Knowing the proprietress meant well, Yan Jiaojiao nodded her thanks and led everyone out of the eatery. She hitched the carriage and headed towards the mountain.
The official road extended into the mountain, suggesting it had once been a peaceful place.
However, as they neared the mountain, the previously clear sky indeed turned overcast, and a light drizzle began to fall. Further on, at the foot of the mountain, the drizzle had become a steady rain, shrouding the entire mountain in mist and rain.
This was highly unusual.
The group stopped at the foot of the mountain. Rong'er looked out from the carriage window, her face filled with worry, "Eldest Miss, it's suddenly so cold here."
Dongfang Xu, who had been reading recently, gazed at the mountain rain and exclaimed, "Sister, is this rain summoned by cultivation arts? It must consume a lot of spiritual energy!"
Yan Jiaojiao remained silent. The light rain was strange, falling only on this one mountain. Upon careful sensing, there were no fluctuations of spiritual energy. It truly seemed to be falling naturally from the sky, posing no threat at all.
The two guards also sensed the abnormality and fell into thought, gazing at the mountain rain.
Should they proceed or not?
Yan Jiaojiao stroked the small black dog in her embrace. It barked towards the mountain.
Yan Jiaojiao took a deep breath, "Let's go. Everyone be careful."
Seeing her command, one guard drove the carriage while the other circled to the rear for protection. The group continued their advance into the mountain.
The deeper they went, the colder it became, far exceeding normal mountain temperatures, as if they had entered midwinter.
"Eldest Miss, how far have we gone?" Rong'er, unable to bear the cold, held Dongfang Xu in her arms and tightened her cloak.
"Bear with it a little longer," Yan Jiaojiao said. She flipped her palm, using her spiritual energy to ignite the small stove in the carriage. It contained some charcoal, which, if all went well, might last until they descended the mountain.
With the stove fire inside the carriage, the temperature gradually rose slightly, and Rong'er's complexion improved somewhat. However, Yan Jiaojiao's brow remained tightly furrowed.
As they traveled, she truly couldn't detect any fluctuations of cultivation arts or demonic spells, yet the increasingly disquieting rain made her heart uneasy. It was no wonder the plants here grew so luxuriantly.
"Hiss..."
The sound of a mountain stream flowed from not far away. However, the stream sounded rather large, more like a small river.
Water on the official road had begun to spread, showing a clear tendency to increase.
"Has the water risen ahead?" the guard driving the carriage wondered. Given the continuous rain, it wasn't impossible.
"I'll go take a look," the guard behind said. "You all wait here for a moment."
If the water had risen, the carriage naturally couldn't pass. The guard could only choose to go ahead and investigate alone first.
Yan Jiaojiao nodded. The guard quickly ran ahead, his figure disappearing around a bend.
Without the sound of the carriage moving forward, the mountain became even quieter, with only the gentle patter of rain on the leaves, a silence that unnerved the heart.
Yan Jiaojiao closed her eyes and expanded her senses. The subtle sounds of the mountain flooded her ears, and she could even hear the guard wading through water.
Suddenly, the guard uttered a soft "Yì," and the next moment, he was gone.
Yan Jiaojiao opened her eyes. The small black dog in her embrace also stood up.
"Miss," the guard driving the carriage also noticed the anomaly and warned vigilantly, "This doesn't seem good."
The presence of the guard could no longer be felt in the mountain.
He was a servant of the Sheng family, and Yan Jiaojiao couldn't ignore him. She put down the small black dog in her embrace and said, "I'll go take a look. Xiao Hei, you can't run off this time."
However, the small black dog leaped back into her arms.
"Do you want to go with me?" Yan Jiaojiao showed a rare smile. "Little fellow, you're quite concerned about me, aren't you?"
The small black dog wished it could roll its eyes.
Dongfang Cangwu had already experienced the speed at which this woman caused trouble. Their lives were intertwined, and he wouldn't let this woman go alone.
Seeing the small black dog's insistence on going, Yan Jiaojiao instructed the guard driving the carriage to look after the two inside, then embraced Xiao Hei and walked in the direction the previous guard had gone.
Indeed, the water grew deeper as they went forward. Yan Jiaojiao conjured a small spiritual barrier to separate the flowing water from herself; otherwise, the water would have already reached her knees.
Turning the corner, what greeted her eyes was a rapidly flowing stream. Judging by the half-submerged trees on both sides, this had been at most a small stream not long ago.
Most strangely, the stream twisted with an unnatural curvature, as if it were not a river but a colossal, writhing water snake!
"What's going on?"
Yan Jiaojiao couldn't help but question. Shifting her gaze slightly, she spotted the guard from earlier.
However, the guard was now covered in a thick layer of ice, frozen solid in the river!
No wonder he had instantly vanished without a sound, and no scent of blood had drifted over. He had been rapidly frozen.
Yan Jiaojiao attempted to approach and investigate, but in the next second, she felt an extremely cold current rush directly towards her face. The speed was so great that Yan Jiaojiao couldn't evade it.
Just as she thought she would also freeze into an ice sculpture, the small black dog in her embrace moved. It merely raised a front paw, and the extremely cold current was batted aside, landing on the water several meters away. With a "sizzle," a large patch of ice formed there!
The water continued to flow, but it couldn't melt a single piece of the ice, as if it were a hard stone exuding cold.
Yan Jiaojiao felt lingering fear and patted the small black dog's head. If not for him, she would have truly become a second ice sculpture.
No, Yan Jiaojiao's thoughts stirred, and she turned to look closely, only then noticing that there were about a dozen ice sculptures scattered around the river!
So, those people who had disappeared in the mountains had all been frozen here!
They were in various poses, but their faces all bore the same expression of astonished shock. It was almost certain that the moment they entered the river's vicinity, they were instantly frozen.
The rain in the forest seemed to have intensified, and the river stirred up a chilling wind. Yan Jiaojiao, looking at their eerie postures, couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine.
However, before Yan Jiaojiao could recover, another cold current rapidly attacked. This time, Yan Jiaojiao was prepared. She turned and leaped onto a nearby tree branch. The spot where she had stood moments before had turned into ice.
"Where is it?"
Yan Jiaojiao was alarmed. Dodging the ice sword's attack was a minor matter. The problem was that she couldn't locate where the ice sword was appearing from, as if these ice swords were falling from the sky!
Xiao Hei also raised its two small ears vigilantly, listening quietly to the surrounding movements.
The river grew more agitated, as if angered that it had failed to freeze Yan Jiaojiao twice. Surging spray repeatedly lashed at the tree trunk where Yan Jiaojiao was perched!