Chapter 004: The Mysterious Magic Pattern Pearl

Having said that, Sang Hongyun kept his promise and slowly placed the Zhitong medicinal rune from his pocket into Xiao Hong's hand. He then spoke softly: "Enjoy the wonderful time of this year. I estimate that by this time next year, it will be impossible for us to meet again"

Xiao Hong did not know whether this small cave could help him escape, but a glance from the corner of his eye at the lava, which was now less than twenty meters away, made it clear that if he continued running, he would be engulfed by the lava in a few seconds, certain death! Entering the small cave might still offer a glimmer of hope.

Then, carefully, he kicked the two mysterious magic rune beads into his bosom, and then removed the cloth bag from his waist, emptied the white ash, and began to collect the shattered ice from the wall into the bag

Suddenly, a glimmer flashed in Xiao Hong's stern eyes. He quickly turned around and glanced at the shattered ice on the wall, his pupils rapidly shifting within their sockets

In the office building, Xu Qing lowered his head to check the time magic pattern and respectfully said to Sang Hongyun: "My lord, three and a half hours have passed. It seems that the young man will not be coming out; he is likely dead inside."

Even after extensively reading various books, Xiao Hong, who already had a thorough understanding of the carrier stone, was still unable to identify it, which greatly piqued his interest in the matter

"Did it succeed?" Sang Hongyun said softly, glancing at Xiao Hong's disheveled appearance.

Boom

As he spoke, Sang Hongyun handed the Sakurai stone to his assistant, then put on a pair of white leather gloves and walked slowly towards the door

Having already decided to give up on Xiao Hong, Sang Hongyun, who was preparing to leave, watched as Xiao Hong approached slowly, her expression, which had been as calm as water, shifted slightly.

As Xiao Hong meticulously studied the two magic pattern beads in his hand, a sudden flash of alertness crossed his face. He then noticed that the searing river of lava had surged slightly higher, and a torrent of scalding lava began to overflow into the small cave.

The sound of tearing.

If this person stands up there, they will be directly roasted.

The journey was relatively smooth, and upon reaching the fourth-floor exit, Xiao Hong still used his habitual motion to directly flip up from the opening

"One hand exchanges stone, the other hand exchanges pattern," Xiao Hong said, extending the hand that held the Sakurai stone in front of Sang Hongyun

Before Xiao Hong could respond, he observed the seething lava merging with the shattered ice. With a sharp "sizzle," thick white smoke billowed forth. Upon looking again at the lava flowing into the cave, it had already solidified into dark stones, raising the entrance slightly once more and forming a natural "dam".

What on earth is going on? Xiao Hong couldn't help but utter such words, slightly adjusting the light magic pattern on his forehead. Taking advantage of the light, he glanced around; this was a small cave, about six square meters in size. On the dark cave walls, tiny ice particles could be faintly seen, appearing crystal clear.

These words are quite discouraging, but they also ignited a strong will to survive in Xiao Hong.

Xiao Hong did not pause; he directly pulled out the raw stone of Sakurai from the tattered pocket of his worn-out coat. The piece at the center was damaged and still emitted a fluorescent green glow

It seems feasible. Xiao Hong murmured to himself, picked up his belongings, and leaped gracefully, landing precisely at the location of the cloth strip. He felt a scorching heat beneath his feet, yet it was bearable.

It was quite natural for Xiao Hong to kick two magic pattern beads into his pocket. He then pried a small ice block, about the size of a bean, from the wall. It was cool to the touch, and after gripping it tightly in his hand, Xiao Hong noticed that the ice block did not melt quickly; it only melted a little.

At that moment, Xiao Hong's expression changed as he suddenly sensed something amiss. Outside, the scalding lava flowed continuously, less than two meters away from him, yet within the small cave he occupied, it was cold and breezy.

Entering the office building, Xiao Hong quickly ascended to the third floor. He had no time for pleasantries, directly pushing open the door and walking in

After a few seconds, Xiao Hong slightly opened his eyes and instinctively touched his body, realizing he was not dead

"How could there possibly be ice here?" Xiao Hong could not help but exclaim. It is important to note that the temperature outside has approached 1,000 degrees; how could ice possibly form in such an environment? This defies common sense.

This phenomenon left Xiao Hong perplexed. Once again, he took out two mysterious magic pattern beads and examined them closely for a moment.

With a gentle leap, Liang grasped one end of the rope, while the other hand held a pickaxe, still digging into the rock. Then, with a skilled flip of his body, Xiao Hong emerged from the fifth layer.

Shh... Habitually falling to the ground, he let out a long sigh. In the next moment, Xiao Hong flipped over and got up, for this was the fourth floor, still unsafe, and thus Xiao Hong was not foolish enough to stay here any longer

Sang Hongyun's expression remained calm, and he did not pay much attention to Xiao Hong's somewhat reckless actions. Those who are on the brink of death often behave this way in their struggle to survive; he had seen it many times, whether it was high-ranking officials or beggars on the street.

One must think of a way to leave here as soon as possible, otherwise it will be too late. Xiao Hong murmured to himself, while his mind was racing wildly.

Although there had been thoughts of Xiao Hong's potential success, in Sang Hongyun's eyes, it was entirely a matter of life and death. Moreover, seeing Xiao Hong approaching quickly, it was evident that he had succeeded; otherwise, his steps would not appear so eager.

"Oh? Brother Hong, you are out so early today. I haven't even placed my bets yet," Li Le said softly, blinking his eyes as he saw Xiao Hong crawling out from the exit in a disheveled state.

