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Bai Yun looked up at the sky, his eyes showing no surprise. The golden Buddha could not affect the natural phenomena, so this snowstorm was indeed full of hidden meaning.

"Let's go," Baiyun said, slinging the basket back onto her back and picking up her walking stick.

Shi Fang ran to Bai Yun's side in three steps, then glanced back at the campfire with regret. "Master, where are we going?"

"Where there's a will, there's a way; just keep walking..."

Baiyun said very casually, and above him and Shifang was a slowly moving halo, sheltering them from the wind and snow.

On the other side, on the path leading to the mountaintop, a group of people and horses dressed in thin clothes braved the wind and snow, with the horses pulling the carts in the group constantly snorting from the cold.

"Hurry up! There's an abandoned temple on this mountain; we'll be safe once we get there!"

The leader kept encouraging them, but to little avail. The heavy snow was too much for them to handle, and now everyone was too cold to exert any strength.

With a whoosh, a carriage slid off the ice, the horse neighing and falling, while the cart itself slid downwards, the ropes catching on the horse's neck and leaving a long trail in the snow.

Caught off guard, the people pushing the cart behind also fell to the ground. Just as they were about to be run over by the rapidly sliding cart, the leader took a deep breath.

His figure weaved through the snowflakes, and in a few leaps he reached the back of the cart. He grabbed one in each hand and tossed it aside, then jumped up and, with a swift movement, brushed past the rapidly sliding cart to escape danger.

With a loud crash, the cart smashed into the rocks below the mountain road. The horses pulling the cart were instantly killed, and half of their bodies were smashed into a bloody pulp.

Looking up at the still-expanding blizzard, the leader waved his hand and said, "Tie all the goods to the surrounding trees and come with me up the mountain to take shelter from the snow!"

The goods were valuable, but the lives of the people in the group were even more important. These people were all related to the leader, or at the very least, from the same village. Having known each other for so long, they were all quite reliable.

In these chaotic years, these brothers are the foundation upon which the leader stands.

After tying the cartloads of goods to the thick trees, the group, those with horses rode them, while those without ran on foot towards the temple mentioned by the leader at the mountaintop.

Shortly after they left, the horse carcass was pulled out from under the rock and dragged into the depths of the forest by a dark figure.

As the horses' legs collided, they knocked off the snow that had accumulated on a stone tablet, revealing three large characters.

Lanruo Temple!

The dilapidated temple gate was suddenly pushed open with a bang, the hinges broke off, and the entire door flew inside.

"Bang! What's going on!" The leader slapped the impatient guy. "The door's gone. You're in charge of standing here to block the wind!"

"Huh?!" The reckless man opened his mouth, rubbing his body. In this weather, he would freeze to death standing here.

"What do you mean 'huh'? Hurry up and pick up the door and put it back on!" The leader said, sounding a bit helpless.

"Wait, wait, move aside and let the horse in."

A few minutes later, the caravan members used the fire they carried with them and the rotten tables and chairs in the temple's main hall to start a fire.

"Much more comfortable..." The reckless man leaned against the kneeling horse and sighed deeply.

"Brother Xie, this weather's acting weird. Something might be wrong behind here..."

“I know, but we definitely can’t break through right now. Tell the brothers to be more vigilant, double the number of people on night watch, pick a few strong horses, feed them the beans we brought, and once the snow lightens up a bit, I’ll lead a group to find a way out.”

While making the arrangements, Brother Xie kept observing the main hall. He had heard about this temple from hunters when he was walking around this area before.

According to the hunters, this was an ominous place. Legend has it that dozens of monks who lived in this temple vanished overnight without a trace.

It is precisely because of that legend that this place has been abandoned to this day, with not a single decent person in it, and even beggars dare not come here.

Chapter 391 A Terrifying Snowy Night

At night, the wind outside the temple was still howling, and the snoring inside the temple was not so noticeable amidst the sound of wind and snow.

The caravan occupied about half of the main hall, with several horses forming a circle on the outermost edge, while the inner circle consisted of many strong men who had already fallen asleep. Among these men, a few were awake, watching their surroundings and on guard against everything.

The campfire was burning brightly in the very center, and as the flames flickered, shadows of people moved around on the wall as if they were running.

Suddenly, the sound of wind and snow subsided considerably. Xie Ge abruptly opened his eyes. He hadn't been able to sleep at all; everything about this place was abnormal, and he was too afraid to fall asleep.

QQ~

The door moved slightly, and a strange sound came in; it was unclear whether it was Fengxue knocking or something else.

"Who?!"

As Brother Xie questioned them, he reached out and woke up the people around him, pulling out weapons from under them.

"Benefactor, we would like to come in to avoid the wind and snow."

The gate creaked open, and Shi Fang, braving the wind and snow, greeted them respectfully.

Two monks? Brother Xie frowned. When traveling, the people he feared most were monks and Taoist priests, who were outsiders and often represented trouble.

"This temple doesn't belong to us, please make yourself at home, Master," Brother Xie said very politely.

