The wind had stopped, and so had the snow.
From between the distant ice peaks, a figure draped in a white cloak slowly approached, footsteps so light they seemed to tread upon clouds. Chen Wuya tightened his grip on the rubbing paper, his fingertips turning cold. Bai Zhi held her sword horizontally before her, eyes locked on the other party. Mo Feng caught his breath, pulled a second mechanism spider from his robes, and gently set it on the snow.
Just then, a tremor ran through the ice beneath their feet.
It was not coming from ahead, but directly below them.
The three of them simultaneously retreated half a step. Bai Zhi said in a low voice, "Something's wrong."
Before her words had faded, several fine cracks split across the ice. A number of transparent eight-legged creatures crawled out. Their bodies seemed carved from ice, each leg ending in hooked spikes that scratched faintly across the snow. The foremost one raised its forelimbs, a ghostly blue glow flaring in its eye sockets as it pointed directly at Chen Wuya's chest.
"Not living creatures." Mo Feng swiftly crouched and directed his mechanism spider forward to investigate. "They're puppets, controlled by something."
Before Chen Wuya could react, the ice spiders opened their mouths in unison and sprayed streams of cold air as fine as hair. Bai Zhi swept her sword in a flashing arc, severing the icy threads flying toward her. Yet the moment her blade drew back, a thin layer of frost had already formed over its surface. Her fingers tightened, and she heard the faint, brittle crack of metal.
Mo Feng raised a bronze shield at his side. Two icy threads struck its surface and froze it instantly. He had just breathed a sigh of relief when cracks spread along