Colorful prayer flags fluttered in the wind, reflecting a dull gray beneath the black sky. Baima held a whip as she drove the goats up the mountain, leaving a trail of dark hoofprints in the deep snow.
She suddenly began to sing. Her clear, resonant voice echoed through the mountains, struck the icy cliffs, and rebounded. Layer upon layer of echoes drifted through the air, as though countless people were singing along with her.
They sang, "Om Ah Hum, may the Savior bless all living beings; Om Ah Hum, may the God of Merit grant us grace; Om Ah Hum, may the God Among the Graves protect the dead..."
Lin Chen walked beside Baima. Lu Li and Xu Yao mingled among the goats, while Qi Si lagged behind the herd, leaning on his trekking pole as he trudged forward with difficulty.
The mountain wind was piercingly cold. A frigid gale laced with ice chips surged out of the gorge, slicing across their faces like blades and bringing a dense, stinging pain.
The blood-red cloaks were whipped backward by the wind, making strange rustling sounds as they dragged at the pace of both humans and animals.
Qi Si wore only a suit and trousers. The clothing exchanged from the game store had very little lining, and the cold had already seeped into his bones. Every step made him feel as if he could hear his joints grinding with a crackling sound.
For no reason, he thought of what he had seen in the inn mirror last night.
The figure in the mirror had seemed to be walking through a snow-covered mountain beneath wind and snow in much the same way. He did not know whether that had been Zhou Ke in another time and space, or his own future.
The group