Lingcheng was buried under the snow.

No wonder it felt like they had been climbing uphill for a while—it turned out that the slope was actually an entire city beneath them.

In the original novel, after Yun Zhan and his companion crossed the snowstorm zone, they found Lingcheng, a city surrounded by constant snow but basking in perpetual sunshine, like the eye of a hurricane. The city’s unique climate was due to the geothermal heat from a dormant volcano beneath it, and it was through this volcanic crater that Yun Zhan and his companion discovered a fissure filled with demonic energy, leading them to the ancient underground palace, Xunhuang, buried deep beneath Lingcheng.

But now, Lingcheng was just a vast expanse of snow, with no trace of the volcano or the underground palace.

The critical point was that this amount of snow, under normal circumstances, would have taken many years to accumulate. But according to the herders of Earjishan, they had visited Lingcheng just last month. This heavy snow was definitely not a result of natural weather conditions.

Xiao Liu dismounted and walked up behind Bai Fanlu.

“We shouldn’t stay here for long; we need to leave,” Bai Fanlu said seriously.

With no response from Yun Zhan’s messenger bird and the current situation, Bai Fanlu didn’t dare act rashly, especially with Xiao Liu around. It was safer to retreat to Earjishan first.

“…Alright.”

Xiao Liu seemed to hesitate before agreeing. Just as Bai Fanlu turned to look at him with curiosity, Xiao Liu suddenly raised his eyes and frowned, looking in a certain direction.

Zizi popped its head out from under Xiao Liu’s wolf fur cloak, sniffed the air, then suddenly jumped out and ran in that direction, leaving a trail of small footprints in the snow.

Xiao Liu glanced at Bai Fanlu, and without saying a word, they both followed Zizi.

At first, Zizi ran quickly, but then it slowed down and eventually stopped, circling in one spot on the snow, barking urgently and jumping up and down.

Bai Fanlu stepped onto that patch of snow and noticed that the sound it made was different from elsewhere. He pressed down a little harder, then took his sword but didn’t draw it, instead inserting it slowly into the snow. About halfway down, it hit something solid.

Then, he faintly heard a light, clanging sound from below.

With these three clangs, the snow a few feet away shifted slightly and collapsed at one corner, revealing a bit of grayish-green surface. Xiao Liu went over to look and said to Bai Fanlu, “It seems to be a rooftop.”

It was as if the noise had triggered something below, for a moment later, the clanging sounds grew louder.

“There’s someone underneath!”

Bai Fanlu was shocked. Lingcheng was completely buried in snow, yet there were still survivors!

They immediately began to rescue whoever was below. Although the snow here was thinner than elsewhere, digging it out by hand was still too slow. Using spiritual energy to push it aside risked collapsing the roof and crushing the people below.

The most efficient and safe method was to use fire magic to melt the snow. However, the resulting water could exert considerable pressure on the structure, and given the low temperatures, if the water wasn’t dealt with quickly, it would soon refreeze into ice.

Bai Fanlu explained his plan, and Xiao Liu said, “Did you forget? I can use magic now too. Leave it to me—I’ll melt the snow, and you handle the rest.”

Working together seamlessly, they quickly cleared the entire area of snow, revealing a complete glazed tile roof.

There was a hole in the roof, perhaps the only reason why some air could still circulate inside.

Xiao Liu called out to the hole, “Is anyone there?”

This time, they received a clear response. “Yes, yes…help…help…”

It was the voice of an elderly woman, weak and intermittent. If they listened closely, they could also hear the faint, pitiful cries of a child.

Bai Fanlu’s heart tightened. Unsure of the situation below, he carefully pried open the tiles bit by bit to create a larger opening so he could go down and check.

Seeing Bai Fanlu already at work without saying a word, Xiao Liu reassured those below, “Don’t be afraid, we’re coming to help you.” Then he joined Bai Fanlu in removing the tiles.

Finally, they made an opening large enough for one person to fit through. Xiao Liu stopped Bai Fanlu, who was about to jump in, saying, “I’ll go first.”

With that, he jumped down.

Soon, Xiao Liu called out, “Brother, come down.”

Bai Fanlu immediately followed, with Xiao Liu catching him as he landed.

The place was dim, with only the light from the opening reflecting off the bright snow outside, illuminating a small, cramped space.

In the corner were several huddled figures—three adults and four children. The adults included two with graying hair and one fully white-haired. The youngest child was still in swaddling clothes, and the oldest appeared to be a girl of about seven or eight years old.

Only one elderly woman was conscious, holding a small iron shovel in her right hand, which she must have used to signal for help earlier. In her left arm, she cradled the infant, while a small boy clung tightly to her side, shivering.

The child’s eyes were barely open, and he let out a few weak whimpers before falling silent again.

The old woman, having expended all her energy calling for help, was now trembling with emotion and could barely speak, not expecting that someone would actually hear them and come down.

Bai Fanlu and Xiao Liu hurried to her side, taking out some dry food from their packs. The water bag had frozen, so Bai Fanlu used a spell to melt it and set up a barrier in the small space to block out some of the cold. Then, he used healing magic to treat their injuries.

