Chapter 149

"You have slain the Icefield Demon, and your strength will be recognized by everyone... Lady of Ice and Darkness once ordered us that if you survive the Icefield Demon, we will spare no effort to bring you to meet the great Lady of Ice and Darkness..."

After a brief pause, the leading Frost Priests spoke in an even more humble and respectful tone, "And you not only survived, but also defeated the Icefield Demon... Your achievements even surpass the imagination of the great Lady of Ice and Darkness."

"She wants me to see her?" Chen Ce asked, puzzled. "Why does she want to see me?"

"The Great Lady of Ice and Darkness wishes to discuss something with you..." The Frost Priests practically prostrated themselves on the ground.

"What's up?"

"Regarding darkness, regarding the abyss... the great Lady of Ice and Darkness needs someone with sufficient courage, strength, and talent to assist her... and you, my respected warrior, you are the best choice."

Hearing this, Chen Ce had already guessed what was going on.

Just like everything he knew about Lissandra.

But...

"Testing me like this, and in the end I have to go to her place and do all her work for free?" Chen Ce smiled disdainfully. "Your master is a bit too high-class."

"Hmm...?" Upon hearing this, the Frost Priests all looked up in surprise.

In their minds, the Lissandra is the queen of the entire Freljord and even the whole world, and all those who are favored by the queen will receive endless wealth, knowledge, and even power—a dream come true for everyone—even those who are hostile to the Frostguard.

But the man in front of me actually...

Is that dismissive tone a form of rejection...?

"You... you mean...?"

"Wasn't I being blunt enough?" Chen Ce shrugged, then stepped on the hilt of the Darkin Blade, launching it into the air.

"Let Lissandra come to me in person. If she's sincere enough, perhaps I'll agree to help her."

"A... a warrior...?!" The Frost Priests were both bewildered and nervous as they watched the departing figure.

They even felt that the other party was being somewhat ungrateful.

Their great Lady of Ice and Darkness is the most --

"Oh, right," Chen Ce suddenly stopped and turned back to add the last sentence, "Regarding the secrets beneath the abyss... I know everything Lissandra knows—I even know some things she doesn't."

The Frost Priests are no longer shouting.

Perhaps they need to re-examine this "outsider" from the Eastern Continent...

As night fell, Sejuani was still busy discussing the relocation with her people.

Chen Ce and Ashe found it difficult to interrupt as "outsiders," so they returned to their rooms to rest.

As for Rhaast and Aatrox, those two Darkin... well, they certainly can't sleep in the room.

They don't need to sleep either.

A sickle and a greatsword, left outside the door, can also serve as "watchdogs"—if any uninvited guests approach, Rhaast will immediately use the established mental connection to call out to them.

Hmm... I just hope Rhaast doesn't really go on and on about all the details of how he defeated Aatrox.

Aatrox is crazy enough; if he were to develop Jade Syndrome on top of that, things would be even worse.

On one hand, they loudly proclaim they want to destroy the whole world, while on the other hand, they secretly smear pearls and jade... Just thinking about that scene is terrifying.

"Chen Ce... do you really want the Lissandra to come knocking on your door?"

In the dimly lit room, Ashe, who was sleeping on another bed, tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

"Hmm," Chen Ce responded softly, "We have enough leverage, so we can't afford to lower our standards too much."

"But the Lissandra... you probably haven't heard of her... In Freljord, she's practically everyone's most terrifying nightmare..."

"A nightmare? But I've also heard that many people are her followers."

"A polarized reputation... In short, she's incredibly cruel to her enemies..." Ashe turned around, her beautiful, deep blue eyes fixed intently on the other person. "The Avarosan Tribe and Winter's Claw Tribe have only just escaped danger; if the Lissandra really comes..."

"It's alright." Chen Ce also turned his head to look into the girl's eyes.

I also took a look at Master Ai's interaction system.

[Hero [Ashe, the Frost Archer] Current Interaction Level: 40]

Of those forty, roughly half were goodwill and half were gratitude... a pretty good ratio.

The value is almost at fifty, which is enough to open a treasure chest...

"I know the Lissandra —her past, her strength, and her ways. We'll be fine, don't worry."

"This... alright..." Ashe lowered her eyelids silently, clearly still feeling uneasy. "Goodnight then, Mr. Chen Ce..."

"Okay, goodnight." Chen Ce waved his hand and extinguished the candles on the table.

But instead of going to sleep immediately, he muttered to himself with a hint of cunning, "The nights in Freljord are really cold..."

Upon hearing this, Ashe, a staunch feminist, immediately woke up from her sleepiness.

"You're cold... then you can have my blanket with you... I'm not cold!"

"Isn't this a bit inappropriate?" Chen Ce said as he took the blanket from the other person.

"It's okay, I'm not afraid of the cold!"

"Hmm... not good, not good..."

"Then... then I'll go find Sejuani and get you a blanket!"

"No need."

"Then..." Ashe looked puzzled.

Chen Ce simply smiled and patted his bed.

"You can come and build it together—if you don't mind squeezing in with me."

"Eh...?" Upon hearing this, the young girl Ashe was no longer sleepy. "But you... no... your status... I can't..."

