Strongest Fire

Chapter 31

It was daylight when I opened my eyes again.

Shi An rolled over lazily and stretched out on the bed.

He had just caught a cold, not a big problem, after taking the medicine and then honestly slept through the night, basically the pain has been completely eliminated, no trace.

The sunlight outside the window was blinding, and the room was brilliant.

Shi An got up slowly.

It always feels like a very long dream.

In my dream I saw my long-lost treasure, gleaming in a dark, dry cave.

He pounced and hugged and wouldn't let go.

I don't know why, that originally should be cold and hard treasure, embrace on the hand is actually warm, even a little hot, quickly dispel the cold pain of the darkness.

Speaking of which, what kind of treasure would have that kind of texture?

Fire gems? Warm Jade?

Well, it doesn't seem right.

Shi An leaned against the bed, yawned, and thought in his mind.

At that moment, the door of the hospital room was pushed open and Wang Li came in behind the doctor.

He looked at Shi An and said, "I've just talked to the doctor, all your body indexes are normal, you should be discharged this afternoon."

Shi An perked up, "Yeah!"

Wang Li pulled a chair and sat down in front of Shi An's bed, briefly telling him about the other three expressing their approval, and giving detailed instructions on what needed to be prepared to carry out the mission next, and finally, he concluded:

"The remains of that abyssal rift are a long way off, and since it will soon be closing season, we must move soon."

Shi An, with a mouth full of buns, asked vaguely, "How fast?"

Wang Li handed over a cup of warm water at the right time:

"We're leaving tomorrow afternoon."

Shi An took the warm water and poured tons and tons of it down.

Wang Li frowned uneasily, "Slow down, don't choke."

He didn't know when he started to get used to the extraordinarily unconscious behavior of the teenager in front of him, and began to subconsciously worry about the other person.

Shi An replied briskly as she placed her half-empty cup on the bedside:

"Tomorrow? No problem!"

His face still wore a bit of unfading pallor, but there was a leaping gleam in his eyes.

The sooner you get your hands on the treasure, the better.

Wang Li nodded.

He stood up ready to leave but hesitated for a few seconds as he turned around.

Finally, he decided to ask the question in his heart, "By the way, how was your chat with Officer Mu yesterday?"

Shi An: "...... huh?"

He blinked and gazed blankly at Wang Li in front of him, seemingly not comprehending the meaning of the other's words, "What?"

Wang Li was stunned.

The puzzlement on Shi An's face was very real, without any element of falsification.

Could it be that Officer Mu didn't come in yesterday?

That's not true.

The corner of Wang Li's mouth twitched slightly.

He pointed to a dark sleeve drawn under the corner of the quilt pressed by Shi An, "That, what is it?"

"Eh?" Shi An seemed to notice then.

He moved to the side, then jerked a coat out from underneath his body with great force.

The fabric was thick and premium, and appeared to be hand cut, but at the moment it was crumpled and crumpled, with a bit of warmth lingering on it.

"Whose is this?" Shi An was perplexed by this.

Wang Li: "......"

This is definitely the same jacket that Officer Mu wore yesterday!

He couldn't help but raise a hand and pinch the bridge of his nose as he briefly told Shi An about running into Mu Hang outside the ward yesterday.

Shi An showed a dazed look, "Oh, no wonder, I said why it looks so familiar!"

After all, Mu Hang still has his last coat.

Old Butler cleaned it up carefully and instructed him to return it to the person, but Shi An turned his face and forgot about it.

As a result, not only have they not returned it, but now they have another one in their hands.

"Anyway, we didn't talk la." Shi An scratches her head, "I should have been asleep when he arrived."

After getting a definite answer, Wang Li did not think much, he nodded at Shi An and then turned around and left the ward.

Without taking more than a few steps, Wang Li came to a screeching halt.

He stood in the empty hallway and suddenly realized something as an afterthought.

It's not right ......

If Shi An wasn't awake when Mu Hang arrived yesterday, how did the officer's jacket get into Shi An's arms?

Wang Li shook her head vigorously to dispel the strange thoughts in her head.

It must be a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding that he hadn't thought of yet but could definitely explain perfectly!

*

After forcing the black smoke to become one of his own belongings as well, Shi An leaves it at home to watch the house.

After all, the bed and pillows in the room were made by Shi An's hard work and effort in collecting treasures and after a thousand years of hard work, who knows if those two humans would take advantage of his departure and take his treasures for themselves!

When all was said and done, Shi An waved goodbye to Butler and turned into the car driven by Wang Li.

The wagon is large and the interior is far more spacious than it looks from the outside.

Wang Li looked up and was about to greet Shi An, who had just gotten into the car, but was startled by the huge backpack stuffed behind him.

He froze for a couple of seconds, but finally couldn't hold back and asked:

"What's all that ...... you've got, packed in here?"

Wang Li did some serious soul-searching in his mind.

After all, he was responsible for preparing the vast majority of the supplies, and the others should be able to set off with a few personal items.

Is there something that ...... himself hasn't considered?