Gradually, the elderly and the children who had been unconscious began to wake up. Xiao Liu quickly handed out food and water to them, but the smallest infant refused both.

The baby wouldn’t stop crying, and nothing seemed to calm it down. Bai Fanlu thought for a moment, then raised his hand.

“…Brother?” Xiao Liu, who was busy tending to the other children, glanced over in confusion as he saw Bai Fanlu’s actions.

Without a word, Bai Fanlu nodded slightly, and a greenish light flashed on his wrist. A drop of blood appeared on the tip of his left index finger, and he placed it into the baby’s mouth.

The baby immediately stopped crying and began to suck on Bai Fanlu’s finger.

“Y-Young Master…” The old woman’s clouded eyes filled with tears, and her cracked lips trembled, unsure of what to say.

“It’s nothing,” Bai Fanlu said, smiling gently at the woman as he noticed the baby snuggling closer to his hand, half of its small body now sticking out of the old woman’s tattered cotton coat. “Let me hold him.”

Xiao Liu watched as Bai Fanlu took the baby into his arms and wrapped him in the wolf fur cloak.

The sound of the baby sucking on Bai Fanlu’s finger mixed with the noise of the others eating ravenously. Xiao Liu could hear it clearly.

Gradually, the baby’s cheeks regained some color, but Bai Fanlu’s face, already pale from the cold wind, now appeared even more translucent.

“Let me take over,” Xiao Liu sat down beside Bai Fanlu and reached out to take the baby.

But Bai Fanlu looked up and smiled, “My blood contains spiritual energy—does yours?”

Xiao Liu’s good intentions were met with a light rebuke, but he knew Bai Fanlu had said it on purpose, leaving him unable to retort. With all the food distributed and nothing left to do, Xiao Liu sat close beside Bai Fanlu.

As Bai Fanlu focused on the baby in his arms, he suddenly felt a hand slip under his wolf fur cloak, gently covering his hand that held the child.

The cuts on his hand from earlier, caused by the ice and snow while prying the tiles, had already healed quickly thanks to his spiritual energy. But the scars from those wounds were still visible.

Xiao Liu’s hand moved lightly over the scars, testing, stroking, and massaging them. Bai Fanlu’s heartbeat grew unsteady, and he wanted to pull his hand away.

But holding the child prevented him from making any sudden movements, so he glanced around to see if anyone was watching them.

Under the fur cloak, Xiao Liu’s hand grew bolder, fully wrapping around Bai Fanlu’s hand.

“Xiao Liu…”

“Hmm?”

Xiao Liu acted as if nothing was happening, reaching out with his other hand to gently touch the baby’s face, smiling with a contentment even sweeter than the baby’s dream-like sucking.

Bai Fanlu had nothing to say, so he let Xiao Liu have his way. By the time they returned the baby to the old woman, Bai Fanlu noticed, almost by accident, that the scars on his hand had completely disappeared.

Was it the spiritual energy healing itself? Or…

Bai Fanlu wasn’t sure—could Xiao Liu have actually gained considerable cultivation energy recently?

The baby, having had enough, finally fell into a peaceful sleep. The survivors, who had been buried under the snow for an unknown amount of time, had regained some strength and composure and were able to recount what had happened to Lingcheng.

It turned out that about a month ago, Lingcheng, which had always enjoyed clear skies, was suddenly hit by a massive blizzard. The initial snowfall buried many houses and claimed numerous lives.

The snowstorm raged on day and night, killing

 crops and livestock, leaving the people cold and starving. The young and strong started fleeing the city, leaving behind the old, weak, women, and children who couldn’t make it through the snowstorm, waiting in the city, resigning themselves to death.

“Where did they go?” Bai Fanlu asked.

If they headed south, they would have passed by Earjishan. The herders on both sides of the mountain would have noticed if anyone had escaped from Lingcheng, and news of the city’s plight would have spread.

Sure enough, the old woman replied, “They went west.”

“Why not south?”

The west, if Bai Fanlu remembered correctly, was a barren desert. The south had better transportation and settlements, making it more suitable for recovery.

“The snowstorm in the south was too intense—they couldn’t get through. Several people got lost and only a few made it back, saying it was like they were walking in circles, unable to find their way.”

Walking in circles? Bai Fanlu thought for a moment. They had just come from the south, and while the snowstorm was indeed fierce, it wasn’t impassable.

The situation could either be due to them being stronger than ordinary people, or it could be that someone deliberately prevented the people inside from sending word south, keeping the fall of Lingcheng a secret.

Bai Fanlu instinctively felt that the latter was more likely.

“You said the blizzard started suddenly about a month ago?” Bai Fanlu confirmed.

“Yes,” the old woman replied.

“Do you remember the exact date?”

The old woman frowned in thought, “It was two days after Qingming…yes, it was the second day of April.”

Bai Fanlu, unfamiliar with the local calendar since his arrival in this world, looked to Xiao Liu for confirmation and found him deep in thought, his expression serious.

“Did you think of something?”

Xiao Liu looked up at Bai Fanlu, “It was the day we arrived in Yingzhou.”

“……”

Bai Fanlu had been trying to connect the two events, and Xiao Liu had just done it for him.