Chapter 20: Beneath the Frozen Mountain

The ancient characters continued to shine brightly after Bai Yue took her hand off of the stone door.

The glow wasn’t very strong but it was enough to cast pale blue light on the impressive chamber.

Frost was snaking across the floor and the walls, stretching away from the door in jagged veins.

The temperature had dropped drastically and Su Ning’s breath had already become white smoke.

She gripped her sword tighter.

"Senior Sister..."

Bai Yue didn’t answer right away.

Her eyes were locked on the stone door.

Nothing had opened.

There wasn’t a crack at the seam of the door slab, no ancient voices, no sudden wraith-like apparitions.

But Bai Yue could feel it in her bones.

Han Zhi crouched beside the ancient lines etched onto the floor and was studying them carefully.

"Senior Sister."

"What did you discover?"

"This isn’t a standard seal formation."

Bai Yue turned her head to look at him.

"That’s not possible."

Han Zhi pointed at the strange markings surrounding the stone door.

"I thought the formation was meant to keep something out, but I was wrong.

These channels don’t lead outward, they lead inward."

Su Ning frowned.

"What are you saying?"

Han Zhi gulped.

"The formation isn’t keeping something from getting in."

He turned to face the stone door.

"It’s keeping something from getting out."

Silence filled the chamber for a few moments.

Bai Yue studied the door again.

The Sect Master had said that there was an ancient artifact beneath the mountain.

Elder Shuang had said that the sect had guarded it for centuries.

Neither one of them had ever implied that the artifact was a container.

If Han Zhi was correct then the sect’s ancestors hadn’t been guarding the artifact.

They’ve been guarding whatever was inside the artifact.

Bai Yue’s voice was cold.

"We’re leaving."

"Senior Sister!" Su Ning’s eyes widened.

"What about the missing disciples?"

"We’ll return with the elders."

"But they could still be alive."

"I know."

Bai Yue turned to look at her.

"That’s why we should return to the sect and get reinforcements."

"There’s no need to involve others," Su Ning said.

"Senior Sister..."

"No," Bai Yue’s eyes darkened.

"Did anyone suggest that these disciples were dead?"

Su Ning hesitated.

She then shook her head.

"If we leave right now then we might never find them."

Han Zhi turned to look at her in disbelief.

"You’re suggesting that we continue to explore this ancient ruin that has a powerful artifact sealed inside of it by a nine layer formation just because three people entered it and one person may still be alive?"

"I’m suggesting that three people entered this ruin and at least one of them may still be alive."

Her voice had dropped.

"I don’t want to leave them."

Bai Yue studied her apprentice for a few seconds.

The reckless look wasn’t in Su Ning’s eyes anymore.

Instead of anger there was concern.

Bai Yue turned away.

"Five minutes."

"Senior Sister!" Su Ning blinked in surprise.

"Five minutes.

We’ll search for any traces that the disciples might have left before this place was sealed.

If the situation turns dangerous then we leave immediately."

"Understood," Su Ning smiled.

Han Zhi sighed.

"I knew we would continue."

---

The narrow passage beside the stone door hadn’t been there when they entered.

It was a tight corridor and the walls were lined with ancient frost.

Han Zhi was in the front, examining the formations beneath their feet while Bai Yue was in the center and Su Ning was at the back, ready to pull them out if anything happened.

They hadn’t walked for more than a few feet when Bai Yue spotted the first trace of the missing disciples.

A strip of white fabric was tangled around a broken stone pillar.

Bai Yue frowned as she recognized the pattern.

"It’s one of their robes."

Su Ning was already walking forward.

"There should be more."

They came to a stop after a few dozen steps.

A broken sword lay on the ground, followed by a small storage pouch and a jade talisman crushed beneath a large rock.

It was clear that the disciples had walked this corridor shortly before the passage was sealed.

But as Su Ning was inspecting the wall, Han Zhi noticed something else.

Someone had carved a message onto the stone.

He raised the spirit lamp to take a closer look.

The message was hastily etched onto the wall.

Su Ning’s expression changed.

"I know that handwriting."

Bai Yue turned to look.

Four characters had been carved onto the stone.

Don’t follow us.

A long silence stretched between them.

Bai Yue’s fingers traced the message.

"He was alive when he wrote this."

"Yes," Bai Yue’s voice was quiet.

"But why would he warn us not to follow?"

Bai Yue turned away from the wall.

"Because he saw something."

Before she could say anything else the narrow passage opened into a much larger chamber.

The three came to a halt.

Before them was a city-like structure, although it was partially buried under centuries of frost and ash.

Massive stone buildings jutted out of the ground in jagged formations, connected by broken stone bridges and enormous platforms.

Ancient formations towered above them, blocking the view of the cavern-like ceiling.

Although it was a ruin, it was still possible to make out familiar buildings.

Cultivation halls, formation towers, spiritual well ruins, storage halls and even streets were scattered across the expanse.

Han Zhi’s mouth was agape.

"This place..."

"The sect didn’t build the mountain," Bai Yue whispered.

Han Zhi looked at her.

Bai Yue studied the ruins.

"They built on top of it."

Su Ning pointed at the distant structures.

"Who lived here before us?"

Bai Yue shook her head.

They walked further into the ruins.

Unlike the stone pillars and doorways they passed earlier, these buildings contained no signs of battle.

No broken weapons, no armor, no signs of a struggle.

Even the streets were empty.

It was as if the entire city had simply... vanished.

Eventually they came to a wall covered with ancient paintings.

