Chapter 1017

The wind and snow were heavy, but the god, though barefoot, left no footprints on the snow.

Xia De could only follow the ridge, and before long, he saw the light of a fire below the ridge.

He practically rolled down the snowy slope—it was faster that way—and at the bottom, stood a rock, half-buried in snow, of unknown origin. The firelight came from behind the rock, which served as a decent shelter from the wind.

When Xia De approached, he even discovered that the people around the campfire had used dead branches, cloth, and ice to construct a small shelter, relying on the rock.

The sound of his bare feet walking on the snow caused the three people, who were as numb as corpses around the campfire in the drafty shelter, to turn and look at him.

The first thing Xia De noticed was not that a witch would actually agree to hide with a man, but that the god with long silver hair he had seen earlier was not here.

There was very little snow behind the rock. The campfire was set on the ground, and two women and one man were huddled around it, curling their bodies to minimize exposure to the wind and snow. Snow blew in through the gaps in the crude shelter, covering the ground in a thin layer of frost. The three of them stared at Xia De with expressionless faces, and even when Xia De crawled into their "shelter" and used his body to block the largest drafty gap, they remained silent.

"Um... hello."

Xia De gave a hesitant greeting, holding out his hands to warm himself by the fire. The fire that could be lit here was certainly no ordinary flame, nor was it a campfire created by a witch's secret art or labyrinth; the fire itself was some kind of powerful item. The 'Original Fire' within Xia De stirred, clearly wanting to consume this flame. But unfortunately, the true 'Original Fire' seed was with Sister Daifulin, and what Xia De carried was merely the lingering fire she had bestowed upon him; he could not consume this flame.

No one responded to Xia De; the three of them just watched him. The scene was incredibly bizarre. Xia De huddled his body, holding his palms toward the fire, and said in a low voice:

"Ladies, and this gentleman, I don't really understand the current situation. Perhaps we should introduce ourselves?"

He pointed to himself first:

"I am an outsider, from a very distant place, lost in the blizzard."

He pointed a finger at the fire, using the 'Flame Shaping' spell to make the flames leap upward. At the same time, Xia De realized that this campfire was fueled by mental energy. The numbness on the faces of the three people present, aside from the environmental impact, was also due to the effort of maintaining the fire.

"You see, although I am not a witch, a great witch performed some small experiments on me, which resulted in me possessing some special abilities."

He explained casually.

Only one of the two women was a witch, and the other was an ordinary person. The witch was not the older woman, but the girl who looked to be about eighteen or nineteen.

She had unusual silver hair, and her eyes were reddish-gold—a mix of red and gold. This hair and eye color were not natural; they were likely the result of occult research.

The witch was wrapped in a blanket made of unknown white fur, sitting in the most sheltered spot of this crude shelter:

"Witch Chloe, Zarathos Society."

Her voice was somewhat icy, but at least the alert look in her eyes as she watched Xia De revealed a touch of humanity:

"Man, what kind of nonsense are you spouting? If a witch's experiments could grant a man supernatural abilities, then the Fifth Era wouldn't be the Fifth Era."

She paused:

"Regardless of what you are, listen well. Among the three of us, one is possessed by a demon, but no one knows who it is, and we might not even know if it's ourselves... Are you a demon?"

"No, no, I am certainly not a spirit-demon of the Third Era."

Xia De shook his head immediately, then pointed his finger to ignite a light:

"Silver Moon."

The holy silver light attracted the gaze of the three, who stared blankly at the moonlight. There was no moon here, and the few people trapped in the mountains had long forgotten when they had last seen moonlight.

"You see, even if a demon could fake moonlight, it couldn't be this pure. You are a witch from the Zarathos Society? Oh, I have friends in the Zarathos Society too."

But Peggy Samuel, who had appeared in the Silent Valley with Miss Oulannuode and Fiona Delage, was from three thousand years in the future.

Witch Chloe nodded:

"Man, you don't need to try to get close to me. Listen, we three are here for different purposes, wanting to reach the summit. I need the 'Everlasting Ice' at the peak for my experiments. Our team originally had nineteen people, but after an accident, only three of us remain. If you aren't afraid of danger, stay, but until the demon is found, we won't be leaving here."

