No one here?
Wen Shuangbai's probing gaze fell upon the half-boiled pot of snow water.
This didn’t make sense. Judging by the situation, it seemed someone in the house had been boiling water.
Wait.
Realizing something, Wen Shuangbai suddenly turned her head.
The moment her eyes landed on what was behind her, her heart skipped a beat, and every hair on her body stood on end.
Xie Ziyin noticed her reaction and soothingly squeezed the hand of the woman beside him, subtly positioning himself slightly in front of Wen Shuangbai as he looked past the three of them.
There, right behind them, stood a woman—silent and unnoticed until now.
The woman was dressed in white, her figure gaunt, her pale face dominated by large, black eyes that lacked any liveliness, appearing only eerie and unsettling.
Her words carried a peculiar cadence: "Who are you? Why are you sneaking around outside my house?"
Li Zhuohua immediately grew wary, her hand tightening around the hilt of her sword, Liuhong, ready to draw.
Who was this woman? How had she gotten so close without any of them noticing?
Wen Shuangbai instinctively exchanged a glance with Xie Ziyin before calming Li Zhuohua with a look. She turned back to the woman in white, offering a polite smile. "We’re here searching for medicinal herbs. We accidentally wandered into these snowy mountains and saw this cabin, so we came to take a look. We meant no harm. We’re terribly sorry for disturbing you—we’ll leave right away!"
"Medicinal herbs?" The woman in white thought for a moment before asking, "Are you also sent by the City Lord’s Manor to find the Divine Ghost Grass?"
"Ah?" Wen Shuangbai was stunned. She hadn’t expected this strange woman to mention that. "How did you know?"
The woman smiled faintly and explained, "What a coincidence. My senior brothers and sisters and I are also here for the Divine Ghost Grass. Like you, we wandered into these mountains and couldn’t find our way out. Since the snowy peaks are dangerous, we built this cabin as a temporary shelter."
Wen Shuangbai remained skeptical. "Is that so?"
Li Zhuohua, meanwhile, glanced around and asked, "Then where are your senior brothers and sisters?"
At this, the woman’s smile faded. She gazed toward the mountain peak, her voice tinged with melancholy. "They went up to the summit… and left me here to guard the cabin. It’s been days, and they still haven’t returned…"
She trailed off, then turned back to the three of them with a sincere expression. "The mountains are treacherous, especially at night. Have you found shelter yet? If not, you’re welcome to stay here."
Wen Shuangbai studied the cabin’s owner.
Her expression and tone were flawless, but her face and the aura around her were all wrong—unnatural, as if she weren’t human at all.
Like a wolf wearing human skin.
After exchanging another glance with her companions, Wen Shuangbai politely declined. "Thank you for your kindness, but we’d prefer to travel through the night. We won’t trouble you further."
With that, the three of them cautiously retreated from the cabin.
The woman in white simply stood outside, watching them leave without protest.
Soon after, Wen Shuangbai and her group reunited with Yin Xuan and the others.
The six of them hid at a distance, observing the woman’s movements as she gathered another pot of snow before finally returning inside.
After Wen Shuangbai briefly recounted what had happened, Lu Jiayao asked curiously, "Do you really think she’s also here for the Divine Ghost Grass, like us?"
Xie Ziyin stated firmly, "She wasn’t on the City Lord’s ship when we arrived."
Yin Xuan countered, "But she could’ve been brought here on an earlier voyage."
They weren’t the first group to enter the Divine Ghost Valley.
The desert they’d crossed was littered with the bones of bounty hunters—proof that the City Lord’s Manor had been recruiting people to search for the Divine Ghost Grass for a long time.
Xie Ziyin conceded, "That’s possible."
"But she doesn’t seem human," Wen Shuangbai muttered, frowning.
Li Zhuohua agreed. "I think so too! There’s something off about her."
"Yet my divination says—" Shen Hefeng, who had been crouched in a corner murmuring to himself, suddenly looked up with a mysterious air, "—everything she said was true."
Wen Shuangbai was taken aback. "How is that possible? Did you miscalculate?"
"This old man doesn’t make mistakes!" Shen Hefeng retorted, still fiddling with his turtle shell. "If anything, it’s you lot who are so suspicious that you see deceit everywhere!"
