470: Chapter 470 Where did that long tongue come from?!

Chen You was not sure if it was because his body was protected by the Nine Revolutions Primordial Chaos Art, with his pure yang spiritual power warding off all evil, that he had not been cursed.

But thinking about the possibility of him getting hit too, sticking his tongue out and licking everything everywhere, he would lose all face!

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Find the source of the curse." Bingbingde walked to the long table and extended a finger to sketch on the icy surface.

A topographical map of Aurora City quickly took shape.

"The initial infected all came out from the Abyss Ice Mine."

"That mine shaft is located five thousand meters beneath the city. I sent three elite squads down to investigate, and all of them lost contact."

Bingbingde raised her head, and her featureless face seemed to reveal a sense of pleading.

"The energy reserves of Aurora City are about to be exhausted, and the Absolute Zero seal can only be maintained for three more days at most."

"Three days later, this city will become a nest for Lick Lick Monsters."

"By then... everything will be over."

Chen You stared at the map on the icy surface.

The system prompt sounded in his ears.

[Ding! Main Quest "Frozen Past" has been updated.]

[Quest Objective: Investigate the truth behind the 'Lick Lick' curse and clear the pollution source at the bottom of the Abyss Ice Mine.]

[Quest Reward: 10 million Experience Points, Aurora City Reputation increased to Honored.]

Chen You glanced at the quest panel.

These rewards were just so-so, but since it was a main quest, he couldn't say no...

"What ice mine? It sounds so dangerous." Chen You tapped the table. "You need to pay more."

Bingbingde was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting this legendary "Lord Lack of Virtue" to be so direct.

She hesitated for a moment, then reached into the void and pulled out a money bag radiating a bone-chilling cold, pushing it in front of Chen You.

Chen You untied the money bag and took a look.

It was filled with high-purity Frost Gems. Although he didn't know what use they might have, it was better than nothing.

"Deal." Chen You stuffed the money bag into his backpack and stood up. "Where is the entrance to the Abyss Ice Mine?"

"I will have the guard captain take you there." The ice snake on top of Bingbingde's head stood up.

"Your Excellency, the Abyss Ice Mine not only contains mutated Lick Lick Monsters but also ancient Glacier Behemoths."

"Please be careful."

Chen You waved his hand and turned to walk toward the door.

"Oh, right." Chen You stopped and looked back at Bingbingde. "You should change the name of the curse here in the future."

"It doesn't sound serious enough."

Bingbingde did not answer.

Chen You walked out of the City Lord's Mansion, and the guard captain was already waiting outside the door.

"My Lord, please follow me." The guard captain led the way.

The two passed through a few dead silent streets and arrived at the edge of the city.

In front of them was a huge vertical shaft.

A sturdy metal winch was installed on the edge of the shaft, and a rusty iron chain extended deep into the bottomless darkness.

"This is the entrance to the Abyss Ice Mine." The guard captain pointed at the shaft. "The elevator is damaged; you can only climb down along the iron chain."

Chen You walked to the edge of the shaft and looked down.

It was pitch black inside, and a cold wind with a foul, fishy smell blew up from the bottom.

"How long have your people been down there?" Chen You asked.

"The first squad went down a month ago, and the last squad went down three days ago." The guard captain replied, "After they went down, they never sent back any news again."

Chen You nodded. He did not grab that iron chain.

The yuhuang sword unsheathed and hovered in mid-air.

Chen You leapt onto the sword, turned into a purple stream of light, and charged directly into the shaft.

The wind howled in his ears, and the ice walls on both sides of the shaft quickly receded upward.

Although there was no light, Chen You could still see that the ice walls were covered with dense scratch marks.

Some scratch marks were several inches deep, clearly not something that could be left by human fingers.

After descending about three thousand meters, the space in the shaft suddenly opened up.

Chen You slowed down and landed on a protruding rock.

Ahead was a wide mine tunnel.

Fluorescent stones emitting a faint light were embedded on both sides of the tunnel, barely allowing him to see the road under his feet.

Rusty pickaxes, broken helmets, and some incomplete limbs were scattered on the ground.

Chen You stepped over a severed arm and walked past.

The cut on the severed arm was frozen with ice, and no blood flowed out.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the depths of the mine tunnel.

Chen You stopped his steps.

In the darkness ahead, pairs of scarlet eyes lit up.

Accompanying them was a scalp-numbing, wet, sliding friction sound.

"Sluuurp... Sluuurp..."

Chen You narrowed his eyes.

Dozens of twisted figures crawled out from the darkness.

They were wearing tattered miner uniforms, moving on all fours, with their joints bent in extremely eerie, reversed angles.

The most eye-catching thing was the tongue protruding from their mouths.

That tongue was a full half-meter long, covered with barbs, and was frantically licking the rocks on the ground, the ice on the walls, and even the bodies of their companions.

Every lick would leave a deep groove on the hard rock.

These were the Lick Lick Monsters.

The largest Lick Lick Monster locked onto Chen You.

It let out an incoherent roar, its hind legs exerted force suddenly, and it lunged over like a cannonball.

The half-meter-long tongue swung in mid-air, heading straight for Chen You's face.

Chen You raised his right hand.

"Divine Firmament Heavenly Thunder Orthodox Method."

A thick purple thunderbolt erupted from his palm, accurately hitting that Lick Lick Monster.

The violent power of the thunder instantly pierced through its body.

The Lick Lick Monster stiffened in mid-air, and a layer of charred, hard crust formed on its surface.

Then, with a "bang," it exploded into fragments filling the sky.

The remaining Lick Lick Monsters were startled by the sound of the thunder, turned their heads one after another, and stared fixedly at Chen You.

Chen You gripped the yuhuang sword tightly.

"This thing is just too disgusting; I must make sure not to get licked."

Sword light flickered, and thunder roared.

In just a few minutes, the mine tunnel was covered with charred corpses.

Chen You stepped over a carcass that was still twitching and continued to walk deeper into the mine tunnel.

The mucus on the ground became more and more abundant, and the foul, fishy smell became stronger and stronger.

He reached the end of the mine tunnel.

A huge bronze door appeared in front of him, with complex runes carved on it.

Chen You walked up, and the bronze door emitted a dull boom, automatically opening to both sides.

An extremely massive and evil aura surged out from behind the door.

Chen You gripped the hilt of his sword and walked into the door.

Behind the door was a huge underground cavern.

In the center of the cavern stood an altar made of black ice.

Above the altar, a beating, dark red heart was suspended.

Every time the heart beat, it would spew out a wisp of gray mist.

These mists, upon contacting the surrounding ice, immediately turned into that highly contagious mucus.

Is this the source of the "Lick Lick" curse?

Just as Chen You was about to approach the altar, a low voice echoed in the cavern.

"Another bug has come to die."

From the shadows behind the altar, a massive figure slowly walked out.