“Ice Chunk…..”
Little Ke suddenly felt a hint of a sting in his nose.
Our Qiushui Pavilion still has someone reliable.
He lifted his foot, wanting to trot over, but after mulling it over, he found himself slowly and laboriously walking over instead, plopping down heavily at the table and finally loosening up, as if he’d just dropped a thousand-pound weight.
“Hmm? This kid was just flying about, what’s wrong now?”
“Is his condition worse?”
Shang Wu and Qin Yuzhi exchanged awkward glances.
They thought Little Ke was fine; if they had known, they wouldn’t have teased him.
“Let’s take his temperature first.”
Ying Bing twisted open a bobblehead doll, pulling out a bronze object with tiny holes, resembling a featherless quill.
This was one of the spoils from her demon-slaying adventures in the South Border.
As soon as Little Ke grabbed it, it started to freeze, turning into a patch of ice feathers.
This indicated his temperature was very low.
“Hold it under your tongue.” Ying Bing instructed, gesturing for him to open his mouth.
Little Ke complied, but the frozen feathers instantly turned red, and the bronze object began to emit flames.
This indicated his temperature was very high.
“Does that mean he’s got an icy fire situation going on?”
Shang Wu blinked.
“Eat what helps you…”
Qin Yuzhi smacked her forehead: “You secretly ate Snow Spirit Ginseng yesterday, didn’t you?!”
“…..”
Little Ke ignored them, discreetly glancing at Ice Chunk’s expression.
“How do you feel now?” Ying Bing asked, lowering her gaze.
“I….. I’m okay.”
The God Hammer Little Overlord, who had a physique rivaling a Disaster Beast, flashed a ‘weak’ smile: “Maybe I just had a little hiccup in my training, I know my body best.”
“Waaah, my precious disciple, don’t be hurt!” Shang Wu panicked.
Qin Yuzhi raised a finger, finally saying something sensible:
“If he’s experiencing internal heat and external frost, healing is about going from the inside out, so we need to address the heat first?”
“What to do then…..”
She blinked, looking toward Ice Chunk.
Little Ke’s eyes widened slightly. What’s with Qin Yuzhi? Since when did she get so perceptive….. oh no, she’s now got a spirit for it?
She must have gone mentally unhinged.
That first Golden Statue Award Best Actor wasn’t one to fall behind.
Little Ke shook his head and sighed: “Maybe if I sleep, I’ll be fine.”
“?”
Ying Bing’s expressionless face gathered a trace of internal energy, intending to flow into his acupoint for a quick check to understand the specifics.
Before her delicate hand even touched him, it fell straight into Little Ke’s palm.
He looked rather fatigued, his eyes dimming a bit:
“If something happens….. I mean, if something happens, please take care of Hammer Treasure for me. I promised it I’d find a pretty good friend…..”
“Drink some hot fire wine, my precious disciple! I’m sick; it’ll fix me right up.”
Shang Wu hastily poured another glass.
Giving sick people hard liquor? And “fixing” someone? Well, considering it’s the master, it’s a reasonable approach….
“Cough cough!”
Who knew Little Ke just took a sip and immediately started coughing.
The wine sprayed onto the ground, solidifying into frost and then….. ignited!
What kind of flammable ice is this?!
To be fair, this Golden Statue Award Best Actor’s performance was lacking this time and a bit exaggerated. It came off like someone trying to fake being sick to avoid school.
As they say, “care leads to chaos.”
“Just let Little Moon play with it….”
Ice Chunk suspected that Little Ke was probably just faking it, after all, he had a track record of tricking himself in the South Border, feeding him for three days on a ruse.
But seeing him all droopy, Ying Bing’s tranquil gaze couldn’t help but quiver slightly.
What if it’s real?
After all, he was hammering iron in those fire veins every day, sporting that pure sun robe (because it can’t be burned).
Without protective measures in those inner realms, he must be feeling rough…..
“What are you guys….. staging here?”
Xue Jing stepped into the courtyard with a medicine box, glancing at the Qiushui Pavilion that looked like an emergency ward, with a little question mark popping up above his head.
Old Xue turned back to look at Elder Han and Elder Zeng, asking:
“What’s the situation?”
Elder Zeng paused: “Hmm? He was like this when we brought him to Qiushui Pavilion.”
Elder Han nodded: “From the looks of it, his condition doesn’t seem to have worsened…..”
“Thank goodness you’re here, quick, come take a look at him!”
Shang Wu quickly vacated her spot.
Li Mo: “!”
Oh no, the truly reliable one has arrived.
Elder Han and Elder Zeng, you two didn’t run off but rather gathered at Danding Peak?
Do you even need to be this reliable?!
“Hmm….. these symptoms… how bizarre.”
Xue Jing furrowed his brows, doing the usual probing routine before softly exclaiming:
“Logically speaking, with such high internal energy, it shouldn’t be freezing on the outside. Why would he be cold externally but hot internally…..”
“Oh, you’re talking about that; I almost forgot.”
Elder Zeng slapped his forehead as if recalling something.
He reached into Little Li’s pocket, pulling out a chunk of chilling mineral, adorned with flower-like patterns — at least ten rings of them.
Xue Jing blinked: “Thousand Year Frost Silver Ore? What did you two put this on him for?”
That stuff comes from the bottom of the cold pool deep in fire veins — a rare material for crafting weapons; it’s in the Tian Shuang sword, with the corresponding material being the Red Fire Copper Mine.
“This kid’s hot!”
Elder Han sourly extended his hand, slightly reddened: “Carrying him made my hands all red; we need to cool him off.”
“….. So his ‘external cold’ is from this….. ah?”
Found the reason for why he could freeze.
It’s physical cooling.
The entire Qiushui Pavilion went suddenly silent.
The dry leaves of the banyan tree rustled under the cold wind, and a crow, mysteriously appearing, flew overhead, cawing a discordant and unpleasant cry, as if mocking some situation…..
The atmosphere became incredibly awkward.
“So it was like this…. I’m fine, ha ha, I knew it…..”
Li Mo’s shivering subsided; without the Frost Silver Ore repressing him, the overflowing internal energy made him hot again.
But why did it feel a bit cold out of nowhere?
He stiffly turned his head, only to see Ice Chunk’s serene, cold beauty, her expression quite unyielding.
Not a laugh in sight.
“You’re fine, that’s great.”
Ying Bing softly remarked and turned to head upstairs.
“Great…..”
Little Li mumbled to himself, feeling like he hadn’t completely escaped….
Elder Xue started scribbling an herbal prescription: “Hey, let me prescribe some medicine; you’ve been too hot lately, and eating too well, you need to cool down and rest for a few days, got it?”
“Hmm, I still have weapons to forge, I need to go.”
“Then take a couple of days to rest.”
Elder Han and Elder Zeng nodded in agreement.
“Thank you, elders.”
“Don’t mention it; you’re welcome.”
The two old fellows left the crash scene.
“Hmph.” Even Shang Wu, with zero cunning left, figured out her disciple was faking it, puffed her cheeks and retreated to her room.
“Hey.”
Qin Yuzhi watched him and shook her head; the lad totally flopped.
In the end, it was just Little Li left standing there, petrified and feeling cold and lonely.
He couldn’t help but break into a song in his heart.
“Snowflakes flutter down~ North Wind howls~~”
