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It seemed the silent, misty drizzle descended as we entered Shigure Mountain. The magnificent, vibrant, and imposing autumn colors of Derrick Mountain suddenly became delicate and elegant here, silent in a somewhat desolate mist. This must be the sea of clouds enveloping Shigure Mountain; from within, clouds and mist are indistinguishable. Beyond the clouds, perhaps it was a bright, sunny day, for the setting sun's light tinged the misty rain with a pale apricot hue…

But the air around Shigure Mountain showed no signs of tranquility; instead, it surged and churned, as if searching for an unseen exit. Unable to hear the clamor from the other side, my unease intensified when I saw Ice Fin struggling to cover her ears…

“What are they saying?” I removed Icefin’s hand, and Icefin shook his head: “They’re just screaming…” But before he could finish speaking, a tiny tremor came from beneath my feet, like a pebble thrown into water. This tremor amplified into a slight vibration; quickly, the vibration turned into the entire jeep shaking, and the small ornament on the dashboard fell over with a thud. I looked at Icefin in surprise: “An…earthquake?”

"How is this possible!" Icefin, equally inexperienced in this area, visibly panicked. In the blink of an eye, even the large trees lining the mountain road began to lean and sway, pebbles on the road bounced and pounded against the underside of the vehicle, and the jeep's swaying turned into a violent shaking that made it impossible to maintain one's balance! In their ears... came the sound of a thousand horses galloping towards them...

"Something's coming!" Grabbing the back of the seat in front of me, Icefin struggled to maintain his balance. In a panic, I looked up ahead—a huge and swift crimson shadow, like lightning, was hurtling towards me from the other end of the mountain road...

Its agile running posture, the well-proportioned muscles moving with the extension of its limbs, exuded a magnificent leisure and languor amidst the tension of an arrow released from a bow—perhaps no other animal could possess such a near-perfect running posture—it was a leopard! But could such a massive red leopard even exist in this world? Before we could ponder this further, this enormous feline, which had encountered us on this narrow path, had already crashed into our jeep…

A collision so violent it almost made you lose consciousness... Then, a blindingly bright red smoke silently swept past the car window, like the feeling of an airplane passing through clouds. Had our car been swallowed up by the Red Leopard?

Amidst the violent shaking, I waited for the dazzling crimson shadow to disappear; that brief moment felt as long as the sun completing its cycle… Finally, as the carriage stabilized somewhat, I turned to look back at the red leopard's silhouette to confirm if it was just an illusion. Then, as if something heavy had landed on the engine compartment, the impact caused me to lurch forward with the vehicle. Moments later, that impact returned in waves—a group of agile animals were crashing into the vehicle blocking their path. Some leaped lightly across the roof, while others, upon hitting the windshield, instantly disintegrated into chaotic blobs of color. These shapeless blobs flowed backward along the vehicle, gradually reforming their original shapes and beginning to race again—it was a pack of colorful civets! Like the red leopard's retinue, they eagerly followed the fleeing shadow…

"Oh no! They came from my uncle's direction!" Amidst the chaotic crashing, Icefin, regaining her senses, suddenly cried out and desperately reached for the tightly closed car door. I couldn't stop her in time; with a groggy sound, the door sprang open…

The shaking stopped—the seemingly nonexistent herd of beasts surged into the vehicle, my vision submerged in a dazzling array of colors… Instinctively, I shielded my eyes, and on my face, I felt a damp, empty touch…

The dampness, carrying the complex scents of decaying leaves and fresh sap unique to the mountains, filled my throat and lungs. Was it... fog? I removed my hand from my face, and before me lay a mountain path shrouded in a thin mist—the gentle apricot-colored mountain haze, wrapped in rain and mist, quietly dampened the verdant bushes that were already showing signs of withering. Everything was as peaceful as if nothing had ever happened...

The red leopard and the civet cat—were those the clouds they just passed by? They were just condensed mist, an illusion of a sea of clouds…

I wanted to get out of the car to see what was going on, but I almost bumped into the back of Icefin's head as he suddenly stopped moving. "What are you doing!" I complained, looking over his shoulder out of the car, but what I saw immediately captivated me...

