Chapter 1404: The Ice‑Seal Calamity (Part I)

Su Yujin's left fist lashed out like lightning, hooking upward toward Ji Feihua's throat. As her left fist moved, three crystal-clear ice spikes, each two inches long, protruded from the front of her fist. The ice spikes tore through the air at high speed, emitting a clear, cold whistling sound. Three streaks of cold light shot straight for Ji Feihua's throat.

Ji Feihua leaned back, the ice spikes missed their target, sweeping past above his snow-white neck. Ji Feihua turned his palm into a fist and slammed it hard into Su Yujin's left elbow joint. With his strength, this punch accurately hit the mark; Su Yujin's joint should have shattered, but the point of impact suddenly bent backward in an unbelievable way, relieving Ji Feihua's punch force. Ji Feihua's right foot also kicked out, sweeping across Su Yujin's slender waist.

This kick could also split mountains and crack stone, but Su Yujin's body became as light as a feather. After being kicked by Ji Feihua, her body floated backward, drifting about three zhang like willow fluff.

Ji Feihua's gaze grew increasingly solemn, and he said in a deep voice: "Light as a startled swan! You are from Wuji Guan!"

Su Yujin's eyes still flickered with blue light, and she said softly: "You are quite well-informed. Since you know my origin, you had better return the skull obediently." While speaking, more than ten white bats were split apart by Hu Xiaotian and fell from the air.

Su Yujin furrowed her brows.

Ji Feihua said: "Wuji Guan always stays out of worldly affairs and seeks no contention; you doing this probably hasn't earned their permission, has it?"

Su Yujin sighed: "Heaven has a path you refuse to take; hell has no gate you insist on entering. Actually, I already guessed who you are even without you speaking." Her gaze fell to the ground, seeing tens of thousands of white-furred rats surging around but none daring to step forward. Su Yujin nodded, tipped her toes, and retreated toward the exit.

Ji Feihua coldly said: "Where do you think you're going?"

Su Yujin chuckled: "Who said I have to leave?" She swept her sleeve, and hundreds of ice needles shot out simultaneously, blocking Ji Feihua's path. As he blocked them, her body slipped to the exit.

Ji Feihua, suspecting a trick, followed closely, but before he could close the distance with Su Yujin, a thunderous boom sounded from above as a huge ice rock fell. Ji Feihua flew backward, landed on the ice rock, tipped his toes, and prepared to continue forward.

Hu Xiaotian continuously waved his soft sword, having already slain hundreds of bats; bat corpses piled up around him, and those that fell were instantly devoured by the frenzied white-furred rats.

Although Ji Feihua was accustomed to danger, seeing this bloody, frenzied scene made him nauseous. After a few steps, he saw the passage indeed sealed by ice rock. Knowing he could not defeat the two working together, Su Yujin chose to flee.

Ji Feihua could only turn back to Hu Xiaotian's side. Though Hu Xiaotian's martial arts were superb, facing the frenzied bat attacks left him flustered. However, after Su Yujin left, the bats possibly lost their command, their formation grew chaotic, and they soon stopped attacking.

Hu Xiaotian took out the blue skull from his pack, confirmed it was unharmed, and smiled at Ji Feihua: "At least my trip wasn't in vain." He still did not know the passage had been sealed.

Ji Feihua sighed and told Hu Xiaotian about Su Yujin's escape and the sealing of the passage.

Hu Xiaotian frowned slightly, shook his head, and said: "Impossible—this skull is so important to her; she would never abandon it and leave."

Ji Feihua said: "Perhaps she wants to trap us here, wait for us to starve to death, then come back for the skull."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Starving us to death won't be that easy." He looked around: "This place shouldn't have only one passage. Once the white-furred rats retreat, we'll search thoroughly." Looking down, he saw the white-furred rats had already fled completely, leaving only some corpses not yet fully gnawed.

The bats hovering above, slow to react, also began to scatter. Hu Xiaotian and Ji Feihua exchanged a glance, both sensing something amiss. Hu Xiaotian whispered: "Shall we go down and look?"

The bats circling overhead, somewhat belatedly, also began to scatter and flee. Hu Xiaotian and Ji Feihua exchanged a glance, and began to feel that something was off. Hu Xiaotian whispered: "Shall we go down and check?"

The ground suddenly trembled, and as time passed the shaking grew more violent; cold jade ice rocks fell from the cave walls. Hu Xiaotian exclaimed in alarm: "Is this place going to collapse?" He was puzzled—did Su Yujin no longer want the skull? He had originally thought she would refrain from extreme measures out of fear of harming them.

Ji Feihua said: "It seems she can't wait for us to starve to death!" Before his words finished, a loud bang sounded; a huge ice rock rolled down from the front right, and a stream of water about a foot in diameter gushed out, flowing like a silver dragon.

Ji Feihua said: "Looks like she can't wait for us to starve to death!" Before his words finished, there was a loud Peng! sound, a huge ice rock rolled down from the front right, and then a stream of water about a foot in diameter shot out from it, rushing down like a silver dragon.

The booming sounds continued without cease; ten streams of water burst from the four walls of the cave they occupied, instantly covering the floor. The water surface rose at a visible speed.

