Essence "The Endpoint" 046. (Guardian Sun Forest Chapter) Maid Xiao Qing

“They are releasing the snow plum powder, which can effectively lower the temperature of the volcanic lava for a certain period of time.”

Suddenly, a deep yet crisp unfamiliar female voice came from behind Qingyan. Qingyan abruptly turned his head, and his right hand, amidst the lightning, had already formed a black energy hand knife!

She was a girl around the same age as Qingyan, dressed in cyan-blue light armor, with slightly shoulder-length straight brown hair, exuding a youthful vitality. Though her appearance wasn't particularly outstanding, her smile was sweet and charming. At this moment, her cheeks were slightly flushed with excitement, completely ignoring Qingyan's red-glowing hand knife, and her gaze fixed directly on Dugu Xiaoxuan.

“Qingqing, I finally see you. I've missed you so much…”

Dugu Xiaoxuan, however, smiled continuously. Discontentedly, she swatted down Qingyan's right hand that was still holding the blade of energy, glared at him, and then spoke softly and excitedly to the girl in front of her.

The girl, called Qingqing, suddenly hugged Dugu Xiaoxuan, and her smiling demeanor revealed a faint intelligence and confidence, as if she had everything under control.

This confident maturity displayed on a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl was clearly a bit awkward. The four men under Uncle Tian and Qingyan shared a glance, their eyes full of confusion.

“Hello, I am Miss Dugu's personal maid. You can call me Xiao Qing. I was the one who originally took the lady from the Mugu family. However, during the stealth operation in the Sun Guard Forest, the lady was accidentally discovered and captured by the special forces, and I have been following behind the troops. I also have a basic understanding of what happened after you escaped.”

Her pleasant and sweet voice gently came from the girl's mouth. She released Dugu Xiaoxuan from her embrace and carefully cast her eyes toward the volcanic fissure below, slowly analyzing:

“The volcanic lava is becoming increasingly unstable, and it won't be long before the Fire Puppet emerges. The special forces have already started to move, and we can't just stand by and do nothing either…”

“Zzzt~~”

At this moment, under the deliberate release by the special forces, the snow plum powder began to exert its chilling effect.That boiling magma surprisingly behaved like a red-hot iron plate encountering water, sending up a thick mist over the lava. Meanwhile, the temperature of the volcano began to decrease noticeably!\
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Within just a few minutes, the once scorching volcanic magma almost dropped to normal temperature levels, and the dense mist had become so thick that the silhouettes of the special forces were almost obscured. Without careful observation, it would indeed be difficult to spot them.\
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At this moment, Qingyan and the others quietly climbed down through a crevice in the rocks and crouched on the nearest protruding rock, using the dense mist for concealment as they carefully observed the nearby special forces.\
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"Xue Meimo can completely lower the temperature of the magma, but because the volcanic magma is extremely unstable right now, and there is a Fire Puppet causing trouble inside, this temperature can only be maintained for about thirty minutes. We must keep up with the special forces' pace to succeed in a single strike," said Xiaoqing in a voice transmitted clearly only to them.\
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The distance to the special forces was such that Qingyan and the others dared not speak; Xiaoqing's words were transmitted privately.\
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"And once the Fire Puppet confronts the special forces, we will be free to act as we please!"\
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Still full of confidence, the maid Xiaoqing's face showed no trace of hesitation, as if everything was well within her control. Qingyan and Uncle Tian, along with the other two men, exchanged glances, each deep in thought.\
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The special forces clearly knew the duration of Xue Meimo's effect and did not pause for long. Almost simultaneously, as Qingyan and his group quietly made their way down into the volcano, the special forces, under the command of the three squad leaders, began to search for protruding rocks on the cliff face and gradually descended toward the magma.\
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Naturally, Qingyan and his group dared not stop for long either and kept a relatively safe short distance behind the special forces.\
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After all, the tight timing and the dense mist forced them to stay close to the special forces. Even so, following immediately behind the soldiers, they had to stay fully alert to every move of the special forces. One misstep, and they could easily lose sight of them in the thick fog.The drop in temperature greatly increased the descent speed of the special forces. In just about twenty minutes, they were already standing on several protruding rocks, looking down at the lava only ten meters away.

At this moment, the lava had been temporarily frozen by the icy cold from Xuemei Mo. It was like the frozen surface of a winter lake—a layer of crystal-clear ice quietly covering the lava. A faint cold occasionally seeped through, and thick water vapor surged wildly from the ice surface.

However, it was obvious that no one would be deceived by the icy surface. Beneath the crystal-clear ice, the fiery red lava was still slowly churning, its power enough to intimidate anyone, greatly heightening the sense of danger in people's minds, leaving them not daring to relax even slightly.

The intense heat hidden under the ice was the most terrifying thing!

“Crack!”

A faint cracking sound of the ice broke through from the frozen layer above the lava! In everyone's mind, this sound was no less impactful than a large bell ringing in their hearts!

Qingyan's body trembled involuntarily, but a delicate little hand gently patted the back of her spread-out hand. Turning her head, she saw the calm and confident smile of the maid Xiao Qing, and inexplicably, Qingyan instantly felt a sense of calm.

At this moment, within the special forces, the three squad leaders almost simultaneously made a strange hand gesture toward the soldiers. Without any words, the fifty or so soldiers quickly began to scatter along the protruding rock walls of the mountain. Two of the male squad leaders also ran swiftly in opposite directions, while Long Wu, the so-called “Devil Female Captain,” slightly furrowed her brow, her palms slowly rising as a faint red mystic energy surfaced.

In less than two minutes, following what seemed like a somewhat coordinated step, the fifty or so soldiers and two squad leaders had taken their positions, arranging themselves around the volcano wall on the same horizontal plane according to a strange formation, completely filling it!

“Clap!” With a clap from Captain Long Wu, all the special forces soldiers simultaneously executed a series of intricate, complex, yet extremely profound hand seals towards a common center!

“Shua! Shua! Shua shua shua!”

Five sharp sounds, like blades being unsheathed, suddenly rang out.At the same time, five dark beams of light shot out from within, forming the shape of a massive pentagram! Simultaneously, the hand seals of around fifty soldiers were completed in an instant, and a heavy aura began to descend gradually from this wondrous five-star formation!\ ‘Such a formation… shouldn't be able to restrain the fire puppet, how…'\ Suddenly, Xiao Qing, who was lying beside Qing Yan, murmured softly, her brows tightly furrowed.\ ‘Dong! Dong! Dong!'\ Before Xiao Qing could finish speaking, three explosive sounds, like resounding bells, broke through! With the arrival of the sound, three fiery red mysterious lights suddenly shot out forcefully from in front of the three squad leaders, instantly forming a fire-colored triangular formation that perfectly overlapped the original pentagram formation! Within that powerful red light, there seemed to be a strange flame, burning fiercely!\ ‘Boom!'\ Suddenly, a might as if a colossal mountain had descended from the sky, fiercely pressing down! With the arrival of this power, it seemed even the ground trembled under it!