Chapter 1 The Snow Forbidden City

Snow Forbidden City, Old Lane Street.

"Li Qingsui, that little girl...she just outright robbed it?"

Lu Jian looked rather displeased. She stared at the [Wind Eye], calculating that only three minutes had passed since they parted ways. The silent "battle" ended too quickly.

Before she could react... Gu Shen had been taken away, riding off in a cloud of dust, directly leaving the Snow Forbidden City.

And her [Wind Eye] authority was limited.

Although Bai Chen was very fond of his younger sister, he knew what was important. For today's trip, he only allowed her to use a portion of the Snow Forbidden City's [Wind Eye] and related computing power to track Gu Shen.

"Damn it..."

Bai Lu angrily punched the car.

Most importantly, the transcendent aura exhibited by the umbrella-holding man behind Li Qingsui directly disrupted the [Wind Eye]'s sensing. Even if her brother was willing to lend her authority, she couldn't track the car's movements.

Originally, she thought she would be the grand finale, but now she had become a complete fool.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Bai Lu decided to find someone to vent her anger on, so she got out of the car and headed straight for the old lane.

Gong Zi, who had just paid the bill, suddenly had a premonition of misfortune.

"Nangua, quickly see where that crazy woman is now."

In Mu Nan's palm, snowflakes clearly reflected the scene of the Bai family's witch slamming the car door and appearing.

Their expressions changed.

They knew too well what kind of person this woman was... They exchanged a look and began to run with great understanding.

So, by the time Bai Lu arrived at the old mansion, full of anger, it was already empty, with the people gone…

"We're here."

Gu Shen heard a gentle reminder and slowly opened his eyes.

A wisp of mist surrounded him, converging towards "Uncle Gao." It seemed that he had made the right choice to obediently close his eyes along the way, thanks to the other party's kind reminder. With the mist obscuring his face, he couldn't see anything even with his eyes open.

Uncle Gao got out of the car and opened the door for Li Qingsui, saying softly, "Miss, I'll wait for you here... The road ahead is long, be careful."

Gu Shen frowned.

Ahead was a mountain range shrouded in mist.

Thick fog swirled, making it difficult to see its true appearance. North of Nagano... was there such a place?

The Shen Link was cut off, and he couldn't contact Chu Ling either. The route map in Gu Shen's mind only recorded up to the "turning point" at the northern border of Nagano. After that, the route was a blank.

"Let's go." Li Qingsui took a lantern from the trunk of the car.

Lantern? Gu Shen looked at the lantern and felt it looked familiar.

He had seen the [Lantern] used by Lu Nanzhi in the Lion Lane mansion, which was very similar to this one, but the transcendent power emitted after lighting it was completely opposite.

In Lion Lane, the [Lantern], after being lit, could shield sensations to avoid being stared at by transcendents.

And here, the [Lantern], after being lit, shattered falsehoods.

The mountain mist broke apart.

A weathered bluestone staircase was revealed ahead, stretching into the unknown distance. Gu Shen looked at the deep darkness ahead.

In the place where the [Lantern]'s light did not shine, there seemed to be something attracting blazing fire. What was that?

As he gazed into the darkness, a slight unease arose in Gu Shen's heart.

He turned his head to look at Uncle Gao, who was standing straight in front of the car. For the sake of caution, he coughed softly and asked, "Your... Uncle Gao, is he sure he's not coming?"

"What, are you afraid?"

Li Qingsui handed the [Lantern] in her hand to Gu Shen, and took out a second one from the trunk, smiling. "Take this and you'll be safe. Let's go."

With that, she walked forward alone.

The moment Gu Shen took the [Lantern], the unease in his heart instantly vanished. He was a little surprised, twirling the slender lantern handle. Did this object really have such magical properties?

"Mr. Gu, this way, please." Uncle Gao slightly extended his hand, indicating a direction.

Gu Shen quickly followed.

Li Qingsui didn't walk fast. She only slightly quickened her pace when Gu Shen caught up.

"Where is this?" Gu Shen asked directly.

The reason he came to this ghostly place was because of Uncle Gao's presence. That man was too strong, and he had no way to refuse this invitation.

But now, Uncle Gao was not here.

