Chapter 248: Nature

"Let's take the person back first." Catherine withdrew her gaze from Gao De.

Surprise is surprise, but Loychi and Catherine will not change their itinerary.

"Good." Loychi responded.

Afterward, Loychi came to Gao De's side and reached out to grope Gao De quickly.

Even though Gao De was just a first-circle mage restricted by the Forbidden Ice Needle, Loychi was still very cautious. Before taking Gao De on the road, he had to search Gao De first.

Fortunately, Gao De had already let Fu Luo La put away the "Breath of the Wilderness" one step ahead.

The things left on him, although there were valuable ones, didn't count for much to two hunters who were at least second-circle mages.

Even the remaining two drops of first-circle ice marrow, Loychi just took a look, said "eh," and then returned it to Gao De.

"This is my pet."

Afterward, Loychi discovered Fu Luo La, who was hiding in Gao De's pocket.

Hearing Gao De's answer, he looked at Fu Luo La twice more with surprise.

Clearly, this was the first time he had seen such a pet.

Fresh is fresh, but he didn't say much, and he wouldn't have any thoughts.

One is that he himself is not that kind of person, and the other is that things like pets belong to a type of summon, which cannot be taken away.

Finally, Loychi just took away the bone dagger Gao De carried with him and the "Hidden Mist Fang" that could be used as a weapon.

"Okay." After doing this, Loychi nodded to Catherine, who was wearing a bronze mask.

Following that, the two of them each made a strange spell-casting movement, and rich magic power fluctuations were born.

This time, the spell-casting lasted for a very long time.

About a minute later.

The magic power fluctuations permeating the air were so rich that they were almost visible, and the air seemed to become heavy due to the accumulation of magic power.

Following that, a burst of dazzling light flashed.

Under the guidance of this powerful magic power, two spiritual bodies with different forms and lifelike appearances appeared out of thin air, standing steadily in front of Loychi and Catherine.

The spiritual body summoned by Loychi was in the form of a sturdy and majestic warhorse, with eyes flashing with spiritual light.

And the spiritual body summoned by Catherine was a vigorous snow wolf, with eyes revealing unyielding and wild nature.

Although they were both spiritual bodies, they felt like they possessed the spirituality and wisdom that normal creatures should have.

【Summon Mount】, 2nd-circle conjuration spell.

Compared to Baruke having an Ice-Maned Tiger as a mount, the two hunters' mounts on the snow plains came from spells.

The mount summoned through spells, whether in strength or speed, is definitely far inferior to the Ice-Maned Tiger, and maintaining its existence also requires the consumption of extra mana.

But it is not without benefits; it wins in being light and convenient, and the mount can be released at any time by canceling the spell.

For hunters who need to execute various tasks, the latter is clearly very important.

Loychi and Catherine, almost at the same moment, both jumped onto the backs of their respective mounts with a flexible movement.

As for Gao De... Loychi glanced at him and actually reached out to him, "Come up."

Gao De didn't hesitate either, grabbed Loychi's hand, also boarded the broad back of the warhorse spiritual body, and sat behind Loychi.

Loychi didn't seem to worry at all that Gao De, who was sticking so close to him, would have any small movements.

"Sit tight." Loychi greeted, and without any movement, the warhorse spiritual body naturally chose a direction and began to gallop.

The fierce cold wind came head-on.

"Where are we going?" Gao De sighed in his heart and asked.

His voice sounded exceptionally ethereal in the howling cold wind, not heard clearly.

But Loychi still gave Gao De a reply soon, "Back to headquarters. We are only responsible for bringing you back; the rest is not our concern."

Hearing Loychi say this, Gao De's heart went cold again.

Loychi and Catherine, looking cold on the surface, especially Catherine, who was wearing a bronze mask, appeared even more ruthless.

But Gao De could still clearly feel that both of them had their own bottom lines, and their style of doing things was also biased toward order.

But if they arrived at the Snow Plain Guardians headquarters, it would be hard to say if they changed to another batch of people.

After all, within the Snow Plain Guardians, it can be confirmed that there are high-level members practicing forbidden necromantic spells.

The high-level members are already like this, and the people below will inevitably not be completely clean.

And among the batch of people who changed, in Gao De's view, it is highly probable that there will be the mastermind's men.

It's good enough if they don't play him to death; where would there be any bottom line?

"How long will it take?" Gao De asked again.

"Soon, we will arrive in half a month." Loychi gave Gao De a reply again.

On the snow plains, time also seems to be shortened.

