Wind and snow pressed in from the west, and the footsteps drew closer and closer. Mo Feng pressed his ear to the ground for a moment, then raised his head. "It's not one person. At least five sets of footprints, moving very fast."
Chen Wuya stood at the tent entrance, one hand already gripping his sword hilt. Rather than going farther inside, he turned to Bai Zhi. "Go into the tent and guard her. Don't let anyone near."
Bai Zhi did not move. Looking into Chen Wuya's eyes, she said, "You do the deduction. I'll guard outside."
Chen Wuya paused, then nodded. He knew this was no time to argue. Turning, he hurried toward the main tent in the center of the camp. When he lifted the flap and entered, a gust of cold air came in with him. The fire inside burned low, but it was enough to illuminate the cracked stone slab before him—one of the marks he had brought back from the node.
He sat cross-legged and closed his eyes, sinking into his consciousness. The system interface surfaced in his mind, a murky gray expanse as though buried beneath ice. The data left behind from his earlier inspection of the node was still there, but it was a complete mess.
"Activate tactical deduction," he said softly.
The system trembled once and began loading. Several red alerts sprang up across the display: [Energy fragments unanalyzed] [Severe spiritual-spectrum interference] [Model construction failed].
Chen Wuya gritted his teeth and forcibly dragged three streams of data into the analysis zone—the energy frequency from the Demonic Cult protector's self-destruction, the extreme-cold demonic aura lingering in the core of the baleful artifact, and the mental control imprint still not purged from that pregnant woman's body.
The system began comparing them. The progress bar