We spent our first night in the Winterlin Mountains taking turns keeping watch. Nothing happened. When I woke, everyone else was already up. We ate a quick breakfast of the grilled fish left over from last night, then set off for the day.
"Everyone packed? Then the first thing we're doing today is crossing the river. Move it!"
As he spoke, Rui Feng scooped up Rui Xin. The muscles in his legs tensed to their limit, and he launched himself across the wide river in a single mighty leap. He landed with a heavy thud, then called to us, "If you can cross on your own, do it. If not, go with Lin Bing. Don't hold us up!"
Everyone had their own way of crossing. Mo Xiao Hong bent like a rubber band and flung herself to the other bank. Zhang Tian Luo controlled his own gravity and floated through the air. Li Cha was even more impressive: he shot into the sky and carried the other two across. His ability was flight.
And what about me? I'd considered using my blood to make a bridge, but it would take too much blood and wouldn't be safe. Besides, I still couldn't use the blood inside my body to lift myself into the air. So I decided to go with Lin Bing.
Lin Bing was the youngest in the group, a girl of about fifteen. She had pale skin, long hair that reached her waist, and a face like a Japanese doll. She'd hardly said a word the whole way, so I'd practically forgotten she was there. If she could get everyone else across, was her ability some kind of spatial teleportation?
"Come closer."
Her voice was so faint it was almost inaudible. We gathered around her in a circle. I happened to be standing closest, nearly pressed against her delicate frame, but I couldn't muster a single improper thought. Waves of cold radiated from her, as if she were a massive block of ice.
Once we were all in place, Lin Bing slowly raised both hands. Pale blue hexagons, like glass, appeared from thin air and joined together, forming a hemispherical barrier around us. I couldn't help thinking of the AT Field in Evangelion. With her pale blue field covering us, we walked straight toward the river. The instant the water touched the field, it froze solid. The ice was thick enough to walk on, and that was how we crossed the river.
But when we reached the middle, everything changed. More than thirty Blood Tooth Fish shot up from beneath the water, their hideous mouths agape as they lunged at us!
"Look out!" I was just about to summon my Blood Shield when Lin Bing tugged at my clothes, signaling that I didn't need to worry. The moment the swarm touched the field, they froze into ice sculptures, their gaping maws locked in place. They looked ridiculous.
What an absurdly powerful ability... I thought. If I fought her, would I be unable to get close at all? She was only fifteen. If she kept growing at this rate... The thought alone was terrifying.
Only after crossing the Blood Tooth River had we truly entered the Winterlin Mountains. The mood of the whole group changed. The casual air they'd had on the outskirts vanished, replaced by solemn vigilance. The Rui siblings led the way: Rui Xin used sound waves to detect their surroundings, while Rui Feng cleared the path and guarded the group. He now wore a pair of metal gauntlets with sharp saw teeth along the edges. They were no ordinary Spirit Artifact. Lin Bing and I walked in the middle of the group. She had her freezing field, and I had my Blood Shield; if we ran into danger, we could protect everyone. Walking alongside us was a man in his early thirties named Si Nanlong. Unlike Rui Feng and his sister, Si Nanlong truly carried the bloodline of the Si Nan Family, and his ability specialized in detection. Only two kinds of people could bear the Si Nan surname: those related by blood, and those from minor families who survived under the Si Nan Family's protection and had rendered it great service. Bringing up the rear were Shi Tao and Lu Xiong, two hulking men every bit as powerful as Rui Feng. One could control rock, while the other could unleash lightning. Both were fierce fighters. Li Cha was the strongest. Most of the time, he flew overhead, serving as our lookout tower.
Our route took us along a dried-up riverbed toward the eastern side of the main peak's mid-slope, where we would meet up with the other teams. According to the map, there were three suitable sites to survey along the way. Our plan was to visit them one by one, with Si Nanlong deploying a large-scale detection field at each. By the time we had covered all three, we would have finished surveying our assigned area.
Our destination now was Site One: Salt Crystal Lake.
