More memory will be copied.
Whether it's "Bressworm" or something else... they will be a catastrophe for the entire ice field.
Continuing northwards, bypassing the giant's corpse, they gradually saw ice sculptures appearing on the ice surface.
There were more than a dozen people, some were pulling at the reins of the pack horses, and some were reaching out to pass them to their companions.
They remained frozen there in different postures, motionless, their bodies covered with a thick layer of ice. Everyone's expression was looking forward, with dull and distorted expressions, as if something terrible had existed there.
Are they still alive?
I checked the ice sculptures immediately and found that they were in very bad condition.
There were indeed some alive, but they were not far from freezing to death.
"Aisun!"
Xia Yibing waved to the girl from the front right to let her come over.
"here!"
"Krumu!"
Chapter 42: Entering the Ice Lake (Two in One)
They found Kurumu among the ice sculptures.
This was not good news. The expectant faces of Mani and Lulum appeared before their eyes. Although they did not make any guarantees, everyone except Esther felt nervous and immediately gathered over there.
"The good news is that he's not dead yet!" Xia Yibing shouted in the wind while rummaging through Esther's backpack to get the tent. "The bad news is that he's not far from death! We have to rescue these people as soon as possible!"
This place has left the Black Forest, so there is no hope of using branches and tree trunks piled together to block the cold wind. They had to pitch the tent on the snow and ice, and they were terrified during the operation, fearing that the surrounding area would collapse.
Fortunately, it didn't happen... After setting up the tent, they dragged three people who might be saved, including Kurum, into the tent, carefully laid them flat on the animal skin blankets, and lit a small stove to warm up the environment.
This time the temperature rose the slowest.
The principle is similar to that of the room closest to the corner of the building. Compared with other rooms, it has an extra wall that is in contact with the outside world. This type of room is usually hot in summer and cold in winter, and the air will dissipate quickly even if the heating is turned on.
Especially this time, there was no time to collect firewood to increase the fire. The temperature just wouldn't rise. No one said anything, but everyone was very anxious.
Unless you are born a bad person, who would be willing to watch the lives of their own kind disappear?
"Like this." Heidi suddenly squeezed out from behind, stretched out her hands, handed a red fruit to Hitzfeld and Xia Yibing respectively, and then she took out another one from her arms.
"We each take charge of one, and the method is very simple... just squeeze the peel and pour the juice inside into their throats."
This is a really strange request, but saving lives is the most important thing, so they can't care about that.
Hitzfeld did as she said and tore a small hole in the skin of the fruit. Then he carefully applied force and squeezed the flesh inside, allowing the juice to drip out of the gap little by little and drip into Kurum's mouth, which she had squeezed open hard.
A bit like a persimmon.
In her spare time, she looked at the fruit in her hand and found that its color was so bright red and translucent, as if it was the concentrated crystallization of autumn fire. Only the best quality persimmons or red eggplants could have such a good appearance.
[She is definitely the 'Crown of the God of Fire'!] Ms. Yusirion started again, [Is this the fruit she produced? The fruit produced by Binglanluo can indeed be red in some cases, but it definitely has no effect on curing cold! It will only accelerate their death!]
Hitzfeld frowned slightly, and seeing that the juice was almost squeezed out, she turned to Heidi and asked, "Heidi, what exactly is this fruit--"
"I got it." Heidi answered simply, "How do you think Rob Murphy, seven years ago... a complete rookie with no experience of living here, could come back alive?"
Was Rob also saved by this kind of fruit?
Hitzfeld was more and more astonished. She asked, "But its effect--"
"After absorbing enough sunlight, the Ice Orchid vine will use some of its excess energy to produce fruit." Heidi interrupted her. "These energies are the purest essence of the sun and life, containing heat energy and vitality. They are only bluish purple at first. The more sun essence the Ice Orchid vine infuses into it, the brighter its appearance becomes, until it turns into this red."
"Any other questions?" She had a stern face and looked a little wary.
She also has emotions and desires, and it's not pleasant to be suspected all the time.
But this statement is completely opposite to what the tutor said.
Hitzfeld remained silent on the surface, but secretly took note of the incident and asked Heidi where she got this information.
"You thought I would say 'this is what the tree rings told me', didn't you?" Heidi smiled, "It's not like that... After all, we are tree people, not people, nor trees. There are some things we are born to understand, and this kind of knowledge is included in it."
"Very impressive." commented the girl.
She noticed that Heidi had become extremely sensitive to any suspicion or discussion of her identity, so she was sensible enough not to bring it up any further.
"Cough...cough!"
Just then, Kurumu woke up.
what……
Everyone was in high spirits.
They woke up just in time.
As time went by, the temperature in the tent also rose. After waiting for a while, I boiled some hot water for the three people to drink. They were able to sit up on their own and speak and think normally.
This is simply a miracle. If Esther gained the ability to resist the cold thanks to that strange disease and her identity as a descendant of the Iceman, then the credit for these people's survival should all be attributed to Heidi.
No wonder such a character was sent as a guard.
Xia Yibing also understood it in her heart.
Even people who were frozen into ice sculptures could be rescued... Considering the environment of the Arctic glacier, no one is more suitable for this job than Heidi.
"How does it feel?" Hitzfeld was communicating patiently with Kurum.
