Strangely enough, the very moment Wusha pierced the Ice Ling Fish with her spear, the fish seemed to wake from its stupor with a sharp pain, struggling and thrashing its tail back and forth at the tip of the spear.
Wusha furrowed her brow once more, a flash of intense murderous intent welling up in her eyes. As the saying goes, the attack might not have dealt massive damage, but the disrespect was off the charts. The fish passing out cold had deeply wounded the mighty self-esteem of the Tiger Demon Queen. Enraged, the Tiger Demon Queen hoisted the large, plump fish with her spear in her right hand, parted her bright red lips slightly, and spoke coldly.
"Humph, damned fat fish, how dare you insult this Empress? You deserve to be eaten!"
Clearly, Wusha was extremely displeased. For some unknown reason, the Ice Ling Fish had passed out with its belly up rather than truly dying in the water.
Why the fat fish had suddenly passed out was a secret known only to the Blood Demon Empress herself.
Seeing the fish drooling, Wusha felt her strength return somewhat. She quickly got to her feet, took down the Ice Ling Fish, and used the dagger left behind by Li Lanhao to butcher and gut it. After removing the entrails, she washed the plump fish clean in her foot-soaking water.
*Gulp, gulp.*
Wusha swallowed hard. She sliced off a piece of the fish with her knife and cautiously placed it into her mouth. In an instant, a smile bloomed across her face—the raw Ice Ling Fish sashimi tasted simply out of this world.
"Mm, it's real, not a dream. The flavor is so fresh!"
For the past two hundred years, the undefeated legend known as the Blood Demon Empress Wusha had never felt such joy, not even a child eating candy. Her heart experienced an unprecedented sense of satisfaction. As for why the fish had rolled its eyes and turned belly-up, Wusha seemed to have completely forgotten about it. With swift and elegant movements, she sliced off more of the fat fish and popped them into her mouth to savor carefully. The taste was simply beyond description.
After a short while, the entire plump fish was reduced to a clean skeleton. Wusha stroked her belly.
"Thirty percent full. Two more would be just right."
Good grief! No wonder she was called the Blood Demon Empress. Even after starving for more than twenty days, a hefty, hundred-pound-plus fish had only filled Wusha up by thirty percent?
*Thud.*
*Splash.*
Wusha fell backward once more, lying flat on her back, gazing blankly up at the azure sky as her large feet submerged into the water again. She could feel her bodily functions rapidly recovering, though her internal injuries showed no signs of healing whatsoever.
By afternoon, she had spent the entire day soaking her feet and lying on the ice, enjoying a wonderful nap. Alas, the Ice Ling Fish never appeared again. She lifted her jade-white feet to air-dry them, then retrieved a fresh pair of white socks and blood-red combat boots from her Spatial Ring. The original boots and socks were put away unwashed.
It could be said that her only Spatial Ring was stuffed to the brim with all kinds of shoes and socks. Inside was a special compartment with a self-cleaning function, and this Spatial Ring could be used by her alone without needing any magic to activate it.
However, the Ring of Holding could not store the Blood Demon Spear. Once placed inside the ring, the Blood Demon Spear would destroy everything within the internal space, and the Spatial Ring itself would be reduced to nothingness by the spear.
Having eaten a single Ice Ling Fish, the Blood Demon Empress recovered a fraction of her strength. She stretched lazily, and the Tiger Demon Queen once again set out on her journey. However, due to her severe internal injuries, she could not travel at the breakneck speed Li Lanhao was capable of.
Unfortunately, as the solitary, blood-red figure traversed the entire Frigid Ice Lake, she failed to spot a second plump fish. Perhaps the Ice Ling Fish were simply rare. Still, Wusha could not afford to linger; she had to make her way out of the Snowy Wasteland as soon as possible. If fortune favored her on the road, she might even manage to hunt some game to replenish her strength.
***
Meanwhile, Li Lanhao had long since left Wusha behind by dozens of snowy peaks. Traversing mountains and ridges, he finally reached the edge of the Snowy Wasteland half a month later.
