104: First meeting in the ice city on a cold night

Autumn outside the mountains was already deep. Traveling north, the chill between heaven and earth surged like a tide. Li Muchen and Chen Feng traveled by train, then long-distance bus, and finally a local shuttle. When they stepped off, they were in a vast and desolate land.

Fine snow particles drifted in the air, stinging their faces slightly. Looking up, the sky was a heavy, gloomy grayish-white, hanging so low it seemed reachable. The silhouettes of the undulating ridges in the distance loomed through the snowy mist, exposing large patches of grayish-black mountain, with only a few remnants of late autumn's pale yellow in the sun-drenched, sheltered spots.

"Here... we're still dozens of miles from the village where the incident happened. We need to find a car to go in." Chen Feng wrapped his down jacket tighter, his breath condensing into a white mist in the cold wind. "This weather..."

Li Muchen merely nodded slightly. He still wore a single layer of his green Daoist robe, appearing completely out of place in this cold wind of nearly ten degrees below zero. Yet, he showed no sign of shivering, walking with a composed pace as if the surrounding frigid cold had nothing to do with him. Chen Feng had observed this anomaly over the past few days; his initial surprise had now turned into a deeper level of awe.

The two found a simple, crude motel in town to stay temporarily. Chen Feng used his phone to call a private car willing to drive on mountain roads, arranging to set off the next morning.

That night, the wind and snow grew fiercer. Outside the window, the wind howled like ghosts and wolves, battering the window frames. Although there was heating in the room, a persistent, unshakeable gloom and cold still permeated it. Chen Feng tossed and turned, unable to sleep. As soon as he closed his eyes, he saw that tattered straw hat by the ancient well in the deserted village and that mocking gaze.

He simply sat up and saw Li Muchen sitting cross-legged on the adjacent bed. His breathing was long and distant, and his body seemed enveloped in a layer of extremely faint, barely visible clear Qi. This caused the entire room to feel somewhat more stable.

"Muchen..." Chen Feng couldn't help but speak, his voice dry. "I... I'm still afraid."

Li Muchen did not open his eyes, merely saying flatly, "Fear stems from the unknown and from powerlessness. Once you see clearly what it is and understand why it has come, you will no longer be afraid."

"See clearly? Understand?" Chen Feng gave a bitter smile. "I'm nearly being driven mad by it; how can I care about seeing clearly..."

"Then sleep first," Li Muchen said calmly. "Nothing will happen tonight."

As the words fell, Chen Feng felt an indescribable sense of peace slowly spread, enveloping his mind and body. The needle-like sensation of being watched that had been lingering in the depths of his Divine Soul quietly faded. The fatigue of the past few days pressed down like a mountain; his eyelids grew heavy, and he finally collapsed onto the bed, falling into a deep sleep.

Li Muchen slowly opened his eyes and looked out at the howling wind and snow. His Divine Sense had already spread out like invisible ripples, quietly covering the town and the surrounding dozen or so miles of mountains and fields. The snowy mountain forest was silent and oppressive, but there was no trace of that yellow-skinned monster's aura. The opponent didn't seem to have tracked them here, or perhaps... they were waiting for a more suitable opportunity?

He closed his eyes again and looked inward at his Dantian. The Golden Core spun rapidly, inhaling the Gengjin Spiritual Qi of the north, which was much thinner than that of Jiangnan but more frigid and pure. The qingxiao sword hung quietly in the Purple Mansion, its Sword Intent restrained, yet it vaguely resonated with the Evil Qi of the White Mountains and Black Waters' ley lines. This place was indeed different.

The next morning, the wind and snow subsided slightly. A semi-old SUV carried the two of them, crushing the snow-covered dirt road as it drove into the territory of Black Water Ridge.

The mountain road became increasingly rugged. On both sides were bare trees with twisted branches covered in icicles, looking menacing and strange against the leaden sky. Occasionally, lonely wooden cabins or abandoned brick houses could be seen on the distant hillsides, devoid of life. The driver was a silent middle-aged man who didn't seem familiar with the road to the deserted village either. He drove stumbling along, guided entirely by Chen Feng's vague memories.