"Wait a minute oh."

Shi An stripped off his backpack and heaved it onto the seat with a dull thud and a muffled thud as he pulled it open and pulled a small bag of cookies out of it before chomping and tearing it open.

Shi An handed it over with a sincere face, "Want some?"

Wang Li: "......"

The other three: "......"

--So what the hell do you think this trip is for?

Far away.

Butler stood in the doorway with a mixture of relief and despondency, watching the vehicle become smaller and smaller in view.

He wiped the corners of his eyes with a not-so-subtle movement.

Alas, the child is growing up.

Not only have you made friends, but you've even made a date to go out on an outing with your friend everything.

Alas, it's good to be young.

*

Zhuo Fu knocked on the door with a raised hand and walked in.

"The location where the target mercenary group last appeared has been determined, and based on other relevant intelligence, we've also finally identified their next target location."

Mu Hang looked up, "Speak."

Zhuo Fu turned a page of the mission document in his hand and placed it on Mu Hang's desk, "It's a former Abyssal Rift site, it's been seven or eight years ago, the Bureau took it seriously because of the size of the area, but ever since it was shut down, no abnormal fluctuations have been detected, so surveillance over there has been relaxed. "

He frowned in some confusion, "What was that mercenary group doing there?"

During this period of time, that mercenary group had been searching for the dragon's traces in various underground intelligence stations as well as in the black market, with an air of not stopping until they found it, but before the dragon could be found, they suddenly changed their destination, which was really impossible for people to not think about it more.

Could it be that there was something in that rift that could help them find the dragon?

Zhuo Fu seemed to suddenly think of something and looked towards Mu Hang :

"By the way, I remember that you were in charge of handling that crack site? Did you notice anything strange at first?"

Mu Hang did not reply.

His well-defined brows lowered as he skimmed the intelligence on the folder in front of him.

Zhuo Fu has long been accustomed to the other party's cold attitude, and did not dwell on it.

He said, "Anyway, if this mission is going to be taken on, it should be leaving today at the latest, that place should be a few days short of being closed, don't worry about specific supplies or anything else, I'll greet the person in charge over there."

Mu Hang nodded and reached out to close the mission file in front of him, "Thanks a lot."

With that, he stood up and tugged up his coat, which he had set aside, in his hand.

Zhuo Fu blinked in wonder and said, "Eh? You changed your jacket?"

Mu Hang's coat is basically a special customization that defends against a portion of magic splashes and attacks.

Although it was the same style, Zhuo Fu was able to notice that this one seemed to be much newer than the one Mu Hang wore a few days ago.

He couldn't help but chuckle:

"I remember the last time you lost your jacket was before Ability Academy, what happened? Saved a little kid this time?"

Mu Hang gave a slight lurch as he put on his coat.

In that moment, not so long ago memories revived again.

The warm, soft touch on his wrist seemed to linger, and an imperceptible itch lingered on the skin, causing Mu Hang to subconsciously tense up, as if he had returned to those minutes of helplessness.

Mu Hang's eyes were cold, and a low air pressure hung over his body.

He twisted his head and swept his eyes at the unproductive Zhuo Fu behind him and asked, "I see you're idle? How's the research on that sword coming along?"

Zhuo Fu: "......"

His whole body wilted like a frosted eggplant, and he gritted his teeth unwillingly, "There must be some ancient magic attached to that one, but you won't let me sample it ......"

Mu Hang snorted and turned to go out the door.

"Wait, what do you mean by that! Looking down on people!" Zhuo Fu shouted furiously.

Mu Hang didn't turn around as the office door closed behind him, blocking out the other man's voice.

He dropped his eyes impassively and pulled his gloves back on, tugging them firmly.

That small patch of skin was tightly covered.

*

Originally, Wang Li was worried that the heavy baggage would slow down Shi An's movement, but what he didn't expect was that before he reached his destination, half of the backpack, which was still bulging, had gone down.

...... Basically all of it was eaten by him alone.

Wang Li glanced incredulously at Shi An's flat belly, unable to comprehend that a normal human's stomach could really hold that many snacks.

"That ...... don't you save some for the return trip?"

Wang Li asked subtly.

Shi An unwrapped the jelly with a lurch and suddenly looked at Wang Li in horror, "Wait, does that mean I won't have any more when I finish these for the return trip?"

The corner of Wang Li's mouth twitched, "That's not what it means ......"

Shi An breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good."

Wang Li : "I mean, don't you worry about stomach aches from eating too much?"

After all, he had once seen his opponent's glorious deed of finishing off eight super-sized cups of ice cream in one go and then going straight to the hospital.

"Don't worry, last time was just an accident!"

Shi An paused, then continued in a serious manner, "Besides, only when you are full will you have the energy to work!"

Wang Li: "......"

It's good that you're happy.

They rushed for a full eight hours and changed transportation three times before finally reaching their destination.

As soon as she stepped out of the car, Shi An was caught off guard by the cold.

The whistling cold storm wind wrapped with fine ice and snow, as if the blade of a knife cut toward them, hanging on the face of raw pain.

