Chapter 458: Rare Effect

Bai Jiu stood in front of the “Wenqu” and swallowed hard, lowering her head as she whispered, “Sixth Sister, I’m here now. My life is in your hands.”

“Tch, what kind of talk is that?” Saturday sighed impatiently. “Has Sixth Sister ever harmed you?”

“No, but this is just… too hard to believe…” Bai Jiu said. “An ultra-cold liquid that can give people frostbite—yet if you shake it off within two seconds, you’ll be fine? Doesn’t that sound like the three-second rule for food dropped on the floor?”

“Tch…” Now Saturday finally understood Bai Jiu’s concern. “Little Nine, since you’re the one hitting the ball now, I’ll tell you the principle I heard.”

Bai Jiu slowly extended her arm, mimicking Qiao Jiayan’s stance as if facing an enemy in front of the “Wenqu.”

“Go ahead, Sixth Sister.”

“That Leiden—whatever nonsense effect—means that if a liquid suddenly touches something far hotter than its boiling point, it won’t immediately boil or evaporate. Instead, it forms a vapor barrier on the surface, which wraps around the liquid, making it move erratically for a while.”

“Huh…?”

“If I had to guess, the liquid you encountered was probably ‘liquid nitrogen.’ Its boiling point is around minus 190 degrees Celsius. Tch, the human palm is way too hot for it, so it triggers that Leiden-whatever effect, causing the liquid nitrogen to roll around on your hand for a short time without instantly harming your body. Understand now?”

Bai Jiu swallowed lightly. “The Leidenfrost Effect… Can people really memorize something like that and actually use it…?”

“Tch, isn’t that exactly what we’re doing now?” Saturday said. “Just follow through. We’ll be there soon.”

Bai Jiu nodded and fixed her gaze firmly on the “Wenqu” before her.

“Ninth Sister…” Chou Twenty, standing nearby, spoke with concern. “Will this really work?”

“Yes.” Bai Jiu replied firmly. “I trust Sixth Sister completely now.”

The mechanism trembled slightly. After all, it was just a mechanism—”Wenqu” didn’t give them time to explain, immediately launching a pure white frostball.

This time, the ball didn’t fly toward Bai Jiu but instead shot straight at Chou Twenty.

Chou Twenty, still wary of it, froze for a moment, failing to react in time.

Bai Jiu, however, had already prepared. She dashed forward, yanking Chou Twenty aside, then stood on her tiptoes and punched the fist-sized white ball.

*CRACK!*

The fragile ball shattered instantly under Bai Jiu’s small fist, splattering liquid nitrogen everywhere—some even landing on her body and face.

Bai Jiu immediately shrieked and flailed wildly. “Aaaaah! I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m dead!!”

The freezing liquid, billowing thick white vapor, was shaken off her body in the commotion, eventually dissipating into mist.

Bai Jiu stood still for a few seconds, watching as the liquid nitrogen on the ground completely evaporated into cold white smoke. Only then did she realize she was truly unharmed.

The liquid nitrogen had practically drenched her, and though she felt freezing cold, there wasn’t a single injury on her.

“Eh…?” Chou Twenty blinked. “Ninth Sister… you…”

“Just as I thought!” Bai Jiu grinned and smacked Chou Twenty’s shoulder. “Heh! Twenty, Sixth Sister’s idea was genius!!”

Just as Chou Twenty was about to smile, he noticed frost spreading across Bai Jiu’s leather jacket near her abdomen.

“Ah! Ninth Sister… here…”

Bai Jiu also felt an icy sting creeping across her stomach, a sharp coldness seeping into her skin.

Frowning, she looked down—her leather jacket had frozen solid like stone.

“Ugh…” Bai Jiu pouted. “Not 100% safe after all… but still way better than before…”

Without hesitation, before the cold could worsen, she shattered the frozen section of her jacket, revealing her toned stomach.

*CRASH!*

The shattered pieces of leather scattered on the ground like brittle plastic.

“My clothes!” Bai Jiu whined. “This size is so hard to find!!”

“Uh…” Chou Twenty blushed slightly at Bai Jiu’s now-unique jacket style before awkwardly looking away. “N-Ninth Sister… I think Tenth Brother’s size is close to yours… Maybe you could ask him later…”

“Little Jiang Ten…?” Bai Jiu nodded. “Good idea! I’ll go ask him for clothes when we get back.”

Chou Twenty nodded and stepped in front of her.

“Ninth Sister, you don’t have much protection now. Leave the rest to me.” He rolled his shoulders. “If shaking it off keeps us safe, I can do it too.”

From then on, Chou Twenty handled nearly all of “Wenqu’s” frostballs alone.

But he was overly cautious—every time he shattered a ball, he’d flail around like he’d been electrocuted, shaking off every drop of liquid nitrogen.

During the last one, even after thoroughly shaking it off, Chou Twenty jumped a few more times for good measure—only to slip and land hard on his backside.

“Bloody hell…” Qiao Jiayan, watching from a distance, blinked. “What kind of circus act is this?”

“Q-Qiao Ge…” Chou Twenty laughed awkwardly from the ground. “Sorry, my feet just… slipped.”

By now, the group had cleared four stars in an incredibly short time. With over eight minutes left, they were more than halfway through the game—an excellent sign no matter how you looked at it.

After reaching the finish line, Qiao Jiayan dismounted and walked to the side of the track, examining the shattered frostballs on the ground. Soon, his brow furrowed.

Neither the earlier iron balls nor these white ones had any writing on them.

“You rotten, ugly, good-for-nothing bastard…” Qiao Jiayan muttered under his breath. “None of these damn balls have words on them. Were the rewards written on those ‘coal balls’ from before or what?”

After a brief rest, Ning Shiba pinched her fingers in calculation before scanning the wooden mechanisms around them. She seemed to have found a clue.

“Qiao Ge!” She immediately decided to share her thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“The next round’s ‘balls’ might have the so-called ‘rewards’… but they could also be even more dangerous…”

“What?”

Ning Shiba took a deep breath. “The next star is ‘Lucun’—associated with ‘earth’ and governs ‘fortune and wealth.'”