If the demon were to suddenly strike in the blizzard, all three would surely die, so her decision, while passive, was rational.

"A very rational decision."

Xia De praised, and the witch snorted without responding.

"Hello, sir, my name is Marcus Marx, you may call me Mrs. Marx. I was originally an attendant to another witch, but my mistress died on the way... I will continue her wish and keep going."

Mrs. Marx looked to be in her late thirties, with faint, barely noticeable freckles on her face, long limbs, and a headscarf.

"What wish?"

Xia De asked curiously, and the witch snorted again:

"To witness the highest peak of the Silver Mountains and leave her footprints there. That unlucky lady disappeared from the team at some point, and we only found her boots later. Marcus took her boots, saying she would complete the wish for her."

"I see, that is truly admirable."

Xia De sighed slightly, finally looking at the man huddled in the corner. Xia De had encountered many men in the Fifth Era, such as the boy from Hope Town, Mr. Riddle the 'luckiest mortal', the king poisoned at the god's banquet, and the old man who once held the 'Hunter's Seal'.

The man he encountered this time was different from all of them. He appeared to be about the same age as Xia De, with a red mark on his left cheek. He was cowering in the corner, which was the worst spot behind the large rock. He lowered his head when Xia De looked at him and showed no intention of introducing himself.

"He is..."

"An exile."

It was still the young witch who spoke:

"Look at the mark on his face; it means he stole something in the witch's territory and was exiled here. We encountered him not long ago, and considering we might need someone to scout or act as bait, we kept him."

Xia De nodded, considering he had a preliminary understanding of the composition of these lost souls.

The light of the campfire grew stronger with Xia De's arrival. The firelight illuminated all four faces; in the depths of this snow-covered mountain swept by wild winds, the lost souls seemed to have their own agendas.

Xia De did not first ask about the so-called demon possession, but instead asked:

"Have you seen a lady with bare feet, wearing a white robe, holding a white oak staff?"

Witch Chloe, wrapped in her blanket, shook her head slightly:

"There is only us here. However, since I answered your question, then..."

As she spoke, she suddenly reached out and grabbed Xia De's wrist. She was somewhat surprised that Xia De didn't resist. After feeling it for a moment, she let go and looked at her own palm, her tone becoming slightly lighter:

"Look, I knew you weren't a man."

Her reddish-gold eyes scrutinized Xia De again, and seeing he had no reaction, she snorted once more.

Xia De didn't comment on this, but upon contact, he knew that this seemingly young witch was already at the eleventh level.

"You seem to know that god."

"Of course I do, is there a problem?"

Witch Chloe asked again, tightening the white fur around her.

It was interesting to note that all the witches Xia De had met before were very tall, even the apprentices who partially inherited witch power were taller than normal women of the same age. But this Miss Chloe was the exact opposite. Xia De had originally thought he was mistaken because she was curled up, but now he was certain that her height was indeed below average.

The way she was wriggling while wrapped in the white blanket made Xia De want to laugh for some reason, but he held it back.

"No problem."

Xia De shook his head, knowing that the god had not appeared around the three of them, or perhaps they had forgotten some things:

"I have some warm clothes here."

As he spoke, he took toys out of his pocket, turned them into real objects, and distributed them to the three. Witch Chloe watched him cast the spell while thanking him. Mrs. Marx, though she didn't know what kind of person Xia De was, became even more respectful upon confirming he had spellcasting abilities.

As for the unnamed exile in the corner, although he accepted the warm clothes, he still didn't speak.

"Perhaps the god is hiding among the three."

Xia De thought of this possibility again; something similar had happened in the Thousand Trees Forest, and Miss Chloe's hair color was very similar to the god's.

But thinking about it carefully, it seemed unlikely. Among the current three, only Miss Chloe fit the god's appearance, and the other two were ordinary people. But Miss Chloe's curious look at him didn't seem like a god's behavior.

Warm clothes were helpful in resisting the bitter cold of the Silver Mountains, but not exceptionally so. What really helped them were the pots, pans, salt, sugar, and daily necessities Xia De took out afterward, as the group had almost no luggage left.

Although for an eleventh-level witch, going without food for a few months wouldn't be fatal, nobody wanted to rely on snow water to quench their thirst if they could avoid it. ===== CHAPTER 1018 =====