When Lu Yan returned home, Yu Su was giving Yu Zhou a bath. A bucket of hot water filled the room with steam. Yu Zhou, submerged in the wooden tub, seemed content.
Yu Su: "Hurry up and finish bathing in your own dirty water."
Yu Zhou, reluctant to get out, enjoyed soaking in hot water. Lu Yan entered, dispelling the chill from his outer robe with spiritual power. He saw Yu Su rolling up his sleeves, arms in the bathwater, resembling playful fish.
"Lu Gege!" Yu Zhou stood up, splashing Yu Su, "Did you see any mythical beasts today? Catch a few for me?"
Yu Su wiped his face, annoyed: "Yu Zhou!"
Realizing he splashed his brother, Yu Zhou extended his hands to Lu Yan, "Lu Gege, quickly, carry me out."
Lu Yan lifted him out, drying the water with a towel, then placed him on the bed. Yu Zhou, wrapped in a blanket, apologized, fearing a scolding.
Yu Su's clothes got wet. Lu Yan: "Change your clothes, it's freezing."
In the cold, even with Yu Su being a cultivator, wet clothes weren't comfortable. After changing, Lu Yan helped dress Yu Zhou.
"How is it? Did any beasts come out from the mountains?"
"No, they're all hiding in the deep mountains, scared of Brother Yu Su."
Yu Su relieved: "That's good."
Late at night, a hawk's cry alarmed Yu Su. Only during emergencies would the patrol hawk wake people.
Yu Su, Lu Yan, and Jian Yunchuan went outside. Lu Yan, noticing Yu Su's thin clothes, told him to stay inside and brought the hawk in.
Jian Yunchuan: "What's happening?"
Yu Su, touching the hawk's head, sensed a connection due to their contract. "Trouble in the northern village of Quan. Something attacked the village." Quan was closely connected to Yu Village, with over fifty people working there. During the last village ceremony, Quan's chief and shaman were invited.
This winter, while many villages collapsed under the weight of snow, Quan Village, having reinforced its buildings based on Yu Village's architecture, remained unscathed. However, it was suddenly attacked, and the situation was unclear.
Yu Su swiftly dressed and, along with Lu Yan, flew on swords to Quan Village. From a distance, Yu Su detected the bloody scent carried by the wind and chaotic cries.
Hovering over Quan Village, Yu Su saw men, women, and children surrounded by snow frogs, half their height, attacking the villagers with their tongues.
Snow frogs, mythical creatures, usually inhabit high mountain snowfields. Yu Su had never seen them in the wilderness before and didn't know where they came from.
Regardless, there was no time to ponder. Yu Su and Lu Yan intervened, eliminating the snow frogs attacking Quan Village. Vines emerged from the ground, binding the creatures, while arrows of flame rained from the sky.
After a night of fierce battle, the relieved villagers looked up and shouted, "It's Lord Yu Su of Yu Village and Leader Lu!"
"We're saved!"
After clearing the remaining snow frogs, Yu Su landed in the square. Quan Village's shaman hurriedly approached, "Lord Yu Su."
"Thanks to you and Leader Lu, we would have perished here."
Surveying the villagers, Yu Su asked, "Where is Chief Quan Shi?"
Before an answer, he spotted Quan Shi's body, pierced by a snow frog's tongue, covered in their sticky fluid.
"He's dead, killed by those dreadful toads."
"Lord Yu Su, be cautious; those creatures' tongues are dangerous."
Nodding, Yu Su turned to Lu Yan, and together they cleared the remaining snow frogs.
These snow frogs are second-tier mythical creatures, totaling over twenty. Their tongue attack speed and strength are formidable, and the sticky substance on their tongues is hard to escape from, making them quite challenging adversaries.
After Yu Su and Lu Yan took some time to eliminate them, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. Now, besides the snow frog corpses, there were also the bodies of Quan Village residents.
Having faced a sudden attack, many hadn't had time to react. Quan Village, originally a few hundred people strong, now had just over a hundred left.
Yu Su and Quan Village's shaman comforted the surviving villagers, while Lu Yan led the young survivors to stack and burn the snow frog corpses.
By the time everything was dealt with, the day had already dawned. The elderly and children couldn't endure and fell asleep, leaving the remaining individuals with red, exhausted eyes.
The Quan Village shaman directed them to collect the bodies and prepare for burial. Facing so many deaths, including the village chief, the shaman aged visibly overnight.
"Lord Yu Su, Leader Lu, I don't know how to repay your lifesaving grace." The Quan Village shaman bent deeply, but Yu Su stopped him.
A few days later, Lu Yan returned from the northern wilderness. "Other villages haven't encountered snow frog attacks temporarily. I followed the traces and found that the snow frogs likely came from the snowy mountains to the north."
"That's quite far from Quan Village. How did these snow frogs get here?"
"I flew up to check and discovered they are rapidly breeding, with snow frog eggs everywhere. It seems they came out to forage, especially with the unusually cold winter turning the wilderness into a suitable habitat."
Yu Su, alarmed, asked, "Are there really so many?"
Lu Yan nodded, "Once those eggs hatch, they'll quickly come down the mountain."
While they might return when the weather warms, they would still pose a threat until spring.
[Snow frog eggs are alchemical materials, used to refine high-grade burn ointments. If it's from a Snow Frog King, the eggs can yield profound-grade burn ointments, a precious remedy for treating burns.]
Even cultivators could get burned, and for injuries caused by a fire spirit root cultivator like Lu Yan, a specialized burn ointment was necessary for healing.
Learning about the potential profit from selling snow frog eggs, Yu Su couldn't help but twitch his mouth. Was this a thing?
He shared this discovery with Lu Yan, who suggested, "Keep them confined at the mountain top, and don't let them come down."
Yu Su replied, "We need a way to make sure they stay obediently on the mountain."
[Wait, let me find it. Found it. Snow frogs have poor eyesight and are afraid of flames. Some sects used to draw flames on the fences where they kept snow frogs, and the frogs would think those drawings were real, staying away.]
"Is it that simple?"
[Yes, they're quite foolish, actually.]
Yu Su thought for a moment and decided to go with Lu Yan to inspect the snow frog habitat first.
...
They quickly arrived in front of the northern snow mountain. Along the way, they encountered some snow frogs coming down from the mountain, attempting to enter the wilderness, but the two of them cleared them out.
Yu Su looked up at the snow mountain. The range was quite extensive.
Lu Yan: "They mainly inhabit these two snow peaks."
Lu Yan pointed to the two snow peaks.
Yu Su: "That's better. Summon Father here, build earthen walls around these two mountains, and then draw flames on them."
After inspecting, they went back and informed Jian Yunchuan and the others.
Upon hearing that snow frog eggs could be used to make burn ointment, Jian Yunchuan and the others felt it would be a waste to kill them and decided it was more profitable to keep them confined.
Due to the ongoing snowfall, they waited until it stopped. Afterward, the group arrived at the foot of the snow peaks.
Jian Yunchuan and Yu Meng were responsible for building tall fences, while Yu Su, with others, used fuel to draw fiery flames on the walls. They used pigments from the Barbarian Forest, making it resistant to wind and rain. Periodic touch-ups would suffice.
"Those snow frogs really retreated to the mountain. It seems they are genuinely afraid of these flames," Yu Meng exclaimed. Watching the snow frogs retreat to the mountain, they found it quite unbelievable.
Using drawings actually scared them away.