Mangqiu Mountain stretched on and on, like a long black dragon flying toward the horizon. Mountain overlapped mountain, peak rose upon peak, like surging ocean swells and towering waves battering the sky. A thousand mountains stood here in a thousand different forms, some perilous and majestic, others graceful and strangely steep.
As they approached the mountains, the sunlight was blocked out, and the temperature seemed to plunge in an instant. Peaks faced each other across the valley, casting shadows over the dim mountain path. A cold, sinister breath swept toward them from the hazy, gray depths. The path grew narrower as they went. Looking up, they saw enormous rocks and sheer cliffs towering on both sides, leaving only a narrow strip of sky visible. The blazing sun had vanished without their noticing, and black clouds rolled overhead like waves, making the deep valley seem even more treacherous.
As the road became increasingly difficult, Hu Xiaotian and Huo Shengnan both dismounted and continued on foot, with Little Black and Little Gray following nose to tail.
Hu Xiaotian took out the Jade Pixiu and saw countless speckled wisps of cloud forming inside it again. He said to Huo Shengnan, "Looks like it's going to rain. Should we find somewhere to shelter first?"
Huo Shengnan looked around, but there was nowhere nearby to take shelter. She said softly, "That's how it is in the mountains. Even the rain comes in bursts. We're wet already anyway, so sheltering won't make much difference. Let's reach somewhere level first."
Hu Xiaotian nodded, and they continued onward. After a little over half a kilometer, rain poured down from the sky in buckets. They led their horses beneath a rock outcrop. Although it was large enough to shelter both people and both horses, the mountain wind drove the