I frowned as I trudged across the thick grass, stumbling over the uneven ground. It was called a dried-up riverbed, but the river had dried up hundreds of years ago. The channels it had carved were now overgrown with lush grass and shrubs. Damp grass and vines kept tangling around my boots, branches scraped at my pants, and leaves had already caught in my hair. The whole thing was absolutely miserable. Weren't we supposed to be in the north? Why was it so damp here? Come to think of it, that first site was strange too. "Salt Crystal Lake" sounded like a saltwater lake that deposited a huge amount of salt during certain seasons. In China, those lakes were mostly found in the desert regions of the northwest. What was a saltwater lake doing in a place like this?
Rustle, rustle, rustle, scrape.
"...!"
Had something strange just mixed in with the sound of our footsteps?
I glanced to either side, but the dense forest blocked my view. Still, I was sure something was following us!
I was about to alert the others when Si Nanlong suddenly patted me on the shoulder. He whispered, "Everyone's noticed. Don't do anything yet. We'll deal with it when we reach open ground up ahead!"
I swallowed my nerves and pretended nothing was wrong as I continued walking. We were almost out of the meadow when suddenly—
With a crash, a gust of wind shot out of the forest, bringing a foul, fishy stench! "Look out!" Lu Xiong roared from behind us. A dazzling bolt of lightning flashed and struck what looked like empty air. Something dropped to the ground, filling the air with a pungent, scorched smell. I took a closer look. It was a huge lizard, over two meters long, its skin the same green as the grass. Could it change color?
"It's a Hunter Lizard! Prepare to fight!"
The moment the words left his mouth, more than ten Hunter Lizards burst from the shrubs. Like chameleons, they could change color, making them difficult to spot in the forest with the naked eye alone. They didn't attack right away. Instead, they split into two groups and deftly avoided the freezing field. One group cut through the front half of our formation, the other through the back, instantly splitting our united line into three sections! Only then did I realize they meant to isolate us first, then pick us off in three groups!
Just lizards... and they're this smart!
A Hunter Lizard hissed and lunged at me. I swept my hand, sending out a blood-red crescent that sliced it clean in half. I couldn't see them clearly, but that didn't stop me from fighting! I gave up on aiming and flung the blood coating my hands outward. The droplets turned into a hail of buckshot the moment they left my palms, spraying in every direction. Now and then, a burst of blood erupted from empty air, and a Hunter Lizard would appear and crumple to the ground. Without shells to protect them, they couldn't withstand my blood bullets. Lin Bing hadn't moved from her spot once. The Hunter Lizards that lunged at her collided with her freezing field, turned into ice sculptures, and shattered into powder when they hit the ground. Si Nanlong, who had no combat ability, used his detection power to dodge every attack perfectly and reach Lin Bing's side, taking shelter inside the field.
The others were faring just as well. Rui Feng seemed to pinpoint the Hunter Lizards by battle instinct alone. He roared as he swung his gauntlets, their deep blue glow flashing back and forth, smashing one Hunter Lizard after another into bloody pulp. Rui Xin kept releasing strange sound waves that disrupted the Hunter Lizards' five senses, forcing them to drop their camouflage. They collapsed to the ground, twitching uncontrollably. Rui Xin seized the chance to strike them with wave after wave of sound. At the very least, their organs were displaced; at worst, their organs burst outright! Zhang Tian Luo controlled his own gravity, crushing the Hunter Lizards like a falling weight. Mo Xiao Hong was like a female version of Luffy, lashing out with elastic punches and sweeping kicks. Stone spikes erupted from the ground beneath Shi Tao's feet, piercing the Hunter Lizards, while Lu Xiong unleashed a storm of lightning. The dozens of Hunter Lizards that had attacked us were completely outmatched, slaughtered in the blink of an eye.
"Ha!" After smashing the last Hunter Lizard's skull, Rui Feng wiped the blood from himself and checked that everyone was safe. Seeing that no one was hurt, he let out a relieved breath.
"Good thing we only ran into Hunter Lizards this time. Take a short break, then we'll keep moving!"