Under Jiang Hao's horrified gaze, the face began to distort and rearrange itself, finally becoming a face identical to his own.
Jiang Hao: ???
What was this supposed to mean? What the hell was this female version of Jiang Hao standing before him?
Still, she was pretty good-looking. Those eyes were just a little frightening.
"Were you talking to me?"
Without her even opening her mouth, a shrill voice, neither male nor female, rang in Jiang Hao's ears.
Jiang Hao obediently nodded. This mighty being before him was very likely the legendary Snow and Ice Banshee, and a talking one at that. He wouldn't dare step out of line!
The banshee suddenly took out a T-shirt and held it before Jiang Hao, saying coldly, "I wasn't saving you. I merely wanted to confirm whether this belonged to you, because it carries your scent."
After a pause, the Snow and Ice Banshee continued, "Someone disturbed my dreams. When I left my cave, I found this discarded at my entrance. I also smelled two other distinct scents, but I couldn't find their owners."
So you followed this shirt's scent and found me!
Jiang Hao couldn't help smiling bitterly. What sort of situation was this? Was it good or bad? Hopefully not the latter.
The Snow and Ice Banshee gave Jiang Hao no chance to speak.
"Human cub, how do you intend to explain this? If you fail to give me a satisfactory account, I will throw you into the Fire Demon Cavern and let you suffer the agony of flames consuming your body."
Jiang Hao swallowed. His mind was a tangled mess of panic, but he tried hard to remain calm and sort out his thoughts first.
"Snow and Ice Ban-Senior Snow and Ice, you said you found this shirt at this cave entrance? I'm not denying that it's mine, but may I ask how far this place is from the avalanche site?"
She was quite pleased by Jiang Hao's nervousness. It proved that humans' fear of her was innate.
"Not far. Just on the other side of the mountain."
Jiang Hao silently breathed a sigh of relief. That made things easier.
"Senior Ice and Snow, after you realized you'd been awakened, how long would someone need to escape your range of perception? With my speed, do you think I could get from here to the other side in such a short time? Besides, you mentioned two other scents at the entrance. I believe my companions can vouch that I never left their side."
Since you only brought me back, those two scents couldn't have belonged to Chubby and the others. That helps clear my name, doesn't it?
Jiang Hao's reasoning left the Snow and Ice Banshee deep in thought.
"Senior Ice and Snow, now that our misunderstanding has been resolved, may I leave? Thank you again for saving me."
Whether she had meant to save him or not, being polite couldn't hurt.
"Your explanation only temporarily clears you of suspicion. If you agree to do me a favor, I will let you leave."
Jiang Hao's scalp instantly prickled. If even you can't do it, wouldn't it be even more impossible for me? Put plainly, you just don't want to let me go so easily.
"Senior Ice and Snow, if even you can't do it, I certainly can't. The green mountains remain unchanged-"
"If you won't help, what use is there in keeping you alive?"
"Senior, please tell me whatever you need done. Even if I must climb a mountain of blades or plunge into a sea of fire, I am duty-bound!"
Quite satisfied with Jiang Hao's attitude, the Snow and Ice Banshee pointed into the deepest part of the ice cave. "Keep walking in that direction, and you will reach the Fire Demon Cavern. It is filled with magma and seas of fire. Go and remove the Lava Heart for me. You may keep it."
I was just fucking saying that, and you're really sending me into a sea of fire! Are you kidding me? Can't you follow the usual script?
With a miserable expression, Jiang Hao was intent on refusing. "Senior..."
"If you succeed, I will grant you three requests. You may ask for anything."
Without hesitation, Jiang Hao promised, "Rest assured, Senior. It's just a sea of fire, right? Piece of cake!"
With that, he was about to rush toward the entrance to the Fire Demon Cavern.
"Wait. Take this. If you encounter the Fire Demon, you can snap it to save your life."
The Snow and Ice Banshee plucked a long white hair from her head and handed it to Jiang Hao.
Good grief, even a single hair can save my life. If I complete the task, what requests should I make to get the most out of this?
Taking the hair, Jiang Hao eagerly rushed into the Fire Demon Cavern. The ice cave was enormous, stretching several hundred meters from its entrance and roughly a hundred meters across. Despite it being an ice cave, Jiang Hao couldn't feel the slightest chill.
The farther he went, the higher the temperature rose. Beyond a cluster of ice pillars, a faint red glow shone from within, eerily strange.
The passage continued downward. After walking another half kilometer or so, the temperature had reached several dozen degrees. Jiang Hao had no choice but to strip off his clothes. Even in nothing but his underwear, he felt as though he was about to be cooked.
Damn it, had she bewitched me?
Why else would I agree to something this ridiculous?
Finally, when Jiang Hao passed through the tunnel and reached the entrance to the supposed Fire Demon Cavern, he saw an underground cavern several times larger than the ice cave. It was densely packed with magma pools like an enormous honeycomb. Bubbles constantly rose through the scalding magma, and when they burst, even the air burned.
By now, Jiang Hao was drenched in sweat, only for the intense heat to evaporate it rapidly.
