Out-of-season snow once again drifted across Liang Prefecture. The biting cold seemed to have become the main melody of this disaster-ridden land, followed by a mad surge in the prices of animal pelts, cotton, and down.
Hu Mountain was likewise a vast expanse of white. Cold winds howled and circled between the peaks, producing eerie whimpering sounds like ghosts weeping and wolves howling, chilling to the bone.
Yet under the pressure of survival, more people came to Hu Mountain to hunt than in previous years. Most lingered around its outermost edges, where human activity had grown denser. Naturally, the deaths caused by this had also risen in a straight line.
Meng Zhao and Ji Rushuang wore thick padded cotton garments, bundled into round balls as they walked along a rugged little path in the harsh weather. Their alternating steps left deep tracks in the snow.
On either side of the path stood strange, misshapen rocks blanketed in snow, while farther away stretched vast forests covered in white.
They were heading toward a perilous area rarely visited by anyone. Thus, no other hunters or guides accompanied them. They relied entirely on the map drawn by Master Craftsman Luo, as well as Meng Zhao's prior scouting, to find their way.
Of course, Meng Zhao's martial arts were extraordinary, and the Emperor's Qi Gazing Technique faintly possessed the ability to seek mountains and probe their veins. Though there were only two of them, one of whom was a pregnant woman holding them back, they did not travel slowly, and their safety was well assured.
Although Ji Rushuang had not cultivated the Ming Yang Breathing Technique Meng Zhao taught her for long, with ample resources supplied to her, she had still developed some skill. The mountain's cold air far surpassed that outside, yet it