Chapter 457 – Terrifying Snow Road (3k)
As everyone’s footsteps completely stepped onto the road to the right, the surroundings seemed to change inexplicably, becoming much quieter. The rustling sounds of animals seemed to have disappeared, and only the occasional cry of an eagle could be heard in the sky.
Suddenly, a shadow rapidly traversed the treetops, like a ping-pong ball being shot out, causing snowflakes to fall.
“What was that? Could it be another small animal?”
She muttered to herself, then a thumb-sized fireball shot out from the tip of Qiu Hui’s palm, aimed directly at the shadow that had passed through the treetops. The latter let out a squeal of “Squeak!” and began to fall madly.
Taking two steps forward, Qiu Hui looked at the big-tailed squirrel rolling in the snow, examined it for a moment, and then slowly stood up, waving her hands helplessly at everyone: “It’s just a big-tailed squirrel, a monster. Let’s keep moving.”
She had inspected many places, and there were no traces of snow demons nearby. Even the animal droppings were scarce, as if someone had specifically cleaned them up.
Facing the situation with the big-tailed squirrels, everyone was accustomed to it and quickly followed behind them and walked forward. Old Ludon, the old adventurer, picked up the big-tailed squirrel that was almost roasted and put it into his storage bag, muttering with a smack of his lips: “Tsk, these big-tailed squirrels are really fat. Are they storing fat for winter? They’d be good to eat with wine.”
Walking at the very back, Su Jiu felt something was wrong. So far, they hadn’t encountered a single snow-spewing beast, but instead, they kept encountering weak monsters, big-tailed squirrels, and other unranked monsters like snow rabbits.
It was too strange.
Moreover, in such extreme conditions, those big-tailed squirrels seemed too plump. Logically speaking, squirrels are just squirrels and wouldn’t store large amounts of fat for winter like the [Siberian Hamster]…
Unless – these squirrels were not wild, and were like the mischievous monkeys in Huayang that were raised to be spies.
“This smell… it’s the smell of rot.”
As the group’s figures went deeper into the denser jungle, sunlight seemed unable to penetrate the accumulated snow on the leaves, making its way into the forest. The surroundings began to become dark and damp.
Old Ludon, walking at the front, extended his hand and pressed slightly, slowing his pace. He said in a deep voice: “In places like this, monsters that like to ambush might appear. Everyone pick up your weapons and prepare for vigilance.”
“This kind of place is also where light-fearing monsters like frost ghosts might stay. It’s possible we might see snow demons too.”
As soon as Old Ludon finished speaking, everyone’s nerves tensed up. They advanced in an elliptical, semi-arched formation, each holding their weapons, looking around as they slowly moved forward. Their feet stepped into the thick snow and sank completely.
As they approached a snow-covered pine tree as wide as a person’s waist, an unpleasant smell entered their nostrils. Su Jiu stopped, her blood eyes flickering slightly. The sensitive sense of smell and perception of the Blood Clan allowed her to detect subtle things.
Her gaze swept over the roots of the snow-covered pine tree, where thick snow was covering the ground. Next to the thick snow were shrubs that looked like clumps of grass. To the left of the shrubs, there were dragging marks, as if someone had deliberately dragged them there to cover something up.
“Did you find traces of a snow demon?”
Seeing Su Jiu stop, everyone else also stopped. Qiu Hui looked at her with some confusion in her eyes.
Shaking her head, Su Jiu flicked her fingers, using her external qi to blow away the pile of snow that was the source of the subtle foul smell. With a muffled sound of snow being hit, the pile of snow was dispersed, revealing a corner of what was inside.
“What’s going on! You scared me!”
“Why are you hitting that pile of snow?”
Hearing the commotion, everyone looked over, their expressions showing a hint of surprise. They seemed to not understand Su Jiu’s actions.
“Ugh—what is that, why does it smell like a dead mouse?”
Suddenly, a pungent stench rushed towards everyone. The priest girl, who was closest, quickly covered her nose and looked at Su Jiu’s back, wanting to step forward to see what was inside.
“You all stay back…”
Su Jiu said softly, her expression solemn as she approached the source of the smell – a large black cloth buried in the snow, with a faint trace of aromatic firewood ash sprinkled on it.
Then, her fingernails extended to about a decimeter in length, and she slowly squatted down. With a slash, a gray light cut through the large black cloth below. The moment the black cloth was cut open, the smell of corpse mixed with the smell of blood billowed out like smoke, and the black cloth was also lifted.
“Snow demon…”
Su Jiu murmured softly. A gust of wind and frost blew, and under the black cloth was a face that closely resembled a human’s, with pointed ears characteristic of the Blood Clan. The face was devoid of any color, and the light blue eyes were completely frozen, caught in a moment of terror.
“Snow demon?”
Everyone suppressed the feeling of nausea that rose in their hearts. Old Ludon, in particular, showed an ecstatic expression and strode forward. When he saw the snow demon in the snow pit with its eyes wide open in death, he froze.