This little girl... couldn't hold him down.

"This is the Li family's 'Shrine Land,' you can call it 'Divine Mountain,' or 'Shrine.'" Li Qingsui glanced at Gu Shen and explained calmly, "Actually, it's what the world calls a 'Mystic Realm.' A Mystic Realm is a Disaster Realm."

Gu Shen recalled the palpitations he felt when he gazed into the darkness.

This place looked beautiful and tranquil, but it actually harbored killing intent. Without the [Lantern], he would probably be unable to move an inch.

After a moment of silence, he reminded her earnestly, "You said earlier... you were going to treat me to a midnight snack."

"Yes."

The corners of Li Qingsui's mouth curled slightly, with a hint of frost. When she said this, her tone wasn't very bright, but rather drawn out, as she stated, "It's not that I'm inviting you, it's my sister who is."

Gu Shen was taken aback.

Li Qingsui's sister?

This aristocratic family was too mysterious... The files that Chu Ling could currently access were limited, and she hadn't mentioned anything to him about who Li Qingsui's sister was.

"Although that little flame between your eyebrows is indeed quite pretty..." Li Qingsui muttered softly, "I really don't understand why my sister wants to invite an outsider to the Shrine..."

She sighed softly and suddenly stopped.

Gu Shen stopped as well. He heard the sound of flowing water in the distance, like a waterfall cascading down, and a very large waterfall... Even from a great distance, he could feel the moist water vapor permeating the air. This was indeed a grand Mystic Realm. Because the entire Nagano outside the "Shrine" was snowing.

But there was no chill here.

Instead, there was a refreshing coolness that was pleasing to the heart. Even when the water vapor splashed on his face, it didn't feel biting.

Gu Shen had the illusion that he was in the middle of summer.

"Alright... we're here."

Li Qingsui pointed with the lantern towards the dim distance. She lowered her voice and warned Gu Shen fiercely, "My sister is the most hardworking and greatest person in the world. You absolutely must not say anything out of line later."

The most hardworking and greatest person in the world?

Gu Shen looked at the cute little girl trying to squeeze out a fierce expression, and couldn't help but smile.

"Qingsui..."

From the sound of the waterfall in the distance, came a helpless voice.

"Sister."

Hearing the voice, Li Qingsui immediately restrained herself. She returned to her previous porcelain doll-like well-behaved and cute appearance, and said softly, "Then Qingsui will take her leave first, and not disturb you..."

Before leaving, she didn't forget to glare fiercely at Gu Shen.

Gu Shen smiled wryly.

He also held the [Lantern] and slowly shone it forward.

In the dark light of the distant flowing water curtain, a faint figure could be seen.

Gu Shen thought for a moment and addressed her, "Goddess?"

This was the Li family's Shrine, the Divine Mountain, and the person he saw at this moment was Li Qingsui's sister. Calling her Goddess shouldn't be a problem, right?

A solemn voice immediately came from within the curtain.

"Mr. Gu, you mustn't call me that..." She was silent for a moment, then said, "There are other Goddesses enshrined in the Shrine. Mr. Gu can call me Qingci."

Li Qingci?

The Li family's names were truly ancient.

Gu Shen nodded slowly and said:

"Miss Qingci, if you just wanted to see me, then you've already seen me."

The woman in the curtain paused slightly.

"If you wanted to treat me to a midnight snack..." Gu Shen looked around at the desolate mountains, cold water, and dark night.

"I think there's nothing to eat here."

A gentle laugh.

"Mr. Gu can extinguish the [Lantern] and then open your eyes to take another look."

Extinguish the [Lantern]?

Gu Shen vaguely felt that this wasn't a good choice.

But out of trust for Li Qingci, he slowly blew out the core of the [Lantern] while opening the "Blazing Fire" between his eyebrows.

Gu Shen's expression became very interesting.

After the [Lantern] was extinguished, his vision first turned black.

And then... the Blazing Fire illuminated his vision little by little.

He saw the true face of this Mystic Realm.

In the mountains and fields.

Countless wandering, chaotic, and fragmented transcendent source qualities roamed.

As well as countless malformed, twisted, and growing dark spots of order.

Li Qingci's voice echoed in the mountains. "Please... eat."