Liu Qingbo let go of his grip and let the Fumo Sword fly out. The Fumo Sword encountered the ice soldiers like a wolf entering a flock of sheep, reaping them like cutting leeks. Wherever the sword light went, the heads of the ice soldiers fell to the ground, while their bodies remained in the moment of charging forward. Looking around, the ice soldiers without heads were neatly lined up.
“It’s a bit like the Terracotta Army,” Liu Qingbo murmured as he sheathed his sword.
“I wonder if the people behind us will be scared when they see this,” Dong Zhi said, looking at the headless soldiers with amusement.
“The ground is cracking!” Li Han’er shouted.
Everyone looked down, and sure enough, the ground under the feet of the ice soldiers cracked and quickly spread in all directions. At the same time, the gray sky began to snow. The snowflakes quickly gathered in the air and turned into sharp ice cones, raining down like arrows from above! The sudden attack caught everyone off guard, and they had to wield their swords to defend themselves. Although they had encountered icicles and ice soldiers before, they thought this place wasn’t much different. Although they didn’t say it, they subconsciously relaxed their vigilance, and they were immediately caught off guard.
The icicle rain was extremely fast and dense. Zhang Song was slightly careless, and his shoulder was immediately scratched. This was because he dodged quickly. If he had been a little slower, his shoulder would have been pierced. But on the other hand, Li Han’er wasn’t so lucky. Her sword wind was a bit slower, and a stray icicle fell and directly pierced her palm. Dong Zhi heard her scream in pain, turned around, and saw her hand covered in blood.
Yang Shouyi yelled, “We have to go back to the ship!”
Liu Qingbo said, “No, it will be even more difficult to land again if we go back. We can’t retreat at this time!”
There shouldn’t be any icicles in the castle, but the castle was still about thirty meters away from them. Dong Zhi estimated the distance in his heart and shouted, “Han’er in the middle. Everyone else around her. Weave a net with your sword qi. I’ll shout, and we’ll run together. Pay attention and keep the same pace!”
This was indeed a good idea. Everyone moved at the sound of the shout, blocking the icicles from above while retreating to the middle until they surrounded Li Han’er. Then, at Dong Zhi’s command, everyone began to run towards the castle.
Except for Li Han’er’s sword-holding hand injured, which she was unable to defend herself, five people—four swords and a whip—covered their heads, and their protective qi washed over them. They formed a shield of white mist that dissipated the icicles into white steam as they came into contact with the sword qi and whip wind.
But this was also extremely exhausting. By the time the six of them ran into the open gate of the castle, they were all gasping for air and unable to speak.
Li Han’er’s palm was pierced by an icicle, leaving a bloody hole. Luckily, it wasn’t poisonous. After Liu Si treated her with medicine and gauze, she was able to move her hand. Although her movements were still a bit sluggish, she could still hold a sword with no problem.
Liu Qingbo and Dong Zhi began to look around.
Upon closer inspection, they found that the castle’s gate was originally locked, but now the lock was broken. The building was entirely constructed of ice and snow. Even the gates and walls were filled with beautiful Victorian-era paintings and sculptures. In the center of the castle’s first floor hall, there was a huge statue of a person, at least three or four meters tall. The face wasn’t very clear, but it was wearing a beautiful dress, and even the jewels on the necklace it was wearing, as well as the slightly curled short hair, were vividly depicted.
“It’s just a place for a competition. Is it necessary to spend so much money and effort on it?” Zhang Song sneered.
“This is Elizabeth’s life-size statue. It must have been created by her. Group 51 only gave us a deserted island and a large glacier.” Octopus Meika explained.
“Life-size statue?” Dong Zhi was surprised. “Are you saying Elizabeth is that tall?”
Octopus Meika said naturally, “Yes. Compared to me, she’s still very small. Every time I talk to her, I have to shrink to her size, which is very inconvenient!”
Dong Zhi was speechless, thinking that William’s information was indeed correct. The other party said that the golden apple was in the hands of a colossal woman, and it was indeed a female giant.
Liu Qingbo picked up Octopus Meika from Dong Zhi’s shoulder.
“Will your friend set any traps for us? You’d better tell us everything at once. Otherwise, we’ll roast you and eat you as a snack!”
Octopus Meika blinked its remaining eye. “I don’t know. Elizabeth does like to play pranks, but she’s just mischievous and won’t harm me!”
Liu Qingbo rolled his eyes. “You have tough skin and flesh, so you won’t be hurt. We’re different. Her prank just now was already at the level of murder!”
Octopus said, “But the organizers did say that we should try our best to hinder you. Otherwise, we won’t get paid!”
Liu Qingbo cursed the organizers in his heart.
