Chapter 167: Shehuo Is Still Young, Don’t Blame It
Standing at the wind cave entrance, Doggy carefully held out the Shehuo.
Although the gale at the wind cave mouth was fierce, the tiny candle flame sat steadily on Doggy’s tentacle, occasionally flickering. Not only could the strong wind not extinguish it, but when it flickered, it would burst out large plumes of flame.
The flame was very gentle. Sometimes it brushed across Yun Ce’s cheek, bringing only a dry warmth, nothing uncomfortable.
The wind cave mouth was also a coal layer. Obsidian-like coal was embedded in the cave walls, shining brightly under the sun. What top-quality coal this was!
Fire’s nature is to burn, and Shehuo is also fire. After encountering top-grade burning material, it couldn’t help but lick it with its flame.
At the beginning, Shehuo was like a naughty child, happily rolling and jumping on those obsidian-like coals, so much so that Doggy had to catch it everywhere, afraid it would accidentally fall and take root on Ghost King Mountain.
The candle flame ignited a piece of coal, without bursting into any flame. The coal turned from black to red in just an instant. Perhaps such a small flame made Shehuo feel a trace of humiliation, so a small candle flame suddenly erupted. The outer layer of the candle flame turned into a tiny fire dragon that began indiscriminately scorching the coal at the wind cave mouth.
All the coal burned up, then the air also burned up, and then a fire dragon filling the entire wind cave roared as it drilled into the depths of the dark underground layer.
Yun Ce was drenched in sweat and didn’t dare move. He could clearly feel the ground beginning to tremble.
He really wanted to run, but unfortunately Shehuo didn’t want to run. Not only did it not want to run, it also wanted to drag Doggy and Yun Ce together into that place which had already turned from a wind cave into a fire cave.
1 Yun Ce was someone who had run a small coal mine in the countryside, even one who had defied orders against the wind for a bunch of poor people relying on his family background. He knew what was under the coal mine. At this time, forget about collapse or flooding; just a bit of gas could blow this mountain apart.
1 This Shehuo guy was just a spirit that loved excitement. Its idea of excitement was like the carbon powder that Shehuo dancers threw onto the torch, then bursting into large plumes of flame; it was the sight of those people dancing wildly around the bonfire; the higher the flames, the more passionately they danced.
1 So, there was a huge spectacle to see on Ghost King Mountain.
1 First, a flame over ten meters thick erupted from the mountain peak of Ghost King Mountain, shooting straight into the sky. After the flames dyed the sky red, it fell back in scattered sparks. If the flame hadn’t been so thick or so high, this would surely have been a beautiful fireworks display.
1 Unfortunately, the fire pillar was too thick, too high. Even the scattered sparks that Shehuo thought were tiny were, to people, a net of deadly fire.
1 On Yun Ce’s side, gale winds raged, air pouring madly into the fire cave, ultimately forming a gale. Yun Ce had to grip the rocks with his hands to avoid being swept into the cave by the gale.
1 Seeing the ground underfoot beginning to crack, the red date horse neighed sadly and tried to run, but after running a few steps and finding it more dangerous ahead, it ran back and pressed tightly against Yun Ce.
1 Qin Shu had long been fleeing desperately outward with his men since Ghost King Mountain’s peak began spewing fire. He Qingfang, who occasionally looked back, saw Ghost King Mountain erupt with an indescribable giant fire pillar and couldn’t help letting out a scream, hugging the great horned horse’s neck and running even faster.
1 Right behind them, the ground cracked open, flames spurting from the fissures and quickly connecting into a sea. The Gui Fang people who had just gathered had no time to be shocked before being swallowed by the ground fire. Even sturdy giant ox knights were powerless before such a natural disaster. They barely rode their dying mounts and subordinates, flickering through the air for a moment, but ultimately were swallowed by the flames.
1 The ground undulated like waves, the hills just pushed up exploding into balls of flame before quickly collapsing. The depressions that had just sunk down rose high again in an instant. Only when the towering Ghost King Mountain began tilting southeast did the exasperated Yun Ce wail, “Shehuo Grandpa, take me and run! We’re not playing anymore.”
2 Doggy tremblingly brought the candle flame back to the wristband slowly, leaving Yun Ce hugging a thunder smoke beast’s neck in terror, staring at the sea of fire before him.
2 He thought that when Shehuo was unleashing its power, it would leave him a way to survive, just like last time when it ignited the volcano without letting him get hurt.
2 Unexpectedly, today Shehuo played happily like a child but simply forgot to leave a way out for Yun Ce, its playmate.
2 With Ghost King Mountain breaking and countless boulders falling, about to smash onto him, Yun Ce let out a strange yell, hugged the red date horse’s neck, pulled, and ran outward.
2 This time, Yun Ce ran faster than that time, and the red date horse stuck to him more tightly than that time. If viewed from above, one could see the man and horse accurately jumping onto relatively stable ground each time, and each time scorched by ground fire, whether man or horse, they would scream.
