Chapter 116: Spore guardians.

Back in the grand banquet hall, the party didn’t stop for a single second. In fact, no one cared that the bride had gone missing. Perhaps, if she came from a known family of substance, they would. But she was just an ordinary village girl. A low-born. Whatever they gave her, she had to say thank you on her knees, with a smile.

To the high clans, the wedding was never really about Lita anyway. It was just a grand stage to drink premium wine, flaunt their new treasures, and strengthen business connections between major clans. It was also a place to talk politics and the new lotto and military enlist. Those who knew about the king beast and rumors of missing Soul maidens also had gossip to share.

In the VIP section where children of high clans had separated themselves from others, Achilles watched the chaotic gossip spread with a look of pure satisfaction. He took a slow sip from his cup. "What a masterpiece. I only wish Zyra were here to see her dear foster sister’s ultimate humiliation. It would have cleared her heart ache instantly." He chuckled. He had taken a video that he planned to share with Zyra when he returned to the valley.

He had even paid thousands of energy stones to the top news networks to tarnish the bride’s image before the wedding. The Kaelion family’s reputation might have taken a small hit, but Lita was completely ruined.

Achilles laughed softly, Hunter would be proud.

Meanwhile, the car which drove Lita away from the wedding venue arrived at the big, sprawling Kaelion family estate. The moment Lita’s feet hit the ground, the gatekeepers and servants knew trouble had arrived. Her face was contorted into something monstrous. As she stormed through the grand courtyard, a young maid accidentally crossed her path holding a tray of tea.

"Get out of my sight, you useless slave!" Lita shrieked, kicking a decorative jade planter and sending it crashing into pieces.

As she marched into the main living pavilion, the sheer weight of her humiliation boiled over. She grabbed the collar of her million-energy stone wedding gown, woven from the finest silk and began ripping it apart, piece by piece.

"Eliot_ the Kaelion clan_ every single one of you! Fuck you!" Lita panted, tearing off the expensive pearl embroidery and hurling it against the wall. "You think you can play me for a fool?! Everyone is going to face my wrath! I will burn this entire clan to the ground before I let you turn me into a joke!"

She tore off the remnants of the ruined dress, stomped up to her quarters, and changed into a pair of comfortable, loose-fitting lounge clothes.

Returning down to the main living room, she threw herself onto the grand patriarch’s tiger-skin sofa. Her eyes were bloodshot, her jaw tightly set, and her heart completely hardened. She sat there in the quiet room, staring blankly at the front door_ waiting like a coiled viper for her new in-laws to come home.

*****

Finally, Zyra and her team arrived at the location of the frost heart fungus.

They all skidded to a halt, staring out at the view. Before them lay a frozen lake. But it wasn’t a smooth, pretty sheet of ice. The entire surface was shattered, scarred by yawning cracks that split the deep blue depths like giant, jagged wounds.

Gilby pointed a trembling finger at one of the darkest fissures. "Uh, guys? Are we seriously supposed to crawl into one of those?"

Tessi wrapped her arms tightly around herself, her teeth clicking together. "What if... okay, just hear me out. What if the lake suddenly decides to melt while we’re down there? We’ll be buried under a billion tons of freezing water!"

Hunter crossed his arms, looking completely unfazed. "Simple. We swim."

Tessi glared at him, her eyes watering from the cold. "Ha-ha-ha. That was not funny, sir."

"I wasn’t trying to be," Hunter replied, his voice deadpan.

Zyra sighed, rubbing her temples. Leaving her team to bicker. "Beauty, how do we proceed?"

Beauty widened her tiny arms and pointed directly at the largest, central crack. [Host! That one is the fastest and smoothest way down to the fungus. It grows right at the very bottom where the sun never shines!]

"Alright, everyone," Zyra called out, pointing toward the dark chasm. "We’re heading down there. Watch your step."

They dug hooks into the ice and attached long sturdy ropes to them. With squirrel’s glowing tail leading the way like a fluffy flashlight, they began their descent. The walls of the crevice squeezed closer and closer the deeper they went.

"I really don’t like this," Gilby muttered. "These cracks are so tiny. If we run into some giant, angry beast down here, we won’t even have room to swing a knife."

Zyra glanced at her shoulder. "Beauty, scan the area. Are there any beasts nearby?"

[Scanning..... No beasts detected, host! The only thing we have to worry about are the guardians of the frost heart fungus.]

Zyra froze mid-descent. She slowly looked back to see where they had come from. But she could hardly hardly see the surface. "Guardians? What guardians? And why am I just hearing about this now?"

Beauty tilted her head innocently. [Oh, the spores from the fungus are the guardians! But don’t worry, you only have to worry if you have bad intentions. If you do, you die here and become very good fertilizer for the next batch!]

"Fertilizer?!" Zyra squeaked, her voice cracking.

She closed her eyes for a brief second, activating her Soul Sight. When she opened them, her eyes glowed with a faint light. She carefully scanned her team and then their bonded beasts. No dark, murky clouds of malice clung to anyone. Their souls were clean.

"What is it Divine maiden? Why did you stop?" Gilby asked

Zyra deactivated the skill and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Relax. You have nothing to worry about if your intentions are pure."

Suddenly, Tessi pointed a gloved finger to a crack in what looked like a frozen cave. "Look! I see something glowing!"

They all climbed in that direction, but as they got closer, their shoulders slumped. It wasn’t the fungus. It was just a weird, bulbous chunk of ice reflecting squirrel’s tail light. So, they propelled further down.

The deeper they got, the darker the place became. The only source of light was squirrel’s tail, which was now shining like a high-powered neon sign. It was hard to tell just how far they had gone.

Suddenly, the air became thick. Tiny, glowing blue spores began to drift toward them out of the darkness. Some danced playfully around their heads, while a thick wall of them remained perfectly still, completely blocking the narrow entrance into another underground cave.

"Everyone, stay still for a moment," Zyra whispered sharply. "These are the guardians. Just stay calm, keep your thoughts positive, and let them pass. Don’t pull any weapons and Gilby, please don’t sneeze."