"Mr. Rime!"
At the sight of that figure, Xia Koya cried out.
But perhaps because of her voice—or perhaps because Mr. Rime had only been guiding them in the first place—it vanished from their sight in an instant.
"Follow it!"
Peony said gravely, then immediately got up and gave chase.
"Champion Xia Yan, shall we go together?"
Rather than following right away, Xia Koya asked Xia Yan for his opinion.
Xia Yan glanced at the raging snow outside and the countless Frosmoth. After a brief hesitation, he nodded.
Then.
The three of them immediately chased after Mr. Rime in the direction it had disappeared.
However.
The tunnel was filled with hard ice crystals that covered the ground.
As a result, even though Peony and Xia Koya wore snow boots, they could not move very quickly.
Xia Yan, on the other hand.
Wrapped in Psychic-type power, he walked across the slick ice as though it were flat ground.
Fortunately.
The tunnel itself was not very long. Before long, a massive underground cavern filled with crystalline ice pillars appeared before them.
The beams from their flashlights reflected and refracted endlessly through the ice crystals, instantly illuminating the entire cavern.
Mr. Rime stood silently in the middle of the cavern, leaning on its cane, as if it had been waiting for Xia Yan and the others.
"This is..."
Xia Yan slowly walked in and surveyed the mysterious cavern.
If he still did not understand that Mr. Rime had deliberately led them here, then all his years of experience would have been for nothing.
Peony followed close behind, bracing himself with an anti-slip walking stick, while Xia Koya tightly gripped the hem of Peony's clothes to keep from falling.
"An ancient temple?" Xia Koya said, sounding both doubtful and somewhat certain.
"Mm."
Peony answered