At eye level with us were a pair of amber eyes. Those pale, transparent pupils gazed at us expressionlessly, yet for a fleeting moment we had the illusion that if we looked any longer, our souls would be sucked into that misty, moist amber abyss…

I've never seen such a captivating, almost bewitching beauty—the jeep's chassis was quite high, level with our eyes, suggesting she must be incredibly tall and slender. The weather was already quite chilly, yet she was still wearing jeans and a thick white shirt meant for hiking, carrying a large bamboo basket on one shoulder. Some delicate, clear blue flowers peeked out from the basket—wildflowers blooming before the autumn frost—dew grass. The slender blue petals swirled around her casually cut, messy short hair, its color a stark contrast to her pale, deep black eyes, which further accentuated her silky white skin, long imbued with the moisture of the mountain rains.

"The car broke down. Where are your parents?" A deep voice, somewhere between a mature beauty and a dignified young man, emanated from those lips that exuded a strong sense of indifference. Like fine wine, it was a deep, resonant sound. At that moment, I heard my own heart pounding faster and Ice Fin gasp.

“Our master went ahead to look for someone, but what was that just now… crimson red…” Before I could finish, Icefin suddenly interrupted me loudly: “Our master will be here soon.” This answer made me immediately realize his worry—this ethereal beauty who appeared after the illusions of Red Leopard and Spirit Cat, no one knew what she really was!

“It’s getting dark soon, you can’t stay here.” The beautiful woman with a face as clear as water remained expressionless. “Come down and follow me. There’s only one mountain path here, and it’s about a five-minute walk to Ge Yuan’s studio. Your parents are probably already there.”

Icefin and I said in unison, "Don't ask me, ask our elders!" This was what our grandfather, who passed away a long time ago, taught us, and it was the best way to answer when we couldn't tell what the person we were dealing with really was.

"Firewing—Icefin—" Uncle Achao's cheers suddenly came from the other end of the mountain path. He ran and shouted excitedly, "The Ge Yuan Studio up ahead is willing to take us in!"

Ge Yuan Studio really exists! Icefin and I exchanged bewildered glances. The beauty with amber eyes turned around and greeted her uncle with polite but aloof manner: "Thank you for your consideration. I am Qinglan, and Master Ge Yuan is my teacher and also my husband."

"So it's your wife! She said 'I'm sorry to have troubled you,' Firewing and Icefin!" My uncle quickly pressed Icefin and me down to bow. Only then did I notice that this beautiful woman named Qinglan was wearing a thin silver chain around her neck, with a pendant that looked like a ring. Thinking about it, it was really rude of us—Icefin and I had actually mistaken her for someone from the other world.

"Please follow me." Qinglan turned around and led the way. The dewy grass in the bamboo basket on her shoulder dazzled our eyes like blue shimmering light.

"Master Ge Yuan?" Icefin asked with some doubt, "Could it be the master who revived the ancient dyeing and weaving techniques?"

Qinglan nodded, and Uncle Achao immediately began to boast as if he knew a lot: "It's that outstanding dyeing and weaving master! Master Ge Yuan's blue dyeing is so beautiful, it's like it has a life of its own. Many famous designers want to collaborate with him!"

"No wonder we've been collecting so much dew grass!" I exclaimed. "It's for making blue dye! But why not use indigo? Dew grass dye is beautiful, but it fades very easily..." My grandmother, who made tongcao flowers, had taught us some simple dyeing techniques. Unlike the simple indigo, dew grass dye is not only difficult to master, but also very difficult to preserve.

My uncle, who only knew how to buy paint from the shop, immediately showed great interest: "Beautiful yet fades easily, isn't that like a vow?" I stuck out my tongue and glanced at Icefin, who also showed an expression of dislike for my uncle's pretentious manner. However, from the increasingly thick fog on the mountain path, came Qinglan's captivating voice: "...That's why it's precious..."

Sure enough, Master Ge Yuan's workshop was not far ahead. Compared to the spacious dye house, the wooden hut where the master and his wife lived seemed simple and cramped. However, the varying shades of blue fabrics drying in front of the door added a dreamlike quality to the few rooms. Master Ge Yuan, who was arranging fabrics at the door, had a very gentle appearance, but a pair of eyes that were both leisurely and elusive, possessing a much more artistic temperament than his uncle, Uncle A Chao, who claimed to be an artist. At this moment, the master was wearing the same thick shirt and jeans as Qing Lan, and also the same ring pendant. He was much taller than his wife, and perhaps because he often had to bend down to talk to people, he always had a slight hunchback, a habitual gesture that added a touch of awkwardness to his approachable demeanor.