2 Luckily, at every life-and-death moment, Doggy could point out the correct footing for him. Even so, there were several times he missed, and if not for Yun Ce’s arm turning into a dragon arm, pulling him and the red date horse alive from the cave, they would have long been burned to ash.
2 Qin Shu and the others finally escaped the ground fire range of Ghost King Mountain. When they looked back, their hearts went cold. What kind of hellish scene was that!
2 Flames burned the sky red, the ground cracked, ground fire spurted from the fissures. Big trees that had just been burning plummeted into caves in an instant; boulders that had been rolling moments ago were swallowed by the ground the next.
2 The entire ground was sinking at a visible speed. The previously familiar hills, flat ground, valleys, and gullies were all wiped clean by this ground fire.
2 “General—”
3 Qin Shu shouted loudly toward the fire field, then knelt on the ground and wailed.
3 “General—”
3 He Qingfang leaned against Qin Shu, crying uncontrollably as well.
3 “General—”
3 Zuo Chong had just been complaining that Yun Ce was pinning shit on them, but at this moment, he only hoped the general would return, even if it meant being pinned multiple times.
3 Calls for the general rose one after another. Even the heavens seemed unable to watch, as a puff of smoke drifted over, obscuring the already dim sun.
3 “Yayaya—” A shrill neigh made everyone look toward the fire field together. They saw a person covered in fire dragging a horse covered in fire, bouncing and jumping like projectiles through the inferno, rapidly approaching them.
3 “General?”
3 Seeing the general still bouncing in the big fire, Qin Shu’s eyes widened like ox eyes, but he quickly accepted it—after all, this was a noble.
3 Yun Ce felt like he was about to be cooked.
4 Especially his lungs. No matter how he breathed, they couldn’t provide more oxygen. His strength was rapidly fading. If not for Doggy continuously injecting fissured cells just collected from Yu Zhu into his body, he felt he couldn’t hold out until reaching solid, reliable ground.
4 When the ground underfoot stopped shaking and softening, the exhausted Yun Ce collapsed to the ground together with the red date horse that had been burned bald.
4 “It hurts so much—”
4 Yun Ce, who had just landed, bounced up again. He pulled out a bottle of Peng Zeng Brand Rapid Growth Liquid from the dragon pearl, poured it from head to toe, smeared it while pouring, and also tended to the red date horse beside him. For a moment, Yun Ce was busy beyond measure.
4 The full bottle of growth liquid was used up, but Yun Ce’s whole body still burned painfully. He had to spread his arms and legs, hoping the growth liquid would take effect quickly to ease the pain a bit.
4 “Yayaya—”
4 The red date horse’s calls were weak and hoarse. Undoubtedly, this guy’s lungs had also been burned by the hot air. Yun Ce had no choice but to take out another half bottle of growth liquid, drink a mouthful himself, and pour the rest all into the red date horse.
4 Yun Ce’s current appearance was very undignified. His armor was removed by him, his clothes burned off by the big fire, his shoes melted by lava.
4 Thus, at this moment, he was like a newborn baby.
4 The similarly burned-bald red date horse also struggled to stand up at this time, lowering its head and constantly rubbing its body against Yun Ce. It wasn’t stupid; the liquid Yun Ce had poured on it earlier worked well, it just hadn’t poured enough.
5 Concerning the general’s reputation, Qin Shu quickly surrounded Yun Ce and the red date horse with a cloth screen. The general was a high-level warrior and was about to start treatment next—this was a high-level dancer’s secret, not to be known by outsiders.
5 Yun Ce stood naked in the wind, the red date horse likewise standing in the wind.
5 There was originally no wind here. Ghost King Mountain’s fire had sucked in the surrounding air, forming wind. The wind was very cool, especially when it passed over the crotch, making one shudder all over.
5 “Doggy, what does Shehuo say?”
5 “Still bouncing around; it looks like it’s in extremely good spirits.”
5 “Doesn’t it have anything to explain to me?”
5 “No, you told it to release the fire—what explanation could it give you?”
5 “Can’t it help treat me? It can’t just leave me burned bald and dick-hairless, right? Don’t think I’m still lively now; in a bit, after my adrenaline fades, all sorts of uncomfortable reactions from my internal organs will appear. Believe it or not?”
5 “I believe it. Honestly, your body’s various indicators are extremely unstable. Not just you—the red date horse too.”
5 As Doggy spoke, it used a tentacle to hold Shehuo and appeared before Yun Ce. Yun Ce placed his hand on the candle flame and saw wisps of visible hot air rising from his palm, merging into the candle flame.
6 As the hot air continuously rose, the burning sensation on Yun Ce’s body receded in an instant. After he opened his mouth and exhaled a mouthful of foul-smelling hot air, he began to feel cold.
6 The red date horse was smart. Seeing Yun Ce starting to improve, it pushed its big head over too. Shehuo seemed to like this guy even more—not only did it suck away the hot air from its stomach, but it also carefully went over its massive body…
