Time trickled by. In summer, sunlight shone down, gentle breezes constantly swept through the surrounding mountains, and birdsong rang without end.
In autumn, the lush greenery around them gradually turned withered and yellow. Fallen leaves yellowed, and grass and trees dried up.
In winter, heavy snow fell, and the entire mountain range seemed to have been draped in a layer of silver-white armor.
The rivers running through the mountains had frozen over as well.
Yet Ye Lin remained seated cross-legged where he was.
Though the wind and snow were fierce, they melted away the instant they came within three zhang of Ye Lin.
Green grass still grew on the ground within three zhang of Ye Lin, brimming with vitality.
It formed a scene utterly separate from the wind and snow outside.
Just then, amid the wind and snow behind Ye Lin, a man and a woman clad in animal hides trudged step by step toward him through the storm.
The icy wind and snow tore at their skin like sharp blades. Their exposed flesh was covered in dense wounds, though their blood had long since frozen.
"Im... immortal?"
The middle-aged man's face filled with shock when he saw Ye Lin sitting cross-legged in the distance. Then, upon seeing the green grass within three zhang around Ye Lin, he grew even more agitated.
"We... we've encountered an immortal."
The two immediately dropped to their knees behind Ye Lin and kowtowed again and again.
"Immortal, my wife is about to give birth. My wife and I came into these mountains in search of the legendary divine physician, but we were caught in this snowstorm."
"We failed to find the divine physician, and we are both exhausted. To encounter an immortal now is truly our blessing."
"I beg the immortal to shelter my