Master Ge Yuan earnestly lamented to his uncle that the humid climate of Shiyu Mountain was more suitable for building a traditional dyeing workshop than a painting studio, while leading us into the not-so-spacious living room. The unkempt space, like him, conveyed a warm, heartfelt sincerity, like animal fur. However, as if a needle were pricking this soft fur, a middle-aged man sat in a corner of the living room, completely out of place. His robust and muscular physique was concealed by thick, rough mountaineering clothing, but his stern features were imposing. He stood motionless like a statue, yet his slowly turning eyes radiated a sharp, oppressive aura. When I saw what he was holding, I stopped in my tracks in shock—it was a rather large crossbow! Was this man a hunter? Hunting in Ditangyue was illegal!

"Brother, is this the legendary crossbow?" The uncle, who never seemed nervous, curiously touched the arrowhead the hunter had just taken out of the crossbow. "Even though the arrows are made of wood, it's still quite dangerous to shoot them with a crossbow!"

The hunter silently slapped his uncle's hand away. Under the hunter's fierce gaze, the uncle, feeling awkward and embarrassed, smiled awkwardly: "Don't be so cold. We might meet often. I just bought a studio nearby, and it was a really good price!"

The hunter's eyes held a mixture of pity and mockery: "You've been fooled. Who would want to stay in Shigure Mountain where that kind of thing roams!"

“That kind of thing?” I couldn’t help but say, “Is it—a red leopard and a pack of colorful lynxes…”

"Firewing!" Icefin suddenly pulled me aside and shouted as if he wanted others to hear, "Aren't you afraid people will laugh at you for talking such nonsense?" Unlike me, who could never learn to be cautious, Icefin was still on guard. A mountain where spiritual energy gathered was always a place where one could not let one's guard down.

Sure enough, the hunter let out a meaningful, cold laugh: "Did you see those things?" He picked up his crossbow, slowly rose, and walked towards us. The aura he exuded, as if concealing some great secret, left Icefin and me speechless as we watched his approaching figure, as if we were nailed to the spot, unable to move...

"Dinner's ready, everyone." Qinglan's calm voice rang out from the doorway. Master Ge Yuan was helping her bring the prepared food into the living room. The hunter immediately stopped what he was doing. "You all eat, I'm not hungry," he said coldly, returning to his seat. As if a huge boulder had been lifted from my chest, I felt cold sweat slowly trickling down my forehead…

Faced with something like this, even if Qinglan's cooking skills were superb, I wouldn't be able to enjoy my food. Plus, with Bingqi glaring at me fiercely, I knew even without his glare that I was probably in trouble...

Just as they were having dinner, darkness fell rapidly. In the wilderness, without any modern lighting, the small cabin resembled a lone boat of light adrift on a dark river. The darkness evoked images of a vast, gaping chasm leading to the other side. My uncle looked curiously out the window facing the forest: "No way, is it already this late...?"

Master Ge Yuan smiled kindly: "Although it's late, it's usually not this dark. It's just foggy today..."

"So, that guy's about to show up." Before my master could explain further, the hunter's somber voice echoed from the corner. Accompanied by the cold sound of him tightening his crossbow, I slowly pushed aside the empty bowl, thanked my master and his wife for their hospitality, and lowered my head, unsure where to hide my fear, when I heard the door behind me slam open with a jarring sound…

"It's so cold! So cold! This awful fog, I'm soaked to the bone!" A barrage of complaints drowned out my rude exclamation. A young man in brightly colored hiking clothes walked in, his sleeves still damp. Looking closer, calling him "young" wasn't quite accurate; he was probably just dressed young. This uninvited guest casually sat down in the chair opposite the hunter, placing an old-fashioned camera beside him: "Coming up in the mountains to take pictures, only to run into this weather! Excuse me, which one of you is the host?"

"Come and have something to eat." Completely unfazed by the other's impolite attitude, Master Ge Yuan warmly invited the arrogant photographer to dinner. The photographer waved his hand: "I don't have time to eat! Just need a place to rest; I'm off to shoot something amazing!"

"Something extraordinary?" My uncle immediately became interested. He quickly finished the food in his bowl, thanked the master craftsman and his wife briefly, and then approached the photographer: "What is it? What is it?"