"So Miss Ashe really is disgusted with me?" Chen Ce sighed softly. "So... it's because of my interactions with Miss Sejuani that you think I'm a fickle man... I was only trying to... sigh..."

"No, no... that's not true!"

"Then why don't you come over?"

"I... I..." Ashe's face was already turning red. "I'm cold... If I squeeze in with you... you'll definitely be cold..."

"But I'm warm?" Chen Ce pretended not to understand. "Isn't this perfect?"

"I... oh... that..."

"Miss Ashe is definitely looking down on me..."

"I didn't...!" Ashe gritted her teeth and jumped onto the other person's bed.

The instant their skin touched, she felt a wonderfully warm sensation— Chen Ce's body was indeed warm... so comfortable...

Wrong...!

"Um... I... I'll try to move a little to the side... so you won't get cold..."

"It's okay." Chen Ce took the initiative to move closer.

Their arms were pressed together again.

Ashe swallowed nervously.

The dark room gradually returned to silence, with only the clear sound of the girl's heartbeat remaining.

Chen Ce silently checked the interaction system... The favorability rating had increased a little more, that's good enough.

Having achieved his goal, he prepared to have a good long sleep.

But just then, the girl who was completely ice-cold made a move again:

"Um... Mr. Chen Ce... if we're going to keep sleeping so close together... actually, I have a way to keep you from getting so cold..."

"Hmm?" Chen Ce mumbled a questioning sound, still half asleep.

"Actually, I... well... although my body is cold, at least one part of me is relatively warm... so you won't get too cold..."

"Um..."

"If you don't mind... you can sleep right next to me... then... it won't be so cold..."

"Oh..."

"Then... then I..."

"Okay..." Chen Ce was almost asleep—today's battle had left him extremely exhausted.

Until he heard a rustling sound, like clothes being taken off.

Then, in his dazed state, he seemed to touch two soft, fleshy things.

Soft and warm...

With arms tucked between his legs...

"My heart... is warm..." The girl's faint voice rang in my ears, along with her warm breath. I could even feel her body temperature rising due to nervousness and the fine beads of sweat on her skin.

"If you don't mind... you can use any part of your body to warm yourself here..."

Chapter 31 Ashe: There's a bad man in there!

The Lissandra doesn't sleep in her main castle. She sleeps anywhere, in every place, nowhere. Sometimes she's everywhere.

Because her sleep is not the same as hibernation.

Back when Freljord was still a wild and untamed land—thousands of years ago? Or perhaps tens of thousands of years ago—from that distant era, she no longer needed to slumber.

In every sleepless night, the darkness before her eyes changes... She will never fall asleep, but she will enter the dreams of others.

She never slept in her main castle.

Because she is resting in someone else's dream.

The place where she chose to lie down was a vast underground cavern, large enough to hold thousands of fortresses. A sea of True Ice stretched from one end to the other. It wasn't the end of the noisy surface, but rather closer to a completely different kind of madness.

She visited this place often, and always alone, but she was never lonely.

Some call them monsters. Some call them gods. Whatever the name, those enormous shadows slumbering beneath the blanket of ice can only roam in dreams. Lissandra dutifully comes to check on them, ensuring their sleeping place is comfortable and secure.

The Watchers must not be allowed to awaken.

Having committed a mistake from countless years ago, she spent an even longer period of time making amends for that sin.

She lost her sight a long time ago. She can't see them, but perhaps that's a blessing—just feeling their presence is terrifying enough; those distorted beings can drive a person mad with just a glance.

"This shouldn't be happening..."

A sigh echoed in the endless abyss as Lissandra stretched out a hand into the darkness before her.

A large chunk of True Ice emerged from the ground—or perhaps it appeared out of thin air; in any case, it began to take on a unique shape.

A spherical piece of True Ice contains a cube of True Ice, making it look like an ice bed. The whole thing resembles a small house made of True Ice.

Or... a tomb. A frozen tomb.

Lissandra removed her hood and then ran her fingers across the ice. Her long hair obscured her face, concealing the lines of time, as well as the scars and hollows around her eyes.

She took a light step and walked towards the frozen void beyond.

Once the "tomb" completely enveloped her, the magnificent robe swept past her ankles and fell to the ground.

Her skin was very white, but not a healthy white... it was a pale, almost sickly white, like fresh snow, just like her beautiful long hair.

She sat on the ice bed, then slowly lay down. Her movements were as slow as if she were deliberately doing some kind of endurance training, but the elegance of her movements would put even the noblest royal princess to shame.

Some call her "the Dream Thief"... She doesn't particularly like this title, but she doesn't hate it either.

Because this is a fact. A very objective fact.

She lay completely flat on her back, her hands resting on her full breasts, which rose and fell slightly with her breathing.

She had long ago mastered the secret art of walking in dreams, allowing her to traverse incredible distances across this harsh land in an instant, repeating this journey hundreds of times before each dawn.

Sometimes, she even forgets where her body is.

Her consciousness began to drift downwards, passing through the True Ice, and then climbing upwards along the cliffs on both sides of the abyss.