Although all three of them have recovered, their physical conditions are different. Only the strongest Kurum can sit up with the cup in his hand. The other two can't hold on any longer and lie down again. Esther is taking care of them.
“Something is not right…” Kurum stretched out his left hand and pressed his forehead, “You are Hitzfeld… Why are you…”
"We joined the rescue team, but unfortunately we encountered a collapse. I guess the team was cut off." Hitzfeld said, "Drink more water, Kurum, we have a lot of things to ask you."
Kurum looked at her, then at Xia Yibing and others standing nearby, and remembered that someone had talked about their identities when the hunting team set out.
"They are all great nobles!" The hunters laughed. "They probably heard the story of the Ice Lake and came here to explore!"
Kurum didn't think so. He got more information and knew that the gray-haired girl who was boarding at his home was also a well-known detective.
This word is a little unfamiliar to traditional Ice Lake people, because this town does not need detectives... But because Marnie has lived in the South and understands these basic common sense, Kurum also knows what detective means.
Is she here to investigate the anomaly here?
Kurumu thought that was the case.
Even if it wasn't him, there was no need to hide it...! Just because these people were willing to brave the icy weather to rescue them, this kindness was hard to repay.
It was just a little information, and he only hated that he knew so little.
"I only know that something was affected..." Kurum said, "Maybe it was the concept... or the direction?... It's also possible that we were frozen unconscious. Our state was very strange..."
"Do you know where this is?" Hitzfeld asked.
"Icefield."
"Where exactly on the ice field?"
"I'm not sure... We wanted to go south, but I feel like we're not going south. We may have deviated from the route and are somewhere in the southwest."
"It's north."
"what?"
"We are now close to the icy lake."
Kurumu was stunned for a long time before accepting this reality. He widened his eyes and said, "This must be the curse of the ice lake!"
"Describe in detail what you saw."
Xia Yibing couldn't help but interrupt.
Although Aisuen's interrogation procedures were standard, they were too polite.
Is now the time to be polite?
She felt that violence didn't matter at all. After all, her life was saved, so she didn't think these people would be dissatisfied.
"I remember now..." Under her pressure, Kurumu's memory began to become clearer, "We...saw a floating light strip."
"Bands of light? Aurora?"
"We call it 'divine light', and we all think it's a good thing... because with the light, we can see the road clearly... and the outline of the forest in the distance is also visible. With a reference point, it's not easy to get lost. We all think this is a good thing..."
"Then?"
"We were... staring at the light. I felt like I was under the influence. My body wanted to move forward uncontrollably."
"Where are your eyes?"
“I kept staring at that band of light.”
"Did you realize that at the time?"
"Have."
"Do you think this is inappropriate?"
"……a little bit."
"Have any of you and your companions experienced any abnormalities?"
“I didn’t pay attention to that.”
"After seeing the light, were you attracted and bewitched by it, and started heading towards the ice lake?"
"That's it!"
"So you guys have been staring at that thing for a long time... Feel your brain carefully, do you feel like any thoughts have been covered over you?"
"…What do you mean by covering?"
"It's that you feel that you are not Kurumu but another person, or that you shouldn't be a person, you should be a beast."
“??? I don’t have such an idea at all.”
That would be strange.
Xia Yibing was a little puzzled.
Since we watched the aurora for such a long time, it is theoretically impossible that no memory of it was transferred to us.
What is the difference between these people and the Ice Lake People who turned into half-giants at that time?
Is it 'frozen'?
She guessed secretly.
There is some truth to this… because mutation does violate all the laws of life evolution, but at least it follows the law of conservation of energy.
In other words, mutation requires sufficient and active flesh and blood as energy consumption.
As for 'freezing', Kurum and his men had been trapped in the ice and snow for several hours. They were starving and cold, and some of them might have been hypothermic and on the verge of freezing to death. Perhaps such flesh and blood was not active enough for mutation.
Later they were frozen into ice sculptures, which was even more amazing.
Because not only their bodies, but even their thoughts were solidified.
Of course, solidified minds can no longer receive any information. They cannot think or associate. Their understanding of themselves remains at the moment of freezing, thus escaping the memory overwrite of the confusion curse.
The more Xia Yibing thought about it, the more she felt that this was the case. After the interrogation, she talked to Hitzfeld alone. She felt that in extreme cases, this was also a way to fight the curse.
Maybe they won’t need it, but what if?
As for a newbie like Esther, she was already considering freezing Esther half to death if the situation became critical after entering the ice lake.
Anyway, we have Heidi's fruit... Even though it's a bit inhumane, it's better than watching her turn into a monster, right?
"Heidi has confirmed that they have no wrinkles." Hitzfeld nodded slightly after listening to her description. "This explanation makes sense."
"These people can't come with us." Xia Yibing asked, "Do we continue walking?"
"Of course." There was no hesitation in the girl's tone.
If her previous visit to the Arctic was due to the influence of the crown, there was something, a consciousness... beyond the sixth sense and spiritual perception, that was attracting her and calling her here.
So now, she is completely proactive in getting to the bottom of the ice lake.
She had to find out whether her glance at the aurora had caused worse consequences, and whether the ice lake had copied other monsters in her memory besides the wood golem.
Otherwise how could she feel at ease?
