166: Teacher Bai, hold on tight!

Ten minutes later.

Two figures slid down ropes into the bottomless Sinkhole.

The further down they went, the more bone-chilling the temperature became.

The rock walls were covered in icicles, both slippery and cold.

"Watch out!"

Bai Qingshuang's foot slipped, and she let out a cry as she lost her balance.

Her waist suddenly tightened.

A large hand, like an iron pincer, pulled her firmly against a burning chest.

Lu Fan held the rope with one hand, as steady as a rock.

Their bodies were pressed tightly together.

Through the thin combat suit, she could feel the explosive contours of his muscles and his steady, powerful heartbeat.

"Hold on tight, Teacher Bai."

Lu Fan's voice rang out above her head, carrying a hint of playful raspiness.

Teacher Bai.

This form of address made Bai Qingshuang's body tremble violently.

Before the apocalypse, she was a respected teacher.

After the apocalypse, she was a decisive leader.

Only this man dared to peel away her disguise so flippantly.

And yet, she didn't dislike it.

Even... a long-lost flutter of emotion stirred in the depths of her heart.

"Let... let go, I can walk."

Bai Qingshuang's face flushed, her voice softening.

Lu Fan let go, but he still stayed in front of her, blocking the cold wind blowing from below.

That broad back was like a mountain.

Looking at this silhouette, Bai Qingshuang felt an inexplicable sense of security.

This feeling of being protected... it had been too long, far too long since she'd felt it.

After her husband died, she forced herself to be strong, forced herself to be cold-blooded.

Only at this moment did she dizzily remember that she was also a woman.

"We're here."

Lu Fan's voice pulled her thoughts back.

The two landed.

The bottom of the Sinkhole was a massive underground karst cave.

Eerie blue moss grew all around, looking like a dream or a hallucination.

"Dragon Blood Moss."

Lu Fan narrowed his eyes.

Only the nests of high-level mutant beasts would grow such things.

It seemed that monkey was even stronger than the intel suggested.

"Follow me closely."

Lu Fan drew his Tang sword, karma slasher.

In narrow terrain, a sword was more useful than a bow.

He walked ahead, his silhouette an insurmountable barrier that walled off all the chill and danger.

Bai Qingshuang followed behind him, her gaze involuntarily falling on his tensed back muscles.

Images from the treatments over the past few days forced their way into her mind like crazy.

The temperature of those hands, that touch that was both shameful and intoxicating... "What am I thinking!"

Bai Qingshuang shook her head violently, her cheeks burning.

In a life-or-death situation, she was actually thinking about such things!

Just as she was distracted.

"Hiss—!"

Several white shadows shot out from the rock crevices overhead, fast as ghosts!

Ice Slaves!

These low-level mutants enslaved by high-level Ice Demons were deathly pale, moved on all fours, and had claws as sharp as razors.

"Watch out!"

Bai Qingshuang cried out, her spiritual power not yet condensed.

Clang—!

A crimson blade light burst forth fiercely in the darkness!

Lu Fan didn't even turn his head, striking back with a single slash.

The movement was as casual as shooing away a fly.

Three hideous heads flew into the air; before the foul-smelling black blood could hit the ground, it was completely evaporated by the heat wave from the blade.

Lu Fan sheathed his sword, turned around, and looked at her with a half-smile.

"What are you dazing out for, Teacher Bai?"

He took a step closer, his breath fanning against her face.

"Getting distracted at a time like this deserves a spanking."

Bai Qingshuang's cheeks turned crimson, both ashamed and annoyed, but she couldn't say a single word.

Strong.

Too strong.

This was true, absolute crushing strength.

She couldn't help but think of her son back at the base who lived in a daydream.

Both were men.

But the difference was as vast as clouds and mud.

An unspeakable disappointment welled up in her heart.

"Let's go."

Bai Qingshuang lowered her head, hiding the complexity in her eyes.

The two continued deeper.

Finally.

