But after all, a drawing is just a drawing, especially since the artist's skill is not particularly exquisite. Xie Bai doubted that it was either their clan's leader who came back to ponder and draw it himself, or someone drew it based on descriptions. It could only be considered passable, and couldn't truly be relied upon to find someone based on such a silhouette.

However, Xie Bai believed that since he felt " trivial talk by the western window" was crucial, there must be a connection between the two, not merely a coincidence.

The young merman furrowed his brow and turned his head away, saying, "Are you done reading?"

Xie Bai withdrew his hand. "Yes."

He stood up, took out his phone and compass from his pocket. When he fell into the Peacock Lake, he wrapped his phone in a layer of film. Now it wasn't damaged by water and still worked, but the signal was weak, almost zero.

Xie Bai compared it on the map and found that he was already at the top of the Guha Mountain.

This mountain, along with the surrounding continuous mountain ranges, surrounded a large basin. In the middle of the basin sat a not-so-large city. Looking down from where Xie Bai stood, he could see scattered lights all over the city.

The merman lifted his head and glanced, most of the time they lived on the sea, and few branches of the tribe would live near lakes and rivers. It was probably the first time standing on the mountaintop overlooking like this, somewhat amazed, "The things on land look pretty good."

"You've never been out of the water?" Xie Bai asked casually as he looked at the compass trying to find the Ghost Gate.

The merman sneered, "We only stay in the cleanest places. We won't go to dirty water, let alone land cities full of flying dust."

Xie Bai glanced at him sideways, thinking: Are they related to Yin Wushu 80,000 years ago?

The compass in his hand was struggling a bit at the top of the mountain, whether it was because of altitude sickness or something else. It took him a while to find the general direction.

The merman youth lying beside him probably had ADHD (NT: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), completely ignoring the long wound on his body, tossing and turning there.

"Are there nails under you?" Xie Bai was irritated by his restless voice, furrowing his brows.

The merman was exasperated, "Hurry up, will you? I'm freezing to death! My skin is about to freeze off!"

Xie Bai turned his head to look at him somewhat curiously, "I hurry up? When did I say I was going to take you on the road?"

The merman was completely puzzled, "If you don't take me, how can I survive? Staying on this mountain for a night, I'll be frozen stiff by tomorrow..."

Xie Bai calmly responded, "Oh."

"What do you mean by 'Oh'?! Are you taking me or not?!" he complained with a gloomy face. "How can you be so inhuman..."

" Humanity doesn't come from humans." Xie Bai casually dismissed him.

Holding the compass, he walked back and forth on this patch of mountain top for a few steps, staring at the complex dial of the compass for a while. Finally, he determined the location of the Ghost Gate. Just resting this time allowed him to gather some spirits, enough to support him in opening a few more Yin Gates in a row.

In fact, he didn't really intend to leave the young merman on this mountaintop. After all, this teenager knew some fragmented information, which might be useful.

But the merman didn't know this thought. He was genuinely worried about being left behind, so his eyes were fixed on every move Xie Bai made. His fingers unconsciously tightened, ready to act at any moment.

Just as Xie Bai summoned the black mist and opened a Yin Gate, without saying a word, the merman teenager pounced and stubbornly grabbed Xie Bai's right leg.

Xie Bai: "..."

One person, one cat, and one fish-shaped leg ornament swiftly passed through several Yin Gates without stopping. After resting for almost half the night, they finally arrived at Xie Bai's last stop on this journey as the sky began to dawn.

From the last few stops, the places they stayed were only mountains and snow. The only difference was the height of the mountains and the thickness of the snow.

This last stop was located in a depression in the mountains, covered in white snow all over. But suddenly, there was a piece of bare rock protruding, with sparse grass and trees growing on it. The grass was covered with a layer of moss-like grass, which was very slippery due to the heavy moisture. It was easy to slip and fall from the rock, plunging into the deep valley below.

After landing at the last stop, the merman teenager finally stopped clinging to Xie Bai. For the first time in his life, he tried to transform his fish tail into human legs, and used fish scales to make a set of improvised clothes to put on. Then he followed behind Xie Bai, stumbling and hesitating due to not being used to walking on land and the slippery surface of the rock platform.

Xie Bai took a glance at him and didn't want to look again — a muscular person, regardless of how youthful his face was, walked with small steps and inward-turned feet, which was not pleasing to the eye at all.

There was a small shack on the rock platform, extremely crude, barely enough to shelter from the wind and rain.

Xie Bai checked around the house to make sure there was no danger before leading the merman youth into the house.

"Why would there be a house in a place like this? Something's wrong no matter how you look at it. Obviously, it's a trap," the merman said, but upon entering the house, he found that besides the walls, there was only a brownish-yellow cushion inside, just as simple as the outside.

As soon as the merman youth stepped into the house, he changed his tune, "There's no way this broken place could even set a trap. Let's just stay inside."

Although the house was crude, it was much warmer than outside. Clearly, it was the most basic hut made of thatch and branches, but it was unexpectedly warm. In this icy world, it emitted a light that was akin to "heaven on earth."

