The Southern Borderlands was the collective name for the Southern Wastes and the Miao Borderlands. Both regions abounded in mountains and dense forests, with mountain vapors and miasma everywhere, so even on clear nights, the stars and moon visible to the naked eye were nowhere near as dazzling and breathtaking as those above the open deserts of the Western Regions.
Still, the south had its own beautiful scenery, and the Southern Borderlands at night could be called lively indeed.
The rustle of wind stirring waves of bamboo; the soft swish of piled snow falling from branches; the gurgle of streams carrying fragments of ice;
The roar of waterfalls plunging into lakes; the hooting of night owls; the scurrying rustle of squirrels foraging; the clatter of hooves as woodland creatures fled in alarm at something unknown.
Beneath the hazy stars and moon, these sounds seemed all the more mysterious, all the more full of life on a winter night. This scenery was utterly unlike that of the north.
Meanwhile, beyond these natural sights and sounds, the clash of weapons and cries of battle had never ceased since winter began. Yuyang, Three Xiang, the Miao Borderlands, and Dianwen had joined forces to attack the Southern Wastes, and the smoke of war rose everywhere. Amid it all, two places stood out in particular.
One was Rotten Peach Mountain in the northeastern Southern Wastes. As the Green-Robed Ancestor's lair, its demonic aura could truly be said to pierce the heavens. Moreover, spurred on by the Green-Robed Ancestor to resist the attacks of the righteous cultivators from the Miao Borderlands and Three Xiang, Rotten Peach Mountain resembled an active volcano. The Baleful Intent Cavern beneath it was exceptionally active, spewing vast clouds of highly poisonous, purplish-red baleful miasma that drifted northeast and southeast.
Besides this,