Chapter 52

"That is..."

Qiao Ning looked at the iceberg standing in front of her. The iceberg had sharp edges and corners, as if it had been carefully sculpted.

Where the iceberg meets the ground ice, there is a fan-shaped archway, also carved from ice. The archway is extremely wide and high, allowing Qiao Ning's Level 5 RV to pass through with ease.

She drove behind Binglin and went inside.

Icebergs are already majestic and spectacular from the outside, but I never expected them to be even more magnificent inside.

It should be a super-large palace built from an entire mountain, with ice and snow as the medium, sculpted into countless objects.

There are high platforms and beautiful pillars. Every so often, the walls are carved with pictures of strange beasts, each with its own unique shape and posture, so lifelike that it seems as if the next one will burst out of the ice wall and become a living creature with flesh and blood.

The murals on the ice walls blend seamlessly with this ice palace world. They are exquisite from afar and breathtaking up close.

The gate to the Ice Palace closed automatically after they entered. Qiao Ning examined it carefully; the gate could only be opened from the outside by the claws of the Ice Scales. From the inside, there was a mechanism that could be opened multiple times by placing a beast core inside.

"Do you usually live here?" Qiao Ning thought that Bing Lin lived a life of hardship, but she didn't expect that it lived in a big villa, which was as big as the whole mountain.

Icescale leaped skillfully onto a high platform and lay down. Its posture should have been one of looking down with an air of majesty, but its tail was wagging so much that it ruined the whole impression.

"Why are you going up so high? Are you afraid I'll hit you?"

"Awooooo."

"I've told you many times, don't call me an idiot."

"Aww..."

"This time you're screaming like a pig being slaughtered. Scream properly, make it more ferocious!"

"roar--"

Qiao Ning nodded; this time the pronunciation was correct.

The outside temperature was over fifty degrees below zero, but the ice palace wasn't that cold, probably only around thirty degrees below zero.

Qiao Ning opened the chat channel while sitting in the car and found that people from several districts were arguing quite fiercely, with even people from district 1408 getting involved.

After the system alerted players that they might encounter hail, tornadoes, and avalanches at any time, Zhang Tianye (1356) and Zhang Runxiang (1279) were subjected to a barrage of insults.

This is all under the condition that no one is in danger yet. If everyone were to encounter danger, I guess if someone were to die, they would drag them down with them.

Are your brains filled with cement, not glue? The game clearly warned you not to do certain things, but you had to be rebellious and stubbornly refuse to listen, right? Well, now look what happened, nobody's going to survive.

[I said, if you two want to die, why did you drag the whole district down with you? You must have had the worst luck to be assigned to the same district as two idiots like you.]

[I'm just waiting for the survival rate to drop below 20%. I honestly think everyone's chances of surviving are slim.]

[Don't be so pessimistic. Nothing's happened yet, right? The game shouldn't kill us all; some people will survive.]

I'm not afraid of death. Ever since I entered this game, it's been like I've been risking my life; I'm always prepared not to see the sun rise tomorrow. But I find it hard to accept dying such a pathetic death, being dragged down by people like you.

[Top floor, I've fought tooth and nail to survive this long, and I'm truly unwilling to die so inexplicably. Do any of you experts have a way to deal with this hidden natural disaster? I'll give anything for it.]

It's unclear whether the system made a lot of noise but did little, but while players were arguing fiercely in the chat channel, in reality, apart from a few people dying from the extreme cold disaster, no player encountered any hidden disaster.

Zhang Runxiang and Zhang Tianye have not shown up, but people from their respective servers have come forward to explain the situation.

[The two of them were teleported together by a spatial vortex. It has to be said that this vortex portal is incredibly buggy. If members of the same guild are teleported together, they're very likely to enter the vortex portal together next time, and any players who encounter them will be in trouble. It's lucky if they survive.]

[Zhang Runxiang has gathered a lot of brothers these past few days by exploiting this bug, all for the purpose of using the teleportation item to kill Zhang Tianye on the last day.]

To put it bluntly, it all boils down to past grudges. After Ye Jun's death, Zhang Tianye, a fence-sitter, betrayed Zhang Runxiang, infuriating him. Zhang Runxiang now harbors a grudge against Zhang Tianye. Now that he's found an opportunity, why wouldn't he kill him?

Both sides had reinforcements, but Zhang Tianye's side had fewer people and was forced to flee into the icy plains. Later, somehow, they triggered a hidden natural disaster.