Normally, these obstacles were nothing. At most, they would suffer some injuries and lose some blood. But in the current situation where the remnant soul of the heavenly demon was lurking, trying to awaken some ancient monster, these tests had become a nuisance and added to their troubles.
Dong Zhi pointed to the ice chips on the ground. “Someone has been here before. There should be no danger in the hall now. Even if there are traps, someone has already stepped on them.”
Octopus also said, “That’s right. Let’s hurry up and find Elizabeth. I feel a very dangerous energy lurking underground here, slowly awakening. If we find Elizabeth, she can use the ice to suppress whatever is down there and prevent it from awakening.”
The group walked through the magnificent hall and quickly entered the adjacent corridor. Sunlight streamed in through the exquisitely carved windows, making the sparkling ice crystals shine and creating a stunning and gorgeous scene. It was like a work of art.
Compared to the clueless octopus, its giant friend had a very high sense of aesthetics. If it weren’t for the urgent situation, Dong Zhi almost wanted to slow down and admire the building, even sketching every detail of it.
On one side of the corridor, there were even ice sculptures of various shapes. There were knights holding long swords, women holding torches while holding up their dresses, and—
Even a Frenchman aiming a gun with a look of anger and surprise on his face?
“Isn’t this one of the people from the French team?” Li Han’er exclaimed. She couldn’t remember his lengthy name, but she recognized his appearance.
There were seven ice sculptures in the corridor, and two of them were French, one holding a gun and the other holding a long, curved warrior sword high above his head, frozen in mid-air with a shocked expression on his face.
“This is Elizabeth’s favorite game,” the octopus said. “Turning living things into ice sculptures. She’s frozen me before!”
Dong Zhi asked, “Can they be restored?”
“Of course,” said the octopus. “When the temperature rises and the surface melts, they can come out.”
Although this trick was harmless, no one wanted to be frozen inside it.
Liu Qingbo said, “If there is no risk to our lives, let’s not bother with them. Let’s go. We still need to find the heavenly demon!”
Dong Zhi was speechless but took out two sunlight talismans and threw them at the two ice sculptures. The symbol fires burned on the foreheads of the sculptures, melting the ice slowly, but it didn’t last long before the talisman fires burned out.
After all, he wasn’t skilled in using the fire talismans, so the effect wasn’t very good. Dong Zhi scratched his head and shamefully said to Zhang Song, “Lao Zhang, can you help out?”
Zhang Song reluctantly took out a fire talisman and said, “Why waste it on them?”
Dong Zhi grinned and said, “Let them melt slowly. As long as they can come out, it’s fine. There’s no need to rush.”
Zhang Song cast out two fire talismans that hung over the ice sculptures’ heads. The flames were much larger than Dong Zhi’s sunlight talismans and didn’t burn out as quickly. Under this kind of roasting, the heads of the ice sculptures slowly began to melt, and it wouldn’t be long before the two people inside could get out.
The group didn’t stay in one place for long. Behind the corridor were one room after another, modeled after European castles, with portraits hanging on the walls, draped four-poster beds, and European-style sofas, but everything was made of ice. The luxury made people feel chilly.
They passed through the rooms and walked up the stairs at the end of the corridor, going up to the second floor, then the third floor, which were all much the same. Because the octopus said that Elizabeth might be on the top floor of the castle, they didn’t look at each floor carefully until they stepped onto the staircase of the fourth floor. Suddenly, without warning, countless icicles fell from above.
“Fall back!”
Icicles fell like rain, forcing them to take refuge in the nearby corridor and stopping everyone from moving forward.
“Hey, you guys!” A cry rang out not far away, and a dark face appeared in the sight of Dong Zhi and his companions. “Follow me, I know another passage that leads up!” The person beckoned to them.
“I recognize him. He is Kenta’s friend. Let’s follow him!” Dong Zhi said.
Dong Zhi had a deep impression of Suge because Kenta, a disciple of Master Xinchai, had introduced him and said that he was also an apprentice of some kind of witch doctor. Suge was outgoing and talkative and had even invited Dong Zhi to visit Thailand at the time.
Now, seeing Dong Zhi and the others retreating, Suge hurriedly said, “Kenta and the others are upstairs. I’ll take you there!”
“Have you found the golden apple after all this time?” Dong Zhi asked.
Suge was panting as he replied, “We’ve been trapped on the sixth floor, along with the French. Everyone is trapped in an ice cage, except me. It’s so good to see you. I can’t save them alone!”
He led the group to the end of the corridor, where there was indeed a narrow staircase. It was easily mistaken for a dead end because it was blocked by a wall, causing people to miss it.
“Is Kenta also on the sixth floor?” Dong Zhi asked.
Suge nodded. “Yes, he is.”
Suge led the way, and Dong Zhi and the others followed behind. Suddenly, Octopus Meika said, “I sense an evil aura approaching.”
