Chapter 199 - Footprints On The Snow Part1

"Lu Chen, you should take this mana core." Alex graciously offered hers as the very thought of absorbing the mana core was revolting to her. 

It was as if she was going to eat something really cold when it was already freezing and snowing outside.

She also hadn't absorbed the earlier mana core and handed that as well over to Lu Chen. 

If this was revolting to her, she assumed that it would be very helpful to Lu Chen as his innate ability was ice magic.

Lu Chen nodded and did not reject her offer, quickly absorbing both mana cores. After forming his own mana core and the battle he felt very drained and hungry.

Observing this, Guan Ye wanted to offer his mana core as well but Lu Chen refused it. "Give it to little white." He waved his hand at the wolf who was busy staring at the bear's corpse.

Qin Hua had already absorbed the mana core from the third bear without standing on ceremony. However, she was still staring at the beast as if she was trying to find something hidden.

"What happened, little white?" Lu Chen walked over to her, tossing her the mana core which Guan Ye had given him.

Qin Hua lifted her snout and quickly caught it. The two of them looked like they were playing catch. 

"Why bear act different?" She used her paw to scribble on the snow, sharing her concern with Lu Chen. He as well had been thinking about the same thing and looked at the dead beast.

However, no matter how much they looked, they weren't able to find any clues. Everyone was a bit tired after the two fights so they stopped for a while and ate some of the fresh bear meat.

It was apparently a very high quality meat as it gave everyone good boosts in their stats when consumed.

After resting, they once again began traversing through the frozen forests. They hardly moved a few steps when Coco purred loudly. The cat's fur was scratched by a sharp thorn.

Qin Hua was surprised because she didn't think that a mere plant could harm the lucky furball. [Inspect]

<Ding. Icy Gor Thorn; Herb that possess resistance to extremely low temperatures>

[Oh? This is a lucky find indeed. Sorry, you dufus. I should have never doubted your prowess! Woof!]

Qin Hua quickly plucked the few stalks with her paw and then went over to the two elders walking at the back. 

She jumped lightly and without any warning shoved one of the herb stalks into Grandpa Sheng's mouth. 

The two elders and the kids were shivering all this while because they had been unable to withstand the chilly winds of the frozen forest. So she wanted to see if the herb could help them with that.

And bingo!

Just as she expected, the elder's pale face brightened up and the old man smiled as soon as he swallowed everything. 

He didn't doubt the wolf, but only after a second did he understand what she had done. "Ummm… little white? This herb helps with the cold?"

Qin Hua bobbed her head up and down. The elder's eyes immediately widened as if he had an idea. He quickly took out some other leaves from his bag and started mixing them with this.

She watched him curiously and after a few minutes, she even heard a notification.

<Ding. You have learned a new alchemy recipe - Cold Resistance Potion>

Qin Hua's eyes curiously went over everything that had been listed there and she nodded with approval at the elder. The old man was indeed impressive.

She only gave a hint but he had run with it and ended up making an actual potion out of it!

It might not be as effective as the system's health potion, but it was still good enough to be acknowledged by the system. This alone proved his talent.

Moreover, this was a very timely discovery as everyone was starting to feel the biting chillness of the air around. 

Maybe because of the mana swirling around them, this was several times worse than a normal frozen winter atmosphere.

The elder quickly made a batch of the potion and Alex helped him make it by using her fire magic. Everyone drank a little bit and color started returning to their faces.

"Thank you, senior."

"Thank you, grandpa."

"Ahhh. I can finally breathe properly. Thank you, grandpa."

The elder's smile widened a little after hearing all the compliments. 

Since he wasn't really doing anything, he had been feeling a bit useless during the fights but now, helping everyone even just this little made him content.

With a big smile on his face, he made some more potion and everyone drank a few mouthfuls.

Meanwhile, Qin Hua wandered around here and there trying to see if she could find any more useful items when she noticed Coco still stuck at the same spot.

[Coco! Come here. Woof!] She called for her, but the cat seemed to be far too engrossed to hear her.

[What are you looking at with so much concentration?] Qin Hua became curious and ran over to the cat instead.

And just as she reached the beast, once again another surprise was waiting for her!

The thing that Coco was heavily preoccupied with was a huge footstep!

[What the heck?] Qin Hua immediately became alert and she looked around them carefully. She let out a low growl and Lu Chen and Alex ran over to her quickly.

"What happened?"

"Are you both alright?"

Qin Hus used her paw to point at the giant footprint. It was like that of a human but clearly much bigger. Also, just judging from the footprint, the anatomy of the feet was also probably different.

And more importantly, there was simply not just one but several footprints!

It was clear that one or more bipedal monsters had been here and based on how the footprints were placed, it was clear that they had also been spying on them!