Shi An shivered, staring dully at the sight before her.

The ground is piled up with thick snow, the sky is dark, as far as the eye can see is deserted ice field, the storm wind is whistling, whirling in the ice field, the sky is covered with snow fog, it is almost impossible to see what is actually a hundred meters away.

Shi An: "......"

When he was a dragon himself, he was completely unafraid of the cold, after all, unlike humans who had to be insulated in order to survive, plus again, he had thick scales to protect his body, allowing him to roll around on the highest snowy mountains with no problem.

But since becoming human, there were no more scales, no more bodies that were impervious to the cold, but the cold-blooded animal's low body temperature had somehow been retained.

He's, uh, he's super scared of the cold!

Shi An looked at Wang Li with tears in her eyes, "Didn't you, didn't you say that we were going to the Avon region?"

Isn't Avon a four-season valley?

Wang Li nodded as a matter of course, "Yeah, Avon Snowfield."

Shi An: "......"

He had forgotten that he had been asleep for too long, and the entire terrain of the continent had become different from what he remembered!

Wang Li distributed the clothing with insulation magic to the team members, and then said, "It's very difficult to enter the mountain in this season, especially at night, so we'll rest one night outside the mountain tonight, and enter the mountain in the morning."

The group walked one foot in front of the other toward the only inn in the distance, leaving a long trail of footprints in the thick snow.

Shi An wilted and huddled in his thick cotton suit, his head drooping sadly.

It's much better than it was, but it's still cold ......

He sniffled, his ears and the tip of his nose frozen red in just a few seconds, his dark eyes tearful and looking so pitiful.

On the side, Chen Meng sneered, "Knowing how to pack so many snacks, don't you know how to prepare something to keep out the cold?"

With that, she raised her hand and threw something over, "Take it."

Shi An lends a busy hand and looks down.

It's a fluffy earmuff, white and pink with a cute cartoon rabbit pattern on it, full of girlishness.

Chen Meng's tone was still hard, "I have an extra set, I'm lending it to you."

Before Shi An could thank her, she turned around and picked up her pace to keep up with the person in front of her.

Soon, a group of five people walked inside the hotel.

The inn was brightly lit, the magic-powered fireplace was burned warmly, and the warm orange light enveloped the not-so-large store, very different from the desolate and cold snowfield outside, as if one had entered another world.

Wang Li ripped off his gloves and turned to the front desk, dealing with the staff in a low voice.

The other four waited in the waiting area.

The fireplace to one side crackled and sparked, but it disappeared as if it had hit some invisible barrier before it was about to leap out.

The waiter brought warm honey water.

The warmth that had long since disappeared returned once again, and several of the men unzipped their jackets to let in some air, except Shi An, who still wrapped himself up tightly, as if he hadn't yet recovered from the cold he'd just been in.

Zhao She asked suspiciously, "Aren't you a Fire-type?"

Shi An said breathlessly, holding her cup:

"It doesn't conflict with my fear of cold ......"

At that moment, Wu Huancheng who was on the side opened his mouth and said, "The temperature outside the mountain is still high, the environment inside the mountain is even harsher than here, and in the vicinity of this mountain, any natural flames can't be burned, only flames congealed by magical power can."

Shi An took a sip of honey water, and her originally pale face finally took on some blood color from the hot steam.

Curious, he asked, "Is that why you guys had to bring a fire one?"

"Not only that," Wu Huancheng shook his head, "but on top of that-"

But before he could finish his sentence, Wang Li turned and walked over.

Unlike the ease he felt just now, his face was ugly at the moment, as if a layer of dark clouds was hanging over his face.

Wu Huancheng stopped talking and stood up, wrinkling his brow as he asked, "What's wrong?"

Wang Li wearily raised his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath, "I just talked to the front desk a little more when I was checking in with them, and the front desk said that they basically didn't have many people during this season in previous years, and I don't know why they actually had so many tourists come at once this time."

Several people were shocked, "What?"

Wang Li looked solemn, "A few days ago, a small team of more than ten people also stayed here, and checked out and left exactly this morning, seemingly heading towards the canyon as well."

Wu Huancheng's expression also became ugly, "You mean ......"

Wang Li nodded, "Yes, it's very likely that we're not the only ones who already know the information about the treasure, and it's obvious that they're one step ahead of us now."

"What are you going to do?" Chen Meng asked with a frown.

Wang Li seems to have had the answer a long time ago.

He gave each of the four people in front of him a copy of the proof of entering the mountain, and then said, "Although it will be a little more dangerous at night, but according to this situation, we can't stay in a hotel and can only make the night journey."

--Treasure is something that belongs to whoever finds it first, of course.

The three were slightly startled.

Wang Li relieved, "Don't worry, we have a strong fire system in our team, so there should be no problem."

With that, he turned his head to Shi An, "You're right-"

Only to see the teenager not far away as if struck by lightning, look of despair: "Now, now again to go?"

"...... Don't even eat dinner?"