Both Ji Feihua and Hu Xiaotian were used to wind and waves, yet the sight startled them—Su Yujin clearly intended to flood the cave and drown them alive.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Perhaps the place where these waters burst is the exit."

Ji Feihua shook his head: "Even if there were an exit, we couldn't get out; Su Yujin is no ordinary person and would not leave such a big loophole."

Hu Xiaotian nodded. The water now rushed violently; even without the flow, a hole about a foot wide could not accommodate his body. Watching the water level rise incessantly, Hu Xiaotian felt anxious. Though he could hold his breath long using the feigned‑dog breath‑control technique, he could not do so forever—Su Yujin's move was indeed ruthless. He leapt up, flew to the cave's edge, and clung to the rock with hands and feet, clinging like a gecko to the wall.

Hu Xiaotian nodded. The current's speed was turbulent; even without the water flow, the opening about a foot wide could not accommodate his body to pass through. Watching the water level keep rising, Hu Xiaotian also felt anxious. Although he could use the feigned-dead dog's breath-holding technique to stay underwater for a long time, after all he couldn't do that forever—Su Yujin's strike was indeed ruthless. He leapt up, flew to the edge of the cave wall, and with his hands and feet grabbed the rock, clinging to the wall like a gecko.

Hu Xiaotian tapped the rock wall with his hand and shouted: "Check if there's any hollow; we'll use the light sword to break the rock and find a passage." Though the chance was slim, it was better than waiting to die.

Although Ji Feihua knew the hope of finding an escape route was faint, seeing Hu Xiaotian already act, he could not stand idle and joined the search for an exit. Disappointingly, after searching for nearly an hour they found no exit; the water had already submerged the cold jade pillar and was still rising. In about another half‑hour it would completely flood the cold jade cave, leaving no air at all.

Hu Xiaotian swam to a water spout, touched the flow, felt bone‑chilling cold, and silently lamented: they had thought defeating Su Yujin was assured, yet she had outwitted them; they had been careless. If they had cut off her retreat earlier, perhaps this situation would not have arisen.

Hu Xiaotian walked up to a water jet, reached out and touched the flow; it was ice-cold to the bone. He secretly sighed, thinking that he and Ji Feihua had believed they had the upper hand against Su Yujin, but never expected that in the end they were still outmaneuvered by her scheme, ultimately due to insufficient foresight. If they had cut off Su Yujin's retreat earlier, perhaps this situation would not have arisen.

Hu Xiaotian followed his gaze and saw that on the opposite side a stream of water had turned deep blue, as thin as a thumb, but once that blue water merged below, the surface instantly froze.

Hu Xiaotian could hardly believe his eyes; he rubbed his eyes hard to confirm he was not mistaken—the lower surface had frozen while the upper flow continued down, and upon meeting the blue liquid it immediately solidified into ice, which expanded upward at astonishing speed.

Hu Xiaotian silently cursed: Su Yujin's methods were truly vicious—she intended to freeze them to death in this way.

Ji Feihua also realized this at the same moment; he drew his light sword from his waist. In their plan there had originally been no need to use the light sword, but seeing the ice surface continually swell, if they did not act soon they would either be crushed by the ice or frozen solid.

Ji Feihua twisted the sword hilt; a blue light blade appeared before him. He inserted the light sword into the rock, chiseling out a cavity on the rock face large enough for two people to shelter.

Ji Feihua twisted the sword hilt, and a Lan-colored light blade appeared before him. He used the light sword to insert into the rock, carving out a cavity on the rock large enough for two people to take shelter.

Hu Xiaotian shook his head: "You go first!" Both understood that whoever stayed outside faced greater danger.

Ji Feihua snapped: "No nonsense—we live or die together!"

Hu Xiaotian agreed; after all they were hiding in the same cave—if the outside one died, the inside one could not escape either, merely dying a moment sooner. Without further hesitation he slipped into the cavity; Ji Feihua followed, then began using the light sword to cut the top and dig a vertical shaft, while Hu Xiaotian helped seal the entrance with stone fragments.

Although the light sword was useful, its energy was limited; after carving a vertical cavity just large enough for two, the blade's length had dwindled to about a foot. Ji Feihua deactivated the light sword; at this moment water began to seep in from outside. Merely blocking the entrance with stones was clearly insufficient to seal it completely—water seeped through every gap. Su Yujin's method was obviously to let the water flow a distance and then freeze it, leaving no gap un‑iced. This layered‑icing approach made their hope of escaping the ice catastrophe by digging a hole virtually nil.

Hu Xiaotian pulled Ji Feihua up; the two pressed face‑to‑face in the vertical shaft, the water surface still rising. They could only hope the surface would not reach the shaft before freezing. Only if the shaft entrance froze in time could it block the incessant water seepage. (To be continued~^~)

Hu Xiaotian reached out and pulled Ji Feihua up, the two of them face to face squeezed into this vertical shaft opening, the water level continued to rise without stopping, they could only hope that the water surface would begin to freeze before it flooded the vertical shaft. Only if the shaft opening froze in time could it block the incessant water flow. (To be continued~^~)