On the right side where Qi Yun and the others were located, stood the highest peak of the entire Qinling Mountain range, where a stone tablet inscribed with three large characters stood high—Baxian Platform.

According to records from the "Geography Records" of the Tang Dynasty, this place is far from simple.

It is said that over a thousand years ago, after Jiang Ziya, a founding hero of the Western Zhou, completed the great feat of overthrowing Zhou, he set up an altar here to enshrine the fallen soldiers and various deities, hence the name Baxian Platform. This peak thus gained a sacred status in deciding the celestial ranks of the divine realm.

The Baxian Platform once had Fengshentai, Leishendian, Baxian Temple, and many other temples, but as time passed, these buildings disappeared into the long river of history.

"Master Qin, does this place really have the dragon energy you speak of?" Qi Yun gazed at the rolling ridge, feeling a sense of grandeur rising in his heart.

Qin Sizhi took a deep breath, his expression solemn: "Director Qi, Feng Shui is a mysterious thing."

"Look at the mountain's formation, like a giant dragon coiled, its head and tail echoing each other, the undulations possessing a unique rhythm; especially the Baxian Platform, it resembles the dragon's head lifted high, exhaling clouds and mist."

"According to ancient books, places like this are where spiritual energy converges, and for generations, emperors and generals have chosen to bury their tombs nearby not by coincidence."

Though this made some sense, it still felt illusory and lacked concrete evidence.

Qi Yun shook his head, no longer dwelling on it: "Let's go, keep moving."

The team left the area of Baxian Platform and moved northwest.

This place didn't even belong to the Aotai Line, with no trace of human presence, only rugged strange stones and almost impassable primitive thickets underfoot.

Jin Bao, Qin Sizhi's apprentice, walked at the front, wielding a machete, constantly hacking to barely create a path.

The air at the mountaintop was very thin, and as the sun gradually set, the temperature became increasingly cold. The wind lashed like a knife against their faces, each step accompanied by heavy breaths.

The team trudged arduously for nearly half an hour when a deep chasm suddenly appeared ahead, its bottom unseen, looking utterly striking, as if cleaved by a giant axe, obstructing their path.

Across the chasm was a steeper mountain body.

"Let's camp here for tonight."

Qin Sizhi looked at a relatively sheltered slope by the chasm's edge and said, "This spot was told to me by a herbalist, it can barely block the wind, we'll make do for the night and detour below at dawn."

Qi Yun had no objections, he looked around and nodded: "Alright, here then."

Everyone swiftly got into action, selecting a spot and clearing a place.

Then they set up anti-cold tents, lit a portable gas stove, boiled some hot water, and had a makeshift dinner with compressed dry food and cans.

Cold crept in every crevice; even huddled in tents and wrapped in sleeping bags, one could feel the piercing chill.

Deep in the night, except for An Zai and Eagle who were on watch, everyone else fell into a deep sleep.

Mountain winds howled over the chasm like haunting wails, while snowflakes drifted, adding a somber ambiance.

Suddenly, a faint rustling sound came from the darkness, as if something was moving on the snow.

Eagle instantly became alert, turned off the flashlight, gesturing An Zai to be vigilant, both of them listening intently.

The sound was intermittent and faint, but it was there, seemingly approaching their location.

"Something's coming up," Eagle whispered, his gun muzzle quietly pointing towards the sound.

An Zai also picked up the rifle beside him, his expression serious.

The two exchanged a glance, then quietly adjusted their posture, back-to-back, with muzzles covering different directions, maximizing the defense of the camp's perimeter.

Just when they were all set, the rustling sound suddenly eerily vanished, as if it had never been there.

Only the sound of the howling wind and snow remained.

An Zai and Eagle dared not relax, maintaining their vigilant stance, listening carefully.

After a good five or six minutes, there was nothing but the sound of wind around them, no other unusual sounds.

"Did it leave?" An Zai whispered suspiciously.

"I don't know." Eagle shook his head, his brows furrowed.

The sound earlier was definitely not a hallucination; something was indeed approaching, and it seemed patient, adept at hiding its tracks.

"Should we wake the boss and the others?"

Eagle hesitated.

They had expended much energy climbing the mountain during the day, and everyone needed rest.

Besides, the sound had disappeared now; waking everyone might be just a false alarm and would affect their state for tomorrow.

"I'll go check, you stay on guard." Eagle made a decision.

He then picked up his gun, turned on the flashlight, and cautiously moved toward where the sound had come from.

His steps were light, eyes and muzzle following the beam of light.

After walking about thirty meters, near a pile of rocks by the chasm's edge where the snow was thicker, when the flashlight carefully swept across the snow, his pupils suddenly constricted.

Those were footprints, very clear footprints, deeply imprinted in the snow.

Not human, nor did they look like the commonly seen animal hoofprints.

The footprints were large, roughly the size of an adult man's palm, with five toes in the front, four in the back, sharp claw marks at the front, and a rounded heel, overall resembling a bear paw.

But they were longer and narrower than ordinary bear paws, with wider spacing between the toes, and there seemed to be a circular indentation in the center like a paw pad.

Judging by the depth of the footprints and the freshness of the edges, the thing that left them wasn't light, and it didn't pass too long ago, probably just now!