When Li Lanhao climbed the final snowy mountain pass and looked out, he saw scattered patches of snow below, followed by rolling thorny wilderness stretching for tens of miles, and beyond that, an endless sea of pine forests.
Li Lanhao rubbed his flat stomach. He was starving—hungry to the point of madness. For days, he had been completely cut off from flatbread. Just as he was about to lift his foot and press on, his peripheral vision caught sight of numerous wisps of cooking smoke curling upward in the valley below.
"Strange, why would so many people gather in such a desolate place? There were no signs of human habitation around the Snowy Wasteland when I came through."
Li Lanhao felt a bit dazed, but he headed down the mountain anyway. Since there were people down there, he would just have to swallow his pride and beg for some food to improve his meals.
After about two hours, he arrived at the nearest spot where the smoke was rising, only to be dumbfounded once more. Around the campfire sat a dozen pitched tents, guarded by seven or eight men clad in armor and helmets, every single one of them holding a spear in their right hand and a shield in their left.
Even a fool like Li Lanhao would have understood that these were imperial troops.
"Strange, why would an army gather out here?"
Li Lanhao initially thought about sneaking away, but on second thought, since they were soldiers, they couldn't be bad guys—scrounging a meal shouldn't be too hard. So, strapping his recurve bow to his back and holding his long sword, he strode forward.
Because Li Lanhao's Spatial Ring had limited capacity, and his only ring could only store fresh herbs and food, he had no choice but to carry his Blazing Flame Sword and recurve bow on his back.
Li Lanhao's arrival outside the tents immediately drew the vigilance of the guards. Eight men surrounded him instantly, and a short, dark-skinned middle-aged man spoke with caution.
"Young friend, who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Although Li Lanhao was not old, he had matured early and was quite well-traveled and experienced. Putting on a thick-skinned, calm demeanor, he stepped forward and explained.
"Uncle, don't misunderstand, I'm not a bad guy! I'm just an ordinary citizen of the Jialuo Empire who accidentally strayed into the Snowy Wasteland over two months ago. Look, it took me over two months just to walk out of there! I'm practically starving to death—would it be alright to beg for a bite to eat from you kind folks?"
The man addressed was named Lin Chong, the leader of the squad. He looked Li Lanhao up and down for a moment, an idea coming to mind on how he might curry favor, so he probed cautiously.
"Oh, for a youngster to travel alone and make it out of the Snowy Wasteland is quite impressive. However, since you've come from the Snowy Wasteland, you must have made some discoveries! How about this: I'll take you to our leader's tent, and you can tell him everything you saw and heard in the wasteland. I'll arrange for someone to prepare food for you right away."
Li Lanhao pondered for a moment and decided it was acceptable. Besides, for over two months, apart from encountering a breathtakingly gorgeous fierce beast, he hadn't laid eyes on a single human being. He had been longing to chat with someone for three days and three nights.
Therefore, Li Lanhao readily agreed.
"No problem, the Snowy Wasteland is full of bizarre and wondrous tales."
"Alright, then follow me. You lot, go prepare some food—oh, and get a deer leg ready for our young friend."
After giving a few more instructions to his subordinates, Lin Chong led Li Lanhao straight to the leader's tent.
***
Outside the tent, Lin Chong saluted respectfully before speaking.
"Leader Han, your subordinate requests an audience."
However, there was not the slightest response from inside the tent. Finding it rather awkward, Lin Chong turned back to chat with Li Lanhao.
"I am Squad Leader Lin Chong. Might I ask your name, young brother?"
"Ah, Leader Lin, my name is Li Lanhao."
"Oh, drop the titles! Seeing how young, handsome, and full of spirit you are, let's dispense with formalities. You can just call me Brother Chong."
"Thank you, Brother Chong."
"No thanks needed, Brother Lanhao. To be honest, I truly admire you. Crossing the Snowy Wasteland all by yourself—now that is the mark of a hero in his youth."
"It's nothing much, really. Aside from the cold, there's not much danger to speak of in the Snowy Wasteland."
As Li Lanhao and Lin Chong chatted idly outside the tent, Li Lanhao's floodgates of conversation burst wide open. To put it simply, he was far too eager to have a proper chat with someone.