74 Chapter 73: The Ice Soul Python’s lair (1/2)

Da Ge parked the car at the foot of the mountain, as promised, and we began the long journey up the steep slope.

”Hey, where's your weapon?”

Zhao Shi noticed something amiss when I followed the trio behind without anything. She had a hand on the sword sheathed at her hip at all time, while Da Ge was carrying a large broadsword on his back. Even Zi Xiao Ji had a short sword buckled to the belt of her cute dress. I was the only one who didn't seem to have a weapon.

”All the water in the atmosphere is my weapon,” I replied as I raised a hand and froze an ice sword into existence. Zhao Shi sighed and shook her head, annoyed at my response.

”That's not going to be enough.” Reaching into a bag, she produced a single sword and threw it at me. ”This is a spare sword. Keep it on you at all times.”

”…thank you.”

Glancing at the sword, I was impressed with the intricate Spirit Engraving inscribed into its blade. As expected of the Blood Blades. As the combat division and military arm of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, they were provided the best and highest quality Spirit Engraved armaments and equipment. This sword surely cost about 100 gold.

The Nine-Tailed Fox Sect clearly didn't spare any expense in arming their most powerful martial artists with the best weapons they had to offer. If this was a spare sword, I couldn't imagine what sword Zhao Shi was wielding. And even from the distance, I could feel the potent qi being emanated by Da Ge's clothed broadsword.

”Okay, let's go.”

When everyone was armed, Zhao Shi immediately formed the vanguard and went ahead to scout. Zi Xiao Ji followed in the middle, followed by Da Ge, who took rearguard duty. The trio obviously had a wealth of experience working together.

Feeling a little left out I lingered at the back, unsure of what I should do. Keeping a distance from the trio, I kept an eye out for magical beasts. My glasses went on overdrive, a small section displaying infrared vision to keep track of any sign of life, while a minute radar-cum-motion detector constantly scanned the area for any movement.

Where are all the magical beasts?

Certainly, the Arctic Mountain was cold as hell, and I couldn't see the ground because it was covered by meters of snow. Worse, there was a blizzard impairing our vision considerably, and if it weren't for my hi-tech glasses, I wouldn't be able to see more than a meter away from my face. As it was, the others probably had to rely on their qi senses. I had the benefit of both my glasses and my qi sense, so I wasn't as bogged down in the snow as the others.

Will they be all right, though?

I glanced at them, concerned. Unlike the students of Wu Ling Academy, the trio didn't receive any artificial qi. Only the students of Wu Ling Academy received artificial qi, but I honestly had no idea how it worked. The whole stages and level things confused me further, because it didn't seem like they were completely reliant on the amount of qi you possessed. In other words, just because you were rocking three sexagenaries of qi didn't mean you were of the Pure Spirit Stage or something. As I said, I had no idea how they classified stages and levels.

Maybe it had something to do with understanding and mastery of skills far more than qi. Or something like that. Who knows?

Still, it is strange how there's no sign of any life or magical beasts on the mountain. I'm pretty sure they would have adapted to the environment.

Yet my glasses or qi sense wasn't picking up anything. With a frown, I continued to keep an eye on the surroundings while doing my best not to lose track of my temporary teammates. In fact, Zi Xiao Ji noticed that I was falling behind and she stopped.

”Come on, Fei Wu!” she called out to me, waving. ”Hurry up! We should stick together!”

”Be careful, Miss!” Da Ge warned her, looking around in panic. ”Keep your voice down! Shouting here might cause an avalanche!”

”That's just a myth,” I corrected him as I caught up and shook my head. ”If you want to cause an avalanche, an explosion is a far more likely and much more efficient method. Sound is too weak to trigger an avalanche.”

”…huh?”

”They did a study a few years ago, and ruled out sonic booms and sound as triggers for avalanches. The most common cause of avalanches are winds…meaning we should watch out for the weather and hunker down whenever there's a powerful gust of wind.”

Da Ge and Zi Xiao Ji stared at me, impressed.

”How do you know that?” Zi Xiao Ji asked.

”I read a lot.”

”So what? That's all just useless trivia.” Zhao Shi had just returned from scouting and she snorted derisively. ”The main reason why you don't want to yell here is because sound carries…which will attract predators. Like an Arctic Wolf, or Blizzard Bear. Frost Wyverns are known to fly around here too, as well as Ice Dragons.”

”Ugh…” Zi Xiao Ji shuddered at that, but Da Ge merely smiled.

”Don't worry, Miss Zi. No matter what kind of monsters show up, we'll protect you from them.” he jabbed a thumb toward his broadsword. ”I'll cut them down with my Giant Slayer!”

”Honestly, it'll best if we avoid attracting their attention altogether,” Zhao Shi muttered. ”We're only here for the Ice Soul Python, so let's not waste energy and time fighting other magical beasts and monsters.”

That was certainly a wise decision, and I had no objection to that. Neither Da Ge nor Zi Xiao Ji protested either, so Zhao Shi continued to lead the way.

”Where are the magical beasts?”

It seemed that I wasn't the only person bothered by the complete absence of living things. There was no sign of any creatures, to the point where even Zi Xiao Ji was crept out. Da Ge pursed his lips as he glanced around, while the only sign of Zhao Shi was her distant back, which was barely visible in all this snow.