"Just... just that fork ahead, turn right, then go in a bit further, and we should be able to see it." Chen Feng pointed to a road junction half-buried in snow, his voice a bit tight.

The car turned off the main road and bumped along for about half an hour. Ahead, a sparse cluster of mostly collapsed adobe houses appeared. Dead grass poked out from the ruins, covered in thick snow, lifeless. An old pagoda tree at the village entrance had long since died, its branches gnarled like ghost claws stretching toward the sky.

"This is it." The driver parked the car in a relatively open snowy area at the village entrance, refusing to drive any further. "This place is eerie. I'll wait here; you guys be quick."

Chen Feng paid the money, took a deep breath, and pushed open the car door. Cold air mixed with the scent of decay rushed at him.

Li Muchen had already stepped out of the car, standing in the snow with his hands behind his back, his gaze calmly sweeping over the deathly silent village. His Spiritual Sense spread out silently like spilled mercury, covering every inch of ground and every broken wall.

The residual aura in the village was extremely mixed and chaotic. There was the desolate Death Qi of a place long uninhabited, the faint traces of Essence Spirits occasionally passing by, and some... more sinister and cunning Demonic Qi that did not belong to ordinary animals. One of these was particularly vivid and jarring—a fishy, stinking smell mixed with a sickly sweet scent, carrying intense resentment and malice. It lingered stubbornly in a certain spot in the center of the village, even though many days had passed.

Li Muchen walked toward the place where the aura was strongest. The snow made a slight "crunch" under his feet. His pace was steady, without the slightest hesitation.

Chen Feng hurriedly followed, his heart pounding like a drum. He recognized this path; it was the same one they had taken in the middle of the night after being lured out by strange noises. The further they went, the clearer the fear in his memory became, and his stomach cramped in waves.

The village wasn't large. Soon, they reached a relatively empty space in the center. At the edge of the area, there was indeed an ancient well built of bluestone. The well's mouth was about three feet in diameter, covered with thick snow and withered vines. Some blurred patterns were carved on the well's curbstone, difficult to recognize after years of wind and frost.

That bone-chilling Demonic Qi and resentment were seeping out from this well, most intensely.

Li Muchen walked to the edge of the well and looked down. The inside of the well was deep and dark. Even with his eyesight, he could only see a few dozen feet down before it became pitch black, with a faint, cold moisture rising. But as his Divine Sense probed in, he could clearly "see" more—the walls were slippery and covered in moss. After descending more than ten fathoms, the well water had long since dried up, leaving only silt and rubble. And within that silt, several items lay quietly.

He extended his right hand, palm down, and pressed it toward the well's mouth. Without any visible effort, an invisible suction force was generated out of thin air.

With several soft "whoosh" sounds, a few objects broke through the darkness and silt in the well, flying out and landing steadily in his open palm.

A palm-sized, irregularly edged dark green jade plaque that seemed to have been violently broken off. Its surface was covered in mud, yet one could still see extremely ancient and complex patterns carved on it. Among them were the distorted characters for "Hu, Huang, Bai, Liu, Hui," as well as patterns resembling shamanic sacrificial scenes.

Several strands of withered yellow animal hair with blackish-brown tints, emitting a faint, stinking Demonic Qi.

A small piece of torn, coarse linen that looked like it had been shredded by sharp claws, its edges charred as if singed by fire.

And... a small pinch of grayish-white ash mixed with soil, emitting extremely faint but exceptionally pure Yin energy fluctuations, clearly the remains of a burned Talisman or Magical Artifact.

Chen Feng leaned in. Seeing the jade plaque and the hair, his face turned pale: "This... this hair is very similar to the hair on that thing I saw that night! This jade plaque..."

Li Muchen didn't speak, his fingertips brushing over the surface of the jade plaque. It was ice-cold to the touch, and the texture was hard, not like ordinary jade. Inside, there was an extremely faint, almost dissipated spiritual fluctuation that vaguely resonated with some ancient, savage aura deep within this land. Shamanic runes... five immortals... indeed.