For northern people, rushing for a month or two is actually a very normal thing.

Half a month... After finishing the exchange with Loychi, Gao De thought about his current situation.

First, the restriction of the Forbidden Ice Needle is the top priority.

No matter what ideas he has, he must first resolve its threat.

Fortunately, the solution is already right in front of him.

Next, all he needs to do is continuously and actively trigger the Forbidden Ice Needle to let himself adapt to the chill of True Ice.

But he cannot do it too unscrupulously.

Because the triggering of the Forbidden Ice Needle is carried out inside his body, it is difficult for outsiders to see, but the intense pain brought by the chill of True Ice will make Gao De express what he is doing in another way.

Unless he can be expressionless, he must not trigger the Forbidden Ice Needle in front of others and must avoid the two.

But this is not a difficult thing.

When the two are resting, he will find an opportunity to trigger the Forbidden Ice Needle.

Another thing is that this Snow Plain Guardians headquarters must definitely not be visited.

Must find a way to make these two hunters change their minds.

When Loychi and Catherine found Gao De, it was already night.

Just as high-circle mages, both of them are bold and skillful, and don't need to be as cautious as Gao De; they can still rush at night.

But people always need to rest.

So in the second half of the night, both of them cast 【Wild Agility】, quickly cleaned up a camp, and stationed there for repairs.

The only benefit of being controlled by others is that Gao De doesn't need to worry about food.

Around the fire that had just been lit, Loychi took out three frozen rats that had been skinned and become hard from his package.

He skillfully brought them close to the fire, thawed them slightly, skewered them with wooden sticks, and then handed one of them to Gao De. "Do it yourself."

Gao De took it nimbly, sat next to Loychi, and skillfully turned the wooden stick in his hand, letting the rat meat be heated evenly to achieve the best taste.

"What is this?" While busy with the work in his hand, he asked casually.

"Snow Bamboo Rat, one of the most delicious foods on the permafrost tundra."

"Although the Snow Bamboo Rat is only a first-circle earth-vein creature, it lives in underground burrows all year round, and its whereabouts are hidden. Ordinary people are very difficult to catch them. Even for us, we have to look at luck to get a few. This time, you are lucky."

Although Gao De is their "prisoner," Loychi didn't look down on him because of this, but introduced it to Gao De very casually.

"Then I have to taste what it tastes like." Gao De laughed, and didn't look resentful because he was captured by the two.

He also gradually saw that these two were essentially "good people," even Catherine, who looked cold, was the same.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.

With the roasting of the fire, oil began to emerge from the Snow Bamboo Rat meat, emitting a unique meaty fragrance and even a trace of herbal fragrance, making people drool.

Loychi saw that the heat was almost enough, picked up one of them, and handed it to Catherine, who had been silent on the side.

This made Gao De subconsciously glance at Catherine.

She had been wearing that bronze mask from beginning to end; now she has to take it off to eat, right?

What Gao De didn't expect was that after Catherine took the roasted Snow Bamboo Rat, she didn't take off the mask, but looked up at the sky, her gaze cast toward the distant night sky.

After a while, the sound of flapping wings rang out.

In the night, an owl, all black with shiny feathers, descended from the sky and landed obediently on Catherine's shoulder.

It turned its eyes, which were still bright in the night, and occasionally lowered its head to rub slightly on Catherine's shoulder, appearing exceptionally intimate.

"This is Catherine's pet, the Seven-Night Owl, which possesses magic affinity and supernatural intelligence. When we rest, it can guard for us." Loychi noticed Gao De's surprised gaze and introduced it actively.

"Similarly, if you want to take advantage of our rest to sneak away like you did in the branch, it will also remind us in the first time."

He "reminded" Gao De meaningfully again: "Of course, I don't think that a first-circle mage like you, who has spells but cannot mobilize mana, can survive on this crisis-ridden snow plain after leaving us."

"I think you are a smart person and shouldn't have such an unwise idea, right?"

Gao De grinned, "Of course."

Definitely have to wait until the Forbidden Ice Needle fails before running away... He added in his heart.

On this side, Catherine leisurely tore off the Snow Bamboo Rat meat in her hand and fed it to the Seven-Night Owl on her shoulder.

That owl seemed to have long been accustomed to such treatment, opened its sharp beak slightly, took the meat piece lightly, and then tasted it leisurely, occasionally making satisfied cooing sounds.

Gao De didn't hesitate anymore and took a bite of the Snow Bamboo Rat meat in his hand.

