The wind and snow were very strong, and although the god was barefoot, he left no footprints on the snow.
Xia De could only chase forward along the direction of the ridge. Fortunately, Tree Father would not leave him too far away. After a while, he saw the light of fire under the ridge.
Almost rolling down the snow surface - this is faster, and on the downhill, there is a stone that came from nowhere and was half covered with snow. The fire came from behind the stone, which was a good place to shelter from the wind.
When Shad walked over, he even found that the people around the campfire had built a small shelter using dead branches, cloth, ice and stones.
The sound of his bare feet walking on the snow made the three people who were numb as corpses around the campfire in the leaky shelter turn around and look at him.
The first thing that Xia De noticed was not that the witch actually agreed to let the man hide with her, but that the god with long silver-white hair was not here.
There was little snow behind the rocks, and the bonfire was set up on the ground. The two ladies and a man huddled around the bonfire, curling up to avoid being exposed to the wind and snow. The snow blowing in from the cracks in this simple shelter covered the ground with a thin layer of frost. The three people who watched Xia De coming over all had no expression on their faces, and even after Xia De got into their "shelter" and blocked the largest air leak with his body, the three people did not speak.
"Um... hello."
Shade greeted him hesitantly, and stretched out his hand to let the bonfire warm him. The fire that could be lit here was certainly not an ordinary fire, nor was it a bonfire created by the witch's secret technique or even the puzzle lock. This fire itself was some kind of powerful item. The primordial fire in Shade's body was agitated, and it was obvious that it wanted to devour the fire. But unfortunately, the true "primordial fire" was in Sister Defulin, and Shade only had the residual fire given by the nun, so he could not devour the fire.
No one paid any attention to Xia De. The three of them just looked at him. This scene was very strange. Xia De huddled up and put his palms to the fire, and whispered:
"Ladies and sir, I don't really understand what's going on. How about we introduce ourselves?"
He first points to himself:
"I am a stranger, from a faraway place, lost in a snowstorm."
He pointed his finger at the flame and used the "flame plasticity" spell to make the flame in the bonfire suddenly jump up. At the same time, Xia De also realized that the burning of the flame actually relied on mental power. The numb expressions of the three people present were not only due to the influence of the environment, but also because of maintaining the burning of the flame.
"You see, although I'm not a witch, a great witch did some small experiments on me, which resulted in me having some special abilities."
He explained casually.
Only one of the two ladies was a witch, the other was a normal person. The witch was not the older lady, but a girl who looked about 18 or 19 years old.
She has unusual silver hair and red-gold eyes, which is similar to a mixture of red and gold. This hair color and eye color are not natural, but should be caused by mystical research.
The witch was wrapped in a blanket made of unknown white fur outside her clothes and sat in the most sheltered place in this simple shelter:
"Witch Chloe Yin, Zarath Academy."
Her voice was a little cold, but at least the alert look she gave Shade showed some humanity:
"Man, what nonsense are you talking about? If the witch's experiment can give men extraordinary abilities, then the Fifth Age is no longer the Fifth Age."
She paused.
"Whatever you are, please listen carefully. One of the three of us is possessed by a demon, but no one knows who it is. Even we ourselves may not know if it is us... Are you a demon?"
"No, no, I am not an evil spirit from the Third Age."
Xia De immediately shook his head, then stretched out his finger and lit up the light:
"Silver Moon."
The holy silver light attracted the attention of the three people, and they all stared at the moonlight in a daze. There was no moon here, and the people trapped in the mountains had not seen the moonlight for who knows how long.
"You see, even if the devil can fake moonlight, it can't be this pure. Are you a witch from the Zarath Academy? Oh, I have friends in the Zarath Academy, too."
But Miss Becky Samuel, who appeared in the Dead Valley with Miss Orlanodel and Miss Fiona Drago, was a person three thousand years later.
Witch Chloe Yin nodded:
"Man, you don't have to try to get close to me. Listen, the three of us want to go to the top of the mountain for different purposes. I want the solid ice on the top of the mountain. I need that material for experiments. Our team originally had 19 people, but after an accident, there are only three of us left. If you are not afraid of danger, then stay, but we will not leave here until the devil is found."
If the demon suddenly attacked in the blizzard, the three of them would surely die, so her decision was negative but rational.
