Wind slipped through the crack in the bronze gate, carrying the chill of the underground. Chen Wuya stood at the edge of the exit platform, the talismanic mark in his palm still burning hot, as though it had been scorched by fire and frozen over. He lowered his gaze to the crystal fragment in his arms. Its icy touch pressed against his chest, motionless.
Bai Zhi leaned against a stone pillar, one hand supporting the Young Lord and the other pressed to her abdomen. Her breathing was soft, but her eyes remained fixed on the ice fields to the northeast. The snowy mist there was denser than elsewhere, and whenever the wind swept through, it stirred up a layer of ash-gray haze.
"Something's wrong over there," she said.
Mo Feng had spread the mechanism compass across his knees, his fingers tracing the projected star chart. Points of light flickered across his face, casting a long, narrow shadow. "Two routes." His voice was very low. "One heads northeast. The residual demonic aura is dense, but the trail is intermittent. The other heads southeast. The footprints are clear, and the energy fluctuations are continuous."
Chen Wuya crouched and checked the Young Lord's pulse. The instant his fingertips touched the wrist, the system suddenly displayed a line:
[Dual-route escape pattern detected. Recommendation: prioritize tracking the direction of origin resonance.]
He frowned. "What does that mean?"
The system did not answer.
Bai Zhi suddenly raised her hand and pointed into the distance. "The child moved just now." Her voice trembled slightly. "It wasn't ordinary fetal movement... something pulled at it."
Mo Feng looked up at her. "You mean they're using the fetus's aura as bait?"
"Not necessarily bait." Bai Zhi bit her lip. "It could also be an experiment. They know this