A Fever in Weather This Cold? (Part One)

The deeper Ye Chen followed Lan Lengshuang into the glacier, the worse he felt.

"Brother Lan, you've really done me in... If I'd known, I would've brought more clothes!" Ye Chen said through chattering teeth.

Lan Lengshuang frowned and took Ye Chen's arm in her small hand.

Ye Chen froze. Then a cool current flowed into his body.

Lan Lengshuang knew her stuff.

As she understood it, the temperature would keep dropping, and her ice could not reach such a low temperature.

If she transferred some of her spiritual energy to Ye Chen, he would feel better.

Ye Chen caught on at once. "What a good niece."

Behind them, Yan Feng watched the scene, so furious he nearly cracked his teeth.

Lan Lengshuang knew Yan Feng's fire would keep Ye Chen warmer, but given the relationship between those two...

Lan Lengshuang's gaze lingered on Ye Chen, and she let out a long sigh.

"...What a burden."

Ye Chen felt awkward. All right, for now, he really was a burden.

He silently called out to the system in his mind.

"Hey, when I check in later, give me something to keep warm. If you can't, anything fire-related will do."

"Got it!"

With the system's assurance, Ye Chen gave it a silent thumbs-up.

That's the Wish-Granting System for you! Love it.

They followed the compass's guidance—or rather, the Guidance Compass's. Its needle did not point south.

It pointed toward opportunities within the Secret Realm!

As mentioned before, Secret Realms were separate spaces left behind by ancient races or beast races.

Spaces left by beasts mostly contained innate skills and elemental Spirit Stones.

Those left by civilizations of the Human Race were more likely to contain equipment that boosted spiritual energy.

Suddenly, Ye Chen stopped. "Wait..."

He pulled Lan Lengshuang into a crouch and stared into the distance, his expression grave.

Lan Lengshuang said nothing. Ye Chen might be a pain, but he did not slip up when it mattered.

If he said to wait, something must have happened.

Sure enough, a village stood not far away!

It was crude, with a few wooden huts and several campfires.

Near the fires sat several unusual-looking humans dressed in animal skins.

"So these are the humans Old Zhang said lived in the Secret Realm." Ye Chen narrowed his eyes. Things had just gotten interesting.

Yan Feng, who was following behind them, noticed the village too.

The corners of his mouth lifted, and he quietly retreated several hundred meters.

"What do we do now?" Lan Lengshuang asked, looking at Ye Chen.

Ye Chen drew in a breath of icy air. "We don't know how strong these humans are. Better not make any rash moves... We'll have to go around."

Just then, a fireball flew toward Ye Chen and Lan Lengshuang.

The flames were scorching hot. Ye Chen hurriedly shielded Lan Lengshuang with his body.

After all, he could heal himself. A few injuries were nothing.

But if Lan Lengshuang was hurt, she might lose her ability to fight.

Yan Feng's fireball, however, was not meant to kill them.

As it drew near the two of them,

Boom! A tremendous explosion rang out, sending flames bursting in every direction.

Ye Chen's heart sank. "We're done for!"

He looked back toward Yan Feng, but Yan Feng had already vanished.

He hurriedly turned toward the village.

Sure enough, several native men were pointing their way and muttering among themselves.

Lan Lengshuang's lips went pale with fright. She did not have Ye Chen's powerful physique, and she had only reached the Third Awakening Realm.

"What... do we do now?" Lan Lengshuang swallowed.

Ye Chen grabbed her hand and ran in another direction.

"They've spotted us, but they don't know what we are yet. First, we need to get out of sight."

Ye Chen spotted a massive glacier not far away and sprinted toward it.

"Ye Chen, slow down. I can't keep running..." Lan Lengshuang said, gasping for breath.

At the Third Awakening Realm, she could no longer keep up with him.

Ye Chen frowned and scooped her up without another word.

"You..." Lan Lengshuang said shyly.

"Quiet. Hold on tight!" Ye Chen growled.

They had to get behind the glacier before the villagers tracked them down.

Luckily, the ground here was not covered in snow. Otherwise, they might not have been able to run at all.

Ye Chen was fast. Within minutes, he had carried Lan Lengshuang into hiding.

The two huddled nervously behind the glacier, watching for any movement nearby.

Suddenly, Lan Lengshuang seemed to remember something and patted her pocket.

"Oh no! I lost the Secret Realm Key!"

Ye Chen went still. That thing was their ticket home!

But he did not complain. He quietly climbed to a higher point on the glacier and surveyed the route they had taken.

Sure enough, the Secret Realm Key lay right where they had dropped it.

They had found the key, but Ye Chen could not feel relieved.

The natives were standing near it.

Ye Chen felt awful. This was the first time he had faced such a thorny situation.

He could not use Wood Release. He was like a broken gun, loaded with bullets but unable to fire!

In fact, Ye Chen had sensed something was wrong the moment he entered this Secret Realm.

Glaciers stretched as far as the eye could see!

He had tried to use Wood Release, only for the system to tell him:

"Wood Release = water + earth. So it makes sense that you can't use Wood Release without earth, right?"

Ye Chen: What??? Are you out of your mind? Doesn't that stuff appear out of thin air?!

"!!! Huh! Does it?... Give me some time, and I'll fix that problem with your ability..."

Ye Chen: What am I supposed to do now?

"Make scrambled eggs... Add some soy sauce. Figure it out yourself."

Then the system vanished...

Ye Chen shook his head and looked at Lan Lengshuang.

"Do you remember the direction the Secret Realm Key pointed? Let's go get the opportunity first." Ye Chen steadied himself, forcing himself to calm down.

If he could find soil in this frozen wasteland, he could start cutting down anything in his way.

"But..." Lan Lengshuang wanted to say more, only to realize there was nothing she could do.

She was in the Third Awakening Realm, yet she could not even keep up physically. Ye Chen had to carry her just to get anywhere.

At the thought, her eyes reddened without her realizing it.

I'm the real burden.

Ye Chen did not notice her distress. Instead, he took a pile of Spirit Stones and food from his storage ring.

"Right now, we need to replenish our strength and spiritual energy. If you run out of spiritual energy, I'm afraid I'll freeze to death here."

Ye Chen had no idea his words had rallied Lan Lengshuang.

That's right. I can keep Ye Chen warm. Without me, he'll die...

She nodded quickly and made an unexpectedly cute sound.

"Mm-hmm!"

Ye Chen was a little stunned. Why had she suddenly become so cute?

What happened to the aloof goddess?

When Lan Lengshuang noticed him staring, her cheeks suddenly flushed.

What's going on... Am I blushing? Impossible...

Have I fallen for him? No, no... Absolutely not.

Ye Chen watched her, thoroughly puzzled. Could she be sick?

He put a hand to her forehead, then touched his own.

"That's strange... Can you really get a fever when it's this cold?"

Lan Lengshuang: ...