While I was in Mondstadt, I never imagined becoming a god.

We must figure out a way before he takes us to the closed camp.

Just when he was racking his brains and almost in despair.

"boom--!"

A muffled rumble and a cacophony of screams suddenly came from the snow slope not far ahead.

"Run! Run!"

"Damn it, who told you to touch that thing!"

"Ruin Guardian! The Ruin Guardian is alive!"

Several people dressed in the uniforms of a treasure-hunting gang tumbled and crawled out from behind the rocks at the bottom of the slope and ran wildly in their direction.

Behind them, a massive ruin guardian slowly rose from the snowdrift, its rusty body glowing with a ghostly blue light.

Further away, a group of alarmed Hilichurls roared and charged towards them.

Chaos erupted in an instant.

Xu Chuan felt a "boom" in his mind, as if something had exploded.

It wasn't fear, but the ecstatic joy of grabbing a piece of driftwood in a desperate situation.

It's now!

He turned around abruptly and grabbed Joseph, who was still in shock.

He practically tumbled and crawled away, heading in the opposite direction from the treasure hunters, the ruins guards, and the fake Abedo.

“Xu Chuan?! Mr. Abedo, he…” Joseph exclaimed in horror.

Xu Chuan's voice trembled with extreme tension, but he still shouted it out loud, afraid that the fake Abedo wouldn't hear him.

“If I stay, I will only cause trouble for Mr. Abedo. I’d better hurry down the mountain.”

This is their only chance.

This chaos is the best cover.

Behind them, the screams of the treasure hunters, the roars of the ruin guards, and the shouts of the Hilichurls mingled together.

Xu Chuan dared not look back; he practically dragged Joseph as they ran wildly through the snow.

But as he rounded a giant rock, he couldn't help but glance at it out of the corner of his eye.

Abedo's figure stood at the center of the chaos.

He neither participated in the fight nor fled; he simply stood there quietly, like a statue.

His face was turned toward the direction where Xu Chuan and Joseph had disappeared, and his gentle smile was long gone.

That gaze was light and faint, yet it was like a needle, sending a chill down Xu Chuan's spine.

He didn't look back, but walked faster and faster until the pure white snow-capped mountain swallowed up all his figures.

Chapter Three: The Monster Attack

The wind is getting stronger.

Xu Chuan helped Joseph as they trudged through the snow, one step at a time.

That feeling of being constantly on my mind is hard to shake off.

It was as if an invisible thread extended from the fingertips of that fake Abedo and silently wrapped around his neck.

The faster he walked, the tighter the thread tightened.

“Xu Chuan…” Joseph gasped for breath, his face looking rather pale from the strenuous exercise. “Should we wait for Mr. Abedo?”

Xu Chuan didn't turn around, his steps never faltering. "Staying here will only distract him. We might as well go find some help now."

"Besides, there's nowhere here to shelter from the wind and snow, a place where we can wait. Just standing there will only make you freeze into an ice pop faster."

"Cough...cough cough, that's true." Joseph coughed and nodded.

"So where do we go now?" he asked.

Xu Chuan looked up and, before the wind and snow completely obscured his vision, suddenly asked.

"Are we heading towards Sleeping Dragon Valley?"

Joseph paused, carefully examined the surrounding terrain, and nodded affirmatively, saying, "That's right, it's roughly in that direction."

Xu Chuan didn't explain, but simply said in a low voice, "Then let's head that way."

Whether it was rational thinking or his inner intuition, he was told to choose this path.

After all, the fake Aberdo probably doesn't want Aberdo to know about his existence yet.

They only had a chance of survival if they were near the camp of True Abedo.

The two continued their trek through the wind and snow.

Unbeknownst to Xu Chuan, far behind them, the fake Abedo was standing amidst a scene of utter devastation.

The members of the treasure-hunting group lay scattered on the snow, some unconscious, others still twitching weakly.

They didn't die at the hands of the ruins' guardians; at the last moment, the fake Abedo made his move.

The monsters and ruins guards did not pose a significant obstacle, but they did take up some of his time.

These treasure-hunting groups were good material, but what really interested him were the two ordinary people who escaped.

"interesting."

The fake Abedo muttered to himself, a smile playing on his lips, his eyes as deep and unfathomable as an icy pool.

