"Squeak, squeak..."
The Mountain Guardian opened a concealed door in the ice wall.
The door was hidden behind a jutting slab of ice, its edges polished smooth as a mirror by wind and snow. Beyond it lay a narrow passage, with tiny ice crystals embedded in the stone walls on either side, glimmering faintly blue in the gloom. At the end of the passage was a stone chamber, small but with smooth walls and a dry floor. A few flat animal hides were piled in a corner, beside a clay jar sealed with mud.
Night descended more heavily on Arctic Snow Mountain than anywhere else on the Tianyuan Continent.
Daylight had not vanished completely. It had merely turned a dim indigo, as though an exceedingly thin veil of night lay over the ice.
The wind passed between the ridges with a low, sobbing moan, whipping Lin Shisan's and the others' robes into a flurry.
"My place is rather crude. Make do for the night."
After saying this, the Mountain Guardian turned and returned to the ice wall, like a stone statue set back in place.
"You're too kind, Senior."
Lin Shisan spoke respectfully.
It was not because the Mountain Guardian's cultivation was particularly high. He was truly won over by her dedication, guarding this mountain and the heavenly fire year after year without change.
Finding a spot at random in the stone chamber, Lin Shisan sat down and placed the Little Black Cauldron on his knees.
The patterns on the cauldron had returned to their original state and no longer glowed. Beneath his fingertips, they felt only slightly cool.
Its resonance with the golden halo at the summit had been interrupted, but that door had indeed been knocked upon. He could feel it.
Gai Jiuyou leaned against the opposite stone