Clearly, no seasoning was added, but in an instant, a clear fragrance similar to herbs mixed with meaty fragrance burst out in his mouth, forming an indescribable wonderful taste.

No wonder Loychi called it one of the most delicious foods on the permafrost tundra; it really has something.

Gao De also tore off a very small piece from the golden and crispy roasted Snow Bamboo Rat meat and handed it to Fu Luo La, who was poking her head out of his pocket and curiously looking at the Seven-Night Owl.

Fu Luo La took the Snow Bamboo Rat meat Gao De handed her, but didn't eat it, but flapped her little wings, flew in front of the Seven-Night Owl, and handed the meat piece in her hand to it with great interest.

"Wait..." Catherine was about to say something, but the owl looked at the Snow Bamboo Rat meat Fu Luo La handed it, didn't dislike the small piece, and swallowed it without hesitation.

"Coo!" The owl made a satisfied sound.

Hearing the owl's cooing sound, Fu Luo La immediately narrowed her eyes happily, as if a child had discovered some fun toy.

Catherine, who was about to speak, saw this scene, first froze for a moment, then looked at the tiny Fu Luo La blankly, and didn't speak for a long time.

Even Loychi on the side froze for a moment, his gaze looking back and forth between the Seven-Night Owl and Fu Luo La, his expression becoming extremely strange.

After a long time, he turned his head and looked at Gao De seriously, his eyes shining with strange brilliance.

"You just said that Guardian Baruke was seriously injured to save the Snuofu Clan and was recuperating in the Snuofu Clan?" Loychi asked.

"Yes," Gao De spread his hands, helplessly: "Unfortunately, the Snuofu Clan is gone now, and I have no proof."

Loychi looked up at Catherine. Catherine nodded slightly to him, and he immediately understood, turning his head to Gao De again: "Although the Snuofu Clan is gone, the wild goose leaves traces, and something will eventually be left behind."

"Tomorrow, let's go to the site of the Snuofu Clan first."

"Ah?!!!" This time it was Gao De's turn to be stunned.

He didn't understand why the two, who were unwilling to believe his statement earlier and were anxious to take him back to the Snow Plain Guardians headquarters to report, suddenly changed their minds?

"Is she your pet?" Loychi asked, pouting at Fu Luo La.

"Yes."

"Catherine's Seven-Night Owl will not eat anything thrown to it by anyone other than Catherine, including me," Loychi pointed to the Seven-Night Owl on Catherine's shoulder, "but now, it actually ate what your pet handed it without any defense."

"This shows that your pet possesses a rare and precious Nature's Heart."

"I believe that as the owner of the possessor of the Nature's Heart, you should not be a bad person either. Perhaps there is really some misunderstanding in this."

Gao De was stunned.

This was not the first time he had heard the saying of "Nature's Heart."

When he first met Baruke, he also said this about Fu Luo La, but Gao De didn't take it too seriously.

After all, this thing is too illusory and has no substantial benefits.

But he didn't expect that this time, it was because of Fu Luo La's "Nature's Heart" that he obtained the trust of Loychi and Catherine, allowing the almost unsolvable predicament to show a glimmer of turning point.

Although Loychi said he believed Gao De a little, he didn't mention the five Forbidden Ice Needles in Gao De's body.

He didn't mention it, so Gao De didn't say anything either.

And even if Loychi really took them out for him, he wouldn't necessarily be very happy.

After eating, Loychi and Catherine started the practice of the cultivation method.

On the snow plains, falling asleep quickly anytime and anywhere is actually a survival skill that must be learned, because only in this way can one recover physical strength and state the fastest.

But as Loychi reminded, that Seven-Night Owl always stared with bright eyes, watching him all the time.

However, Gao De didn't care.

He lay down, waited for a while, and after confirming that the two were already asleep, he silently operated his mana.

The next instant, the chill swept over, and the unimaginable pain followed closely.

Gao De's face turned pale instantly, and the muscles on his body tightened.

At this moment, what he clearly felt was extreme cold, but large drops of cold sweat had already seeped out from his forehead. 【248-1

Gao De gritted his teeth, controlling himself so as not to make a single sound, and kept his body completely motionless.

【Enduring the cold of the Enduring Zhenbing, your cold resistance has increased by 100.4% 100.6% 101.2%】

【Enduring the pain of extreme cold, your pain tolerance has increased by 67.6% 67.9% 68.5%】

【Currently suffering from extreme cold injuries, your body's injury recovery ability has increased by 3.1%】.

(End of this chapter)