Chapter 383: Chapter 382 Sudden Death
Just as Li Ang was conversing with the physician, the sudden thud of something heavy falling to the ground came from behind them.
Turning their heads, they saw a medical staff member collapsed on the floor beside Princess Anna’s sickbed.
The nurse had been holding a ceramic cup. As she stumbled and fell, the cup smashed onto the ground, shattering with a SNAP into myriad pieces.
Dark brown medicinal liquid splashed everywhere, emitting a potent, choking odor.
"What’s going on?!"
The physician, Carly, furrowed her brow and stepped forward. She was about to scold the nurse but then noticed something amiss.
The fallen nurse lay with her palm submerged in the scalding concoction. She made no sound of pain, uttered no scream, nor did she make any move to struggle. She just lay there, motionless and silent—a frightening sight.
Carly suddenly felt a chill run down her spine, and her scalp prickled as if it were about to split open.
She rushed over, bent down, and turned over the medical staff member lying prone on the ground.
Gasps of alarm filled the room. Everyone saw the nurse’s wide-open eyes reflecting the ceiling, devoid of life.
Hollow, fixed, like the still surface of water.
She was dead.
"...."
Carly took a deep breath, pulling herself back from the shock. She looked up at the other medical and security staff, who were also stunned and confused, and sternly demanded, "What just happened?!"
"Nothing! Nothing happened!" a young nurse, her voice choked with sobs, said. "Dolly was preparing the medicine for the Princess. Before she could even help Her Highness sit up, she just... fell. None of us touched her..."
Carly quietly shifted her gaze to the head of the security team, who nodded silently, confirming that indeed nothing untoward had occurred.
Another sudden death...
For several months, the team of attendants serving Princess Anna had been working grueling, around-the-clock shifts. Incidents of sudden death like this were not isolated.
GASP...
Rapid, shallow breaths sounded from the sickbed.
Carly straightened abruptly, shocked. Princess Anna, who had been in a coma, was struggling to flutter her eyelids. She had barely managed to open her eyes. The Princess looked at Carly with clouded, unfocused eyes, her cyanotic lips trembling slightly as if she were trying to say something.
Carly hurriedly leaned closer, placing her ear near Princess Anna’s lips to listen. Her expression grew even more grave.
After a moment, the physician straightened, her face tense. "Master," she said to Li Ang, "are you confident you can perform the surgery here?"
Li Ang didn’t answer immediately, nor did he step forward to check Princess Anna’s condition. Instead, he remained where he was and said cautiously, "The Ritual track I’ve mastered emphasizes the process of treatment, not the outcome. I cannot guarantee the final result. If I am to devise a surgical plan, I must first melt the ice on Princess Anna’s heart."
Li Ang wasn’t deceiving Carly or the others in this regard.
When he had previously used his Spiritual Sense to inspect Princess Anna’s body, he’d discovered that the thin layer of ice encasing her heart was extremely peculiar. It could weaken, or even freeze, a significant portion of his Spiritual Sense, block detection, and furthermore, disrupt any external Energy entering her body.
This meant that, with the interference from the thin ice, he likely wouldn’t be able to continue using the Origin of Life to utilize Princess Anna’s internal organs to create a new heart for her.
Hearing this, Princess Anna’s lips moved again. Physician Carly quickly bent down to listen, her expression shifting to one of utter astonishment.
Li Ang asked, "What is it?"
"..."
Carly slowly straightened, her gaze serious as she looked at Li Ang. "If there were a way to melt the ice, could you perform the surgery?"
"I should be able to."
"Very well." Carly nodded. She looked at the security and medical teams and commanded, "Pack up. We’re heading out of the city to the palace."
The people in the room, still reeling from the nurse’s death, were incredulous at this announcement.
There were two palaces near this city. The one outside the city was the Snow Palace, where the Snow Queen lived in seclusion, forbidding entry to outsiders.
The head of the security team asked softly, "Are we all to enter the palace?"
"No." Physician Carly slowly shook her head, her calm gaze shifting to Li Ang. "This Monk will escort Her Highness the Princess into the palace."
「————」
Outside the city, a column of riders galloped rapidly towards the snow-capped mountain.
At the head of the column was a carriage carrying Princess Anna, Physician Carly, and others. A second carriage transported Li Ang and his companions. The vehicles following behind were laden with the extraordinary materials required for the Ritual track.
Surrounding the carriages, the security team remained on high alert, as if facing a formidable enemy, constantly vigilant against potential attacks.
The security team wasn’t so much wary of assassins as they were of the Magical Beasts that might appear on the snowy mountain ahead.
Ever since Her Majesty the Snow Queen had erected her palace on this snowy mountain, numerous Magical Beasts capable of thriving in harsh environments had taken up residence in the surrounding area.
The power of these beasts was comparable to that of an Advanced Caster. Each one was formidable enough to plunge an entire regiment, even one accompanied by a small team of Spellcasters, into a desperate battle. Curiously, however, travelers on the mountain path below had never been attacked by the beasts from above. Nor had anyone ever witnessed these Magical Beasts descending from the densely snow-covered mountain to the more hospitable foothills.
On previous escorts to the palace with Princess Anna, the security team had been fortunate enough to glimpse these beasts, said to be loyal to the Queen, on a few occasions. There had been little interaction. But now, with Princess Anna semi-conscious and her vital aura diminished, no one could be certain if the Magical Beasts would attack.
The group proceeded with trepidation along the winding mountain road, climbing the slope. The wind and snow gradually intensified. The snow underfoot deepened from a thin layer to one that engulfed their ankles, then their shins.
Just as the carriage wheels threatened to become mired in the snow, the security personnel skillfully activated a mechanism beneath the luxurious carriage. This adjusted the vertical wheels to a horizontal position, allowing them to glide over the snow. Then, the security team sent forth a representative.
This Spellcaster moved to the front of the column, plunged their arm into the snow, and activated their abilities.
Before their eyes, the snow ahead rapidly froze into a thick layer of ice, allowing the carriages to continue their zigzag ascent towards the mountain peak.