The Rift

"The wind's picking up." Zi Gui held out a hand, her lovely brows knitting slightly.

Staring up at the sky, Shang Mo seemed to freeze. A moment later, he turned around and said tensely, "Quick, everyone, hurry and set up the tents. The weather's turning. There might be a blizzard."

"Set up tents here?" Bai Xi, who had experience climbing snow-covered mountains, looked at Shang Mo in confusion. In his experience, this place was completely unsuitable for pitching tents.

There was no shelter here. If the blizzard was strong enough and lasted long enough, it would swallow the whole group. By then, even if they wanted to escape, they wouldn't be able to.

"Then what do you suggest?" Shang Mo asked. With a blizzard on the way, everyone was tense, and his tone had grown rather sharp.

Bai Xi quickly surveyed the area, then pointed to a snowdrift not far away. "We'll make camp over there. If we hurry, we should be able to put up the tents before the blizzard hits."

There was no time to waste. Everyone quickly changed course and headed toward the snowdrift.

But moving through the mountains was far slower than walking on flat ground. The blizzard was already beginning to show its teeth, and the biting wind whipped great flakes of snow against their faces like little knives, making it impossible to keep their eyes open.

Visibility worsened by the minute, and the sky had already darkened halfway. Bai Xi rushed to the front to lead the way, while Jiang Cheng and the others took responsibility for looking after everyone else. Shang Mo in particular was hunched over, buffeted by the wind and stumbling from side to side. Jiang Cheng was deeply worried that he might topple over and never get back up.

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