The photographer looked troubled, but his smug eyes revealed that he was deliberately keeping it a secret rather than not wanting to tell. Finally, he adopted the expression of a businessman who had finally sold his goods at a reasonable price after haggling: "I'll tell you then, I want to photograph... that guy from Shigure Mountain." His deliberately mysterious attitude drew a cold laugh from the hunter.

The uncle looked at the hunter and the photographer with displeasure, "You and he, they're all talking about that guy, that guy, but what exactly is he?!"

Like a businessman seeing a competitor, the photographer was reluctant to have his monopoly on information shared. He glanced at the hunter with a hint of hostility and said in a boastful tone, "That guy is... the mountain spirit of Shigure Mountain!"

Mountain spirits... are those red leopards and lynxes? This question surfaced in my mind once again. "Firewing! Let's help Qinglan wash the dishes!" Icefin suddenly grabbed my arm, stopping the question from escaping my lips.

Master Ge Yuan laughed: "Children don't need to do so much. Come, let's listen to his ghost stories together!"

"I'm not telling ghost stories!" the photographer retorted, dissatisfied. "Have you people never read Qu Yuan's 'The Mountain Spirit'?" Even though he brought up such a great figure, Icefin and I, being just middle school students, still shook our heads in protest.

The photographer revealed the pity of us uncultured folk: "That's a love song from the forest spirits, waiting for their human lovers. Quite alluring—a beauty draped in a garment woven from fragrant herbs, riding a red leopard followed by a pack of lynxes!"

"Hahaha... What a wild beauty!" Uncle laughed loudly. "It's all made up, isn't it? If a woman like that really existed, who would dare to approach her! And you actually believed it and even wanted to take pictures!"

It's not... as simple as it sounds! Icefin and I exchanged a surprised glance—the Red Leopard and the Weasel, we'd seen them with our own eyes in the car on the mountain road! If even ancient poems describe them like this, then these strange beasts with cloud-like forms aren't just a hallucination for Icefin and me! But... there was no beautiful woman in a herb-covered dress appearing before us at all; what appeared before us was...

The sound of a cup being gently placed on the coffee table startled me from my thoughts. Qinglan, who had already finished clearing the dishes, had prepared homemade tea for everyone. After taking care of the guests, she sat down next to Master Ge Yuan with her own cup in hand, and the seven people in the room gathered around the coffee table.

Seeing that his uncle didn't believe him, the photographer argued loudly, citing classical texts or resorting to sophistry, but his uncle insisted he produce evidence. The hunter remained silent, his face cold. Master Ge Yuan watched with a kind smile as his uncle and photographer bickered like children. Qing Lan leaned against Master Ge Yuan wearily, her eyes slightly closed. Although she had no expression, she exuded happiness. Bing Qi's stern expression gradually softened. I inexplicably felt that if I could be with Master Ge Yuan, perhaps we could safely wait until tomorrow when the clouds cleared.

However, the calm was shattered in an instant—the photographer, enraged by his uncle, suddenly shouted words that sent chills down my and Icefin's spines: "Evidence? Evidence? I am the evidence! I saw that mountain demon with my own eyes!"

For a moment, silence enveloped the not-so-spacious room... Soon, my uncle's barely suppressed laughter broke the thin ice of silence: "Stop joking! You're making up stories to fool children!"

"Believe it or not..." The photographer lost his smug expression, his lips twitching. "When I was shooting in the mountains, I almost fell to my death in a thick fog, and she saved me! I even lived with her for a while!"

"She must be very beautiful," the master said slowly, as if trying to comfort the photographer.

A somewhat unnatural expression of smugness resurfaced on the photographer's face: "Of course! No one in the world is more beautiful than her!"

My uncle immediately scoffed, "Nonsense! If she were really that beautiful, would you really leave her?"

“You get tired of seeing the same face all the time, no matter how beautiful it is!” The photographer smiled stiffly. “I don’t want to stay in this desolate, isolated mountain wilderness, and she won’t come down the mountain with me! What’s wrong with coming with me? If we go to the city together, she’ll definitely become the center of attention!”

"You're the one who wants to be the center of attention, aren't you?" The master interlaced his fingers, propped up his chin, and narrowed his shifty eyes.

The photographer's face suddenly turned red, and he suddenly shouted arrogantly, "So what! I've been with her on the mountain for so long, she should at least repay me in some way! And now? Everyone's laughing at me for making up stories! Saying I'm crazy, making it impossible for me to make a living! Even if I can't bring her down the mountain, I must take her picture! What I want is what's rightfully mine!"

