Daoist Chu crouched and picked up a handful of snow, letting it melt in his palm. "Pure elemental ice qi," he said after a moment. "There’s no natural source of this nearby. It was created."

Lin Mu extended his hand, feeling the faint pulse of energy in the air. The frost qi was concentrated in specific patterns, not random as natural weather would produce. Someone had shaped it deliberately, and recently too.

"This place was not always like this," Monk Hushu said quietly. "The reports from just a month ago described it as a wet ravine, rich in medicinal herbs and forest game."

Daoist Chu’s eyes narrowed as he peered into the distance. "Look there."

Across the ravine, faint shapes could be seen through the falling snow. Dozens of blackened structures—burnt carriages, broken merchant wagons, and collapsed tents—lay scattered along the frozen banks. The aftermath of the bandit attack was clear.

"The bandits were not simple thieves," Lin Mu said grimly. "They had to possess powerful techniques to alter the land like this. Though they might not even be behind it... This was probably due to the help of others."

Meng Bai’s gaze hardened. "Then we will uncover who they really are."

Lin Mu nodded once. "We start our search here. Spread out your senses, but stay alert. There may be more here than meets the eye."

Little Shrubby growled lowly, his fur standing on end as lightning qi sparked faintly around him. The twin snakes hissed in unison, sensing danger ahead.

The forest behind them was still, but the ravine before them was alive with quiet menace. The snow fell thicker now, and the air grew colder still. Somewhere deep within the frozen expanse, something stirred.

They were in the territory of the Darkhan Dynasty now, but what waited within the eastern ravines might not belong to any empire at all.

The cold wind howled softly through the eastern ravines, carrying flakes of snow that danced like drifting feathers. Lin Mu and his companions stood amid the charred remains of merchant carriages and shattered crates.

A once lively trading convoy had been reduced to ash and ruin. Half-burned goods were scattered across the frozen riverbank, the faint scent of charred wood still lingering beneath the overwhelming chill.

Daoist Chu crouched beside a wheel hub that had been half-buried in the snow.

He ran his fingers across the soot-stained wood, his expression grim. "These burns are recent, at most a week old. I can still sense residual qi in the fragments. Whatever did this, it was not natural fire. They definitely used qi skills for this."

Monk Hushu closed his eyes briefly, his spiritual perception extending outward like ripples over still water. "There are traces of malicious qi here. It does not feel like simple banditry. It reeks of corruption."

Lin Mu nodded. "Spread out. Search for any trace of movement or survivors. Even a small clue will be enough to follow."

The group fanned out across the snow-covered ravine.

Their immortal senses swept through the frozen terrain like invisible waves, dissecting every layer of earth and ice for the faintest hint of qi disturbance. The cold bit at their skin, but none of them paid it any mind. Only Lin Mu, the beasts and Cattaleya were truly unaffected, their body cultivation far too great for something like this to affect them.

Still, even the others were expert cultivators, capable of enduring far worse.

The silence stretched for several minutes, broken only by the soft crunch of snow beneath boots and the occasional rustle of falling frost.

Little Shrubby sniffed the ground near the remains of a wagon, his fur standing on end as sparks of fire and lightning qi flickered along his back. The beast could detect what human senses could not—scents carried by wind, remnants of life and death clinging to the earth.

Then, from the northern edge of the ruins, a familiar voice called out.

"Over here!"

It was Cattaleya. Her voice carried clearly through the frozen air, strong and sure.

Lin Mu, Elyon, and the others immediately turned and made their way toward her. Cattaleya stood near a small cluster of trees that leaned precariously over the ravine’s slope. The snow around her boots had been disturbed, revealing faint depressions beneath.

At first glance, it looked like nothing more than an animal path, a narrow trail that cut through the brush and disappeared into the slope’s shadow. But as Little Shrubby approached, his ears perked, and he began to sniff rapidly.

"Hmm?" Meng Bai tilted his head. "What is it, Little Shrubby?"

The beast growled softly and pawed at the ground, then sniffed again, moving a few steps along the narrow trail. His sharp nose twitched as he turned his head toward Lin Mu.

"Blood," he said simply, his beast voice resonating in Lin Mu’s mind.

Lin Mu’s eyes narrowed. "Blood traces?"

"Yes," Little Shrubby replied, sniffing again. "Old, but not too old. Human blood. Mixed with herbs, dirt, and faint traces of beast scent."

Daoist Chu moved closer, examining the area. "It must have been covered by snow after the attack. The storm hid it."

Elyon crouched beside a frozen bush and brushed off the snow carefully. His sharp eyes caught faint reddish-brown stains on the lower leaves, so faint they were nearly invisible.

"He’s right. The blood splatter continues this way, faint but consistent."

Lin Mu nodded, signaling Little Shrubby to lead the way. "Let’s follow it."

The group moved cautiously along the narrow trail, their steps light, senses sharpened.

The further they went, the more pronounced the scent of dried blood became. It was subtle, but it was there, leading them toward the curving northern edge of the ravine. The landscape grew more rugged, the cliffs steepening and the snow deepening until they reached a depression partially hidden beneath fallen trees.

The sight was peculiar. Several large trees had collapsed across the slope, their trunks thick with moss and layered in snow. But it only made it that much strange to them.