“It was a dream.”
“Impossible!”
Hu Ba Yi's face was full of shock.
He had dreamt that he and Wang Fatty went to Niu Xin Mountain, and he could even dream about his time in the army? That was years ago.
“I dreamt it many years ago, and didn't take it seriously at the time.”
“Years ago?”
“Yes.”
The shock on Hu Ba Yi's face subsided, replaced by a serious expression: “Since you know, you should understand how terrifying those insects are.”
“I watched my comrades get burned alive, there was nothing I could do. Those insects kept multiplying, we couldn't deal with them at all!”
Hu Ba Yi was extremely agitated, his face filled with fear.
Lu Feng patted his shoulder: “Water and fire counteract each other, that's a simple principle.”
Hu Ba Yi's expression froze, he grabbed Lu Feng's shoulder, disbelief in his voice: “Water and fire counteract? Are you saying water and fire counteract?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
The Dap Ghost Insects, called Yao Mo Zhi Chong in Tibetan, carry both ‘Infinite Karma Fire’ and ‘Nai Qiong Shen Bing’ on them.
Touching the Infinite Karma Fire would burn you to ashes, touching the Nai Qiong Shen Bing would freeze you into ice crystals and shatter them!
Adding to that, the insects are only the size of a fingernail, making them difficult to target with guns, leaving people helpless.
The countermeasures are also known: water to extinguish fire, and fire to melt ice.
“So that's it, so that's it!”
Hu Ba Yi's fear dissipated, he muttered to himself and sat down to the side.
Shirley Yang and Professor Chen were baffled, not understanding what was going on.
“What are you talking about?” Shirley Yang asked.
“Let Lao Hu tell you.”
“Hu Ba Yi, can you tell us?”
“It's like this…”
Hu Ba Yi recounted his time as a soldier in Kunlun, his encounter with the Dap Ghost Insects, and witnessing his comrades being burned alive.
Shirley Yang and Professor Chen looked at each other, saying: “The insects you described must be the Fire Ladybugs.”
“Fire Ladybugs?” Hu Ba Yi asked.
“These insects are extremely rare, only mentioned in the notes of a few adventurers and explorers, they are truly eerie.”
“So are you still going?”
“We are.”
Hu Ba Yi now knew about water counteracting the Dap Ghost Insects, and had no resistance to the Kunlun Ice Glacier trip anymore, even if he didn't go this time, he planned to go eventually.
Seeing Hu Ba Yi agree, Lu Feng turned to Shirley Yang: “You've finished your part, now it's time to talk about ours.”
“What's that?”
Shirley Yang asked.
“The $100,000 each was for going to Xinjiang, you're now changing your route to Kunlun Ice Glacier, naturally, the payment needs to be increased.”
Shirley Yang furrowed her brow slightly: “$20,000, each.”
“Deal.”
Lu Feng nodded.
Every bit counts.
Hu Ba Yi found Fatty and told him about the change in route.
“Change route is fine, as long as there's money to be made.” Fatty was indifferent, “$20,000, that's over 100,000 yuan!”
“Fatty, Kunlun Ice Glacier is very dangerous, don't underestimate it, especially the insects there.”
“Insects?”
“Back then…”
Fatty's face turned tense after listening: “There are such terrifying insects in the world? Are we still going?”
“Don't worry, Lu Feng already told me how to deal with them.”
“There's a way to deal with them? Then what's there to be afraid of.”
“That's a big snowy mountain, there are many unknown dangers, just don't get your hands dirty.”
“No problem.”
A few days later.
Lu Feng, Hu Ba Yi, Wang Fatty, Shirley Yang, Professor Chen, Hao Ai Guo, Sa Di Peng, Chu Jian, and Ye Yi Xin, nine people arrived at the Kunlun Ice Glacier.
Hu Ba Yi originally wanted to ask the army members to lead them into the snow mountain, but Lu Feng directly refused.
With Shirley Yang's coordinates, Hu Ba Yi, remembering the path he had walked, successfully reached the eastern foot of the glacier and saw the large crack created by the earthquake.
“We've finally arrived.”
Ye Yi Xin panted heavily, feeling that the journey was difficult.
“Yeah, we've finally arrived.”
Professor Chen and the others also felt a sense of accomplishment.
Lu Feng squinted and looked down into the crack. With his current eyesight, he could see cicadas four to five hundred meters away, and he saw what was below the crack.
There were quite a few animal corpses down there.
“It's so high, you can't even see the bottom?”
Fatty leaned over the edge to look down, he was so scared that he quickly retracted his head: “Lu Feng, Lao Hu, are we really going down?”
“Don't you want the money anymore?” Hu Ba Yi laughed.
“How can I not want the money?”
“Just don't look down when you're going down.”
“I'll risk it!”
Wang Fatty gritted his teeth, the temptation of money outweighed his fear of heights.
When everyone had set up the ropes, Lu Feng stood at the edge of the crack.
Looking at Hao Ai Guo and Sa Di Peng who were following behind, he said: “I don't care how passionate and crazy you are about archeology, now turn off your camera flashes!”
“Also, don't touch anything!”
“Must maintain silence!”
“Did you understand?”
“Got it.”
Hao Ai Guo said.
Sa Di Peng furrowed his brow: “Lu Feng, it's so dark down there, you can't take pictures without flash, what's the point of taking pictures then?”
“If there are living creatures down there, the strong light will definitely stimulate them, can you take the consequences?”
“What kind of consequences can there be?”
“Xiao Sa!”
Professor Chen reprimanded him, turning to Lu Feng: “Don't worry, we'll be careful, nothing will happen.”
“I don't trust your people at all.”
Sa Di Peng was annoyed: “Lu, what do you mean?”
“Literal meaning.”
“You——”
“Enough!”
Shirley Yang shouted coldly, glaring at Sa Di Peng: “Listen to Lu Feng.”