Super Zoo

Suming was stunned, Ludmila knew she had misspoken and was stunned too, and the two stared at each other wide-eyed.

Spoke too soon, didn't she? Who needs a bicycle? Why bring up the Ice Spring out of the blue? Now look what's happened, one trouble follows another!

This is turning into a song of ice and fire, isn't it? One Fire Ceremony almost cost me my life, and now out pops some 'Ice Spring' Ritual I know nothing about!

Guessing from its name, since the fire involves burning, does the Ice Spring mean suffocating in icy cold spring water?

"If you successfully pass the Ice Spring Ceremony, then it can be confirmed that you are definitely the apostle of the great Fire God!" Alayi said.

"This..." Suming swallowed hard and tentatively asked, "What exactly does the Ice Spring Ceremony entail?"

Of the three Spiritual Energy Storage Spheres inside him, two with specific purposes had been used up; he was left with one sphere of spiritual power and an almost full reserve of spiritual power. If he encountered another flame or ended up being submerged in water, he would be completely out of options.

Based on the sudden burst of flames earlier, this Ice Spring Ceremony was definitely not going to be easy, and if he failed, there was an eighty percent chance he wouldn't make it out alive!

"The test of the gods is something mortals cannot reveal, even if you are a Divine Envoy, you should not know in advance, as that would be disrespectful to the gods," Alayi said solemnly, like a true charlatan, "However, I believe you will surely pass the test."

Suming literally wanted to punch him; he held back his anger and said, "Alayi, if I don't pass the Ice Spring test but I passed the Fire test just now, how would you explain that? Is it possible that the Fire God and you are playing a joke on me?"

If Alayi were a philosopher full of speculative thought, this question alone would be enough to make him rack his brain; but religious fanatics have their advantages, attributing everything they can't understand to the gods.

"Although the Ice Spring test is very dangerous, I firmly believe that you can pass it! As long as you have full confidence in the great Fire God, you will surely succeed!"

Sometimes Alayi seemed like a religious lunatic, yet at times he radiated with the wisdom of a sage. Not waiting for Suming to lose his temper, he slowly said, "Your biggest problem right now is the lack of confidence in yourself and in the Fire God. If I'm not mistaken, you don't even believe in the existence of the Fire God, let alone the identity of the Divine Envoy."

Suming gave a noncommittal hum.

"That's very normal," Alayi said with a smile. "Everything that seems coincidental is maneuvered by an invisible hand behind the scenes. That is the power of the gods. God has arranged everything. Mortals, like lost lambs, cannot comprehend God's intentions, so God sends envoys to lead these lambs towards the kingdom of God. As a priest, what I must do is to find this envoy, and as the envoy, what you must do is to have full confidence in God. Perhaps you can't understand everything happening to you now, but it indeed happened, didn't it? One day, when you fulfill your mission and step into the kingdom of God, you will suddenly understand that all of this was arranged by God long ago."

"Hm? That sounds... quite reasonable..." Suming was nearly swayed by the old charlatan and almost started to believe him.

Seeing Suming pensive, Alayi showed a satisfied smile, "Heh, rest for now, I'll take my leave. If you need anything, tell the guard at the door. Of course, you and your friends cannot leave this place or communicate with the outside world before the ceremony. I apologize, but after two thousand years, the Lure People have finally seen hope, and I must act cautiously."

After finishing his words, Alayi left the wooden hut trembling.

"Hey, hey, can you tell me now how exactly you resisted the fire?" Ludmila asked Suming in a whisper.

"Wait, I just need some quiet," Suming said without paying attention to Ludmila, waving his hand dismissively and bowing his head in thought.

"Quiet? Is that the name of your fiancée from Huaxia?" Ludmila puffed out her chest and squeaked out.

"Huh?" Suming looked at her, bewildered.

After Alayi left, someone quickly brought in food and clean water, and even extinguished the campfire in the cabin at Suming's request. Having a fire burning inside was like being in a sauna; it was simply impossible to think.

The food was quite plentiful, but Suming had no appetite to eat; he kept pondering over Alayi's words,

In the East, there's a saying, 'In the dark, there's a divine will,' and there's a theory of fate that suggests a person's destiny is predetermined at birth. Every action in life is just a step closer to this predetermined end.

Out of so many people in the world, why was he the one to receive the ability of animal friendship? Why did that ability lead him to a nearly bankrupt Yangchuan City Zoo? He hadn't even planned to come to the Middle East, but a series of minor mishaps had brought him here, as if by the will of some ghost or god?

Even Su Meng's injury had occurred under strange circumstances. If he'd brought Su Meng along, he probably wouldn't have hired a bodyguard, and he might not have encountered all that happened afterward. Even on the plane, it wouldn't have been necessary to intervene personally; Su Meng could have dealt with Basel, who tried to self-immolate, neatly and decisively.

Could it really be that the Fire God was orchestrating all this from the shadows?

Suming wasn't eating, but Ludmila didn't care one bit. With her special agent background, she was not fussy about the taste of food. If it wouldn't kill her, she'd eat it. She voraciously finished her portion and, while wiping her mouth, asked Suming, "You gonna eat yours? If not, give it to me."

Without waiting for Suming's answer, she just grabbed the plate and started stuffing the food into her mouth, her cheeks bulging.

Suming was dumbfounded. He had met more than one or two beautiful women in his life—nurses, pretty police officers, power women, beautiful chefs, and even his own legitimate big-room female reporter. Each had their own unique personalities, but he had never before encountered someone like Ludmila who was so carefree and completely disregarded her image.

However, Ludmila's free-spirited behavior was somewhat refreshing to Suming.

He'd almost fallen into the old sham's trap. That guy was a religious fanatic; I'm a regular person. Following his line of thought would be asking for trouble! Anything beyond the material world is irrelevant. Whether gods or spirits really exist, they make no difference to life if they cannot truly appear and be perceived. No, that's not right; even a fart has a smell...

Life should go on as it always has, eat when you should eat, drink when you should drink! With this realization, Suming felt suddenly enlightened and snatched the plate back, "Do you think it's proper for a bodyguard to eat the client's food?"

"What an ungentlemanly man!" Ludmila boldly gave him the finger and turned to shout outside, "Bring more food."

"Tell them to find a few live fish," Suming said, ditching the religious concerns for a practical solution to deal with the upcoming Ice Spring Ceremony.

And as Suming freed himself from the religious conundrum, Moran's mercenaries also got tangled up with an armed group on the periphery of the mountainous region.