After a dull sound, a black rock with a diameter of two meters suddenly formed in the rolling river of lava, flowing downstream, and then began to melt again

At this time, the height of the lava river has decreased significantly, with only streams of lava flowing through the mine tunnels

Could it be related to this strange ice and these two beads? Xiao Hong murmured to himself, his mind filled with questions

Um. Xiao Hong casually responded, wiped his soot-stained face, and then stepped forward towards the exit

Then, with both hands clasped behind the head, eyes tightly shut, curled up in a small cave, prepared to wait for death

"This... this actually came out." Looking at the disheveled Xiao Hong, Xu Qing walked over slowly, pointed at the window, and said in astonishment, her face showing a hint of disbelief

Oh, what is this? Xiao Hong suddenly noticed that on the ground of the small cave, there were two inconspicuous beads scattered about, one dark blue and the other deep black, each the size of a winter jujube. In the light patterns, one could still see the very fine textures on each bead.

However, everything at present is beyond his explanation, and it can even be said that it defies the principles of science

Seeing such a scene, Xiao Hong was filled with confusion. He considered himself well-read in various subjects; while he would not claim to be a scholar, he at least regarded himself as someone who was well-versed in common knowledge.

After glancing at the time magic pattern, Xiao Hong realized that he must leave this place as soon as possible. Otherwise, once the heat wave on the fourth floor erupts, he would likely be unable to leave today. Although this place seemed safe, who knows what might happen here next? He had to leave quickly. However, the ground was still scalding hot. Cautiously, he tossed a small piece of cloth into the mine tunnel, and the cloth instantly ignited.

After a sound of cooling, a cloud of steam emerged from a casually scattered area, and once again a piece of cloth was thrown on top, which did not catch fire

Just as Sang Hongyun was about to leave, Xu Qing, who was standing by the window, suddenly exclaimed in astonishment. Looking out the window, they saw a figure, disheveled and covered in burn marks, slowly crawling out of the mine located halfway up the mountain. Although the person appeared to be in a sorry state, they did not seem to have sustained any serious injuries.

Moments later, a faint and elusive expression of joy flickered across Sang Hongyun's face: "The quality is quite good, well done"

Have you escaped danger

"That is not necessarily the case," Xiao Hong suddenly said to Sang Hongyun

Xu Qing spoke very casually, showing no signs of sympathy, compassion, let alone sadness

This ... ... left Xiao Hong momentarily dumbfounded; just a few small pieces of crushed ice could actually cool down a large mass of molten lava. This is truly incredible.

In this world, there exists a type of person who never dares to confront reality; perhaps that person is you. Sang Hongyun uttered this statement and then slowly walked away

After picking up the two beads, Xiao Hong examined them back and forth and could confirm that the carvings on the beads were magical runes. As for the rest, based solely on Xiao Hong's current knowledge of magical runes, it remained unknown. He only knew that the runes on them were extremely profound and strange. As for the material of the beads, it was an opaque crystal.

Standing at the entrance of the cave, Xiao Hong took out a small handful of crushed ice and directly tossed it onto the mine tunnel

Hmm?

Not far from him, there was a dark hole in a rock wall, resembling a small cave, approximately more than one meter above the ground

At this moment, Sang Hongyun sat upright at the office desk, the white leather gloves already set aside, and compared to the previously cold expression, there was now a hint of warmth that was barely perceptible.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Xiao Hong's finger suddenly moved, directly tossing a grain-sized ice cube into the magma

Thus, as Xiao Hong walked, he scattered crushed ice along the way. After more than ten minutes of travel, when the crushed ice in the bag and the books were nearly exhausted, Xiao Hong finally arrived at the exit of the mine.

The heat-resistant rope has already been burned halfway, with the remaining half hanging in the air

Hmm?

No longer hesitating, Xiao Hong quickly took a few steps forward, then leaped into the air, resembling a nimble large raccoon. With a swift dive, he plunged into the cave.

He extended his hand to extinguish the small flames still burning on his shoulder. Xiao Hong cautiously turned his head and saw molten lava flowing past the edge of the hole, which was more than one meter high.

Xiao Hong still cannot be certain, because if the lava river rises just a little more, it will mercilessly flow into the cave, and Xiao Hong will meet the same fate.

What on earth is going on? Such a voice kept echoing in Xiao Hong's mind

Slowly rising, she took the Sakurai stone from Ishihara, her delicate hand gently gliding over it, a flash of brilliance passing by; this was her way of discerning the authenticity of the Sakurai stone through her formidable inner power

Sang Hongyun did not respond, his expression showing neither helplessness nor disappointment. At this moment, he was slowly putting on a pair of solid-colored leather gloves, preparing to leave. In his eyes, failure was not a big deal; it was merely an experiment. As for Sakurai Stone, it could simply be acquired at a high price; it was just very troublesome.

After staying in the cave for a full three hours, Xiao Hong also studied for three hours, yet both achieved nothing

In theory, to achieve such an effect, it is likely that only the legendary ancient ice, which has existed for ten thousand years, could accomplish this. However, if this were indeed ancient ice, just one second would be enough for its chill to turn oneself into an ice sculpture. Yet, the cave in which one currently finds oneself is merely slightly cold.

In just a few short minutes, the bag was already filled with a mixture of crushed ice and soil

Xiao Hong now appeared impatient, with only a day and a half left of his three-day life. Along the way, he could once again feel the pain, and his throat was filled with a salty, fishy taste. He no longer had time to waste.