[Vol. 9] Chapter 56: A Song of Ice and Fire
From the mountain entrance all the way deep underground, the road was naturally very long. Veranica lit a torch and walked under its weak glow for more than half an hour before finally noticing the environment around her start to change. It became warmer, more humid, and the air carried the unique sulfur smell of a hot spring.
This meant she was already close to her destination.
From here onward was the range affected by the strange fire poison inside the spring. Veranica stopped to think for a moment, then grabbed a large handful of Snow Spirit Grass from the half basket she carried on her back before continuing forward.
Snow Spirit Grass was a special plant that only grew in snow-covered lands. It carried a strong natural cold energy inside, which could also be called a kind of cold poison. This cold poison wasn’t deadly in an instant, but it was very hard to remove. If it built up in a body over time, or if someone directly ate the plant, it could still take their life.
The fire poison in the hot spring countered it. By fully soaking Snow Spirit Grass in the water, the cold poison inside could be purified. But the opposite was also true, the plant’s cold energy could to some extent resist the unpleasant aura that surrounded the spring.
In the past, Veranica had never dared, nor needed, to risk her body in this way. But now, the situation left her no choice but to gamble and try.
The Snow Spirit Grass felt icy cold in her hand. And perhaps it wasn’t her imagination. When she held a large bunch close to her chest as she approached the spring, the strange, hard-to-describe feeling of discomfort in her body really did ease a lot. Veranica’s heart instantly steadied.
It seemed her guess was right.
This underground hot spring was clearly a naturally formed place. In the dim stone cave, more than a dozen pits of different sizes were scattered around, all filled with steaming pale-white water.
The largest pool stretched more than ten meters wide, covering several hundred square meters. Even the smallest was a few meters across. Just getting close, waves of heat rushed out to meet her.
Normally, Veranica would throw all the collected Snow Spirit Grass, basket and all, into the hot spring to soak. Once the color of the plants faded from blue-white to light white, it meant the cold poison was completely removed, and they could be eaten. Then she would immediately leave.
But today, she was here for something different.
After looking around, Veranica chose a spring pool of medium size. She put her basket down, pulled out a large bunch of Snow Spirit Grass, and stuffed it tightly against her chest!
The intense cold spread through her skin the moment she held it close. Even standing by the hot spring, Veranica couldn’t help but shiver, her face filling with an icy-blue chill.
Forcing herself to endure the discomfort, she didn’t hesitate. A flash of determination and fierceness lit her eyes. Throwing off her coat of ice-bear fur, she leapt straight into the hot spring!
Splash!
Her tall, slender body hit the water, sending up great waves. Having lived her whole life on Icefang Island beside the frozen sea, Veranica naturally knew how to swim. She quickly adjusted her position and tried her best to adapt to the environment around her.
As always, the spring water wasn’t boiling hot. At least, it wasn’t enough to burn her skin apart. But the fire poison lingering in the spring became much stronger the moment her skin touched the water. Veranica instantly felt as if she were trapped inside a steamer, her whole body burning with heat.
Only the Snow Spirit Grass pressed tightly against her chest gave off bursts of cold, balancing out the effect to some degree.
Good. It seemed her gamble had paid off.
Just as she had guessed, since both the Snowgrass and this hot spring were naturally formed on Icefang Island, and both were things that did not seem normal, it was very likely that some kind of special connection existed between them. If she could make use of this connection, she might be able to enter beneath the hot spring and try to uncover the secret buried deep below.
Veranica’s goal was very clear. A hot spring could not create fire poison out of nowhere. There had to be some kind of power source hidden below, while the spring water was only underground water that had been nourished by it.
If she could find the treasure before those mysterious people arrived, then even if they later took control of this place, she would already have gained the most benefit and secured an advantage in the chaos to come.
Thinking this, the leader did not dare to waste time. She quickly swam along the inner walls of the hot spring, hoping to find where the underground water came from, or to discover some unusual object.
But the deeper she went, the hotter the water became. Even though the Snowgrass on her chest kept releasing a cool and refreshing chill, it was still not enough to cancel out the endless burning heat pressing all around her. Though she was underwater, Veranica felt as if she were being slowly cooked in a boiling pot. Even with her strong Ice Demon body, she began to feel dizzy and lightheaded.
The hot spring was never clear. Its cloudy, whitish water greatly limited her vision, which made her search much slower. At first, she had hoped to examine the whole spring in one dive, but in reality, by the time she was almost out of breath, she had not even managed to explore half of it.
“……”
The burning pain on her skin kept growing worse, turning into a sharp, stinging heat. The cold energy from the Snowgrass on her chest was also fading quickly. This meant that the Snowgrass had been soaking too long, and its cooling power was almost used up. She had to return to the surface and rest, or it would be too late.
Veranica felt unwilling. She had come here many times before, so she knew well how much damage the fire poison in the spring could do to the body. Once it entered, it would take at least several days of rest to recover. So even if she returned now to breathe and replace the Snowgrass, her body likely would not be able to handle another deep dive into the spring.
And if she waited several days, who knew what the place would look like by then? By that time, she might not even get a scrap of leftovers.
After much hesitation, the girl could only let out a stream of bubbles that carried her sigh.
Sigh… forget it. Maybe I was too greedy.
The truth was, her coming here today was a gamble, just to try her luck. She had already been blessed by the Snow God to monopolize this treasure ground for years, and with it she had built up such a large gang. Since she did not have the strength to truly guard it, there was no need to force things. The wise choice now was to preserve her condition as much as possible and prepare for the chaos soon to come.
Fortunately, she had brought plenty of Snowgrass this time. As long as she soaked and stored all of them properly, her gang should still be able to hold out for at least half a month.
With this thought, Veranica calmed herself down and was ready to give up her unrealistic hope. Using the last of her breath, she began to swim back to the surface.
But just then—
Ding~!
In that instant, a flash of silver light, bright as the stars, suddenly appeared before her eyes and then vanished just as quickly. Although it only lasted for a moment, in this murky hot spring it stood out so clearly that it immediately caught Veranica’s attention.
That was…?