87: Chapter 87 The Deadly Intent of a Frigid Night

The night turned the snow forest outside the Ice Waterfall pitch black.

Inside the cave, however, it was warm.

Thick logs burned in the fire pit, and only two oil lamps were lit, keeping the light dim.

Zhao Mengmeng cut the meat into strips and hung them above the fire pit to roast slowly.

The fat of the Snow Cave Hog was thicker than expected; as it melted and dripped into the fire, it made a faint sizzling sound.

Zhao Mengmeng squatted by the fire, holding a wooden skewer to turn the meat.

She had been busy all day, but her mouth still wouldn't rest.

"Brother Lin, that underground treasure from today, are you really not interested?"

Lin Ye leaned against the bedside, checking his wooden arrows.

"I am."

"Then why did you leave so decisively?"

"Interest is one thing, but life is another."

Zhao Mengmeng flipped the roasted meat.

"That makes sense, but it doesn't sound good."

"People who want to 'feel good' usually die quickly."

Zhao Mengmeng snorted.

"What about those two foreigners? Do you think they will come back?"

"They will."

Zhao Mengmeng's movements paused.

"Didn't you say they didn't find the cave?"

"They didn't find the cave, but they found fresh ice marks."

Lin Ye placed the arrowheads by the fire to dry.

"In this extreme cold, fresh ice marks mean there is activity nearby."

"Where there is activity, there might be fire, water, food, and shelter."

Zhao Mengmeng's gaze immediately darkened.

"So they left during the day because they didn't have the strength to rob us?"

"Correct."

"And they're coming back at night because they can't survive?"

"Or perhaps they want to try their luck."

Lin Ye steadily placed the arrows into the quiver.

"When people are about to freeze to death, their courage grows, but their brains shrink."

Zhao Mengmeng drew her dagger and wiped it vigorously on a piece of animal hide.

"I get it now. These bastards are here to pick a fight."

Great Xia Live Stream.

[ Those two foreigners from earlier today definitely have issues! ]

[ If I were about to freeze to death, I'd also look for a nearby shelter. This is an open conspiracy. ]

[ Brother Eye must have already set up the wires during the day, right? The arm guard has moved several times just now. ]

[ Using the Dark Weaver Nano-wire as a tripwire is so devious, but I love it! ]

[ I hope they know what's good for them and don't come here to throw their lives away. ]

Zhao Mengmeng finished roasting the first batch of meat and handed a skewer to Lin Ye.

"Eat something; we might have a fight tonight."

Lin Ye took it.

The meat was hot, and there wasn't much salt.

But in the minus thirty-degree extreme cold of the night, this was hard currency for survival.

After they finished eating the meat, they did not upload any supplies.

Although they had gained a lot today, most of it was just regular meat, which wouldn't do much to boost the nation's overall standing.

What he was looking for were the powerful artifacts that could truly reverse the national fortunes of Great Xia.

Zhao Mengmeng had no objections.

She knew very well that Lin Ye had his own extremely strict standards for selecting supplies.

Asking too much was useless; she just had to follow instructions obediently.

Time passed little by little.

The wind and snow outside the cave began to weaken.

But this was definitely not good news.

Heavy wind and snow could cover scents and tracks, and it could also deter many desperadoes.

Once the wind and snow stopped, those with no other options would start moving.

Wrapped in a cloak, Zhao Mengmeng sat by the fire, her eyelids beginning to fight sleep uncontrollably.

Lin Ye leaned against the bedside, resting with his eyes closed, the crossbow held steadily across his knees.

Suddenly.

Lin Ye opened his eyes.

Outside the cave, extremely light footsteps came from the snow near the Water Pool.

Creak.

Creak.

The sound was muffled by the thick Ice Waterfall and the wooden door, making it very faint.

But in the pin-drop silence of the cave, it was clear enough.

Lin Ye raised his hand to suppress the words Zhao Mengmeng was about to speak.

He pressed against the rock wall and walked silently toward the cave entrance.

He didn't open the door immediately; he just stood behind the gap and listened quietly.

There were people whispering outside.

Lucas's voice trembled with cold, yet it revealed an unconcealable greed.

