The wind rustled softly as if a young girl’s tender hand was gently caressing her lover’s body.
At this moment, Qi Gaojie, Hu Jiahui, and three others were staring at you with disbelief because a green mist was emanating from your body. This mist began to spread slowly, stabilizing about five meters around you.
"Crack, crack, crack..."
"What’s that noise, do you hear it?"
Xu Jiao’s voice trembled as she clutched Hu Jiahui’s arm tightly, leaning close to him for comfort.
"Trees! The trees!" Zhang Zhaoyuan’s voice seemed choked as he pointed at the trees around you, aghast. "The trees are withering!"
Indeed, all trees engulfed in the green mist were visibly withering at a noticeable rate. Soon, everyone realized it wasn’t just the trees withering; the roots of the plants and the moist soil were also drying out and quickly turning into sand!
The released mist began to converge back into your body. When the last wisp of mist returned, you finally exhaled a long breath of turbid air.
Xian Qianling’s eyes had never left you, and seeing you open your eyes, she hurriedly asked, "How are you feeling?"
Seeing the Crazy Woman’s anxious expression, you couldn’t help but laugh, slowly got to your feet and said to her, "You owe me a life."
Xian Qianling suddenly lunged at you, holding you tight, "Thank goodness, thank goodness, I’m so glad you’re okay!"
"Hey, hey, I’m about to suffocate from your hug. Can’t you be gentler?" you said irritably.
Xian Qianling scratched her head a bit sheepishly, refraining for once from a retort.
"Wow, Boss, that move of yours was so fierce, it turned all the surrounding trees into sand!"
Zong Wangyue’s words made you turn to look around, frowning, and you said to Xian Qianling, "What exactly happened to you?"
Xian Qianling was obviously also unclear, pondering on the side before finally shaking her head. "I don’t know what happened. Old Lin came running to me saying his colleague was in danger on the mountain and asked me to help. I was about to call you to join me, but then Old Lin suddenly patted my shoulder, and I felt dizzy. I don’t remember anything that happened after that."
"Where’s Old Lin now?"
Seeing Xian Qianling’s cluelessness, you scratched your head and sighed, "It seems there really is a problem with this place."
"Boss, since we’ve already come up here, and besides, those people almost got you killed by sister-in-law, we must pay them back no matter what," Zong Wangyue said, cracking his knuckles.
Even the usually silent Jin Qi nodded in agreement, "They do deserve a lesson."
You rolled your eyes at the pair and sighed, "Easy for you to say, as if I’m an invincible War God who can slay whoever I catch. Right now, we don’t even know what thing is lurking behind us, so for the moment, all we can do is watch and wait."
"So... should we go down the mountain?" Xu Jiao asked timidly.
"I agree too. Ever since we entered the mountain, I’ve had a bad feeling about this place," Hu Jiahui said, very much in favor of Xu Jiao’s suggestion.
You glanced at the people beside you and sighed, "I made it clear before we went up the mountain: if you’re scared, don’t come. This mountain looked odd from the outside, and it’s even more so once we’re inside. We’re now in a very strange barrier, and the only way out is to find and deal with the person—or ghost—who set it up. And it’s not just one barrier; it’s a double barrier."
Upon hearing this, everyone appeared surprised, including Zhang Hua and the other four who knew nothing about the industry.
"Of these two barriers, one is very thin, covering the entire Witch God Peak, while the other is much stronger, and its area of effect is limited to this mountain lake region," you paused and continued, "So, what we need to do is leave this stronger barrier before it gets dark."
"Ah? We have to move again?" Qi Gaojie seemed reluctant as he took a photo of the lake ahead, "The scenery is so nice here; it would be great to camp out at night."
"If you want to move your head and body separately in the middle of the night, I won’t stop you."
After that remark, Qi Gaojie and the others had nothing more to say.
The barrier around the mountain lake was strong, but the farther away from it, the weaker the barrier’s force became. You didn’t lead the group further up the mountain nor down, but followed a narrow mountain path along the lakeside, circling to the other side of the mountain.
About half an hour later, the narrow mountain path came to an end.
You, who were leading the way, suddenly stopped, and everyone else immediately halted as well.
"Boss, what’s wrong?" Zong Wangyue asked.
Without answering, you took out an orange talisman paper from your pocket and, after biting your finger, quickly drew a magic seal on it.
Before long, the magic seal floated up under everyone’s gaze and emitted a light that wasn’t too dazzling.
In the glow of this light, a semi-transparent wall with a hint of color appeared. The wall rose from the ground, almost covered half the sky, and stretched towards the direction of the mountain lake.
"Is this the barrier?" Xian Qianling was seeing the legendary barrier for the first time, curiosity filled his eyes.
You nodded, reached out, and touched the membrane-like barrier wall, causing ripples to spread across it.
"We are now at the edge of the barrier. It’s very solid and hard to break; if I were to force it, I’m afraid I wouldn’t even have the strength to stand afterward."
"Then what do we do?" Xu Jiao tightened her grip on Hu Jiahui’s hands.
Xian Qianling patted Xu Jiao’s shoulder and said with a smile, "Don’t worry, this guy always has a habit of only revealing half of what he’s planning. Besides, you can tell from his expression, whoever got trapped would not be so leisurely."
You didn’t explain and just smiled. Then you extended a finger to touch the orange talisman paper floating in the air and gently stuck it onto the barrier wall.
Immediately, that talisman paper turned into specks of light under everyone’s watchful eyes and integrated into the barrier wall.
Suddenly, you brought your hands together and shouted, "Open!"
The seemingly unbreakable barrier wall was as if it had been split open by you, and a door automatically appeared.
"Let’s go, this door will only stay open for thirty seconds."