At dawn.
Pushing aside the dense branches, gazing steadily at the clear stream below, a vague figure of slender young man was seen reflecting on the surface of the clear stream.
"Where am I?"
The young man lowered his body, cupped a handful of stream water, and harshly splashed it onto his face. The bone-chilling coldness penetrated his cheeks, momentarily sharpening his senses.
This mountain stream faced away from the sun, perennially untouched by sunlight, hence the chilling nature of its water.
Clang!
Without warning, a distant and majestic bell echoed through the mountains.
The young man struggled to stand up, a sense of powerlessness invading him, nearly causing him to fall into the narrow stream.
Bowing his head to scrutinize himself, the black silk robe woven from satin had many tears from branches, the jet-black long hair freed from its pin, clinging disorderly to his fair and handsome face.
Even his golden-threaded embroidered shoes had openings. The jade pendant hanging from his waistband had vanished, leaving only a fine red rope hanging loosely, a clear sign of his distressed state.
"My name is, Ji ..."
The young man furrowed his brow, attempting to recall his surname. Yet, a sudden sharp pain pierced his forehead, plunging his fleeting memories into confusion once again.
Clang!
A second bell resonated, sharper than the first, accompanied by an eerie feeling that sent shivers down one's spine.
Covering his forehead, the young man crouched down, plunging his head into the clear and bright stream.
After a few breaths, he lifted his head from the cool water, finding some relief from the intense pain in his forehead.
Casually wiping the water droplets from his face with his black silk sleeve, he slumped down by the stream, releasing a heavy sigh.
Clang!!!
The third bell echoed across the mountains!
A sharp and resentful scream accompanied the bell, piercing deep into the young man's mind, causing an involuntary shiver.
"What kind of sound is this? The bells in ordinary mountain temples would never be so eerie."
Before the murmured words could settle, an overwhelmingly powerful invisible sound wave emanated from afar, sending the young man flying several yards, crashing hard against a towering rock.
Blood splattered.
After a while, the young man barely managed to sit up, trembling as he touched the left side of his forehead, feeling a tearing, excruciating pain.
Blood flowed down his cheek, the constant agony almost causing him to faint.
But as he raised his head and saw the invisible ripple spreading from the mountains once again, there was no time to hesitate. With all his strength, he rolled over and plunged into the narrow and deep mountain stream beside him.
The next moment, a more intense wave of sound swept through, causing rocks to collapse and fly, even stopping the flow of the stream.
...
Tick-tock.
"My name is ... Ji Yue ... Nian."
The young man looked up at the intermittent drops of water between the cracks of the rocks, forcing a slight smile on his blood-stained face.
He finally recalled his name from the fragments of his remaining memories.
Leaning against the damp rocks at the bottom of the stream, Ji Yuenian relaxed slowly.
The wound on his forehead was ghastly, with even flesh and blood spilling out.
Surveying his surroundings, Ji Yuenian realized this place was a dead end, and the previously tumbled stream entrance was now solidly blocked by countless chaotic rocks.
Shaking his head slightly, he lowered his body, scooped some icy stream water from a sunken rock hollow, and wiped his face.
After cleaning the blood from his face, disregarding the chill and dampness, Ji Yuenian sat down directly in this dark and narrow mountain stream.
His strength was truly feeble at this moment; he needed to force himself to rest and recover a bit before attempting to push away these tightly packed rocks.
After an unknown duration, the light filtering through the cracks in the rocks had completely vanished, evidently indicating nighttime.
Struggling to open his eyes, Ji Yuenian woke up from his slumber, greeted by a despairing silence and darkness.
"I've slept for about eight or nine hours. Judging by this, it should be the dead of night, isn't it?"
Ji Yuenian's dry mouth felt as if it were burning; he couldn't help but reach out to grope the rocks in front of him.
It was only after a few moments that he barely touched the hollow with some remaining stream water, scooped it up, and gradually moistened his lips and teeth.
"This place is so damp and dark. If I can't escape in a short time, I'm afraid I'll truly die here in this mountain stream."
Ji Yuenian pondered, attempting once again to recall the forgotten memories, yet the intense, piercing pain at his forehead only grew sharper.
Suddenly, a bone-chilling cold wind swept across his cheeks.
While Ji Yuenian endured the pain in his forehead, he suddenly felt a slight shiver uncontrollably run through his body.
This place was already blocked by chaotic rocks, with only a few extremely small crevices; how could there be such a chilling wind?
A faint white halo pervaded the mountain stream, dispelling the deep darkness. Ji Yuenian could distinctly sense a chilling atmosphere behind him, which had appeared out of nowhere.
"Who's there!?"
Settling his slightly panicked mind, Ji Yuenian abruptly turned his head, only to be met with the sight of a young girl dressed in a snowy white skirt.
The girl stood on her fair and slender bare feet, her jet-black hair cascading down to her waist. The pale moonlight faintly shimmered on her snow-white skirt, her delicately beautiful face portraying exquisite features.
Lowering her cold, frost-like gaze, the girl scrutinized Ji Yuenian, lightly smiling.
The girl's smiling face seemed to thaw like ice and snow, even bringing a trace of warmth to this dark and icy mountain stream, a warmth that didn't seem to exist.
However, in the next moment, Ji Yuenian's pupils suddenly contracted.
The corners of the white-clad girl's lips had cracked to the limits of what her lips could endure, continuing to split toward her ears. After a few breaths, her extraordinarily beautiful face had transformed entirely into a horrific grotesque mouthpiece!
"What a fresh human."
A hoarse, unpleasant voice emerged from the moving mouthpiece on the girl's face, a burst of coldness assaulting Ji Yuenian from head to toe, even colder than the stream water beneath his feet by a thousandfold or more.