Xu Chuan concealed it very well just now.

However, the fake Abedo still discovered some clues that Xu Chuan had given.

In particular, the look in Xu Chuan's eyes when he looked back at him just now showed no sign of worry.

Instead, there was a kind of... faint apprehension.

A subconscious apprehension that one wants to avoid.

This is illogical.

As for the other party recognizing that he was a fake Abedo, that's completely impossible.

The real Abedo has been in this snow-capped mountain for so many years that even he hasn't noticed his own existence.

Furthermore, he has never shown his face to outsiders, and none of those who have seen him have ever been able to leave the Dragon Ridge Snow Mountain.

So, where does the fear in his eyes come from?

It couldn't be that guy who committed a crime against the real Abed in Mondstadt, could it?

The fake Abedo stared at the face of a member of the treasure-hunting gang who was unconscious in front of him.

“That’s interesting,” he said softly.

"Whether it's to learn about that guy's activities in Mondstadt or as experimental material, it's quite good."

After all, being deep in these snow-capped mountains, it was far too difficult for him to understand the outside world, especially matters related to Abedo.

The fake Abedo slightly hooked his finger.

Something moved in the snow.

Those were a few ice-deceptive flowers hidden in the snow. They were creations he had strengthened and controlled with alchemy, and in this icy world, they were the best hunters.

"Go."

Those ice-cold flowers received his instructions.

"Find those two humans and bring them back."

"They must live, especially that young man."

Xu Chuan didn't know how long he had been walking.

The wind and snow blurred the concept of time; he only knew that he couldn't just stop like this, the danger was far from over.

Joseph's breathing grew heavier; his injured leg slowed them both down, but they couldn't stop.

To stop is to die.

“Xu Chuan…” Joseph suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse like a broken bellows, “Aren’t you…aren’t you tired?”

Xu Chuan was taken aback: "What do you mean?"

Joseph, panting, said, "I'm just amazed... I feel like your health is almost unbelievably good."

Xu Chuan was stunned for a moment, and after recovering, he realized that something was wrong with his body.

Although I am still physically exhausted, I am far from reaching my limit.

Even more bizarrely, he still had the strength to help Joseph.

If this had happened before I transmigrated, I probably would have collapsed on the ground, unable to move.

This body underwent such changes in just one night.

Xu Chuan felt his body gradually adapting to this unfamiliar world.

"I guess so," he could only give a vague answer.

Joseph glanced at him but didn't ask any more questions.

Just then, Xu Chuan suddenly stopped.

He sensed something.

It's hard to describe the feeling; it's like something is moving deep in the snow.

Approaching, approaching...

"Danger!"

Xu Chuan practically shouted it out.

He grabbed Joseph and yanked him to the side, and the two of them fell to the ground in the snow.

The next second, the spot where they had just been standing exploded, snow flew everywhere, and a huge figure burst out of the ground!

That was a deceptive flower.

It was a whole size larger than the ordinary Phantom Flower, its entire body covered in ice armor with a faint blue luster, and the edges of its petals were made of sharp ice ridges.

Its core area flickered with an eerie red light, a color that shouldn't be present in a normal Deception Flower; it was a sign of being controlled by alchemy.

Xu Chuan gritted his teeth and got up. "Let's go!"

Behind them, the Ice Flower let out a sharp screech, its massive body moving with extraordinary speed across the snow.

It burrowed into the snow, moving like a fish in water, and caught up in the blink of an eye!

"boom--"

Another sudden thrust.

This time, Xu Chuan was unable to dodge.

The ice flower crashed into him from the side, its hard ice armor striking his waist squarely.

Xu Chuan was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily onto the snow a few meters away. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and almost vomited blood.

"Xu Chuan!" Joseph exclaimed.

"Don't worry about me... let's go..."

Xu Chuan struggled to get up, but the ice-cold flower was already closing in again.

It didn't kill him outright; its massive body sent him flying, slicing a gash in his arm with icicles and teasingly circling around him with those sharp edges.

It's playing.

Or rather, it's trying to capture itself alive.

Xu Chuan gritted his teeth and stared intently at the monster.

He saw the eerie red light at its core and suddenly understood something.