As the group teetered on the edge of another argument, Lu Jiayao hastily intervened. "Enough, enough! So what do we do now? Keep traveling to find shelter, or stay in the cabin?"
Wen Shuangbai glanced at the darkening sky. Every instinct told her the cabin was dangerous—but the snowy mountains at night weren’t exactly safe either.
Faced with two bad choices, she decided to leave it to fate.
Soon, Shen Hefeng delivered his verdict: "Staying in the cabin—ominous."
Li Zhuohua immediately declared, "Then we’ll keep moving!"
"Wait, Senior Sister," Shen Hefeng added with a smirk, "But traveling through the night? That’s a dire omen!"
The group fell silent.
As evening approached, the wind and snow grew fiercer.
The six of them stared at the lone cabin standing stubbornly in the storm, exchanging resigned glances before sighing in unison.
Typical. Even their misfortunes were consistent.
Li Zhuohua, oddly satisfied, remarked, "I’ll take ‘ominous’ over ‘dire’ any day."
Compared to their usual no-win scenarios, this almost counted as good luck.
The others nodded. "True enough."
Lu Jiayao patted his chest. "Don’t worry, I’ll make sure we have good fortune!"
"Then what are we waiting for?" Wen Shuangbai stood, brushing snow from her clothes, her smile bright and fearless. "Let’s go meet our mysterious host!"
---
Inside the cabin, the fire burned strong, and the pot of snow water bubbled vigorously.
In one corner, a simple wooden table stood against the wall, around which the six of them sat on the floor.
Their host, who introduced herself as Xue Qingqing, wore a concerned expression. "I’m glad you came back. The mountains at night are deadly. You’re welcome to stay here and leave at dawn."
Wen Shuangbai smiled warmly. "Thank you for your hospitality, Miss Xue."
"Don’t mention it. We’re all here for the same purpose, after all." Xue Qingqing pulled a small tea caddy from her sleeve, looking almost bashful. "But I don’t have much to offer—just some leftover tea leaves…"
"Oh!" Wen Shuangbai immediately stood, firmly pushing the caddy back. "We couldn’t possibly impose. Keep your tea—we’re a rough bunch with no appreciation for fine things. It’d be wasted on us."
Xue Qingqing insisted, "It’s no trouble—"
"Xie Ziyin." Wen Shuangbai nudged the man beside her with her foot, shooting him a meaningful look. "Go on, bring out that good wine of yours. Let’s share it with Miss Xue. A drink will warm us up in this cold."
Xie Ziyin, who had been leaning against the wall watching her performance with amusement, sighed and obediently retrieved a flask of wine from his storage ring.
Lu Jiayao rummaged through his storage ring and pulled out six cups, enthusiastically volunteering to pour the wine.
Shen Hefeng scolded him, "There are seven of us, and you only brought six cups?"
Lu Jiayao pouted, "But I only have six cups."
Yin Xuan thought for a moment and, as the senior brother, felt he should yield. "Give my cup to Miss Xue~"
"How can we do that?" Lu Jiayao glanced around and spotted a few extra cups nearby. He quickly fetched them and even washed them with familiarity. "No problem, there are extras here!"
"..." Xue Qingqing, the actual owner of the wooden cabin, suddenly felt like an outsider. Her expression darkened briefly before she composed herself. She eyed the wine and said, "This wine is so precious, I couldn’t possibly—"
"No," Xie Ziyin cut her off with a glance. "It’s not expensive. It’s free."
Xue Qingqing: "..."
Wen Shuangbai had already eagerly approached Xue Qingqing, pulling her to sit down. She pushed the wine Lu Jiayao had poured toward her and said hospitably, "Yes, it’s not expensive. Have a drink, Miss Xue."
Xue Qingqing hesitated for a long moment before replying, "No, thank you. I don’t drink. I’ll just have tea."
"Snow-brewed tea is truly excellent," Xue Qingqing insisted, her gaze lingering on them. "Are you sure you won’t try some?"
"No need, we’ll stick with wine," Wen Shuangbai cheerfully deflected, returning to her seat and taking a sip. Before Xue Qingqing could speak again, she seized the initiative. "By the way, we didn’t see you on the city lord’s airship earlier. When did you arrive at Shen Gui Valley?"
