It turned out he had been sleeping for dozens of hours leaning against the ice pillar, and his furnace-like body had actually melted more than half of it.

Of course, this wasn’t exactly something strange, but after the ice pillar melted, its deep blue color became somewhat transparent, as if there was something inside?

There’s something inside the ice pillar?!

Chapter 2: The Nine Yang’s Journey (Part 2)

There’s something inside the ice pillar?!

William Carter was suddenly excited and hurried closer to take a careful look, but still couldn’t see clearly. In the entire cave, only the central ice pillar was blue and opaque. Even though William Carter had melted a large part of it, it still wasn’t very transparent, and he couldn’t see what was inside.

William Carter quickly stepped forward, reached out and hugged the ice pillar. He couldn’t help but shiver from the cold. It was truly thanks to William Carter’s Nine Yang body—like a furnace—otherwise, anyone else would have been frozen stiff.

The further he went, the colder it became, until it was almost completely unbearable.

He hugged the ice pillar like this for several hours, taking a break every half hour. The ice pillar melted inch by inch, and the deeper he went, the colder it got. By the end, William Carter was almost in unbearable pain.

After five hours, William Carter was shivering violently, his vision going black, nearly fainting completely. He knew that if he kept hugging it, his life would be in danger, but William Carter was stubborn and refused to give up until he achieved his goal, forcing himself to persist.

“There’s actually a person inside?” William Carter was suddenly invigorated. The ice pillar had finally melted almost completely and had become fully transparent.

How strange—there was actually a person sealed in this cave a thousand meters underground.

It was an old man, his hair and beard completely white, messy like weeds. His entire face was wrinkled, so old that it was impossible to tell his age. His clothes were filthy and tattered; except for the lack of holes, they were no different from a beggar’s. His exposed hands were thin and dry, like the withered branches of a dead tree. From head to toe, even every strand of hair, the old man exuded an aura of decay.

William Carter was a little disappointed. This person must have been dead for a very, very long time, and had been sealed in the ice for just as long. As for why he was sealed in this icy prison, there was no way to know.

Still, since he had started, William Carter decided to finish the job. Even though the person inside was probably already dead, he would get him out.

So, William Carter gritted his teeth and hugged the terrifyingly cold ice pillar again, his whole body trembling.

This final stage of melting was truly a test of willpower—the cold was beyond words. Finally, William Carter couldn’t take it anymore; his vision went black and he was about to faint.

“Crack…” At that moment, a crisp shattering sound rang out—the last layer of ice on the old man’s body broke completely, and the thick ice pillar vanished.

The bone-chilling cold stopped, and William Carter’s body gradually regained warmth, but he was temporarily unable to move. He leaned against the old man’s body, his nose filled with the other’s decaying smell. It wasn’t exactly foul, but it was even harder to bear than other bad odors.

Suddenly! The old man in front of him abruptly opened his eyes! William Carter was startled.

Was this a corpse coming back to life? Wasn’t he already dead?

Immediately, the withered old man suddenly reached out his bony hand and grabbed William Carter’s neck, his long fingernails stabbing into his artery like blades. His cloudy eyes shot out a cold gleam, and his aged face was full of fury as he roared a sentence at William Carter.

The voice was as grating as a knife scraping a wall. But William Carter couldn’t understand a word he said—it was a language William Carter had never heard before.

Seeing William Carter not respond, the old man grew even more furious and repeated what he’d said, his tone as if interrogating William Carter.

“I—I really don’t understand what you’re saying!” William Carter managed to say.

Hearing William Carter’s reply, the old man became agitated, asking several more questions in a row, then pressed his ugly, aged face closer, bombarding William Carter with questions while his fingernails dug hard into William Carter’s neck.

William Carter immediately felt a sharp pain as blood flowed from his neck. At this point, William Carter was completely exhausted and couldn’t move at all.

Then, the old man pressed him with another question.

William Carter gave a bitter smile and said, “Sir, I really don’t know what you’re saying!”

The old man flew into a rage, and with a sudden swipe of his long fingernails across William Carter’s neck, a deep gash opened, flesh turning over and blood gushing out. He questioned him again, but William Carter still couldn’t understand.

The old man was furious, both hands gripping William Carter’s neck tightly, his voice icy as he interrogated him one last time.

Although William Carter couldn’t understand the old man’s words, he could guess the meaning: if he didn’t answer, the old man would strangle him to death.

William Carter gave a bitter smile and said, “I risked my life to save you, and now you’re going to strangle me to death. What’s the point?”

The old man didn’t understand what William Carter was saying either, but it was clear he hadn’t gotten the answer he wanted. A cruel, cold smile appeared on his face, and his withered hands tightened around William Carter’s neck.