“It’s a very sensible decision.”
Shade praised, but the witch snorted and ignored him.
"Hello, sir. My name is Marcus Marquez. You can call me Mrs. Marquez. I was originally a follower of another witch, but my master died on the way... I will continue her wish and keep going."
Mrs. Marquez looked to be in her late thirties, with some barely noticeable freckles on her face, long limbs, and a headscarf.
"What wish?"
Xia De asked curiously, and the witch on the other side snorted again:
"Witness the highest peak of the Silver Mountains and leave your footprints there. The unlucky lady disappeared from the team at some point, and we only found her boots. Marquez took her boots and said he wanted to fulfill her wish."
"I see. That's really admirable."
Shade sighed slightly, and finally looked at the man huddled in the corner. Shade had met many men during the Fifth Era, such as the boy from Hope Town, Mr. Riddle, the "luckiest mortal", the king who was poisoned to death at the feast of God, and the old man who once held the "Demon Hunting Seal".
The man he met this time was different from all of them. He looked about the same age as Xia De, with a red mark on his left cheek. He shrank timidly in a corner, which was the worst position behind a big rock. He immediately lowered his head after being stared at by Xia De. The man did not intend to introduce himself.
"He is..."
"Exile."
It was still the young witch who looked only eighteen years old who was speaking:
"Looking at the marks on his face, it means he stole something from the witch's territory and was exiled here. We just met him not long ago, and considering that he might be needed for exploration or as bait, we left him here."
Xia De nodded, and had a preliminary understanding of the composition of these lost people.
The light of the bonfire gradually grew stronger with the arrival of Shade. The firelight illuminated four faces. Deep in the snowy mountains where the wind was blowing, the lost people seemed to have their own ideas.
Instead of asking about the so-called demonic possession, Shade asked:
"Have you seen a lady with bare feet, wearing a white robe, and holding a white oak staff?"
Witch Miss Chloe Yin wrapped herself in a blanket and shook her head slightly:
"We are the only ones here. But now that I have answered your question, then..."
As she spoke, she suddenly reached out and grabbed Xia De's wrist. She was a little surprised that Xia De didn't resist. After feeling it for a while, she let go of her hand and looked at her palm. Her tone became a little lighter and she said:
"See, I knew you were definitely not a man."
The red-gold eyes looked at Xia De again, and seeing that he had no reaction, he snorted again.
Xia De did not comment on this, but when the two met, he knew that this young-looking witch was actually already at the eleventh level:
"You know the winter god."
"Of course I know. Any questions?"
Miss Chloë Yin asked again, tightening the white fur on her body.
It's interesting to say that all the witches that Shade had seen before were very tall. Even some apprentices who inherited the power of witches were taller than normal women of the same age. But the Miss Chloe Yin in front of him was just the opposite. At first, Shade thought he was seeing things because she was huddled up, but now he was sure that the other person's height was indeed a little below the average level.
The sight of her squirming in the white blanket made Xia De want to laugh for some reason, but fortunately he held it back.
"No problem."
Xia De shook his head, knowing that the god had not appeared around the three of them, or that the three of them had forgotten something:
"I have some warm clothes here."
As he spoke, he took out a toy from his pocket, turned it into a real object, and distributed it to the three people. The witch Miss Chloe Yin thanked him while watching him cast a spell. Although Mrs. Marquez didn't know who Shade was, she confirmed that he had the ability to cast spells, so she behaved more respectfully.
As for the nameless exile in the corner, although he also accepted the warm clothes, he still did not speak.
"Maybe the god is hiding among the three of you."
Xia De thought of this possibility again. After all, a similar thing happened in the Thousand Trees Forest, and Miss Chloe Yin's hair color was very similar to that of the gods.
But if you think about it carefully, it seems unlikely. Among the three people at present, only Miss Chloe Yin meets the appearance of the god. The other two are ordinary people. But Miss Chloe Yin's curious look about him does not seem like the behavior of a god.
Warm clothes were helpful in resisting the severe cold of the Silver Mountains, but not particularly helpful. What really helped them was the pots and pans, salt, sugar, and daily necessities that Xia De took out later. The group didn't have much luggage left.
Although it is okay for an eleventh-level witch to eat less for a few months, if possible, no one wants to rely on snow water to satisfy hunger and thirst all the time.