Unexpectedly, the hunter, who had been silent all along, let out a low laugh: "Don't dream! Take her down the mountain? Do you think she'll go with you? She's... a monster!"

"Monster..." I felt Icefin beside me nod slightly. It seemed that he, like me, agreed with the hunter's statement.

The hunter habitually stroked his crossbow, the dark wood now gleaming with a metallic sheen. His sharp gaze swept across the faces of everyone around him: "In our area, there's a legend... A man encountered a thick fog in the mountains, fell half to his death, but was saved by a beautiful woman. Where would such a beautiful woman come from in the deep mountains? The man knew this woman must be a mountain spirit, but she was so beautiful that he fell in love with her anyway. After his injuries healed, he longed to return home. The mountain spirit knew she couldn't keep him, so she made a pact with him: he must never tell anyone about meeting her. The man went home..." He married a girl from a neighboring village, and they lived a good life, having two children. Gradually, he forgot his promise to the mountain spirit. One day, he accidentally told his wife about the mountain spirit, and immediately, she revealed her monstrous form, riding a red leopard and leading a group of demons large and small—as terrifying as could be! It turned out that his wife was the mountain spirit in disguise! No matter how much the man begged, the demon still took his children away! That damned demon! Distracted by telling the story, the hunter slipped from his hand while adjusting the crossbow's string, and the crossbow emitted a sharp whistle.

"It's that man who's wrong!" Uncle A-Chao said with a look of disgust. "I think even monsters are more humane than him!"

The hunter slowly raised his cold eyes, which looked threatening, while his uncle stood up with a nonchalant smile: "Master, may I ask where the restroom is?" Master Ge Yuan smiled and pointed to the door, then quickly gave his uncle a thumbs up.

Before the hunter could say anything more, Qinglan slowly sat up straight: "Everyone... let's not talk about this anymore. Isn't there a saying that if you keep talking about something, it will actually appear?"

Qinglan's words reminded me—when I used to tell ghost stories, the creatures from the other world would always excitedly gather around. This place is in a mountain where spiritual energy is concentrated, so logically, many spirits should have gathered here. But so far, not a single one has appeared! Just as I was about to say this to Bingqi, he suddenly interrupted me in a low voice: "Firewing, did you hear that?"

I stopped what I was doing and listened carefully—all I could hear were the pattering of water droplets forming on the leaves as they rolled to the ground, and the crackling of wood in the small clay stove used for brewing tea. I looked at Icefin with a puzzled expression; he slowly made a shushing gesture: “Something… is coming…”

In an instant, tiny ripples appeared in the teacup in front of me. Gradually, even the cup on the coffee table began to sway gently, making a soft tapping sound. I had felt the same tremor on the misty mountain path—a harbinger of the appearance of the crimson leopard amidst the clouds!

"Uncle is still outside!" Icefin stood up and rushed to the door, opening it. By the light from inside, I saw that the bathroom door was wide open, and there was no one inside. On the ground in front of the door, the fabric that had been soaked by the night dew was fluttering uneasily. There was no sign of my uncle anywhere!

"Uncle Ah Chao!" Bingqi shouted, clinging to the swaying door frame, but his voice was quickly swallowed by the thick fog-filled forest...

"She's appearing!" The photographer grabbed his camera and shoved aside Icefin, rushing into the thick, asphalt-like night fog. Watching the photographer's figure disappear like bursting bubbles, Icefin, unable to stop him, turned back blankly to look at the person left behind. The silence that enveloped the room was broken only by the mechanical creaking of vibrating objects. "He won't come," the hunter said, his eyes dark and intense, uttering a vague sentence. As if emphasizing his master's words, the crossbow's trigger clicked with a bloodthirsty thud…

Master Ge Yuan stood up quickly but calmly, reached for the large flashlight on the cupboard, and said, "Qinglan, you stay with these two children. I'll go and bring them back!"

“But… Red Leopard…” Worried about my uncle’s safety and unwilling to let my master, whom I had just met, take danger, I couldn’t help but shout to stop him. However, Master Ge Yuan, contrary to his usual gentle manner, said: “Compared to any Red Leopard, the forest at night is far more terrifying for humans!”

