Chapter 152 - 111: Bigger, Stronger
After bidding farewell to the Haiqiu Race, Lin Kong’s group set out on the journey back to the Ice Crystal Tree.
They were one Rose fewer, but had gained Aburara and Dong Lin.
On the first day of the return trip, they hadn’t prepared a sled large enough for Dong Lin, so he could only walk slowly, one step at a time, across the ice.
Watching the others happily skating around him, he suddenly found himself looking forward to what Lin Kong had called a "youkai." ’If I could take human form and shrink my body, I could use a sled to ski too,’ he thought.
That night, feeling their pace was just too slow, Lin Kong pulled a snowboard out of his backpack.
Everyone was already used to Lin Kong pulling things out of his backpack that no one else had. It was only natural for a relative of the lord to have some special treatment.
Lin Kong demonstrated how to use the snowboard, and Dong Lin immediately took a keen interest in learning.
Using his ice control ability, he fashioned a snowboard out of ice beneath his feet. He then placed both front legs and one hind leg on the board, using his last leg to push off the ground, sending the snowboard speeding forward with him on it.
After practicing for just a short while, Dong Lin had learned how to use the snowboard.
"Hahaha~ This is fun! So fast~~"
Dong Lin’s booming voice echoed across the ice plain, adding a bit of life to the frigid night.
With Dong Lin now on a snowboard, the group’s speed increased considerably.
Four more days passed, and they arrived back in the vicinity of the Ice Crystal Tree.
"Mr. Lin, are we there yet?" Aburara shouted, clinging to Lin Kong’s waist. The biting wind rushing at them had covered him in a layer of frost.
However, Aburara was now wearing a suit of Flame Retardant Warm Clothing under his clothes (another item Lin Kong had pulled from his backpack). Only with this warm clothing could he withstand the low temperatures of the ice plain.
"Almost. See that deep pit up ahead? That’s our destination."
Aburara poked his head out to take a look, but the cold wind immediately shot down his collar. He shivered violently, instantly yanking his head back down and burying it, shrinking his entire body into his clothes.
"I see it~~"
His voice, muffled by his clothes, was nevertheless full of excitement. In that brief glance, he had seen that the ice plain ahead was different.
...
When the group reached the edge of the ice pit, Yuan Xiaobo, unable to contain his excitement, jumped right in.
"I’ll go down first and wait for you!! You~ guys~ can~ take~ your~ ti~~~me~~~~ THUD—"
His voice faded into the distance, and with a final crash, Yuan Xiaobo slammed onto the ice below. He then happily scrambled to his feet and ran toward the Ice Crystal Tree in the center.
Lin Yan and Niu Armor immediately followed, jumping down after him.
Dong Lin looked at the deep pit, then at his own massive size. ’If I jump, I’ll probably smash a huge hole in the ground,’ he figured. So, he coated himself in Ice Armor and slid all the way down, crashing through any obstacles in his path and carving a smooth ramp into the cliff face.
Lin Kong watched all this with a smile, then turned back to Aburara, who was looking at the nearly vertical cliff, his body trembling uncontrollably.
"Ready? We’re going down too!!"
Aburara quickly hugged Lin Kong’s leg tightly and yelled, "I’m ready!"
Lin Kong gave a light push, and the sled carried him and Aburara down the ramp Dong Lin had created.
The several-hundred-meter drop passed in an instant. Just before landing, Lin Kong leaped lightly, bringing Aburara and the sled to a smooth landing. Mirus quickly flew down as well, alighting on Lin Kong’s shoulder.
At the bottom of the pit, Dong Lin was looking around in all directions.
"Lin Kong, this is the place you were talking about?"
Dong Lin was filled with doubt. The place looked barren. It was nothing like the comfortable, food-filled place Lin Kong had described.
"Don’t be so hasty. You’ll see in a minute."
"But, I have a question for you."
"Your Mammoth race is native to this world, right?"
Dong Lin paused, tilting his head. "What else could we be if not a native race?"
"I mean, have you always lived in this world and looked like this?" Lin Kong clarified.
"That’s right. Our race has always lived in this world."
"However, we didn’t always look like this. We underwent a... small mutation."
"I remember our race wasn’t always this big, and we didn’t have such long trunks. One day, a blood rain fell on the forest. Most of the animals died, but our race changed into what we are now. Some of the other animals also changed, becoming beings of low intelligence but immense strength."
"After that, the whole world gradually grew cold. Ice formed everywhere, and the plants all froze to death. Our race isn’t afraid of the cold, but we still have to eat."
"To find food, our race followed caves in the mountains down into the earth, digging deep underground."
"Then we received a message. It said it could teleport us to a warm place full of food, but only for one day, and it asked if we wanted to go."
"Of course we agreed! Then, a beam of light descended from the sky and carved patterns onto that rock, which eventually formed what you call the Teleportation Gate."
"We used that Teleportation Gate to go to your world, and well, you know the rest."
"I’d been starving for a month at that point. But then the animals of your world brought us so much delicious food. After eating so much of your stuff, naturally I wasn’t going to attack anymore."