Chapter 165 - 164: Ice Cones

Chapter 165: Chapter 164: Ice Cones

Sometimes, there’s no safety in numbers.

’Faced with so many enthusiastic Hunters who had come to help find him, Ye Zheng himself, if he was still sane, would probably be feeling an immense amount of pressure.’

Feng Ling and Li Qing returned to the group in silence.

The Hunters were more or less rested, and the group set off for Zone B once again.

Compared to their arduous trek through the biting cold of the Big Snow Forest, their journey through Zone D was incredibly smooth.

Li Qing multitasked, following the group while using his phone to search for information on Slavic Mythology.

Two hours later, the group finally reached the perimeter of Zone B.

The ground here was covered in Ice Cones taller than a man. A few dozen meters away, they could see a rippling spatial wall, and beyond it, a raging blizzard.

The Hunters looked daunted by the intense cold.

The blizzard in Zone B seemed even more intense and colder than the one in Area A.

Li Qing was browsing a web page when his phone’s signal dropped to a single bar, and the page failed to load.

He put his phone away and looked up for Feng Ling. He saw she had put her thermal suit back on and was preparing to enter the Maze in Zone B. He quickly cupped his hands over the Green Weasel in his arms, trying to keep it warm.

The group was silent, the atmosphere oppressive.

Perhaps the unbearable cold had extinguished the fiery passion in the Hunters’ hearts.

As they were about to enter Zone B, they could almost feel the blizzard inside the Maze, its wind sharp as a knife.

Xu Yiming, who was in the group, hesitated for a moment before calling out to Feng Ling at the head of the party. "Feng Ling, hold on a second."

Feng Ling turned back to look at him.

Xu Yiming turned to Su Yuqing behind him and said hesitantly, "Old Su, why don’t you stay out here? The blizzard inside looks pretty bad. If you go in with us, I don’t think your body can take it."

Su Yuqing coughed quietly, replying between breaths, "I came all this way just to find Ye Zheng. The Maze is right in front of us, and you want me to stay out here?"

He took a few more shallow breaths, his voice edged with urgency. "Enough. Let’s get going. Don’t worry about me. I have other clones, anyway. Just look after yourself."

"That’s not it. Can you stop being so stubborn?" Xu Yiming said with a frown. "In your current condition, you won’t be any help if you go in. I’ll have to find Ye Zheng while also worrying about you. Can’t you just do it to lighten my load?"

’Xu Yiming felt terrible.’

He was a social person with many friends, but he only had two or three true, close friends. Su Yuqing and Ye Zheng were among them.

Now, with Ye Zheng already missing, he would blame himself for the rest of his life if something happened to Su Yuqing too.

’As for Su Yuqing’s clone ability, Xu Yiming understood it better than anyone. Creating each clone took a massive toll on Su Yuqing! It was obviously better for a clone to survive than to die!’

The two of them began to argue outside the Maze.

’It wasn’t Feng Ling’s place to judge, so she could only watch from the sidelines.’

Just then, a Hunter in the group suddenly shouted, "Hey, look at these Ice Cones! There’s someone inside the ice!!!"

Everyone was startled and instinctively looked toward the nearby Ice Cones.

There happened to be an Ice Cone right next to Feng Ling. A quick glance revealed nothing inside.

These Ice Cones resembled chunks of ice formed from melting snow. They were thick at the base and tapered toward the top. Instead of being transparent, they were a murky gray, layered with trapped mud and dead leaves.

Feng Ling took a few steps closer.

A faint, human-shaped silhouette was encased within the ice.

’It was too blurry to make out any details.’

Just as she was wondering whether she should break the ice to investigate, another Hunter beat her to it—

CRACK!

The crisp sound of shattering ice.

It was followed by someone cursing, "Holy shit!" and all the Hunters crowded around.

"It really is a person!"

"It’s one of the Hunters who came in with us! His thermal suit is the same kind we’re wearing!"

Feng Ling hurried over to take a look as well.

A layer of ice had been chipped from the side of the Ice Cone, tearing away half of the corpse’s arm in the process. But what oozed from the wound wasn’t blood, but a red-and-white, gelatinous substance.

The scene was utterly bizarre.

’Judging by the corpse’s standing posture, the person must have been alive when they were encased in the ice. Why were there no signs of a struggle? And why had their insides turned into... this?’

Seeing one of their own killed, the Hunters grew agitated and indignant.

They scanned their surroundings vigilantly while starting to check the other Ice Cones, hoping to find survivors.

"There’s someone in this one, too!" another Hunter yelled.

Afraid of hurting the person inside, they were much more careful breaking the ice this time. But what they found was just a hollow shell of skin.

Xu Yiming examined it closely. There was no flesh, no bone—just a layer of skin, frozen as stiff as cardboard, inside the Ice Cone.

’Is this even human anymore?’

’It was as if... it had been sucked dry from the inside.’

"This person’s thermal suit is different from ours," Xu Yiming said thoughtfully. "Probably someone from the last expedition team."

At the mention of the expedition team, Su Yuqing immediately grew agitated. He pushed through the crowd, wanting to inspect the body himself.

Xu Yiming removed a watch from the husk’s wrist and sighed. "It’s not Ye Zheng. It’s Gu Xizhe."

He had seen the engraving on the back of the watch.

The crowd fell silent.

Gu Xizhe had been part of the first group to participate in the experiment. Although his Card’s growth later on wasn’t as remarkable as Ye Zheng’s, he was definitely one of the top Inspectors, and he was also very popular with the public.

But who could have imagined that an elite from the Inspection Bureau would meet such a gruesome end?

Some lowered their heads in silence.

Others’ eyes grew red.

Xu Yiming carefully put Gu Xizhe’s watch away in the innermost pocket of his clothes. "Let’s go," he said, his voice heavy.

Feng Ling glanced at everyone’s expressions and, sensing an opportunity, spoke up. "Even Gu Xizhe fell victim here. It must be extremely dangerous inside Zone B. We should split up."

Xu Yiming froze for a second, then looked up at her.

"I don’t care what you all plan to do. I’m going in," Su Yuqing said, his face cold.

He was still overwrought, a far cry from his usual reserved and humble self.

Feng Ling looked at the Hunters, her expression calm. "You all came here for the cleansing operation, and in truth, you’ve already achieved your objective. We eliminated a large number of Pollution Bodies in Area A. Entering Zone B to find someone was an additional objective. However, now that we’ve discovered the Maze contains highly dangerous, lethal creatures, I think you should all reconsider for your own safety. Make a careful choice. Is it really necessary to risk your own life to find a complete stranger?"

Xu Yiming nodded in agreement. "She’s right. The Maze holds too many unknown dangers. There’s no need for all of us to go in. I don’t mind sounding sentimental here, but choosing to stay behind isn’t cowardice. Someone has to survive to carry the torch. We can’t all die in there, right?"

The Hunters looked hesitant.

They didn’t consider themselves cowards. After all, they had signed up for this cleansing operation precisely because they had the courage to fight Alien Species.

But if the dangers in the Maze were too much for even someone like Gu Xizhe, it was enough to make anyone want to back down.

Just then, Li Qing added fuel to the fire, speaking slowly. "I think... I might know what kind of creature did this."