Bai Yue’s breath caught in her throat.

There were hundreds of dragons painted on the stone, some the size of mountains while others were as large as starships.

Some of the dragons were circling strange formations, their wings blotting out the sky filled with unfamiliar stars.

But the dragons weren’t attacking any of the human figures painted next to them.

The humans were gathered around massive black circles.

Spatial gateways.

Bai Yue’s eyes narrowed.

Han Zhi studied the symbols beneath the painted murals.

"They were studying spatial passages," he said.

Bai Yue nodded.

"And the dragons were part of it," she added.

Han Zhi looked up at the painted figures.

"Perhaps they created the passages."

"No," Bai Yue pointed at one of the murals.

She looked over her shoulder.

"A dragon was the guardian of the gate.

The humans were offering tribute to it.

If the dragon opened the portal then they would be allowed to pass through.

Now look at this one..."

She pointed at another mural.

Once again there was a dragon and a group of humans, but this time the dragon was facing the humans instead of the other way around.

The humans were on their knees.

"This is what happened when the dragon didn’t allow them to pass."

Han Zhi turned pale.

"So they were keeping something inside the mountain?"

Bai Yue didn’t answer.

A low sound echoed from somewhere deeper within the ruins.

Su Ning’s head snapped toward the noise.

"Do you hear that?"

The three of them stood perfectly still.

A second later there was another sound, this time a dull metallic clanging.

Bai Yue pulled out her sword.

"Stay close to me."

They followed the sound until they came to a collapsed chamber.

A person was trapped beneath a formation of broken stones.

"Senior Sister!" Su Ning ran forward and Bai Yue followed closely behind.

Two disciples lay beneath the rubble, both barely conscious.

Su Ning crouched beside them.

"Senior Brother Lu! Wake up!"

The older disciple groaned and opened his eyes halfway.

"Senior..."

"We’re here," Su Ning said.

"You’re safe,"

The disciple’s eyes widened in confusion.

Then fear.

"You shouldn’t have come." Bai Yue knelt beside him.

"What happened?"

The disciple’s breathing became uneven.

"We came here and we found the ruins...

Then we heard something."

"What did you hear?"

The disciple’s lips trembled.

"I don’t know.

It was sleeping."

Bai Yue’s expression darkened.

"What was sleeping?"

The disciple’s mouth twisted in pain.

"We thought the door was a treasure vault,"

He coughed.

"Then we heard it."

Su Ning leaned in closer.

"What did you hear?"

The disciple looked at her.

"It heard us."

A cold shiver ran down Bai Yue’s spine.

Bai Yue turned to look at the other disciple but the young man was already unconscious.

"Where is the third one?"

The apprentice’s face had gone pale.

Bai Yue immediately picked up on the change.

"There were three of you."

The disciple nodded.

"Yes."

"Where is he?"

The apprentice shook his head.

"There were three of us..."

Terror filled his eyes.

"...and something else."

Suddenly the floor beneath them shook.

Dust rained down from the ceiling.

Han Zhi turned to look at the formation compass in his hand.

His face went pale.

"Senior Sister,"

"What is it?"

"The second layer of the seal is opening."

Bai Yue turned around.

In the distance, beyond the city-like ruins, pale blue light was leaking out from the ancient chamber.

One line of formation markings, then another, then another, was glowing.

"The second layer is coming online," Han Zhi said.

Bai Yue nodded.

"How long will it take before it opens?"

"I don’t know."

"Can you stop it?"

"No."

"Can you slow it down?"

Han Zhi hesitated.

"Maybe."

"Then do it,"

Han Zhi quickly started placing formation stones around the chamber while Bai Yue and Su Ning carefully lifted the unconscious disciples.

"We’re leaving,"

As they turned to return to the passage, Bai Yue felt something was different about the ancient cavern.

The formation towers that had stood silently for centuries were beginning to hum with energy.

Ancient artifacts were glowing softly in their stone alcoves.

Something was shifting below their feet.

Not the ground, but something deeper, something older.

"A wall," Su Ning said.

Bai Yue turned to look.

There was a strange wall of frost blocking their path.

Except for one spot, a single handprint was frozen into the surface.

It was the size of a human hand and there was a trail of blood leading downward from the print.

Bai Yue narrowed her eyes.

"That wasn’t there before,"

Han Zhi turned around.

"Someone is following us,"

They didn’t have to wait for long before they heard the sound of footprints echoing through the tunnels.

One set, then another and another.

Bai Yue turned around with her sword already drawn.

A figure stood at the end of the passage, blocking their way.

It was tall, humanoid and it was standing completely still.

The spirit lamp suddenly dimmed.

Bai Yue’s muscles tensed.

"Who is it?"

The figure didn’t respond.

The lamp went out entirely.

Then the intruder was gone.

Su Ning’s face had gone completely white.

"Did you see it?"

Bai Yue didn’t answer.

Without another word they turned and ran back the way they came.

When they finally came to the stone door, Bai Yue realized something was wrong.

The nine layered formation that surrounded it was no longer dormant, two of the layers were glowing.

Bai Yue turned to look at the others, then she listened.

A loud THUMP sounded from the other side of the door.

Everyone went rigid.

Another THUMP.

And then another.

Su Ning turned toward Bai Yue.

"Senior Sister..."

Bai Yue didn’t respond.

Suddenly a loud CRACK echoed through the chamber as the ancient door began to splinter.

Bai Yue’s expression turned to stone.

Whatever was sealed beneath the Celestial Frost Sect had awakened.

Now it was aware that they were here.