After Mu Li's reminder, Fu Peiyao finally had the time to observe her surroundings.
This was a giant ice cave, hidden deep within the glacier's core; if not for this unexpected incident, she might never have had the chance to come here.
The cave walls, the dome, the ground—everywhere her eyes could see was ice.
These ice blocks were not the common crystal-clear type; they were dense, like sapphires, emitting a deep, faint blue glow, making the entire cave resemble a crystal palace.
Aside from the three of them, there was no other movement here.
The sudden silence made the surroundings feel especially oppressive, and she couldn't help but move closer to Mu Li, clutching his arm.
"What's wrong? Scared?" Mu Li's voice was so gentle, bringing her a touch of warmth in this frozen environment.
"Where is this?" Fu Peiyao murmured, her voice echoing faintly in the ice palace.
"It's nothing, just an ice cave," Mu Li quickly decided. "Let's go find Zhang Ruoyun and the others first. I'm worried they might be in danger."
Fu Peiyao and the cameraman also followed his lead.
The three of them followed Zhang Ruoyun's footprints, gradually moving forward. As they delved deeper, the surroundings became even more dim.
Fortunately, the blue light from the ice crystals allowed them to see the path ahead.
Soon, the three arrived at a deep, secluded passage. After exchanging glances, Mu Li took the lead, and they began to advance slowly.
At the very front of the group was naturally Gardevoir.
This passage wasn't very wide; two people walking side-by-side felt a bit tight, but fortunately, the passage didn't narrow further.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, Mu Li vaguely saw a soft glow emanating from ahead.
"We've reached the end!" Mu Li exclaimed, a hint of excitement in his voice.
Fu Peiyao and the cameraman also perked up.
The light spot slowly moved, getting closer and closer.
Finally, the three approached the light and emerged from the dim passage.
Several enormous ice crystals appeared before them, like pillars supporting the entire ice cave, embedded into the ice crystals at the top.
At this moment, the three of them felt only their own insignificance; before such natural power, they were like ants gazing up at the sky.
This sense of awe was difficult to express in words.
Before the three could fully immerse themselves in this awe, a slight tremor emanated from the ice cave ahead.
"Ah!!"
A scream came from behind the ice pillars.
Mu Li and the other two's expressions changed: "It's Song Ling'er."
After more than ten days together, the three were already very familiar with Song Ling'er's voice.
At this moment, Zhang Ruoyun and his two companions were frantically fleeing, pursued by dozens of Ice-type Pokémon.
Just as an Ice Beam was about to strike the three, a white barrier appeared behind them, instantly blocking the Ice Beam and all subsequent attacks.
The three instinctively looked back, only to see Mu Li and Gardevoir standing behind them, having intercepted all the Ice-type Pokémon.
"Be careful, Mu Li," Zhang Ruoyun couldn't help but warn.
Mu Li seemed to not even care about the dozens of Pokémon, turning his head to ask curiously, "What did you do? Why are they chasing you?"
The three immediately showed a wry smile: "We don't know either. We were trying to find a way out, and we unexpectedly ran into them gathered together, doing who knows what, and then they started chasing us."
Mu Li also looked at the group of Pokémon with a puzzled expression.
But the Pokémon group seemed to have no intention of stopping; upon seeing Mu Li, they continued to attack the four of them frantically.
"Gardevoir, make them sober up," Mu Li frowned.
The next second, a Psyshock directly exploded among the Pokémon group, instantly sending all the Pokémon flying against the wall, and their eyes seemed to clear up.
"The power is just right, stunned but not brain-damaged!" Mu Li snapped his fingers and chuckled, "Now we can talk properly, call out your leader."
Before Mu Li's words could even finish, an Empoleon slowly emerged from behind the ice pillar ahead.
This Empoleon was at least twice the size of a normal Empoleon, and its aura looked quite extraordinary.
"Oh, it's a Totem Pokémon," Mu Li pouted. "Tell me, why were you attacking our companions?"
Empoleon was stunned, rapidly waving its two hands, its face flushed.
Gardevoir looked at Mu Li and the others helplessly and said, "It says that we were the ones who intruded into their territory first, and you humans are truly too detestable."
Mu Li was taken aback, then retorted in annoyance, "Didn't we just accidentally fall in? We just wanted to find a way out, who knew what you were doing here?"
Empoleon was stunned, its expression instantly looking a bit better, and it asked somewhat confusedly, "You weren't coming to capture us?"
Mu Li said helplessly, "Why would we capture you for no reason? You're not even good-looking..."
Empoleon immediately let out a sigh of relief, seemingly not hearing Mu Li's taunt, and continued, "We were chased here by a group of bad people and hid. Our King turned into an egg to save us, and we've been trying to revive It."
"The King turned into an egg?" Mu Li had never heard of such a thing. Generally speaking, after a Pokémon loses stamina, it will gradually recover from its injuries after a while. If it cannot recover, it will gradually lose its life.
This was the first time he had heard of a Pokémon turning into an egg after losing its life.
"So you've found a way to restore It?" Mu Li asked curiously.
"We were just about to perform the Ritual Dance, and your companions intruded," Empoleon complained. "We thought that group of humans had chased us here and were worried they would expose our location, so we chased them."
It turned out to be a misunderstanding.
After Mu Li explained the situation to the three, and to Fu Peiyao and the cameraman who had rushed over, everyone finally understood.
"How about you take us with you? Maybe I can even help..." This time, not only were the other five very interested, but Mu Li also wanted to witness a Pokémon that could turn into an egg to revive.
Empoleon didn't seem to suspect anything. This wasn't because Empoleon trusted Mu Li and the others, but because these Pokémon trusted Gardevoir.
Gardevoir's saintly... um... kindness was also well-known.
Plus, Mu Li hadn't harmed those Pokémon just now, so everyone had a good impression of him.
The six followed the group of Pokémon forward and soon arrived in a very spacious hall.
On a stone platform in the center of the hall, there was a very large Pokémon egg. Just from its appearance, Mu Li would barely be able to hold it with both hands.
The eggshell was entirely pure white, with faint blue ice patterns on it, and those ice patterns faintly emitted a slight glow.
"What a beautiful egg!" Song Ling'er couldn't help but exclaim.
However, when the six wanted to approach, Empoleon directly blocked their path.
Mu Li and the others immediately understood that the other party still didn't trust them.
"It's okay, we'll just watch from here. You continue, continue," Mu Li didn't dwell on it. Being able to witness such a scene already made him feel very fortunate.
Seeing that the six no longer approached, the Ice-type Pokémon gradually formed a circle around the egg.
