After leaving Mountain-Venerating Village, the three of them did not return to the academy, but instead headed north.
Bai Yu remembered clearly what the Mountain God said to her that night, "The aura of the northern mountains has been rather strange lately. There is a relic I left there that has been disturbed by external forces. Go and deal with this matter; this is your First Trial."
Bai Rong also heard his part: accompany her and protect her. So the three of them didn't rush south, but turned north first.
They walked north from the village for a day and a night, and the mountain became increasingly steep. Bai Rong walked in front, familiarizing himself with the route. Although he had never left the village, the villagers occasionally went north to gather herbs and hunt, so he knew the route well from childhood.
Bai Yu followed behind him, and even through the sleeve, she could feel the slight warmth of the complete golden pattern on her left arm, as if it were responding to something.
Shi Yan walked at the back, without activating his Void Resonance Bell Martial Soul, but his eyes were always on the road, the mountains on both sides, and whether there were any changes in the aura ahead.
The following evening, Bai Rong stopped in front of a mountain hollow. The entrance to the hollow was a darker color than the surrounding cliffs, as if someone had covered the rock face with a dark gray cloth; something just didn't look right.
"This is it," Bai Yu said. She could feel the golden thread on her left arm getting slightly warm, and the closer she got to the darker area, the more pronounced the heat became.
Bai Rong paused at the entrance for a moment, the mountain-like markings on his arms undulating slightly. "There's something inside, something that's not natural," he said, his voice lower than usual.
The three of them went around to the side and found a crack through which they could look inside. The space inside was much larger than it appeared from the outside, like a cave enclosed by a mountain.
There was a very faint light deep within the crack, not sunlight, but a whitish, cold light, as if it were seeping from the stone wall itself.
Bai Yu squinted for a moment and said, "Someone went in."
Shi Yan didn't speak, but he saw traces of broken stones on the ground. They weren't formed by natural weathering; they had been smashed open by someone. There were pry marks on the edges of the cracks. Someone had been here not long ago, at most a few days ago.
He crouched down. There were several clear footprints in the soil at the entrance of the crack, the edges not yet rounded by the wind and sand, and the marks still carried a dampness. There was a fresh mark on the stone wall next to him, as if scraped by metal, with the scraped stone dust still hanging on the side.
"Yes, someone did come, and for no more than three or four days," he said.
The three exchanged a glance and said nothing more. Bai Yu squeezed into the crevice, Shi Yan followed behind her, and Bai Rong brought up the rear.
The crevice was only wide enough for one person to pass sideways. After walking about twenty steps, it suddenly opened up, revealing a natural stone chamber.
The stone chamber was not large. In the center was a half-collapsed stone platform with a palm-sized stone tablet on it. The tablet was lighter in color than the surrounding rocks and had fine patterns carved on its surface, like some kind of seal or mark.
The stone tablet had clearly been moved—it sat askew on the stone platform, as if someone had picked it up, looked at it, and then put it back.
Several pebbles were scattered beside the stone platform, and there were footprints of varying sizes on the ground, proving that more than one person had been here.
Bai Yu walked to the stone platform, but before she could take a closer look, the golden thread on her left arm suddenly became hot, as if something had been activated from the stone tablet.
She looked down and saw that the patterns on the stone tablet were glowing slightly, as if responding to the Mountain God Mark on her arm.
Bai Rong also felt it; the mountain-shaped markings on his arm twitched, synchronized, as if two branches of the same river simultaneously sensed the rising water level.
Bai Rong squatted down and examined the marks around the stone platform for a while. "They pried open the stone platform, took the stone tablet, and then put it back."
Shi Yan glanced at the footprints on the ground and the crooked stone tablet. "They gave up."
Bai Yu was taken aback. "Give up? How did you know?"
Shi Yan didn't answer immediately. He picked up a piece of broken glass from the ground and handed it to her. "Feel it."
Bai Yu took it and examined it—the fragment was grayish in color, with a rough surface, and no patterns or luster.
"This fell off the stone base," Shi Yan said. "The stone tablet still had a spiritual quality when it was placed on the stone base, but the part that fell off has become just an ordinary Shitou."
After those people picked it up, they discovered that the stone tablet would lose its spiritual power once it left the stone platform, so taking it away was useless and they gave up.
Bai Yu held the shards in her hand without saying a word.
"And I have another guess..." Shi Yan reached out and touched the stone tablet, but there was no reaction, so he withdrew his hand. "You try it."
Bai Yu reached out her hand, her fingertips touching the surface of the stone tablet—the patterns suddenly lit up, spreading outwards from the center, carrying a warm aura. She withdrew her hand, and the stone tablet's light dimmed again.
Shi Yan didn't say anything more; the outcome was already obvious.
Bai Yu stared at the stone tablet in silence for a while, then took out a piece of cloth, carefully wrapped the edge of the tablet, and gently lifted it up.
The stone tablet was lighter than she had imagined, only the size of her palm. The patterns on its surface shone quietly in her hand, like a small lamp that had just been lit.
"This can't stay here," Bai Yu said. "We have to take it back to the village and let the priest see it."
Bai Rong nodded. "Since those people have come once, they might come back."
"We need to hurry," Shi Yan said. "We're in the light, they're in the shadows."
Bai Yu quickly wrapped the stone tablet and put it in her bosom. The moment she looked up, the cold light in the stone chamber slowly dimmed, leaving only the color of the stone walls.
She glanced down at the half-collapsed stone platform again, making sure there was nothing else left, then turned and walked towards the crack. "Let's go."
The three of them retreated back to the entrance of the mountain pass. It was already pitch black outside, and there was no moonlight in the mountains; only the sound of the wind whistling through the treetops could be heard.
Bai Yu sat down on Shitou outside the entrance, took the stone tablet out of his pocket, and looked at it again.
In the darkness, the patterns weren't as bright as during the day, but they were indeed glowing, very faintly, as if something was moving inside.
Bai Rong stood a few steps away, the mountain-shaped patterns on her arm glowing faintly, as if they were on the same frequency as the stone tablet.
Shi Yan squatted down a short distance away to re-tie his shoelaces, then stood up. "They went north, should we follow?"
Bai Yu thought for a moment and said, "No, that's better. The most important thing now is to take the stone tablet back. We can't let outsiders take what the Mountain God left behind and use it for other purposes."
Shi Yan didn't say anything more, just dusted off his hands. The three of them walked back the way they came, this time walking faster than they had come.
The stone tablet rested quietly against Bai Yu's chest, its touch slightly warm, like a living Shitou.
It was already the next morning when we returned to the Mountain-Venerating Village. The sky was just beginning to brighten, and the mountain mist had not yet completely dissipated.
Bai Yu stood outside the fog barrier without rushing in. She took the stone tablet out of her bosom and examined it. It was still warm in the morning light, and the patterns were clearly visible.
"Once we get back, we'll ask the priest," she said. "Soon... we'll know what this stone tablet is for."