Liu Qingbo retorted angrily, “Aren’t you one of the evil auras too?”
Suge was taken aback and turned around. “Who’s speaking?”
“Our new friend we just met,” Dong Zhi said with a smile.
Octopus Meika was unhappy with Liu Qingbo’s comment. “I am a worker assigned by the organizing committee, not an evil aura! Haven’t you been to a haunted house? I’m like one of the staff inside, being beaten and scolded for little pay!”
Li Han’er was surprised. “You actually know about haunted houses? Have you been to the human world?”
Most of the time, this octopus seemed like a naive creature, but sometimes it displayed unexpected intelligence.
“I haven’t been there, but Elizabeth has. I heard it from her,” Octopus Meika said.
Dong Zhi brought the topic back. “Where is the evil aura?”
“I don’t know. It was close just now, but it seems to be getting farther away,” Octopus Meika replied.
Everyone was confused and had no idea what it was talking about.
Then, Liu Qingbo, who was walking behind Dong Zhi, suddenly tapped him on the knee.
Dong Zhi was caught off guard and instinctively fell forward onto the steps. The people behind him also stopped.
“What’s wrong, captain?” Liu Si, who was behind them, couldn’t see what had happened.
Suge also stopped and looked confused.
“It’s nothing. Liu Qingbo just had another fit of madness. I’ll teach him a lesson after we get the golden apple,” Dong Zhi said lightly.
Liu Qingbo rolled his eyes.
The others were completely bewildered.
Only Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo knew what had just happened.
Just a moment ago, Liu Qingbo hit Dong Zhi’s upper body and caused him to fall crooked on the steps. He had to use his elbow to support his body, and his gaze naturally lowered. From his angle, he happened to see Suge’s steps up the stairs, but he discovered a shocking phenomenon.
Suge’s heels didn’t touch the ground but were slightly raised upward with a small and subtle arc. It wasn’t obvious, so they hadn’t noticed it before, but this was obviously very abnormal because no normal human would walk like this.
Unless they weren’t human.
In the hotel in Changchun and on Changbai Mountain, those who were killed by monsters and manipulated as puppets all walked like this.
However, Suge spoke and behaved normally, and even his anxious emotions were just right. The bells on Dong Zhi and the others’ bodies hadn’t even rung. If it weren’t for Liu Qingbo’s sharp eyes, they wouldn’t have noticed it at all.
Dong Zhi was almost sweating with anxiety, but he didn’t say anything, not even glancing at Liu Qingbo. He continued to follow Suge as if nothing had happened, but one hand had quietly reached into his pocket, ready to use the sunlight talisman at any time. He intentionally slowed down his pace and argued with Liu Qingbo. Liu Qingbo also noticed his intention and cooperated very well. The two of them argued from the fourth floor to the sixth floor. Li Han’er and Liu Si thought they really had a falling out and quickly tried to stop them, but Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo didn’t stop, but instead their arguing intensified.
“Liu Qingbo, don’t think I won’t do anything to you. If you have the ability, fuck off then!”
“Who do you think you are? It’s just because your master is Boss Long that you were able to become the team captain. Otherwise, how else were you chosen?”
“Then you can fuck off now!”
“Do you want me to leave so you can go back and complain? I won’t!”
Liu Si and Li Han’er looked at each other, not understanding why the two of them suddenly argued as if they were going to fight for real, even though they often argued with each other. However, they were also worried that things would really get out of hand. Liu Si quickly advised, “Qingbo, just talk less!”
Li Han’er also said, “Yes, Captain, we’re close to the golden apple. Don’t start infighting now!”
Dong Zhi snorted, unusually tough. “What infighting? He and I are not on the same side. He always puts on airs and thinks he’s better than others. Look at Lao Zhang and Lao Yang. Who isn’t dissatisfied with him?”
Zhang Song: …I didn’t say anything this time!
Yang Shouyi: I got shot even when I’m not even involved.
Despite the two of them arguing loudly behind, Suge never turned his head and kept walking forward. The others were busy trying to stop them and didn’t notice this detail. Only Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo secretly paid attention. As soon as Suge stepped onto the sixth floor, two sword lights shot at him from behind, unexpectedly from Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo, who had just been arguing fiercely!
However, Suge seemed to have eyes on the back of his head. He jumped up flatly and leaped more than three feet high, directly rushing up to the top of the dome like a monkey. At the same time, he let out a creepy laugh.
“Long time no see, my friend. How have you been?”
The voice sounded like it came from underground, and yet it seemed to surround them from all sides, sometimes far away and sometimes near.
The octopus shouted, “It’s the evil aura!”
Without needing to say anything, Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo already knew that the remnant of the heavenly demon were indeed hiding in the shadows, waiting for them to come to it.
