Pillar of Yita

Looking up at the Aimumu Fortress from the valley, the outer walls of this abandoned ancient castle appeared exceptionally towering. The gray-white wall stood on the lead-gray cliff, surrounded by lush trees and plants, with collapsed bricks and stones forming eerie shapes. The pitch-black windows below were covered with rust-colored vines, layer upon layer, silently narrating a history of decay.

Fang Hong found a small path leading up to the cliff. He instructed Kuisu to divide her men into two groups, looked after by the Big Cat People and Xiesta, to conduct a search in the valley. The rest would go with him to the castle above to see what they could find.

The group made an agreement, as they all had a few signal flares, with different colored flares representing different messages. If any team encountered an enemy they found difficult to handle, they were to use a red flare to summon the others to converge in their direction.

Though the teams had other means of communication, and Reed had a Xiangzi left nearby, the signal flares were prepared for emergencies. For instance, there might not be time to use communication channels, or ether turbulence in the valley could interfere with communication.

Climbing halfway up the mountain along the trail, even before reaching the castle, the group made a discovery. Lady Kuisu noticed several broken spruce trees at the bottom of one hillside, each as thick as a person could encircle. Gita, sharp-eyed, saw what seemed to be a glowing metallic object stuck on one of the stumps, ”There’s something over there!” she pointed it out to the others.

Fang Hong pulled down his wind goggles and released the Clockwork Fairy. After the golden copper sphere flew around the woods twice, he could see clearly that it was a longsword stuck on the stump—there seemed to be something flashing in the bushes behind it.

He turned back. ”Miss Elisa, could you take a look down there?”

”Just call me Elisa, Captain,” Elisa said, not saying much more before grabbing onto the tree trunk and sliding down. In just a few moves she reached the mountain stream, pulled out the sword, and was ready to check the bush behind.

”Be careful.” Fang Hong glanced at the lush greenery in the snow below, instinctively feeling that the quietness was somewhat unnatural, and reminded her.

”Got it, Captain.”

Elisa found it somewhat amusing; this captain worried more than those in the Lonely White Field. But it felt nice to be concerned about.

She was about to check the bushes when a gray ’hand’ suddenly reached out from the bush, grabbed her ankle, and pulled her down hard.

Elisa didn’t notice it at all and, caught off guard, slipped into the bushes. Gita couldn’t help but scream when she saw this. Fang Hong instinctively opened a portal of ethereal blue light.

But before anyone could react further, a low growl came from the bushes, and after a tremble, the older sister of the twins emerged from within. Only then did everyone see clearly that it wasn’t a ’hand’ wrapped around her ankle, but a gray vine.

Elisa tore off the vine, threw it to the ground, and shook her head upwards to indicate she was okay.

However, she had sustained a minor injury, and after checking her ankle, slowly stood up. The young lady gripped her sword in one hand and picked up something from the bushes before climbing back up.

”What happened?” Fang Hong reached out a hand to pull Elisa up, asking her at the same time.

”It’s a Murderous Vine,” Elisa said with an exasperated chuckle, feeling deeply embarrassed. ”Luckily it was just a juvenile, not high level, manageable for an ordinary person. I didn’t expect to encounter one in winter.”

She glanced at Fang Hong, who only said seriously, ”Be more careful next time, you scared Gita a lot.”

Elisa breathed a sigh of relief. She looked back at Miss Natural Historian, whose face was pale as she looked at her and said, ”You scared me to death, Miss Elisa, I thought something happened to you.”

”Thank you, Gita.”

Gita also exhaled, looking somewhat relieved.

”But how can there be a Murderous Vine in winter?” Fang Hong was also puzzled. Murderous Vines are a unique type of plant monster, usually disguising themselves with several subtypes as withered vines or tree roots on the air. When prey passes by, they extend tendrils to entangle and inject venom through barbs, paralyzing the prey and then slowly digesting them.

They mostly appear at the turn from spring to summer, funneling back underground through ’inverse growth’ after autumn and winter, like a hibernation. They wait for the thaw before returning above ground, year after year, always this way.

Unlike most annual herbaceous plants, most long-lived Murderous Vines can live for over a decade. Although they are called Murderous Vines, their main prey is not humans. They hunt humans primarily to absorb the ether magic power within starlight.

But a Murderous Vine appearing in winter is indeed quite strange.

Only then did Elisa hand what she held over to Fang Hong.

Fang Hong took the sword, glancing at it, seeing that it had a wide blade and a crossguard, with a crimson stone embedded in the hilt. It looked like a common standardized sword, presumably something an adventurer would have.

But why would an adventurer’s belongings be here?

An adventurer’s equipment wouldn’t be left behind for no reason, either abandoned intentionally or as a result of a fall after death. Yet if it were from combat between adventurers, the battlefield would likely have been cleaned up afterwards, making it unlikely for magic guided conductors to be left behind.

”Did a battle take place here before?” he asked.

Elisa nodded lightly.

Fang Hong looked at the broken spruce trees, some of which were thrown crosswise. Given their level, such damage couldn’t be caused without the power of magic. He further asked, ”Are there signs of magic?”