Cats were the most spiritual creatures, but the little black cat didn't show any unease after entering the house. After jumping out of Xie Bai's arms, it bit Xie Bai's trouser leg and dragged him to sit on the cushion. Then it sprawled on Xie Bai's crossed legs, comfortable enough to squint its eyes.

It seemed that although it didn't show it along the way, it still preferred warmth and was afraid of the cold.

The frost on Xie Bai's body finally began to melt little by little, flowing from his wrist to his fingertips. Each drop hung on the tip of his fingers and was quickly absorbed by his skin.

Earlier, when he read the merman's mind and saw the picture, his hand was still wrapped in black mist, so this was the first time it was uncovered.

The merman looked at his skin, which absorbed water, with some curiosity, squatting beside him and eagerly wanting to reach out and touch it.

Xie Bai furrowed his brows and reminded, "My hand isn't covered. If you touch it lightly, you'll get a burn, and if it's heavy, it'll rot to the bone."

The merman: "..."

With a embarrassed expression, he withdrew his hand and squatted for a while before lazily lying down on the ground, rolling around a bit. "Is the person you're looking for related to our Gaya? Could it be him? How do you know he's here? Could this house be where he stayed? What should we do next?"

The merman was like a moving "100 000 whys" with a continuous stream of questions.

Xie Bai didn't respond verbally to any of them, but he actually had answers in his heart. Even if that so-called Gaya wasn't the person who set up the corpse array on him, he must be closely related to this matter. As for why he led the merman here to rest...

This was the extremely remote Kechuan Mountain in the northwest, quite inaccessible. Few people ventured here. However, he had read descriptions of this place in a book, which indeed mentioned a protruding stone platform in the gorge of Kechuan Mountain. Occasionally, evil spirits would pass by and take shelter from the snow in the abandoned house.

At that time, he had asked Yin Wushu if he had been there. Yin Wushu said he had set foot here once, stayed overnight, and then left in a hurry. He also warned Xie Bai, "If you ever happen to come here by chance in the future, you can rest temporarily in that house, but you must also be vigilant."

When they landed just now, he saw dark clouds rolling from the Tianshan Mountains in the direction of here, indicating a snowstorm was imminent. Even if this house wasn't absolutely safe, he had to take shelter inside because he was already so cold that he couldn't gather any spiritual power. Without absorbing some warmth quickly, he wouldn't be able to cope with any situation.

Aunt Lou's divination wouldn't be wrong. Since she calculated it to be "directly northeast" 3,500 miles away, it must be nearby. As for how he would encounter the person who set up the corpse array on him back then, it was difficult to predict. Perhaps that person lived nearby, or perhaps he just happened to pass by here...

In Xie Bai's current state, instead of searching for people everywhere in Kechuan Mountain, it was better to sit here conspicuously and wait for that person to arrive.

There was a faint rumble of thunder outside, which startled the merman. After fidgeting for a while, he found that Xie Bai remained calm and collected, making him feel a bit silly. So, he forced himself to settle down. Once he stopped moving his hands and feet, he couldn't stop talking, blurting out one thing after another.

And if talking about unrelated matters wasn't enough, he had to drag Xie Bai into it.

He stared at Xie Bai for a long time, then cleared his throat and asked, "Can I gossip a bit?"

Xie Bai raised an eyebrow, unable to understand why someone would want to gossip with him.

The merman scratched the scar forming on his back and began recounted, "My sister shared a rumor with me, but I'm unsure of its source, and I haven't heard anyone else mention it…"

He continued with a long preamble. Xie Bai was completely puzzled, frowning, "Get to the point."

The merman tentatively blurted out, "I heard that you have some connection with the esteemed Yin Wushu, is that true?"

Xie Bai: "..." Asking the pot about the pot.

But the fact that he and Yin Wushu hadn't seen each other for a hundred years wasn't a secret. It was perfectly normal for outsiders to think they were connected. But this couldn't be considered gossip, right?

The merman scratched his ear again, squeezing out a sentence as if he were squeezing toothpaste, "My sister said there's no unfounded hatred in the world, only hatred born from love. So you and Yin Wushu must have had something, is it true?"

Xie Bai: "..."

He raised his hand and threw out a piece of black mist, silencing the merman's mouth completely, returning peace to his ears. Then he coldly retorted, "Your mind is like a fish tank now."

The merman: "Mmm."

The merman's booming speech finally faded away, granting Xie Bai a moment of mental clarity. He was not idle sitting on the futon, as he continued to tinker with the compass, attempting to ascertain the correct direction.

As a result, after fiddling with it twice, he realized something was amiss.

Recalling from the book he had read, Xie Bai remembered that the stone platform and the hut were situated on the shaded side of the mountain, with the house's windows facing directly north.

However, as he sat in the center of the hut, facing the window and consulting the compass, it became evident that the direction was off. Instead of pointing due north, the compass indicated northwest, at a significant angle.

What could be wrong with the hut?

This initial question raced through Xie Bai's mind, only to be swiftly replaced by a startling realization that flashed through his mind and shocked him——

I was not that there was something wrong with the hut, but that the direction of the compass had never been right to begin with...…

 

Translator : DarNan