Qinglan stood up expressionlessly, pulled the ice fin that was standing at the door back and placed it on the chair next to me, then nodded to Master Ge Yuan. Master Ge Yuan smiled, gave a no-questions-asked gesture, and ran out the door with a bright flashlight.

“They’re all fools, they’re bound to get eaten.” The hunter sitting opposite us lifted his crossbow and gestured for aiming in our direction. Behind me came Qinglan’s soft voice: “Don’t scare the children.”

The hunter let out a rough laugh from his throat, like rocks rolling down: "You're wrong, I didn't mean to scare you..." With a sharp whistling sound, I felt a burning pain in my cheek. I heard the sound of the wooden arrow hitting the wall, raised my hand to touch my cheek, and stared blankly at the red liquid left on my fingertips.

“Bleeding… Okay, this one’s out. Next up, this one—” The hunter slowly aimed his crossbow at Icefin. “In the mountains, even a handsome young man of unknown origin is dangerous…”

"Stop!" Qinglan's stern rebuke had no effect on the other party. As the red leopard approached and the shaking intensified, the hunter remained unmoved and aimed: "If you're human, don't be afraid! These peach wood arrowheads will turn to ash the moment the mountain spirit touches them!"

This man... he's insane! At this close range, even a wooden arrowhead could kill the opponent with the slightest misfire!

Suddenly, as if a huge rock had crashed into the wooden house, an unimaginable impact descended! The sound of teacups overturning and shattering was mixed with the sound of arrows missing their target and piercing the wooden planks. The hunter, who had failed, cursed and struggled to maintain his balance, raising his crossbow once more. His ferocious expression was instantly engulfed by a dazzling burst of crimson smoke—the Red Leopard had arrived, passing through the open door!

Qinglan pulled me and Bingqi, who were sitting blankly in the chairs, from behind and ran towards the door without regard for anything else...

Did we actually leave Master's home? It's impossible to tell now. Like walking on clouds, we're walking inside Red Leopard's body... A restrained glow, an invisible red mist shrouds everything before us. Although it's not as pitch black as night, if we don't hold hands, we might get separated after a few steps and never find each other again!

Qinglan calmly pulled me and Bingqi along, moving carefully. Even in this situation, she remained composed, which inexplicably reassured me.

"Actually... there's no such thing as a mountain spirit at all!" Icefin, who had been completely scorned by the hunter, had come to her senses and muttered angrily, "In the end, it's just the embodiment of those two people's obsessions!"

"I don't know," Qinglan replied calmly. It can't be that simple, can it? But we've seen the Red Leopard and the Lily with our own eyes! Just as I was about to retort, my foot slipped, and I almost fell over because I stepped on something.

The touch of this thing... is the touch of a fragile man-made object... I slowly lowered my head—in my blurry vision, an old-fashioned camera that had been smashed lay at my feet!

Icefin, who had come closer to examine it, was startled: "It's that person's...camera!"

So… that person should be nearby, right? We moved forward hesitantly, searching for the photographer. As visibility decreased in the red mist, a blurry shadow appeared on the ground ahead: a human-like silhouette, and the bright colors of the hiking gear…

"Don't look!" Suddenly, Icefin released Qinglan's hand and covered my eyes from behind. But... I already saw it—although the mountaineering clothes were still brightly colored, the fabric was already torn and rotten, and wrapped in the weathered clothes, it was definitely not the body of a living person, or even... not the body of someone who had just died...

The red mist... passed through the exposed, bluish-white bones.

The skull was still smiling contentedly! Its fingers tightly clutched the haphazardly pulled-out roll of film. Perhaps the film once held the image of the mountain spirit it craved, but it meant nothing now—the film had long been exposed…

“How could this be… He was just sitting in the room… having tea and talking with us…” A broken sob escaped my throat, and Icefin’s voice became a little hurried: “But he didn’t eat, and he didn’t touch the tea at all…”

"They look like they've been dead for a long time," Qinglan said in her calm voice. "They probably died in a mountain accident. People like them often wander in the mountains, never realizing they're already dead..."

A chill ran down my spine, and I couldn't help but stammer, "Aren't we...already...already..."

"Don't talk nonsense!" Icefin's fierce words couldn't hide his inner panic. "The most important thing now is how to get out of this fog!"

“There…” Qinglan slowly raised her empty hand, and in front of her slender fingertips, a clear blue light faintly emerged from the red mist.