After being chosen by the Ice Queen

"This event has begun. Have fun in the new world..."

With a faint smile, Lin Xue's figure slowly dissipated into the air, like ink stains washed away by water.

The frozen time around him instantly returned to normal. The murky smell of the old woman once again filled Gu Yan's nostrils, and the old woman's cloudy yet sharp eyes stared at him. The commotion and whispers of the surrounding crowd surged in like a tide.

"He's awake!"

"The person who fell from the sky... is it male or female? They look like a man!"

"High Priest, what should we do?"

The old woman, known as the High Priestess, did not answer immediately. Instead, she suddenly raised her withered, bird-claw-like hand and grabbed Gu Yan's chin. Her gaze swept across his face.

"You," the old woman's voice was hoarse, each word trembling with excitement, "descended from the sky, landed on the altar... Is this in response to the prayers of my Wucha Kingdom? Heaven, finally, has taken pity on my people and bestowed upon us the seed to continue our bloodline...?" She spoke the last two words very softly, yet with a chilling fervor.

Gu Yan shuddered at the burning intensity in her eyes, his mind racing. The language implanted by the system allowed him to understand her words, but it also made him more acutely aware of the absurdity of his situation. Seedlings? That word didn't sound very appealing.

"I...I don't know what to pray for." Gu Yan tried to make his voice sound calm. "I...I fell down by accident."

"An accident?" The high priest grinned, his wrinkles twisting into a sinister smile. "You say it was an accident, and you ended up on the core altar of our clan's prayer for offspring? Young man, before the gods, lies are like rotten leaves, crumbling at the slightest touch."

Gu Yan cursed himself for being so bad at talking and quickly changed his words.

"No, that's not important. I need to see the Queen. I have important matters to discuss. If I can help her, I'll help you all!"

The burly woman standing nearby immediately looked indignant and said, "Nonsense! I think you're probably a spy sent by another country."

The old woman remained silent, merely observing Gu Yan.

Gu Yan understood immediately, and glared at him: "I am a person sent from heaven, and I am talking with your clan's high priest. What right do you have to speak? Besides, no matter how stupid other countries are, they would not send a man as a spy. However, the matter I am discussing is of great importance, and I hope the high priest will find a place to talk to me in private."

Gu Yan forced himself to remain calm and only looked at the High Priest.

The old woman released her grip, straightened up, and looked down at him, her voice regaining its coldness and authority: "Regardless of your origins, your arrival here is the will of Heaven. The Mother-Child River has been dry for three months, and the lifeblood of my Wucha Kingdom is on the verge of extinction. Your appearance may be a turning point or a calamity. Until we know for sure..."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the breathless crowd around her, especially the young women whose eyes held a mixture of hope, curiosity, fear, and even a hint of greed.

"Take this man from the heavens into the Meditation Pavilion and guard him closely. No one except the Queen and the High Priestess shall approach him! The decision rests with Her Majesty the Queen!"

"Yes!" Several tall women in leather armor stepped forward and nimbly dragged Gu Yan up from the ground.

Gu Yan was about to speak again when a wad of cloth smelling of herbs was stuffed into his mouth. He was led through layers of people and left the square.

The Jingsi Pavilion, despite its elegant name, is actually a heavily guarded stone building. It's located in a secluded spot, with distant mountain views visible from its windows.

He was confined to a room with only a tatami mat, a small table, and a pot of water. The ropes on his hands were replaced with metal shackles connected to locks on the wall, limiting his movement to just a few steps around the tatami mat.

The gag in his mouth was removed, the door slammed shut, and the sound of the lock clicking shut was clearly audible.

Gu Yan slumped onto the cold stone bed, finally having the chance to carefully recall everything that had happened in that short period of time.

A system? Time travel? The Kingdom of Women… no, the Kingdom of Witches. The Mother-Child River has dried up… and who exactly is Lin Xue?

He tried to invoke the system, and a semi-transparent interface immediately appeared before his eyes, clearly listing the tasks, time, status, and rewards.

"Check the surrounding area within ten miles?" Gu Yan's mind stirred slightly, and he tried to concentrate his mind to sense the surrounding area according to the system prompts.

At first, it was just a blur, but gradually, some scattered points of light, outlines, and fragments of sound entered my perception.

He saw the two guards standing outside the door, and the soldiers patrolling the perimeter of the building. Further away, the streets were bustling with activity... He could even feel an almost pervasive sense of anxiety, like a heavy, oppressive atmosphere enveloping this strange land.

His senses continued to wander outwards, following the direction people occasionally mentioned, the direction of their worries: the Mother-Child River.

It was a wide, now dried-up riverbed, its exposed surface riddled with cracks. Many altars and stone tablets once stood along its banks, now appearing utterly desolate.

Just as Gu Yan's senses swept over a particularly winding section of the riverbed where the riverbanks appeared unusually smooth, his mind was suddenly jolted!

It wasn't because there was anything conspicuous there; quite the opposite, in Cha You's perception, that area presented a strange emptiness. Something was shielding the surrounding mental probes.

In the center of that blank area, there was an extremely faint trace that resonated with his own aura, or rather, with the aura of him after being bound to the system!

"Exploring the secret realm left behind by the gods... Could this be it?"

Gu Yan's heart raced. He could feel that the blank space was calling to him in a subtle way.

Cha You's abilities also revealed that the place had a powerful restriction that ordinary people could not detect, let alone approach or activate.

"It can only be activated by specific people like me..." He recalled the description of the system task.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door. The key clicked softly, and the door was pushed open.

What came into Gu Yan's view was a woman dressed in an elegant long dress with a light gauze shawl over it.

She looked to be in her early twenties, with an exceptionally beautiful face, not with Lin Xue's cold sophistication, but with a pure and serene beauty like a mountain spring and the bright moon.

At this moment, however, a deep weariness and worry shrouded her brows, as if she were bearing the weight of the entire nation.

She was followed by the high priest in black and two maids.

"Your Majesty." The High Priest bowed slightly.

The Queen nodded slightly, her gaze falling on Gu Yan. Her gaze held scrutiny, inquiry, doubt, and a hint of suppressed hope.

"Stranger," the Queen began, her voice gentle yet imposing, "the High Priest has already informed me of the altar's existence. I am Feng Si, the seventh queen of the Wuchao Kingdom. Tell me your name, and... where you come from, and what brings you here?"

Gu Yan took a deep breath, knowing that the real test was only just beginning. Whether he could gain the queen's initial trust, and whether he would have the opportunity to approach the Mother-Child River to explore that secret realm, all depended on this moment.

He tried his best to remain calm and met Queen Feng Si's gaze.

"My name is Gu Yan," he said, "and I come from... a very far place. As for why I came..."

He paused, glanced at the high priest beside him whose eyes were sharp as an eagle, then looked at Queen Feng Si, whose brows were furrowed with worry, and slowly said:

"Perhaps it has something to do with the answer you're looking for regarding the drying up of the Zimu River."