"This ice has been smashed open again; someone must be living nearby!"

Martin's teeth chattered loudly.

"I told you not to come back! If the other party is a top-ranked monster, we'll die a miserable death!"

Lucas cursed irritably.

"We'll die if we stay in that broken cave too!"

"Wind is leaking in from both sides, the fire won't start at all, and by tomorrow morning, we'll both be frozen solid!"

Martin was silent for a moment in despair.

"Then what do you want to do?"

Lucas gritted his teeth against the cold wind, his voice harsh.

"Find the entrance. The people inside must have fire, food, and maybe even extra cold-weather gear."

"We don't necessarily have to kill them; we can just steal some while they're asleep!"

Martin immediately countered.

"Steal? Being discovered in a place like this that eats people is even worse than starting a fight!"

Lucas hissed in a low voice.

"Do you want to keep freezing and waiting for death, or take a gamble with me?"

Inside the cave, Lin Ye stood motionless behind the door.

If these two idiots couldn't find the real entrance, he would just wait for them to leave on their own when they couldn't stand the cold anymore.

Attacking rashly would only expose the location of the shelter.

Outside, footsteps began moving back and forth around the Ice Waterfall.

The sound of stones striking the ice layer rang out intermittently.

Thud.

Thud.

Lucas was persistently testing the thickness of the ice wall.

Martin's teeth were chattering uncontrollably.

"This damned place is all ice; there's no door at all."

Lucas gritted his teeth, unwilling to give up.

"We clearly saw broken ice during the day; those ice shards definitely weren't formed by natural water flow!"

"Maybe it was just hit by an animal."

"What animal have you ever seen that uses an axe to chop ice!"

Zhao Mengmeng gripped her knife tightly and was about to move closer, but Lin Ye reached out and pressed down on her shoulder.

The knocking sound outside was getting closer and closer to the eaves passage.

Lucas had been frozen to the point of delirium during the day, yet he still remembered the location of the ice shards.

Martin's voice grew increasingly panicked.

"Lucas, let it go! To be able to carve a path behind an Ice Waterfall, the other party must be a killing god."

Lucas sneered repeatedly.

"No matter how tough they are, they're just a Challenger. There are two of us, and the other party might just be a single sick ghost."

Martin's voice began to waver.

"What if it's Lin Ye, the one at the top of the Great Xia leaderboard?"

It went quiet outside instantly.

The wind howled past.

Lucas's breathing paused for half a second; he was clearly stunned by the name.

But driven by hunger and cold, he braced himself and persisted.

"Lin Ye would never live in a godforsaken place like this!"

"If it really were him inside, we would have been dead by now."

Inside the cave.

Zhao Mengmeng's lips just started to curl upward when Lin Ye's gaze pinned her in place.

The Great Xia Live Stream chat was going crazy.

[ Hahaha, French guy, you guessed half of it right; it really is Lin Ye inside, but you're not dead yet. ]

[ This guy's logic is okay, but unfortunately, his conclusion is ridiculously wrong. ]

[ To actually dream of stealing from Brother Eye's home, that level of audacity is enough to get him killed eight hundred times over. ]

Lucas continued to grope along the ice wall.

Suddenly, his hand touched the ice shell on the outside of the eaves.

The ice layer was very irregular.

A wooden board was frozen inside, revealing only a tiny, out-of-place corner.

He swung the stone in his hand and struck it.

Crack.

The ice shell cracked open a fissure.

...

Inside the cave, Lin Ye's expression darkened.

A few more hits, and the eaves passage would be exposed.

He turned his head, pointed at Zhao Mengmeng, and then pointed back at the crossbow by the fire pit.

Zhao Mengmeng understood immediately.

She grabbed the crossbow, loaded a sharp bone-tipped wooden arrow, and handed it to Lin Ye.

Lin Ye held the crossbow with one hand.

With his other hand, he silently pushed the wooden door open just a tiny crack.

A biting cold wind poured in.

He slipped out through the door gap and crouched quietly behind the pitch-black passage.

He leveled the crossbow.

The bone arrowhead, through the crack in the ice, locked onto the blue, frozen face below.