One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Nie Lingfeng quickly glanced through the documents, locked his phone, put it back in his pocket, and his expression became serious.

An unusual ancient god belief? A descent ritual? A Miao village in southeastern Guizhou?

This immediately reminded him of the unprocessed A-level mission in the "Dawn" mission list—"Deep in the Miao region of southeastern Guizhou, a village has been collectively infected with a 'strange disease,' and the villagers are behaving abnormally, as if they are being controlled by some kind of 'poison.'"

It seems the situation at "Luodong Village" is more complex than previously imagined. It involves not only "Gu" (a type of poison), but also distorted beliefs and a ritual resembling "descent." Furthermore, it may be connected to "that person."

"Seriously... there's never a moment's rest." Nie Lingfeng rubbed his temples and sighed silently. He had barely left Lingyun Cave and hadn't even caught his breath when another problem arose. And judging by the situation, it wasn't a small problem that could be solved in a short time; it was likely the beginning of a series of interconnected events.

He glanced at Chen Duo, who was sleeping soundly beside him. This mission was deep in the Miao region, a complex environment that might involve strange witchcraft, sorcery, and distorted faith; the level of danger was unknown. He would take Chen Duo with him…

As if sensing his gaze, or perhaps from a slight bump in the car, Chen Duo groggily opened her eyes. Her emerald green eyes were still misty with sleepiness. She blinked blankly, then looked at Nie Lingfeng, her voice soft and sleepy: "Nie Lingfeng... have we arrived?"

"Not yet, almost." Nie Lingfeng softened his voice. "Did I wake you?"

Chen Duo shook her head, sat up straight, rubbed her eyes, and then looked at Nie Lingfeng naturally: "You...are you unhappy?"

Nie Lingfeng was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled. This girl's intuition was sometimes frighteningly sharp.

"I'm not upset, it's just... I have a new mission." Nie Lingfeng didn't hide anything from her and simply said, "It's a place that's very far away and might be a bit troublesome."

"Where to?" Chen Duo asked, her drowsiness seemingly fading considerably.

"In southeastern Guizhou, deep in a Miao village." Nie Lingfeng looked at the town's outline, flickering with scattered lights, getting closer and closer. "It seems like something strange is wrong with the people there; we need to go and check it out."

Chen Duo tilted her head and thought for a moment: "Miao village? Is it like... a place with lots of singing and dancing women, like in TV shows?" Her limited understanding of "Miao village" probably came from some tourist promotional videos. (☆▽☆)

Nie Lingfeng was amused by her association, and his tense mood relaxed a bit: "Hmm, more or less. But the village we're going to might be a little... special. When we get there, you have to stick close to me, don't wander off, and don't touch anything, okay?"

"I know." Chen Duo nodded obediently, then added, "I won't cause you any trouble."

"You've never been a problem," Nie Lingfeng said earnestly, reaching out to ruffle her hair.

The car drove into town and stopped in front of a clean and tidy-looking hotel. This was a relatively safe area in the rear, and company staff had arranged accommodations and meals in advance.

The two got off the car and checked in. Nie Lingfeng specifically requested a suite, with him and Chen Duo each having their own room connected by a door for easy look-alike.

After a quick wash and a decent meal of local food provided by the hotel (Chen Duo showed great interest in a sour fish soup and ate quite a bit), Nie Lingfeng told Chen Duo to go back to her room to rest, while he stayed in the small living room and took out his phone and tablet again to carefully study the detailed information about "Luodong Village" sent by "Eagle".

The information is very detailed, including the history, customs, surrounding terrain, and satellite images of Luodongzhai, as well as a detailed record of unusual events in the past month, and the last action report and background information of the three missing field personnel.

The more Nie Lingfeng looked, the more his brows furrowed.

Luodong Village, as its name suggests, has a huge natural cave called "Luodong" next to it. According to the village's ancient legend, the "Cave God" lives in the cave, protecting the village and ensuring good weather, harvests, and the safety of people and livestock. The villagers have traditionally held sacrificial ceremonies at specific times of the year, but these are small-scale and more like folk customs.

But about forty days ago, things changed. Several respected "ghost masters" (the Miao people's term for priests and shamans) in the village almost simultaneously claimed that they had received a clearer "revelation" from the "cave god," demanding more solemn and frequent sacrifices, and making new and strange demands on the offerings—no longer the traditional three sacrificial animals and fruits, but instead demanding "the pure heart of a young girl" (literal meaning?) and "the blood of a living creature imbued with spirituality."

At first, the villagers were skeptical, but soon, strange things began to happen in the village. Some people heard eerie singing and whispering coming from the cave in the middle of the night; some people's livestock went mad or died suddenly for no reason; and some people claimed to have seen the shadows at the cave entrance wriggling and deforming under the moonlight... Even more strangely, several villagers who were originally weak and sickly suddenly became "healthy" overnight after participating in a new kind of ritual. They had increased strength, but their eyes became empty and numb, and they obeyed the commands of the "ghost master" and the "cave god" without question.

