The hidden pass opened into a frost-choked ravine, where jagged rocks jutted like broken blades, their edges rimed with ice that gleamed under the moon. Qin Mo, Yi, and Ren moved cautiously, the shard's heat a faint shield against the cold, but the FFD System's warnings flashed, sensing a presence beyond the golems. The bells in Qin Mo's pouch were silent, yet their weight pressed heavier, as if waiting.
[FFD System: Frostflame Balance: Heat 56% / Cold 44%. Scan: Unknown essence, 150 meters north, threat level: High.]
Ren's daggers twirled, his eyes scanning the ravine's shadows. "Something's watching. Not sect—not yet."
Yi's threads hovered, ready to strike. "The runes here are different," she said, pointing to carvings on the rocks—wolf shapes entwined with bells, their lines pulsing faintly red. "Older than the sect's."
A figure emerged from the frost—a man, cloaked in tattered robes, his face scarred, eyes glowing with a faint blue chill. A broken sect token hung at his waist, its azure faded to gray. "Core-bearer," he rasped, voice like cracking ice. "You carry their curse."
Qin Mo's blade rose, the shard burning. "Who are you?"
"An outcast," the man said, drawing a blade etched with frost runes. "Like you, betrayed. The sect wanted my shard—experiments for the Silent Tax."
The FFD System chimed, analyzing.
[FFD System: Essence detected: Frostbound shard. Devour potential: High. Binding risk: 32%.]
The outcast lunged, his blade trailing frost that froze the air, each swing heavy with cold. Qin Mo parried, Flame Step igniting, steam rising as heat met ice. The clash shook the ravine, ice shards falling from the rocks. The outcast's strikes were precise, fueled by a shard's power, his blade weaving a cage of frost.
Yi's threads lashed out, binding the outcast's arm, but his shard pulsed, freezing her threads brittle. Ren darted in, daggers aiming for joints, but the outcast's frost armor—similar to Qin Mo's—deflected the blows, ice cracking but holding.
[FFD System: Frost armor clash detected. Heat loss: 15%. Balance: Heat 54% / Cold 46%.]
Qin Mo unleashed Wolf Howl Shock, the roar shaking the ravine, loosening rocks that crashed around them. The outcast staggered, his shard flickering. "They'll take yours too," he spat, blade slashing for Qin Mo's chest.
Qin Mo dodged, Frost Claw extending, raking the outcast's side, frost blooming on his robes. The outcast's shard—a cold jade embedded in his arm—pulsed, resisting. Yi's threads regrouped, wrapping his legs, while Ren's daggers struck the jade, cracking it.
The outcast fell, blood freezing on the ground. "The Silent Tax… it claims all shards," he gasped, handing Qin Mo the cracked jade before his eyes dimmed.
[FFD System: Frostbound jade absorbed. Devour progress: 25%. Balance shifting: Heat 52% / Cold 48%.]
The jade's cold surged into Qin Mo, the shard in his chest straining to balance it. Yi frowned, her threads retracting. "He said experiments. The sect's using shards for something bigger."
Ren nodded, wiping blood from his daggers. "My brother was part of it. I'll find the truth."
The ravine's runes pulsed once, then faded. The bells remained silent, but Qin Mo felt their gaze. "We're getting closer," he said, gripping the jade. The FFD System chimed, warning of the path ahead.
[FFD System: Silent Tax resonance rising: 35%. Next fragment: 200 meters north.]
The group moved on, the ravine's cold pressing heavier, the mountain's secrets stirring.