An Opportunity

But when he hurried over and carefully looked around the snowman, he didn't see anyone. Hearing him call out, Fatty, Zi Gui, and the others also stopped and waited for him.

"Nothing..." Han Juanjuan muttered, puzzled, and patted his forehead. Had he seen it wrong?

He suppressed his doubts and was about to leave when the corner of his eye caught something nearby. He abruptly stopped turning, and an inexplicable chill crept up his back.

He hadn't seen anything out of place or frightening, but something felt wrong, as if something around him had changed.

He looked up at the snowmen around him and frowned. Slowly, his expression stiffened. He remembered! These snowmen hadn't been here before!

The snowmen along the way hadn't been packed very tightly. There'd always been enough room for them to pass between two of them, but the ones around him were nearly touching!

As if... as if they'd crept closer to surround him while he wasn't looking!

The instant the thought crossed his mind, his head buzzed. He no longer cared about the strange shadow. Han Juanjuan finally came to his senses. Why had he been foolish enough to waste time here? They had to get to the Saintess's Tomb!

And there was something else: something was definitely wrong here. Even if the Starving Ghost wasn't behind it, something else had mingled among the snowmen—something that would kill them!

Fortunately, Fatty, Zi Gui, and the others were still waiting. Otherwise, Han Juanjuan might have been scared to death. "I'm sorry," he said hurriedly. "I shouldn't have gone over there. Come on, let's get out of here."

No one blamed him. More precisely, no one answered him. They kept walking.

But the farther they went, the more uneasy Han Juanjuan felt. The cold sweat on his