Demons, and they are both high-level demon races. Although several Frost Ghosts are inferior to Snow Demons, they appear in groups of dozens. If a large group’s leader often has a strength of Intermediate Battle King level or above.”
After speaking, he fell silent, his gaze occasionally shifting to the coniferous forest. There was a hint of struggle on his face, and the atmosphere seemed to have grown colder. The Priest girl even showed a hint of timidity on her face.
Just as the atmosphere became increasingly cold, Qiu Hui interjected, adding, “One more thing that Mr. Ludon did not mention is that whenever a Frost Ghost group appears, there is a very high probability of finding Snow Demons, because… once a Frost Ghost group moves out in large numbers, it is highly likely that they are hunting Snow Demons.”
The people on the scene looked at each other again for a while. Qiu Hui’s gaze swept over Su Jiu and found that she was still in thought. Finally, her gaze fell on the old Mr. Ludon. She pursed her lips and then slowly said, “Mr. Ludon, you understand the snowfield environment better than us, so you decide whether to go or stay.”
If it weren’t for Mr. Ludon, an Initial Stage Battle King, they wouldn’t have been able to go there.
Sensing the gazes around him, Mr. Ludon pondered for a moment, looked up at the still-midday sun, grabbed the wine bag at his waist, and took a big gulp. “Frost Ghosts are not as strong during the day, so they generally do not hunt during the day. It was most likely scouts warning us not to approach.”
“If we go in now and only explore the traces of Snow Demons in the marginal areas, even if we are surrounded by Frost Ghost groups, we can still escape easily.”
After a discussion, everyone approved the suggestion of the experienced old adventurer. After tidying up, they all shouldered their backpacks and set off towards the snowfield ahead.
Su Jiu, following at the back of the team, remained silent. A hint of confusion hung on her brows – it was too strange. Why did the Frost Ghosts shoot arrows at them? Doesn’t this indicate that they were right there?
According to the local who traded magic crystals with her, it seems that Frost Ghosts have killed many humans. In winter, when they need to store meat, wouldn’t it be better to hunt humans like them?
After walking for about ten minutes, everyone stopped. Su Jiu also slowly looked up, and the first thing she saw were three forks in the road.
The leftmost fork was very clean, with no traces of anything having stepped on it, only small squirrel footprints. The middle fork had a few large plum blossom-like footprints, and the rightmost fork was full of footprints, just as the big man from Bear Country had said before.
“The left side might be the gathering place of Frost Ghosts, and the middle path is likely the territory of other carnivorous monsters. Let’s take the right path. Even the big-tailed squirrels can tread on it, so it must be a place with few carnivorous monsters.”
After a glance, Mr. Ludon made a decision, showing a rare smile. He walked slowly towards the right path, waved to everyone, and signaled them to follow him.
“Wait a minute… look at the footprints on the road to the left, do they look like they were caused by normal walking?”
Just as Qiu Hui and the others were following Mr. Ludon, Su Jiu’s voice suddenly rang out. She pointed to the messy, humanoid footprints on the left, her expression very serious.
Everyone stopped and looked. After watching for a while, there were no more doubts, but only puzzled expressions. Qiu Hui frowned and retorted, “Do you think this is a trap set by monsters for us humans?”
Su Jiu nodded. Although she wanted to hunt more monsters, if there were many Frost Ghosts, she wouldn’t be able to take care of these people.
“How is that possible? Frost Ghosts deliberately hunting humans is a thankless task for them. Humans don’t have much meat.”
Hearing Qiu Hui’s retort, everyone understood Su Jiu’s meaning. The male student rolled his eyes, feeling quite inexplicable.
“There’s really no need to think so much. Look at the footprints of the big-tailed squirrels. These things are afraid of people and are very smart, so they won’t go to dangerous places.”
Mr. Ludon, who was in front, also shook his head, pointing to the footprints of the big-tailed squirrels. He clearly thought Su Jiu was being too worried. He continued, “Besides, what’s the point of the Frost Ghosts doing this? They could do nothing and wait for people to enter…”
“Then let’s go.”
Hearing everyone’s words, Su Jiu fell into silence for a moment. She looked up at the snow forest on the right, then moved her gaze to the top, looking at the plump, large squirrel gnawing on a pine cone. Her eyes flashed, and she also shook her head and said softly.
Anyway, as long as there were no demigods, even killing a small tribe would not be a big problem for Su Jiu.
…
“Jijie, jijie…”
After everyone left, about five or six minutes later, two figures floated out from the left passage, making strange laughter from time to time. If one looked closely, they would find that they were floating by manipulating qi, with their feet two inches above the snow.
After a brief pause, a big-tailed squirrel jumped down from the tree trunk and landed on one of the figures. Then, the two figures walked towards the fork on the far right.
Sunlight shone through the pine needles onto the two figures. They had the faces of monkeys, were covered in long black fur, and were shorter than humans. Two large fangs protruded from both sides of their mouths, with darkened bloodstains on the fangs. They carried a bow and arrow on their backs, and their quivers were filled with several ice arrows.
