Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 860 - 853: A Sense of Deja Vu

Chapter 860: Chapter 853: A Sense of Deja Vu

"Excuse me," Xilia walked anxiously to the fire, slightly bowed her head, and greeted without expression.

At the sound of her voice, Tangmo, who was drinking soup, jerked his head up and stared at her with furrowed brows. Luo’er also felt rather helpless upon seeing this, it seemed that since meeting Melia, this girl had been hostile toward any woman who approached him. However, as long as she didn’t act out, Luo’er really couldn’t be bothered to manage her.

In matters of jealousy, both his sister Moumou and her sister Momo were almost the same, which was making Luo’er feel that the differences between the two were starting to blur.

Contrastingly, Feng was the epitome of tranquility. Without mention, her presence was nearly unnoticeable. However, Feng’s calmness didn’t make anyone feel ill at ease because they all knew that was just how she was, thereby no need for deliberate attention.

She quietly knelt on the blanket marked with runes, cradling a bowl of hot soup in her hands, her gaze gently narrowed, accepting the food offered by Tangmo and Hu Daoke from time to time, eating whatever was given to her.

Xilia approached the fire and then chose a spot to sit down, a good distance from the rest. Perhaps driven by a killer’s intuition, she sat across the fire from Feng, possibly out of fear of the strong aura emanating from her.

Indeed, there was a subtle aura about Feng, something Fulajie’er knew very well. Originally, her fear of Feng stemmed partly from the fact that she could "see" herself, and partly because of the dangerous aura Feng possessed. Yet, with the deepening of their relationship, Fulajie’er no longer feared Feng.

This aura was hard to describe in a few words. For example, Luo’er himself also had a kind of aura that enabled people to lower their guard or status and converse with him directly.

While this might seem somewhat inaccurate, there were already many examples. The most notable example was the interactions between Luo’er and Melia.

You must understand that Melia was a noble of Masya, and when Luo’er first met her, he had not yet revealed his identity.

Nevertheless, Melia was willing to interact with Luo’er, and in this, Luo’er’s aura played a significant role, being able to make a noble girl of Masya set aside her prejudices and have a face-to-face conversation with a half-elf.

After Xilia sat down, Cheng Ziang also came to Luo’er’s side, looking down at him with a smug expression on his face.

Seeing Xilia settled, Luo’er was about to get up to serve her soup but was pressed down by Cheng Ziang. He shook his head, then took the bowl from Luo’er’s hands and walked towards Xilia.

Luo’er was momentarily stunned but quickly showed a grateful look. He understood Cheng Ziang’s intention; if he went to contact Xilia again, probably Tangmo or Baiyue would make a fuss again.

Cheng Ziang walked over to Xilia, sat down casually, and handed the bowl of soup to her. After hesitating for a moment, Xilia, unable to bear her hunger, lowered her head and accepted the soup offered by Cheng Ziang.

Relieved by this scene, Luo’er turned to check Tangmo’s reaction, only to find her furrowing her brows and watching Xilia with a vigilant demeanor.

"What’s wrong with you now?" Luo’er asked with an embarrassed smile, then affectionately took her hand to make amends.

However, his gesture clearly did not touch Tangmo’s heart; she just looked at him in surprise and then focused her attention back on Xilia.

"My lady, can you please stop this?" Luo’er said helplessly into Tangmo’s ear, whispering a plea for mercy.

"Stop what?" Tangmo looked at him with furrowed brows, a puzzled look on her face.

"You know what I’m talking about." Luo’er said with a wry smile.

"What kind of person do you take me for?" Tangmo rolled her eyes and then glanced at Xilia again, her face thoughtful.

She then pulled Luo’er’s ear and leaned in to whisper, "Did I ever tell you that I have always lived within my sister’s body, and so I know everything you two have been through?"

"I think you did, what about it?" Luo’er blinked and asked, somewhat confusedly.