In the deepest part of the cave, they saw that terrifying existence.

It was a giant beast that was currently sleeping.

Its body had ballooned to over ten meters, covered entirely in diamond-like ice armor.

With every breath, it exhaled white freezing gas.

On top of its head, a single horn was growing, radiating a suffocating pressure.

"It... it's evolving?!"

The color instantly drained from Bai Qingshuang's face, and her voice was trembling.

"This is... about to break through to Level 5... Monarch Rank?!"

The intel was wrong!

It's over.

Facing a monster of this level, they were just two snacks.

"Lu Fan... run..."

Bai Qingshuang instinctively grabbed Lu Fan.

"Run? It's too late."

Lu Fan's voice remained terrifyingly calm.

He stood in front of Bai Qingshuang, the Tang sword in his hand humming with a thirst for blood.

"Besides... with me here, you won't die!"

Those few simple words were like a red-hot steel rod, thrusting deep into Bai Qingshuang's panicked heart.

"Roar!!!"

The giant ape woke up!

It lunged to its feet with a roar that made the entire cave tremble.

Boom!

The giant ape smashed down a fist, cracking the ground as countless ice spikes erupted and shot toward them!

"Get back!"

Lu Fan shoved Bai Qingshuang aside, his Tang sword slashing out a curtain of light that ground the ice spikes to pieces.

Bai Qingshuang gritted her teeth, forcibly mobilizing her spiritual power.

"Psychic Piercing!"

The invisible attack slammed into the giant ape.

The giant ape only shook its head, immediately becoming even more enraged.

Red light flared in its eyes as it let out a counter-roar!

“Pfft!”

Bai Qingshuang spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying, slamming heavily against the rock wall.

Despair.

This was the gap in levels.

Seeing countless ice spikes about to impale her.

A figure stood in front of her.

Instead of retreating, he advanced!

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The sword light was like a waterfall!

Lu Fan held karma slasher, shattering all those lethal ice spikes.

But he also seemed to be 'struggling'.

With every strike he blocked, his steps retreated half a pace, and his face turned a shade 'paler'.

"Lu Fan! Don't worry about me! Go on your own!"

Watching that silhouette struggling to hold on, tears burst from Bai Qingshuang's eyes.

He clearly could have run.

But to save me... "Shut up."

Lu Fan looked back, a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, yet he smiled with incomparable arrogance.

"I brought you down here."

"As long as I'm not dead, not even the King of Hell can take you!"

These words completely shattered the last line of defense in Bai Qingshuang's heart.

This was a man!

This was a man truly worthy of her entrusting everything to!

"Roar!"

The giant ape was completely infuriated.

It clasped its hands together, blue light flaring across its body.

Ultimate move!

Absolute Zero Storm!

Countless ice blades, carried by a frigid current, covered the entire space.

There was nowhere to hide.

Bai Qingshuang closed her eyes in despair.

The next second.

A warm embrace shielded her firmly underneath.

Lu Fan didn't dodge.

He lunged over, using his own back to take the hit head-on!

“Pfft!”

It was the sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh.

Lu Fan's body trembled violently.

“Pfft!”

A large mouthful of scalding blood sprayed onto Bai Qingshuang's snowy neck and chest.

It was his blood.

It was so hot that her soul trembled.

"Lu Fan!!"

Bai Qingshuang hugged him like crazy, looking at the bloody hole in his shoulder, her heart aching so much she couldn't breathe.

Lu Fan lay on top of her, his face as pale as paper, his breath weak.

"Cough, cough..."

He weakly raised his hand to wipe the tears from her face.

"What are you crying for... you silly woman..."

"I said... with me here... you won't die..."

At this moment.

All the hard, cold things in Bai Qingshuang's heart were completely melted and swept away by this hot blood.

The dignity of a leader, the reserve of a widow—all of it shattered into powder.

In her world, only this man remained, the one who didn't hesitate to trade his life for hers just to save her.