That's pretty much the gist of it. Those two didn't fare well after triggering the natural disaster; they're probably close to death by now. I know Zhang Tianye; when I messaged him earlier, he said he was dying and had donated all his supplies to his guild members.

Shortly after the person finished speaking, Qiao Ning witnessed the number of online players suddenly drop by two. When she searched for Zhang Runxiang and Zhang Tianye's IDs, it showed that the players either did not exist or had died.

[What's wrong with Zhang Runxiang's thinking? What does Ye Jun's death have to do with Zhang Tianye? If we're being honest, it's a case of "out of sight, out of mind," or "kicking someone when they're down." Ye Jun brought it on himself, insisting on picking a fight with a girl from room 1408, and then dragging Qiao Ning into it. Who else would die if not him? Besides, Qiao Ning is still a whitelisted person; she doesn't even know how Ye Jun died.]

Even if he hates someone, he should hate Qiao Ning, not Zhang Tianye. He's just picking on the weak.

[What right does he have to hate Qiao Ning? Everyone in the district who's lived this long has benefited from Qiao Ning's kindness, big or small. To eat her food and then curse her is simply unethical.]

Since they're all dead anyway, there's no need to say anything more. At least fewer people like them will cause less harm to normal players.

Just as messages were scrolling through the chat channel, a player suddenly sent a message: "[I've encountered an avalanche!!! Oh my god, the road I'm on is about to be submerged! Help! The car's speed is nowhere near the speed of the avalanche. I don't have a teleportation portal. Does anyone have one to help me...?]"

He stopped speaking before he could finish, and no matter how many times people asked him, he didn't reply.

Players who tried to teleport him through the portal said he was already dead.

Qiao Ning also tried it, and sure enough, it showed that the player had died, and the Anywhere Door sent via email was returned by the system.

One player encountered an avalanche, which seemed to open the floodgates to hidden natural disasters. Hundreds or thousands of players were hit by hail, tornadoes, or avalanches within just half an hour.

Players who didn't encounter the hidden natural disaster weren't much better off. The system notified them that the temperature had dropped by more than ten degrees due to the hidden natural disaster.

Temperatures of nearly minus seventy degrees Celsius are almost unbearable for ordinary humans.

I suddenly realized I couldn't feel my nose, and when I reached out to touch it, oh my god, my nose had fallen off! I was completely stunned!

Thankfully, I was fortunate enough to exchange my talent experience book with Qiao Ning beforehand for a large quantity of medicine, including a bone-healing ointment specifically for treating injuries like frostbite fractures. Otherwise, even if I had survived, I would have been a noseless person, which is terrifying to even think about.

You're luckier than me. I suddenly got frostbite. At first, I didn't realize it; I just thought the low temperature had numbed me. If a friend hadn't reminded me to use the special medicine for frostbite, I wouldn't have been able to use the medicine even if I had it. Because I'd be frozen solid, almost like an ice cube, how could I possibly get the medicine out for myself?

Does anyone have cold medicine? Something that can treat fever and cough. I can trade other medicines for it! I had a slight cold a few days ago but didn't pay much attention to it. Just now, for some reason, my illness suddenly got worse.

I've been coughing incessantly, a terrible, unbearable cough that feels like I'm coughing my lungs out. I've already coughed up several mouthfuls of bloody phlegm. If this continues, I'm afraid I'll either die from the hidden natural disaster or from a cold and pneumonia.

[I'm desperately seeking frostbite cream at a high price. My frostbite has ulcerated over a large area; if it gets any worse, my entire leg will be ruined!]

Does anyone have an oxygen cylinder? For some reason, the oxygen level in my car suddenly dropped to an alarming low. If I didn't have an oxygen cylinder in hand, I probably would have suffocated from lack of oxygen by now.

I have all sorts of supplies, including skill books and talent experience books. Contact me if you need anything.

[Do any of you ladies have sanitary pads and painkillers? It's like a nightmare! My period was late, and now it's hit me right at this critical moment. I feel like there's a drill drilling inside my stomach!]

Qiao Ning saw the last message and quickly rummaged through her storage box to find some sanitary pads and painkillers to mail over. Without saying a word, the woman mailed over a book on talent and experience.