”Maybe they're hibernating,” I suggested. Da Ge frowned.

”But it's not winter yet.”

”It is winter all year around in the Arctic Mountain,” I pointed out. Da Ge laughed at that.

”That's true.”

”Even so, there should still be at least a pack of Arctic Wolves or a Blizzard Bear wandering around,” Zi Xiao Ji pointed out before shuddering. Whether it was from fear or the cold, I couldn't tell. ”I don't like this at all.”

”The Ice Soul Python's lair should be up ahead,” Zhao Shi called out to us from in front. ”There's nothing between us and the Ice Soul Python's lair.”

We had finally reached something that resembled a plateau built within the steep slope of the mountain. It wasn't exactly the peak of the Arctic Mountain, but it mercifully leveled off into a relatively flat ground.

”Phew…”

That made it a lot easier for us to traverse. And about time, too. The cold was biting right to the bone, sapping our energy and making it harder for us to move. If I hadn't practiced frost martial arts, I probably would have frozen to death by now. At the very least, I would have suffered from frostbite or something.

”The lair should be that cave over here.”

Zhao Shi seemed completely unaffected by the cold and exertion, and was standing right outside a cave. She coolly gestured for us to approach. Da Ge cautiously escorted Zi Xiao Ji as she hurried over, ensuring that we weren't walking straight into an ambush.

”Where's the Ice Soul Python?”

”Inside, obviously.”

Zhao Shi sighed and rolled her eyes at Da Ge's question. He grimaced, and grinned sheepishly.

”Sorry, that's not what I meant. I guess I should phrase my question further. Is it active, or asleep? Dormant in hibernation, or wide awake?”

”Ah. Well, it's not moving right now, at the very least.” Zhao Shi frowned as she stood at the entrance of the cave, closing her eyes and focusing on listening. Or so it appeared, but she was actually extending her qi sense to pick up any movement from the Ice Soul Python. As for me, my glasses picked up something massive inside the cave.

Oh boy…that's really huge!

Gulping, I made my way to join the rest of them while glancing around for more threats.

”It'll be disadvantageous for us to fight it inside the cave,” Zhao Shi said calmly. She had continued to face the interior of the cave with her eyes closed and her hand pressed against the icy rock wall. ”We should lure it outside.”

”How do we do that?” Zi Xiao Ji asked nervously.

And why is it disadvantageous for us to fight the Ice Soul Python inside the cave? I wondered. Then again, Zhao Shi had a point. This was the ice Python's lair. Obviously it had home ground advantage and was more familiar with the terrain than we were. Moreover, there wouldn't be much room for us to move around inside such an enclosed space, which would nullify our one advantage over such an enormous opponent – our speed and mobility.

Instead, I decided to answer Zi Xiao Ji's question.

”Well, if we copy a certain dongman adaptation of a certain web novel, even though those events never happened in the web novel and were dongman original, we would need to capture an Arctic Wolf pup and use the poor thing as bait to lure the Ice Python out of its cave. But obviously I am against this idea.”

”Why?” Zhao Shi asked, her eyes narrowing. ”Don't tell me you feel sorry for the Arctic Wolf pup, you hypocrite?”

”Uh…” I couldn't deny that. Why did the Arctic Wolf pup had more of a right to live than the Ice Soul Python we were hunting? And why wasn't I campaigning against the hunting of Arctic Wolf packs just so we could get their pelts, claws, teeth and monster cores?

”But it's too cruel…”

”We'll think of an alternative, then, Miss Zi.”

When Zi Xiao Ji protested, Zhao Shi instantly obliged, lowering her head and promising to find another way. Hey, wasn't her attitude toward Zi Xiao Ji completely different from her attitude toward me? Who was the hypocrite?

This is clearly an example of someone who has double standards…

However, I saw no benefit to arguing with a bitch when we still had a battle to attend to later, and just knit my fingers behind my head.

”I'll be the bait then.”

”Eh? Isn't that dangerous?” Zi Xiao Ji asked, surprised. Da Ge also shook his head.

”Don't be reckless, Fei Wu.”

”We'll think of something safer.” Even Zhao Shi was against the idea, which surprised me. I guess she didn't necessarily hate me or wanted me dead.

However, I stood my ground.

”Wouldn't it be the same either way? All I need to do is lure it to the open. I'll still end up fighting the monster sooner or later.”

”That's…”

I waved at them and stepped into the cave before they could protest. My glasses seemed to light up as they went into night vision mode.

”Wait…!”

It was too late. I was literally hurtling into the lair using my footwork techniques. This was a great chance to be practicing them once again. I had been getting rusty after two years of no use, and even though I had just recently assimilated my qi and was able to use them again, executing them in an actual mission and practicing them in a safe zone were two completely different things.

Where are you?

Truthfully, I was silent and stealthy, making no noise as I practically glided across the interior of the cave. Glancing around, I relied on my qi sense to track the beast when I realized how unreliable sight was, even with night vision activated on my glasses. There were far too many shadows, and a lot of the giant rocks suspiciously resembled a monster.