"She had some work to handle and will return in a few days," Yang Qingxi replied softly. "Next time, she’ll stay longer."

"As for our conversation..." She hesitated briefly before continuing. "I told her about destiny, protagonists, and my system."

"Oh."

Su Mo looked surprisingly calm.

"It seems making excuses earlier was pointless then."

Yang Qingxi’s lips curled slightly.

"She didn’t believe a single word of your nonsense."

"Really?" Su Mo sounded unconvinced. "I felt like I fooled her pretty easily."

"You underestimate my mother."

Yang Qingxi’s tone carried a faint hint of amusement.

"From our conversation alone, she already guessed you were some kind of protagonist."

"It doesn’t matter."

Su Mo sounded completely unconcerned.

[Even if she knows some of my secrets, it’s fine.]

[By the next time we meet, who knows how many new abilities or items I’ll have anyway.]

He had complete confidence in himself. If his guess were true, then after dealing with every protagonist, the next Check-In would show a massive boost in the quality of the rewards.

Yang Qingxi smiled faintly.

"As for my mother’s background..."

Her expression became slightly complicated.

"It seems terrifying."

Su Mo immediately became interested. "Tell me more."

"We’ll discuss it later."

Su Mo grunted helplessly.

"...Alright."

Then his gaze gradually shifted toward the distant snowy mountains ahead.

The Frostspine Mountains loomed closer and closer like an ancient frozen world waiting silently for their arrival.

Su Mo narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Anyway..."

"Our priority right now is finding Ye Chen. Other things can wait."

---

It didn’t take long for Consort to reach the end of the grasslands.

The vibrant green meadow gradually disappeared behind them, replaced by an ancient forest standing silently at the foot of the Frostspine Mountains. Tall dark trees stretched endlessly ahead, their branches intertwined densely enough to block much of the sunlight above.

Cold mist drifted quietly between the trees.

The atmosphere instantly changed.

If the grasslands earlier felt lively and open, this place felt eerily silent.

"Neighhh!"

Consort stopped at the forest entrance and stomped his hoof uneasily against the ground. The horse looked toward the forest, then toward Su Mo and Yang Qingxi.

Its eyes visibly carried reluctance.

After waiting several seconds and realising the two humans had absolutely no intention of returning with it, Consort finally snorted unhappily before turning around and running back toward the distant grasslands without hesitation.

The speed at which it escaped was astonishing.

Su Mo stared at the disappearing horse and couldn’t help speaking.

"That old ranch owner trained his horses really well."

Yang Qingxi glanced in the direction Consort fled toward before quietly saying, "Or perhaps they simply know this place is dangerous."

The wind blew softly through the forest. The leaves rustled faintly overhead.

For some reason, the sound felt unusually cold.

"Let’s go."

Thus, the hike officially began.

At first, Su Mo felt rather excited.

After all, mysterious snowy mountains, hidden sects, unknown dangers, and possible monsters—this was practically a classic adventure setting.

Unfortunately...

Reality quickly disappointed him.

An hour passed.

Then another.

Aside from trees, rocks, snow patches, and endless mountain paths, they encountered absolutely nothing unusual.

No monsters or ferocious beasts.

Not even a rabbit.

The earlier excitement inside Su Mo gradually faded.

"This Frostspine Mountain doesn’t feel special at all." Su Mo yawned while lazily walking beside Yang Qingxi. "Why was that old ranch owner making such a huge fuss?"

Yang Qingxi continued checking the small map in her hands while calmly leading the way.

"I’ve been using my spiritual sense this entire time," Su Mo continued. "There’s nothing strange nearby."

Yang Qingxi suddenly glanced at him.

"Su Mo."

"Hm?"

"You seem to have ignored something."

Su Mo blinked slightly.

"What?"

Yang Qingxi slowly looked around the forest.

"Don’t you think it’s strange?"

"What is?"

"We haven’t encountered a single animal this entire time."

Su Mo’s footsteps halted abruptly.

The surrounding forest instantly felt quieter.

Right... It was abnormally quiet.

No birds or animals. There was no movement.

Even the wind itself seemed strangely absent now.

Su Mo’s relaxed expression slowly disappeared.

"...You’re right."

A normal forest inside a mountain range should’ve been full of life.

Yet from the moment they entered until now, they hadn’t seen even the shadow of a living creature.

Without hesitation, Su Mo activated his Devil’s Eyes.

His pupils immediately changed.

The world before him shifted.

Dark grey streams of energy quietly drifted throughout the forest like invisible mist.

The deeper he looked into the mountains... the denser it became.

Su Mo’s expression gradually became serious.

"T-this..."

Yang Qingxi noticed his reaction immediately.

"What’s wrong?"

"A huge amount of Yin energy has gathered in these mountains."

The playful atmosphere from earlier disappeared completely.

Yang Qingxi’s brows furrowed slightly.

"Why do I suddenly have the feeling this trip to the White Moon Sect is going to become troublesome?"

Su Mo quickly regained composure and shrugged.

"Don’t think too much, Miss Yang. Our purpose here is to find Ye Chen."

"As for whatever strange things are happening in these mountains..." He stretched lazily. "We can decide later whether to get involved, depending on the danger."

"That’s true."

Yang Qingxi nodded lightly.

However, inwardly, she felt completely unconvinced.

After all...

Su Mo’s definition of ’not getting involved’ had always been extremely unreliable.

This was the same man who somehow ended up entangled in trouble literally everywhere he went.

Good thing, he always had the strength to solve the troubles.

Then Su Mo suddenly added excitedly,

"Also, if we find the source of this Yin Energy, it could nourish my Ghost Apple Plant."

His eyes lit up.

"If our luck is good, it might even bear fruit."

Yang Qingxi looked speechless at his excited expression.

Earlier, he was bored. Now he suddenly looked energised again.

"Miss Yang," Su Mo asked curiously, "how far are we from the meeting point?"

Yang Qingxi checked the map again. "Roughly eight mountains away."

"Then let’s fly."

Eight mountains meant almost nothing to them.

Unfortunately, Yang Qingxi shook her head immediately.