"Thank you, benefactor."

Shi Fang and Bai Yun entered one after the other and closed the door again.

After exchanging a glance with one of the team members, Brother Xie picked up a few planks of wood, grabbed a small amount of kindling, and walked over to Baiyun and the others.

"Master, it's cold at night. Here's some fire to keep you warm. Remember to open your windows a little to let out the carbon monoxide."

"Thank you, benefactor," Bai Yun said with a slight bow.

Brother Xie stood aside and watched as Shi Fang lit the fire before returning to the group.

It has a shadow, is not afraid of fire, and you can feel its body temperature when you touch it. Its skin also quickly recovers from its frozen color under the firelight, so it shouldn't be any kind of demon or monster.

The only odd thing was that the two of them had almost no luggage, which shouldn't be the case even if it wasn't snowing in June.

As Xie was pondering, he slowly lay down and leaned against his bag. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of yellow. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was several pieces of gold!

Brother Xie tensed up, his right hand gripping the hilt of the knife at his waist.

Gold suddenly appeared in this dilapidated temple, and it was in such perfect condition.

Do you believe this?

Believe it or not, Brother Xie certainly doesn't.

After a minute of vigilance, Jinzi was still in the same spot, not moving, but the surrounding sounds seemed to have calmed down.

Even the reckless man's breathing wasn't as strong as it had been at the beginning.

Da da da…

The sound of the wooden fish rang out, and with its rhythmic cadence, Brother Xie felt his ears become much clearer, and the surrounding noise returned to his ears.

In this atmosphere, Xie Ge's eyelids kept drooping, and he slowly fell asleep. In his dream, Xie Ge led everyone back to his hometown, just as they were about to enter the village gate.

The lintel suddenly cracked and crashed downwards.

Brother Xie suddenly woke up, his head covered in a cold sweat.

At the same time, many people in the group also woke up.

The campfire was about to go out, so Brother Xie quickly added some firewood.

The three on watch were a little embarrassed; adding fuel to the fire was one of their duties, but they all seemed to have fallen asleep.

Lie…

As the watchmen prepared to apologize, Xie Ge gestured for them to be quiet, then turned his head to the side.

The campfire on the monks' side had completely gone out. In the dim firelight here, Brother Xie saw that the two monks had their heads down and were motionless, as if they were asleep.

The older monk had a wooden fish in front of him, and he held half of the wooden fish stick in his right hand; the other half was nowhere to be seen.

"Master? Master?"

Brother Xie called out twice and waved his hand behind his back, signaling everyone to be on alert.

After receiving no response to his repeated calls, the reckless man picked up a burning piece of firewood and threw it at the person.

In the firelight, the two monks looked deathly pale, without a trace of blood.

gudu~

Brother Xie swallowed hard. Those two monks froze to death?!

If they froze to death in the temple, that would be one thing, but it just shows how careless they were about their lives, not even adding firewood to the campfire.

But if they had already frozen to death outside, that would be a huge problem. Were the people knocking on the door two dead people?!

Clang~

Brother Xie drew his waist knife, the handle of which was inlaid with a piece of emerald green jade, which looked quite valuable.

da~

Brother Xie felt a tap on his head. Startled, he turned around and saw that half of the wooden fish stick had fallen to the ground.

"What are you doing?!"

Brother Xie questioned one of the people, and when he turned around, he seemed to see the person put something from the ground into his bag.

"N-nothing..."

Seeing the other person's guilty look, Brother Xie seemed to understand something. "Are you an idiot?! Is it gold?! You think there's gold in this dump that you can just come here and pick it up?!"

Under Xie Ge's questioning, the burly man, who had been bewitched, sobered up a bit and pulled out his hand. What gold was there? It was just a few pieces of charcoal that had rolled to the side.

"Everyone! From this moment on, no one is allowed to sleep! Do not pick up anything you see! Leave this place immediately when it gets light tomorrow!"

Brother Xie shouted loudly, and at the same time, a faint green light emanated from the jade, which coiled behind him and formed a tiger cub.

This is Xie Ge's awakened fighting spirit, and it is also the source of his confidence to lead his team through the chaos of the world.

With this, one can expel evil magic and dispel falsehoods. Combined with the internal strength cultivated from childhood, it enables one to do things that are normally impossible.

This thing is still a rarity in this world. Internal energy has been passed down for a long time, but battle spirits only appeared thirty years ago.

With the blessing of the battle spirits, the human world can barely maintain a certain degree of stability.

This power is even more effective in the military; if a general awakens his battle spirit, he can even split mountains and seas with the help of his troops.

Fu Tianchou, who was imprisoned for assassinating the emperor, was originally a general. With the blessing of the Heavenly Wolf Battle Spirit, he led the Heavenly Wolf Army to wipe out countless demons and monsters.

Click, click…

The collapsed statue on the nearby altar made a slight sound.

Without saying a word, Brother Xie swung his knife, and as the cub's claws pierced the wood, a golden light flashed beneath.