This wouldn't do. Merely standing at the entrance was already leaving him on the verge of dehydration. If he stayed any longer, he would surely be roasted alive.
Just then, the hair wrapped around his wrist released a bone-piercing chill.
The chill swiftly drove away the heat surrounding him. Jiang Hao raised his wrist and saw the hair dissolving at a rate visible to the naked eye.
This won't do. If I don't find that so-called Lava Heart before the hair disappears, the task will definitely fail. With the chill protecting him, Jiang Hao no longer hesitated and stepped straight into the Fire Demon Cavern.
Between the magma pools ran narrow paths half a meter wide. Following them to the center, Jiang Hao finally saw the so-called Lava Heart.
On a slab of lava rock two meters in diameter, a red, gemlike stone continuously radiated light. Beneath that light, the magma in the nearby pools grew extremely active.
Even more astonishingly, beside the Lava Heart lay a head-sized Red Mosquito. The mosquito lounged leisurely on the lava rock, its long proboscis raised as it sucked up the light radiating from the Lava Heart.
With every sip, its expression grew more intoxicated, and its body became a brighter red.
Jiang Hao froze. This thing is the Fire Demon?
Isn't that a little slapdash?
A mosquito this enormous clearly wasn't an ordinary creature. There had to be a reason the Snow and Ice Banshee feared it.
So how could he steal the Lava Heart without alerting this mosquito?
"Bzz?"
The giant mosquito suddenly turned to look at Jiang Hao. He jolted. How had he almost forgotten that demonic beasts naturally had a keener sense of smell than humans, especially creatures like mosquitoes and flies, which were even more sensitive to scents?
He had been discovered!
"Bzz, bzz, bzz."
The giant mosquito beat its wings and flew toward him, aiming its long proboscis at Jiang Hao. His face went pale with fright. If that thing stabbed him, it would probably hurt like hell!
Merely picturing the scene sent a chill down his spine.
"Battle Chicken, come out!"
Afraid Big Hen couldn't endure the intense heat outside, he wanted to tuck the hen into the crook of his arm. But Big Hen was too large, so he had no choice but to ride on the hen's back instead. It looked rather ridiculous, but thankfully, Big Hen could just barely support his weight.
If this hen grew a little bigger, couldn't I ride around everywhere? And fly, too! Wouldn't that make a perfect flying mount?
As though he had discovered a new continent, Jiang Hao grew increasingly hopeful about Big Hen's future!
Wind Orb!
Six-Shot Fireball!
Two eggs shot toward the giant mosquito one after the other, bouncing along before exploding in direct hits.
- 1 Miss
What the hell?
Seeing that damage, Jiang Hao was so horrified that he nearly questioned his entire life. The -1 was bad enough, but the fireball that struck afterward actually registered as a miss. He had only ever seen that happen while fighting monsters in the Simulation Game, never in reality. In other words, this giant mosquito's strength had to be far above his Beast Pet's-or could it be immune to all fire skills?
Neither possibility was something Jiang Hao wanted to see. The giant mosquito moved incredibly fast, arriving before him in the blink of an eye. Its proboscis was about to stab his face, and Jiang Hao had no doubt that it could punch a hole straight through his handsome features.
To protect that face, Jiang Hao had no choice but to waste a use of Lure to forcibly draw it away.
Thankfully, this creature wasn't immune to every skill. Once the giant mosquito had been lured away, Jiang Hao hurriedly snapped the white hair.
In an instant-
A blizzard descended upon the Fire Demon Cavern.
Two realms of ice and fire!
Snow fell above, while fire burned below, creating a bizarre spectacle throughout the Fire Demon Cavern. The falling snow quickly melted in the intense heat, and the temperature plummeted. The blizzard was quite powerful, too. At the very least, the sudden storm sent the giant mosquito darting about like a headless fly, as though it had encountered its natural nemesis. Every snowflake that touched its body dimmed its color a little.
The white hair in his hand was disappearing even faster than before. In just a few seconds, a third of it was gone. He couldn't wait any longer. Jiang Hao looked toward the Lava Heart.
That thing must be scorching hot. Grabbing it recklessly would probably melt me into worthless slag. So how am I supposed to take it away?
At his wits' end, Jiang Hao happened to see two snowflakes fall toward the Lava Heart one after the other. Before the first could get close, the light radiating from the heart melted it without a trace. Yet that very snowflake blocked the light, allowing the second to settle firmly on the Lava Heart. Miraculously, it showed no sign of melting.
So the Lava Heart itself isn't actually hot. The real heat must come from that light. And considering how the giant mosquito was feeding on it, shouldn't I be able to take the heart away as long as I block its light?
Time waited for no one. Jiang Hao looked himself up and down, then resolutely stripped off his sole remaining pair of underwear. Holding them, he stared at the Lava Heart. Everything hinged on this one attempt.
Seeing that only half of the white hair remained, Jiang Hao hesitated no longer and threw his underwear toward the Lava Heart.
"Sss, sss."
Before you continue