At this moment, a few university students exchanged glances and stepped forward. Their eyes fell on the black cloth that Su Jiu had cut open, and they all stood there, stunned.
“Not just snow demons, there are nearly a dozen human corpses here.”
After saying that, Su Jiu waved her fingernails, and a gray blade light shot out from the tip of her nails. She tore the entire black cloth apart. The snow from one side of the tree to about ten meters away was lifted, and the snow spray made the surroundings a blur of white.
Su Jiu casually waved her hand, and her external qi transformed into a gray streak, instantly vaporizing the snow spray. The visibility was restored, and her expression became slightly solemn as she looked under the black cloth.
Underneath the black cloth were piles of corpses, like small mountains. Among these corpses were snow demons and humans, men, women, old, and young, no less than dozens of them. The foul smell was coming from the human corpses on the side.
Near a human corpse, heat was constantly radiating. It seemed to be an alchemical heating cage that controlled the temperature, which had automatically activated, causing this situation.
“Are these all corpses?”
Looking at the frozen corpses in various states of death, and especially the human corpse at the very edge that had been cut in half and then frozen, an unprecedented chill surged from behind everyone. Even Qiu Hui, the “history senior,” was so shocked that she couldn’t speak.
“There are some adventurer clothes…”
Old Ludon stepped forward a few steps, pushed aside two corpses, and stared intently at a middle-aged male corpse among them. To be precise, it was the ice-crystal-like insignia on the corpse. His voice trembled slightly, and he subconsciously took two steps back, saying in a low voice: “Adventurer King, how could he have died in this place?”
“Don’t you remember what I told you? The road on the right has big problems. This is very likely a trap set by frost ghosts.”
Su Jiu’s eyes swept over the Adventurer King’s medal. Although her expression was solemn, she was not too flustered. This medal was the same as hers. The strength of the corpse’s owner was most likely in the range of Initial Stage Battle King to Intermediate Battle King.
Judging by the ice blades on the abdomen and arms that had not yet melted, it was unlikely that the opponent was killed by a single strong blow. It was most likely that they were overwhelmed and exhausted to death.
“Frost ghosts?”
Qiu Hui heard this and also came back to her senses. She turned to look at the girl whose expression was still calm. Seeing her composure, which was different from that of her peers, she felt a bit perplexed.
“Yes, these people were most likely killed by frost ghosts. Those frost ghosts are most likely waiting for us ahead. If it weren’t for the heater controlling the temperature to rise, causing the corpses to rot, we wouldn’t have noticed anything unusual.”
After glancing at the situation below, Su Jiu was able to deduce what had happened. She then turned to Old Ludon, whose expression had become somewhat grim, and said in a soft voice: “Let’s retreat directly back the way we came. It shouldn’t be night yet, and those frost ghosts won’t make a move easily.”
“That’s the only way.”
Old Ludon glanced at Su Jiu, nodded helplessly, and then waved his hand at everyone, signaling to return directly.
“Finally found you, young lady. Damn it, we’ve been toyed with by two dead monkeys for so long.”
As everyone was talking, a faint laugh rang out, and more than a dozen figures surrounded them, completely blocking the passage back. They were all wearing black combat suits.
“So you guys also do this kind of business. That saves me the trouble of digging a pit.”
The leader was a Bear Country person of the Intermediate Battle King level. He was dressed in a black close-fitting combat robe and was also of immense stature. A scar ran from his forehead to his neck. He casually swept his gaze over the corpses, and the smile on his face became even more unrestrained.
Seeing these people, the senior students were bewildered, but they also followed the former’s gaze to Su Jiu. She remained calm, exhaled a puff of white breath, and looked up, using her phone’s translator to transmit: “You’d better not do anything foolish there, otherwise, when the frost ghost tribe arrives, none of us will have fun.”
Although they couldn’t understand what she was babbling about, it was obvious to anyone that this was nothing more than an attempt to rob them.
“Who are you trying to scare?” The scar-faced man’s voice, through the simultaneous translator, reached Su Jiu’s ears. “The frost ghost group is on the road to the left. We encountered two frost ghosts on the way.”
“Two frost ghosts…”
Su Jiu muttered in a low voice, her brow furrowing. Scenes flashed through her mind, finally settling on the plump squirrels when they first entered. Her eyes sank completely.
Seeing that Su Jiu and the others did not react, the scar-faced man suddenly pointed in Su Jiu’s direction and coldly ordered the people in black: “Surround them all. I must have those two storage rings.”
“Yes!”
A neat chorus of responses came from his side, followed by a gust of wind. Shadows darted across the somewhat dim snowfield.
Everyone standing beside Su Jiu also held their weapons, looking tensely at their surroundings. Old Ludon’s face was heavy. He had only wanted to find live snow demons, but he didn’t expect to encounter this kind of situation where people were killed and robbed.
The scar-faced man also noticed Old Ludon’s adventurer clothes and his cultivation level. He squinted, revealing a playful look: “Master Adventurer, if you are willing to leave, I can clear a path for you now.”
