"No. The terrain here is too confusing."

She pointed towards the map.

"The route between these mountains constantly twists around cliffs, valleys, and hidden paths. We aren’t familiar with this place. If we lose direction midair, we might end up completely lost."

"That sounds troublesome."

Su Mo sighed helplessly.

Right then, his spiritual sense suddenly caught onto something nearby.

"Hm?"

Without warning, Su Mo changed direction and walked deeper into the trees toward the left.

Yang Qingxi followed behind him cautiously.

A few moments later, both stopped.

On the ground before them lay a large skeleton.

The remains of a horse.

Its flesh had long decayed away, leaving behind only pale bones scattered beneath the cold trees.

The atmosphere instantly became eerie.

Yang Qingxi stared at the skeleton thoughtfully.

"Is this King?"

"The horse the ranch owner mentioned?"

Su Mo crouched beside the corpse.

"Let’s check."

A dark spiritual fluctuation spread from his fingers as he activated the Corpse Puppet Ability.

With this ability, he started reading lingering fragments of memory from the skeleton.

Soon, Su Mo’s eyes lost focus briefly.

The surroundings blurred.

It was nighttime.

Heavy breathing.

The horse was running desperately through the forest.

Then, something appeared in the darkness between the trees.

A twisted black figure. Its limbs bent unnaturally.

Su Mo’s pupils contracted violently. The memory abruptly shattered.

"What the hell was that?!"

Yang Qingxi immediately asked, "What did you see?"

Su Mo slowly exhaled while his brows furrowed deeply.

"It really is King."

"But its death was... rather strange."

"Wasn’t it killed by some beast?" She asked.

Su Mo shook his head slowly. "No."

His voice became heavier.

"Whatever killed it...was something very strange."

He looked toward the dense forest ahead.

"It died at night after seeing some kind of black, disfigured creature."

Yang Qingxi’s expression changed slightly.

"Do these mountains actually have monsters?"

"We should be careful."

Although Su Mo spoke seriously, inwardly...

He felt slightly excited.

After all, unknown monsters sounded far more interesting than simple hiking.

Then his eyes suddenly landed on the horse skeleton again.

A grin appeared on his face. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Anyway..."

"It seems we found our transportation for the next part of the journey."

Yang Qingxi blinked.

"...What?"

Blue spiritual threads spread from Su Mo’s hand once more. Which turned dark soon.

He used Corpse Puppet ability again.

This time, however, he wasn’t reading memories.

[Oh, my demonic mount of hell... rise.]

[I, the Undead Lord, command thee.]

[Wake up and spread fear upon this mortal world.]

The scattered bones trembled violently beneath the dark forest.

Creak... crack...

The ribs reconnected, spine straightened, and the skull slowly lifted from the ground as eerie Yin Energy gathered around the remains like strands of black mist.

Then, the skeletal horse stood up.

Its hollow eye sockets flickered faintly with pale grey light while its jaw opened and closed with clattering sounds.

Clack-clack-clackkk!

The sound vaguely resembled neighing.

Su Mo stared at the puppet silently.

The more he looked at the skeletal horse, the more dissatisfied he became.

Something was missing.

A very important detail.

Su Mo narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

[If blue or purple flames burned around it like manes, wouldn’t it instantly become ten times cooler?]

[Maybe I should use Fireball Technique later?]

[Hmm... perhaps add smoke too.]

Yang Qingxi suddenly looked back at him sharply. "What are you thinking now, Su Mo?"

Under her suspicious gaze, Su Mo immediately coughed seriously.

"Nothing. Let’s continue."

Yang Qingxi looked unconvinced.

Unfortunately, she had already learned that trying to understand Su Mo’s strange mental world was an exhausting task. ’Using fireball technique as mane? Did he want to burn himself, too? I’d better keep an eye on him.’

Soon, the two mounted the skeletal horse.

Just like before, Yang Qingxi sat in front while Su Mo sat behind her.

Naturally... His hands returned to her waist familiarly.

Yang Qingxi’s body stiffened slightly for a brief moment before relaxing again.

At this point, talking about it repeatedly only made her feel more embarrassed. Thus, she chose silence.

The skeletal horse moved surprisingly smoothly through the mountains. Unlike living horses, it felt neither exhaustion nor fear. Its bone hooves stepped across rocky paths with hollow clicking sounds that echoed faintly through the forest.

The deeper they travelled into the Frostspine Mountains, the colder the atmosphere became.

The wind gradually turned piercing.

White mist drifted silently between the trees.

Even the sunlight above became increasingly dim beneath the dense forest canopy.

More importantly, the Yin Energy in the surroundings was becoming thicker.

Su Mo’s earlier playful mood gradually faded.

His spiritual sense remained spread around them carefully.

Then suddenly, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"...Something’s there."

Yang Qingxi also noticed it a few moments later.

Although her spiritual sense was weaker than Su Mo’s, she could still vaguely detect an unusual presence ahead.

It didn’t feel human.

Nor did it feel like a beast.

Rather... It felt cold.

Like stagnant death hidden within darkness.

"Is it that monster?" Yang Qingxi asked quietly.

"Hm." Su Mo nodded slowly.

"Let’s take a look."

A faint grin appeared on his face despite the eerie atmosphere.

"I’m curious what these so-called monsters actually are."

The skeletal horse immediately changed direction according to Su Mo’s command.

Soon, they entered an area surrounded by enormous ancient trees. Their trunks were so thick that even several people together couldn’t fully wrap around them.

The surroundings became unnaturally quiet. Not even wind could be heard anymore.

Nothing abnormal was visible.

Yet their spiritual senses clearly told them that something was hiding behind one of the massive trees nearby.

Watching them and waiting.

Su Mo’s expression gradually became serious.

[It’s hiding intentionally.]

[This thing is trying to ambush us.]

[That means it possesses intelligence.]

This realisation immediately made the danger level rise in his mind.

Unknown enemies were always troublesome.

Especially the intelligent ones.

Su Mo didn’t intend to recklessly walk into close range before understanding the monster’s strength.

Thus, he quietly explained his plan to Yang Qingxi through spiritual transmission.

After hearing it, Yang Qingxi nodded slightly.