After receiving a secret report from the local folklore bureau, the company dispatched three field agents with experience in handling unusual events, posing as "folklorists" and "photographers" to investigate the village. Initially, everything seemed normal; they even managed to take some encrypted photos of the sacrificial ceremony. However, after attempting to get closer to the "cave" and conducting a covert nighttime reconnaissance, the three lost contact with command. The last intermittent signal they received consisted of only a few indistinct, dreamlike words: "Eyes...so many eyes...in the cave...watching...us..." The signal then dropped, life monitoring equipment detected abnormal energy interference, and finally, the signal disappeared deep into the cave.

Satellite images show that the vegetation around the cave has grown unusually lushly recently, and is even somewhat distorted. On the ground near the cave entrance, there are faint dark red, irregular patterns, resembling dried blood or some kind of naturally formed, sinister pattern.

"Twisted faith, enhanced 'blessings,' requirements for specific offerings, strange phenomena at the cave entrance, the 'eyes' mentioned by the missing persons..." Nie Lingfeng tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his mind rapidly analyzing. "This doesn't sound like simple demonic possession or evil cultivation methods; it's more like... a conscious guidance and 'contamination.' The target seems to be using the existing local beliefs to carry out some kind of 'descent' or 'transformation' ritual. Those villagers who were 'blessed' might be the initial 'vessels' or 'offers.'"

He recalled the "key" and "door" mentioned by the "administrator" in the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Valley, the tainted remains of the fire unicorn deep within the Lingyun Cave, and the information mentioned by the "eagle" that might be related to "that person".

"It seems I have no choice but to go to southeastern Guizhou this time." Nie Lingfeng closed his tablet, a cold glint in his eyes. No matter who was behind it all, using innocent people, distorting beliefs, and carrying out such an evil ritual had crossed his bottom line.

He glanced at Chen Duo's closed door and could hear even, soft breathing coming from inside; she was clearly fast asleep.

"We'll set off first thing tomorrow morning. We'll go to Guiyang first, then transfer to another vehicle to go into the mountains." Nie Lingfeng made up his mind. "This time, Chen Duo's Phoenix True Fire might play an unexpected role in the mission. But the premise is that her safety must be guaranteed."

He walked to the window, gazing at the quiet nightscape of the town outside, with the distant, undulating black mountain shadows resembling the spine of a giant beast. Further south, in those more mysterious and profound mountains, a new storm was quietly brewing in the ancient Miao village.

As the plane pierced through thick clouds and landed at Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport, a light drizzle was falling. In October, the air in Guizhou is moist and slightly cool, carrying the fresh scent of grass and trees unique to the mountains and forests, quite different from the dry and cold weather of the north.

Nie Lingfeng and Chen Duo followed the flow of people out of the terminal. Chen Duo had changed into a light gray windbreaker and sweatpants for easy movement, her hair tied in a neat high ponytail. She carried a small backpack containing a few changes of clothes and, more importantly, her ever-present panda plush toy. She curiously observed the scenery around her, so different from what she saw in the north, and the clothing of the passersby, her emerald green eyes shining brightly in the drizzle.

Nie Lingfeng was still wearing the same simple black jacket and trousers, with the specially made sword sheath slung over his back, inside which lay the Snow Drinking Blade and the Peerless Sword. He held a cell phone in his hand, the screen displaying the latest contact information from "Eagle" and a license plate number.

Soon, they found a brown SUV with local license plates in the arrivals area. Standing next to the car was a dark-skinned man in his thirties, wearing an ordinary jacket, with shrewd eyes, holding a handwritten sign that read "Picking up Teacher Nie" in crooked handwriting.

"Teacher Nie, Miss Chen Duo?" The man greeted them immediately upon seeing them, a warm but not overly exaggerated smile on his face. He reached out to take Nie Lingfeng's backpack. "I'm Yang Shulin from the Guizhou branch. My superiors sent me to pick you two up. I'll be responsible for arranging and coordinating your itinerary from now on."

"Master Yang, thank you for your trouble." Nie Lingfeng nodded, not handing him his backpack, but instead handing him Chen Duo's small backpack. "Going straight to Luodong Village?"

"Oh, Teacher Nie, no rush, no rush." ​​Xiao Yang took Chen Duo's bag, quickly put it in the car, and rubbed his hands together with a smile. "It's almost noon. You two must be tired from your journey. Have some food and rest first. It's another five or six hours of driving on mountain roads from Guiyang to Moon Mountain. You can't go without filling your stomachs. I know a really authentic sour fish soup restaurant in the city. It's really delicious! I guarantee Miss Chen Duo will like it!"

As he spoke, he eagerly opened the car door, but his eyes subtly glanced at Nie Lingfeng and Chen Duo, especially at the bulging long package behind Nie Lingfeng and the "stick" wrapped in cloth that Chen Duo was holding. A hint of probing flashed in his eyes, but he quickly returned to his enthusiastic driver persona.