"This woman," Tangmo glanced at Xilia and then whispered to Luo’er, "feels strangely familiar, as if I’ve seen her somewhere before. I might not have been awake at the time, but I can assure you that we’ve definitely met her somewhere."

"Just because she’s a girl?" Luo’er asked with a wry smile.

"I’m not joking!" Tangmo said with a frown, looking somewhat angry.

"Then where exactly have we seen her?" Luo’er asked curiously.

"I’m not too sure, given that back then I didn’t have the ability to control my sister’s body," Tangmo said with a worried expression.

"All right, stop overthinking things. ’Suspicion will raise bogeys, we should trust her since she is one of Melia’s subordinates, shouldn’t we?" Luo’er stated seriously.

The reason Luo’er was reluctant to trust Tangmo’s judgement was because she had previously expressed doubts about Eve, but in the end it turned out that Eve was beyond suspicion. This also indirectly confirmed that maybe Tangmo’s reasoning abilities were not as strong as everyone imagined.

"So you’re willing to trust one of Melia’s subordinates, which means you consider her subordinate as your own, right? She is you, isn’t she?" Tangmo glared at Luo’er, asking angrily.

"Look at you, getting off topic again," Luo’er said with a wry smile.

"Forget it, just consider my words as hot air," Tangmo said angrily, flinging his hand and paying him no further attention.

"Sigh..." Seeing Tangmo’s reaction, Luo’er sighed helplessly. He turned to look at Cheng Ziang, and it was only at this moment that he fully understood Cheng Ziang’s good intentions.

After resting for the night, the next day the group continued on their journey. The farther north they went, the colder it became. Previously, the temperature was in the single digits, but after moving a little further north, the temperature plunged below zero. The sky was no longer filled with a light drizzle, but with a flurry of snowflakes.

Everything around them was now cloaked in a layer of white, especially in the morning when the branches were covered with frost.

Luo’er checked the map and realized they were now very close to the North Lead Corridor, so he sent the cavalry back. The weather hadn’t been that bad when the cavalry arrived, so they hadn’t brought any winter clothing. Once the snowflakes began to fall, they couldn’t endure it any longer.

Luo’er was also inclined to let Xilia go back with them, but the young lady insisted on obeying the Princess’s orders and was determined to escort them to the North Lead Corridor, so Luo’er had no choice but to let her be.

The Advance Team, equipped with garments manufactured with a combination of modern technology and Otherworld magic, was not so susceptible to the cold. Cheng Ziang, in particular, even felt overheated and took off a jacket.

Snow Elves and their hybrids had no problem coping with such a cold environment. However, according to the research by Earth’s scientists, the Snow Elves’ method of resisting the cold probably wasn’t by accelerating their metabolism to generate more body heat.

On the contrary, the body temperature of Snow Elves tended to be lower than that of other races, and this decline in body temperature was also evident in Snow Elf hybrids.

Of course, that was the surface body temperature. According to scientific research, the internal body temperature of Snow Elves was generally much higher than that of other races. The reason they unable to radiate this heat externally might be related to Snow Elves’ characteristics.

After more than a decade of research, the Otherworld Research Center discovered that the heat dissipation system on the skin of Snow Elves was completely different from that of other races, having evolved specifically for extremely cold climates.

In short, Snow Elves would lock all the precious heat inside their bodies, prioritizing thermal preservation for the organs and then the limbs. Their skin and fatty tissue were very efficient at keeping internal heat from escaping easily, somewhat similar to the thick fur and blubber of polar animals.

It was precisely the restrictions of their surface heat dissipation system that resulted in the generally lower surface temperatures of Snow Elves, as it was difficult for the heat inside them to be emitted.

In the language of the Otherworld, Snow Elves were called so not only because they lived in the Snow Domain but more importantly because of their low body surface temperature. The people who first encountered Snow Elves even thought that these beings were sculptures made of ice and snow, hence the name Snow Elves.