A flicker of something twisted passed over Xue Qingqing’s face before she answered stiffly, "We came half a month ago."
The six of them noted her odd behavior but played along.
"Half a month ago?" Wen Shuangbai feigned confusion. "But the city lord’s people said you must leave within seven days, or it’d be dangerous."
"Right," Lu Jiayao chimed in curiously. "The fasting pills and soul-stabilizing elixirs provided by the city lord’s estate only last seven days. How did you manage staying for half a month?"
Xue Qingqing seemed baffled by how the conversation had turned against her. Wasn’t she supposed to be the one interrogating them?
She opened her mouth, forced to explain. "We… prepared extra fasting pills and elixirs in advance."
Shen Hefeng exaggeratedly gasped. "You knew to prepare beforehand? How foresighted! Even I couldn’t have predicted that!"
Xue Qingqing: "..."
After staring at them for a long moment, she finally said, "Actually… we came to Shen Gui Valley to find a cure."
Wen Shuangbai and Xie Ziyin exchanged a glance.
To the six of them, it was obvious—this woman wasn’t human. She resembled a ghost masquerading as a person, much like the ghostly village chief of Tianjia Village.
Before knocking on the cabin door, they’d already suspected as much.
This was likely a ghost that had devoured Xue Qingqing’s consciousness and memories, now luring prey.
The trial in the Sacred Tower wouldn’t randomly place a cabin here. There had to be a crucial clue hidden inside.
They needed to extract it.
"A cure?" Lu Jiayao leaned in eagerly. "What kind of cure? Miss Xue, could you explain in detail? Maybe we can help!"
Xue Qingqing seemed to struggle, as if dredging up memories not her own. "We… we came to save our youngest brother."
"We’re rogue cultivators from nearby villages, unaffiliated with any sect. We formed a team to explore secret realms, cultivate, and earn money together. Recently, a small realm opened near Zhuoguang City, so we entered. Unfortunately, our brother was badly injured. After escaping, we took him to a clinic in Zhuoguang City for treatment."
"But," she continued mechanically, "after taking the clinic’s pills, he didn’t recover. Instead… he became strange, as if possessed. When we confronted the clinic, we were nearly thrown into the city lord’s prison. Thankfully, kind strangers rescued us. They helped investigate and discovered the city lord was hiring mercenaries to gather herbs. Miss Ye said if we knew what herbs they used, we might concoct a cure. So, we disguised ourselves as mercenaries and came to Shen Gui Valley."
Li Zhuohua slammed the table. "Outrageous! They’re using cursed medicine to turn victims into ghosts!"
Lu Jiayao gasped. "The Zhuoguang City Lord’s estate is too cruel!"
Wen Shuangbai, however, caught the key detail. "Miss Ye? May I ask her full name?"
Xue Qingqing tilted her head, thinking. "Ye Qingrong."
Of course! Wen Shuangbai’s heart sank. "Since Miss Ye is also in Shen Gui Valley, where is she now?"
"She went up the mountain with my senior siblings. They haven’t returned yet." Xue Qingqing smiled oddly. "It’s late. We should rest."
"But there are only two rooms in this cabin." Xue Qingqing looked at Wen Shuangbai and Li Zhuohua. "The two ladies can share my room, while the four gentlemen take the other—"
Before she could finish, Wen Shuangbai cut in, "No need! We’ll all stay together!"
Xue Qingqing’s expression froze. "That’s improper—"
"Propriety doesn’t matter outside," Wen Shuangbai laughed. "We always sleep together anyway."
The other five nodded vigorously.
Xue Qingqing’s fists clenched, barely restraining her anger. "This… isn’t… appropriate."
"What’s inappropriate?" Li Zhuohua retorted. "We won’t even undress!"
Xue Qingqing: "..."
"Alright, let’s not bother Miss Xue further. Time to rest." Wen Shuangbai decisively stood, signaling the others as she headed to the room.
Xie Ziyin followed without a word, taking the unfinished wine.
Lu Jiayao scooped up his cups—and Xue Qingqing’s extras too.
In the blink of an eye, the six vanished, leaving behind an empty table and a woman whose face twisted with eerie fury.