[Thank you so much, Sister Qiao Ning! I saw you were frequently buying these in the trading channel, so I figured you were probably short on experience books. Luckily, I had one, so I'm mailing it to you as a thank you. As for the other things, I doubt you need anything else.]

The talent experience book is extremely precious and cannot be obtained with these supplies. Qiao Ning simply mailed her some more medicine and rare daily necessities.

As time went by and night approached, more and more players encountered hidden natural disasters. Qiao Ning didn't care about anything else and immediately took out the Heavenly Questioning Scroll and entered her question into her mind.

How to deal with hidden natural disasters?

The Heavenly Scroll's answer was very detailed: Within the extreme cold calamity, there exists an extreme cold calamity beast. It possesses keen senses, able to discern people's good and evil, joy and sorrow. It can also foresee fortune and misfortune.

When it senses that it is about to be in danger, it will place its weak point, which is its heart, in a place that it feels is the safest.

Destroying the heart of the Frostbeast would strip the entire Frostbeast world of its primal power, thus halting the current natural disasters.

From its birth to its demise, the Frostbite Beast only recognizes one life. Its heart is impervious to water and fire, indestructible, yet it is as fragile as paper before the one it recognizes. Find the lucky one favored and cherished by the Frostbite Beast, and that person can easily resolve the hidden calamity.

Upon seeing this answer, Qiao Ning frowned and entered another question: [Where is the heart of the Extreme Cold Beast?]

The Heavenly Token's answer: [It's on you.]

Qiao Ning was stunned.

At that moment, the ice sculpture she kept close to her body in the inside pocket of her clothes suddenly became slightly warm.

That was a gift from Binglin to her.

Qiao Ning's fingertips trembled slightly beneath her sleeve. Undeterred, she continued to ask, "Is the Extreme Cold Calamity Beast the Ice Scale?"

Questioning the Heavens Coupon: Yes.

Upon receiving this reply, Binglin seemed to sense Qiao Ning's emotions. He jumped down from the platform, ran to her side in a few steps, lay down on his back with his belly exposed, and made funny gestures and faces, seemingly trying to amuse her.

Qiao Ning clenched her hands tightly, so hard that the veins on her hands bulged, as if she was desperately suppressing something.

After a while, she took the ice sculpture out of her bosom.

Qiao Ning met Bing Lin's clear, large eyes, forced a smile, and said, "Did you know from the beginning what I was going to do?"

"Since you knew that, why did you give it to me? You..." Qiao Ning's throat felt like it was blocked, and she couldn't continue.

What else could it be?

When the Frost Beast senses danger, it places its heart in a place it considers safe, so it gave its heart to her.

Even though it knew the danger came from the human it trusted, it still did it.

But Qiao Ning ultimately betrayed that trust.

She had never felt such self-loathing as she did at this moment.

Ice Scale looked at her with sincere and gentle eyes, raised its claws, pushed the ice sculpture towards her, and then nodded.

"Awooooo."

"I told you not to call me an idiot."

"Awoo." Ice Scale used its massive body to completely surround Qiao Ning.

Qiao Ning tried her best to hug it back.

He shattered its heart with his own hands.

The ice scales' embrace around her weakened until her body dissipated, leaving only a low groan that echoed throughout the vast ice palace.

Qiao Ning wiped her face, but strangely, no tears came. She felt she should cry, but for some reason, she just couldn't.

The natural disasters outside had stopped, but she suddenly started opening wish boxes non-stop.

Ten draws, twenty draws, thirty draws... until she had used up all the blind box coins, she finally drew a few more Wentian tickets.

"Is Icescale dead?" she asked.

The Heavenly Inquiry Scroll: [The Extreme Cold Beast has perished, but the Ice Scale is not. It may weaken to the level of a cat, dog, or ant, or it may temporarily disappear, but it will never truly die.]

Will I ever see Ice Scale again?

The Heavenly Quest: [From the moment it first encountered you in the face of natural disaster and came to acknowledge you, as long as it lives, it will strive to break free from the constraints of space and meet you.]

You are one of its chosen ones. Lucky player.

Qiao Ning was stunned again.

The first natural disaster?

Qiao Ning saw a large, bluish-black dog in her mind's eye. It was very smart and could open snack packaging bags by itself. When she took the supply box away, the dog showed no intention of attacking her.

That was the first "treasure-guarding monster" she encountered on the highway.

It turns out that those were ice scales in their weaker stage.

She hadn't been able to cry before, but now she was suddenly in tears.