Suge flew up to the dome and rushed towards Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo again, holding a huge icicle that he had broken off a wall sculpture halfway through, and thrusting it towards their heads!
His expression had lost its liveliness, appearing dull and speechless. His limbs seemed to be controlled by invisible threads, and his whole body was like a puppet without free will, becoming a tool of the demon to kill his companions.
The icicle came down, and everyone scattered to avoid it. The ground, also made of ice and snow, was hit with a huge force, and a hole was blasted open. Cracks rapidly spread from the hole. Before they could grab onto something to stabilize themselves, the ground collapsed with a loud noise!
One level, two levels, three levels…
The collapse was like a domino effect, unstoppable. The ice and snow buildings were sturdy yet fragile. Once the supporting points collapsed, the entire structure could no longer be sustained.
Dong Zhi, Liu Qingbo, and Liu Si were walking at the forefront and were the unluckiest. The three of them fell from the sixth floor, but they quickly realized that even though they had reached the first floor, there was no solid ice on the ground as they had imagined. Their bodies were still falling rapidly until they fell into cold water.
Li Han’er, Zhang Song, and Yang Shouyi, who were walking behind, managed to grab onto an unbroken ice ladder and escape unscathed.
They turned pale as they watched their companions fall.
“Let’s go save them!” Zhang Song wanted to jump down but was pulled back by Li Han’er.
At the critical moment, the cool headedness of women came into play in their minds.
“We must first find Elizabeth. Meika said that Elizabeth is the owner of the ice castle, and only she has the power to suppress the heavenly demon and the monster it wants to awaken and avoid greater disaster!”
“Han’er is right!” Yang Shouyi also realized. “The captain and the others are powerful and should be able to hold on for a while longer!”
“Let’s go!” Zhang Song hesitated for a moment but made up his mind and climbed up the remaining ice ladder.
Saltwater rushed into their noses and mouths, and their bodies were instantly enveloped in coldness. In the unfathomable ocean, the three of them lost the composure of practitioners and could only struggle to survive like ordinary people.
Although Liu Si had transformed from a willow tree, his water skills weren’t particularly good; he could barely swim. His thick clothes became heavier after being soaked in seawater, and he was soon dragged down. At this moment, a tentacle reached out and wrapped around his arm, pulling him up.
After surfacing, Liu Si finally breathed a sigh of relief. He found that the octopus monster had become a lot bigger. Although it was not as exaggerated as when it was first encountered, it was now as big as a round table with ten people sitting around it. Even the tentacles have become thicker so it was no wonder they could be dragged out of the water.
“Oh my god, if such a beautiful ice castle is smashed into a big hole, Elizabeth will go crazy!”
Hearing the octopus complain in his ear, Liu Si raised his head, and he saw the ice building above his head with a huge hole. Although this only occupied a corner of the entire ancient castle, the castle wouldn’t collapse in a short time, so how could they have fallen directly into the water from the sixth floor? Wasn’t the ancient castle built on an island? Did they smash through the island?
Before he could think of an answer, there was the sound of violent fighting not far away.
The sea water rose from the sea from time to time and immediately turned into a human form, just like the guardian of the sea god Poseidon in mythology, holding a halberd, while attacking humans.
The object of their attack was three Frenchmen.
There was nothing here except for inexhaustible seawater in all directions and an endless stream of shape-shifting sea monsters. The exhausted Frenchmen who were fighting against them were still unable to break free from their grasp. Bullets were useless against these sea monsters formed from water, and swords could only serve as self-defense. However, when these sea monsters swung their halberds, they could truly cause harm to human bodies.
When Dong Zhi and them descended, the three Frecnhmen were already covered in wounds and in a sorry state.
Now, the sea monsters had discovered a new target: three Chinese people.
The waves surged and condensed into humanoid forms in mid-air, wielding halberds and slashing down towards Dong Zhi.
“Don’t hurt my friend!” Octopus Meika angrily shouted.
The sea monsters paused for just a moment before continuing their attack.
Dong Zhi quickly rolled to the side, not caring about his posture, as survival was the most important thing. Octopus Meika exclaimed in surprise and fear, “They seem to be controlled by an evil aura and aren’t listening to me at all!”
The French, who had previously looked down on Dong Zhi and his companions, suddenly saw them descend from the sky. Even the French captain, who despised Dong Zhi the most, became so excited he couldn’t help shouting.
“Dong! Dong! Dong!”
“Stop shouting! We’re not deaf!” Liu Qingbo retorted. He swung his sword and split a sea monster in half turning it into a puddle that accumulated on the ground. But more sea monsters quickly emerged from the water, making it impossible to kill them all. It was no wonder that the exhausted Frenchmen were already as good as dead, even though they were still standing.
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