dmims Chapter 67 Leaving the Snowfield
Chapter 67 Leaving the Snowfield
A glint of surprise flashed in Su Su's eyes; Xu Si had never shown this move before.
Fu Xiaojian stared intently at the cave entrance, his hand unconsciously resting on the pocket containing the [Stone Statue Puppet].
Xiao Luo is doing his best to maintain the psionic barrier, though it's unclear how effective it will be.
After the passage extended downwards for ten or twenty meters, people could vaguely see at the end of the passage the twisted reinforced concrete structure of the viaduct, which was covered by a thick layer of ice.
And the endless stream of cars on the overpass, and the silhouette of a huge tank bearing the logo of an oil company!
"I see it! It's an oil tanker!" Jiao Jiao exclaimed excitedly in a low voice.
Fu Xiaojian approached the cave entrance and squinted as he looked down carefully.
Sure enough, the tanker truck was clearly visible under the thick layer of ice.
"Is there still oil inside? Won't it freeze?" the little girl asked, puzzled.
Xu Si's heart skipped a beat; he hadn't thought of this problem yet.
"It's obvious you didn't study properly at school. Gasoline only freezes at -40 degrees Celsius. This ice layer is only 20 meters thick, and the lowest temperature is only -30 degrees Celsius. As long as there is gasoline inside, it definitely won't freeze!" Su Su rubbed the little girl's head.
"No, I just haven't learned it yet!"
Xu Si nodded knowingly.
Me too, I didn't learn anything either.
"Brother Dao, are you pretending to know what you don't?" The little girl noticed Xu Si's strange behavior immediately.
"How could that be? I dropped out of high school, and that's when my intellect was at its peak. I knew everything from astronomy to geography. I'll make you a test later so you can brush up on your knowledge!"
Xu Si spoke openly and honestly, but Su Su had already taken the oil drum out of the pickup truck and jumped directly into the ice cave without the slightest hesitation.
"Ah, Auntie, don't do anything rash!" The little girl was startled.
"There's still oil left, lower a rope down!"
With a tearing sound, Su Su's voice came from inside the cave, instantly putting everyone at ease.
Fu Xiaojian immediately pulled a climbing rope from the trunk of the Mengshi. Tashan took the rope, held it firmly in his rocky hand, and lowered the other end into the ice cave.
"Be careful!" Fu Xiaojian shouted into the cave.
A calm reply came from below: "I know."
Everyone waited anxiously, with only the howling of the wind and snow.
A few minutes later, the rope was pulled three times—this was the agreed-upon signal.
With a strong pull, Tashan quickly hauled the first barrel of gasoline up.
"The oil tanks below are almost full, well-sealed, and not frozen." Su Su's voice came from inside the ice cave, but the visibility was too poor to see clearly.
"If you get cold, come up and take over," Fu Xiaojian instructed, and then several more empty oil drums were tied down.
However, Su Su had her own principles. Xu Si had been busy for so long, so she couldn't let him do everything. With Ta Shan's physique, it would be difficult for him to even turn around. As for Fu Xiaojian, he was just a weakling, so let's not talk about him!
Fu Xiaojian: Huh? Me?
Su Su was busy in the ice cave. The biting cold kept eroding her body. Even with the blood and qi boost from the [Violent Tiger] and the passage maintained by Xu Si's Ice Heart, the long hours of working in the low temperature still made her hands and feet gradually go numb.
But she gritted her teeth and persevered, inserting the fuel hose into the fuel container and feeling the gasoline gushing into it.
Those above weren't idle either. Tashan was in charge of pulling the ropes, Xu Si and Xiao Luo were on alert at all times, and Fu Xiaojian and the others quickly poured gasoline from the oil drums into the vehicle's fuel tank.
The whole process was tense yet orderly, with everyone giving their all and racing against time and the bitter cold.
"That's the twenty-first barrel!" Tashan reported in a muffled voice as he hauled up another barrel of gasoline.
"That should be enough. The car is full. Call Su Su to come up!" Xu Si's "Messenger of Melting Wax", Fu Xiaojian's Warrior, and the bus were all big consumers of oil, each carrying about five or six buckets.
Xu Si remained at the edge of the cave entrance, his star-like eyes watching below while maintaining the passage and sensing the energy flow around him.
Hearing Fu Xiaojian's words, he shouted down, "Su Su, that's enough, come up here!"
"There's still quite a bit left; let's get a few more buckets to keep on hand!"
More than an hour has passed, and Su Su is only maintaining her strength thanks to her extraordinary physique.
Her voice was visibly tired and trembling, clearly indicating that she was nearing her limit.
Xu Si frowned slightly, about to speak, but Fu Xiaojian spoke first, his tone leaving no room for argument: "Get on! We have enough oil, and the spare tanks are almost full. There's no need to risk it. Tashan, pull her up!"
Upon hearing this, Tashan suddenly exerted force with his rocky arm, and the rope instantly tightened.
Su Su below seemed to want to say something, but an irresistible force had already lifted the oil drum in her hand upwards.
Using the pull, she lightly touched the ice wall with her toes, and with a few leaps, she jumped out of the cave.
As soon as she landed, she staggered, her face as pale as paper, her lips frozen purple, and a violent white chill emanated from her body—the result of her body temperature rapidly rising and colliding with the harsh cold outside.
Jiao Jiao exclaimed in surprise and quickly stepped forward to support her, wrapping the thick blanket that had been prepared in advance around her body.
"Auntie! How are you?" Jiao Jiao's voice was trembling with tears.
Su Su waved her hand, trying to say she was fine, but her jaw was chattering uncontrollably, so she could only shake her head with difficulty.
"We can't stay here any longer. Let's refuel and set off immediately!" Fu Xiaojian said in a deep voice, looking around at the cleared snowfield and the ice cave that had just been sealed.
Although they had found valuable gasoline, every moment they lingered above this eerie, frozen city brought with it an increased risk of unknown danger.
The group acted quickly and loaded the last few barrels of spare gasoline onto the vehicle.
The roar of the engine sounded again, this time with a hint of confidence.
The convoy resumed its journey, with Xu Si's "Messenger of Molten Wax" leading the way as always.
With ample fuel, the convoy's speed increased significantly.
Outside the car window lay an endless, deathly white expanse, and beneath it lay the once bustling cemetery of civilization.
Inside the car, Xu Si felt a sense of security as the fuel tank was filled to capacity again, but his gaze grew increasingly serious.
The convoy traveled across the ice plains for most of the day, not knowing whether it had left the "Frozen City" area. During this time, Xu Si maintained "Star Trails" and "Star Eyes" to be on alert for threats that might appear from under the ice or from other places.
Fortunately, apart from occasionally sensing some faint but harmless energy fluctuations (possibly remnants of frozen material), no other powerful or eerie events were encountered.
The blood-red sun began to set again, and the temperature dropped sharply.
Just when everyone thought they were about to spend another difficult night on the snowy plains, Xu Si, who had been silently leading the way, suddenly spoke into the walkie-talkie, his voice carrying a barely perceptible fluctuation:
"Ahead... it looks like we've reached the snow line."
Everyone driving was stunned.
"What's the snow line?" Xiao Luo asked blankly.
"Are you stupid? We're getting out of the snowfield!" Jiao Jiao's voice was filled with unbelievable joy, and her excited shouts could even be heard outside the car window.
At the edge of the field of vision, the seemingly eternal, unchanging white snow finally revealed its boundary.