Drifting Green Gauze Everywhere

The wolf growled low and pounced.

It was incredibly fast. The wind kicked up by its sharp claws cut past Lin Zhiyue's ear with a bone-chilling cold. She dodged to the side, the ice wolf's claws leaving three thin trails of frost in the air.

She exchanged a glance with Cen Xi'er. Understanding the cue, Cen Xi'er pressed forward from the front with her Gold-attribute sword energy, drawing the ice wolf's attention.

As the ice wolf lunged forward at Cen Xi'er, Lin Zhiyue slipped in from the flank, sweeping her Azure Scale Sword close to the ground toward the joints of the ice wolf's front legs.

The moment her blade grazed the wolf's leg, she felt a wave of resistance. The ice wolf's fur was indeed thick and tough, but the coverage over its joints was relatively thin. The ice crystals formed by the frost exploded into a web of fine cracks at the point of contact. The ice wolf growled in pain, its posture faltering slightly.

Here was her chance.

At the exact moment the ice wolf faltered, Lin Zhiyue lunged forward. She swept her Azure Scale Sword upward at an angle, the tip of the blade accurately slashing across the ice wolf's left eye.

The ice wolf let out a tragic howl, its body jerking backward as its eyes snapped shut. Its amber, slit-pupil eyes were sealed for an instant by the ice crystals formed by the frost.

Cen Xi'er closed in from the other side, her golden sword energy slicing into the ice wolf's flank. Her strike was steady and clean; the fur on the wolf's belly was even thinner than that on its joints, allowing the sword energy to pierce straight through.

The ice wolf stumbled a few steps and collapsed heavily to the ground, its limbs twitching a few times before it went completely still.

Lin Zhiyue leaned on her sword, catching her breath as her chest rose and fell slightly.

A battle lasting two incense sticks against a late-stage Golden Core demon beast. If she hadn't constantly targeted its weak points, relying on brute force alone would probably have taken her over an hour to finish.

Cen Xi'er also sheathed her sword and walked over. Together, the two of them dismantled the valuable parts of the ice wolf—an intact wolf pelt, several high-quality wolf fangs, a pair of claws rich in spiritual energy, and some bones that could be used as materials for artifact refining.

Lin Zhiyue sorted and stored them in her storage space, then looked up and smiled at Cen Xi'er. “Nice teamwork, Second Senior Sister.”

Cen Xi'er smiled as well. Just as she was about to say something, Lin Zhiyue suddenly froze.

A thought flashed through her mind—the Snow Nightmare Ice Wolf was supposed to be a pack beast!

The encyclopedia of the Northern Realm Secret Realm stated very clearly that this kind of wolf rarely appeared alone. They usually hunted in packs of three to five. A lone wolf was either an old one cast out from the pack, or a scout sent ahead to reconnoiter.

The wolf's attack on them just now had been precise and vicious, not at all like a lost, solitary wolf.

Before she could voice her thought, the system's light screen suddenly popped up:

【Emergency Quest Issued: Escape the wolf pack's pursuit and encirclement. Reward: Premium Draw Ticket x5. Countdown starting—】

Lin Zhiyue cursed inwardly. Just as she thought. She had forgotten that wolves were pack animals.

She grabbed Cen Xi'er's wrist. “Run! There are more behind us!”

Cen Xi'er was taken aback, then followed Lin Zhiyue's gaze and looked back—toward the distant ice hills, seven or eight pairs of eerie green lights had lit up at some point. They were moving rapidly close to the ground toward their position, much faster than the scout wolf from before.

The wolf pack had already spotted them and was closing in to encircle them.

The two exchanged a look and simultaneously turned to bolt in the opposite direction at full speed.

The sound of their boots pounding against the frozen earth was magnified several times over in the vast, empty snowy plains. Behind them, the low growls of the wolf pack drew closer and closer.

As she ran, Lin Zhiyue rapidly calculated their route in her mind—straight ahead was an open snowy plain with no cover whatsoever; to the left were ice hills they could use to maneuver; to the right was a narrow crevice that might be an extension of the stream valley.

Without hesitation, she pulled Cen Xi'er and dashed toward the narrow crevice on the right.

The wolf pack pursued them relentlessly, their eerie green eyes forming a fast-moving arc across the snowy plains as they split into left and right flanks to cut off their escape path.

The pack was getting closer and closer.

Lin Zhiyue could hear the sound of their paws crushing the frozen earth and their low, guttural growls echoing across the empty plains. The closest wolf was already less than thirty yards away.

She rapidly calculated as she ran—they absolutely could not win a direct fight against seven or eight Golden Core Stage Snow Nightmare Ice Wolves, and they couldn't outrun the pack's stamina on the open snowy plains either.

She needed a way to put some distance between them, even if only for a brief moment.

“Senior Sister, follow me!”

Lin Zhiyue grabbed Cen Xi'er's wrist and slipped half a step behind a nearby ice hill. Seizing the brief instant when the hill blocked the wolf pack's line of sight, she willed her Flowing Green Satin out of her storage space to cover her entire body.

The pale green qipao fit her perfectly, and a hairpin slid into her hair. The entire process took less than a breath. A white light rippled outward from her and then receded; she had instantly changed from her previous practical outfit into an elegant, exquisite set of green satin dharma robes.

Being dragged along, Cen Xi'er caught a glimpse of this in her peripheral vision and froze, nearly tripping over her own feet.

Lin Zhiyue had no time to explain.

She gripped the folding fan in her hand and poured her spiritual energy into its ribs. The moment she unfurled the fan, she unleashed the set skill, “Drifting Green Gauze Everywhere.” A massive cloud of pale green gauze mist surged from the green satin fan, flooding the wolf pack's entire field of vision like a rising tide.

In the gauze mist, overlapping illusions appeared. Seven or eight green silhouettes materialized simultaneously in different directions, blending reality and illusion, as if seven or eight Lin Zhiyues had suddenly bolted in various directions from all sides.

The wolf pack was dazzled by these sudden illusions. Their eerie green eyes darted rapidly within the gauze mist, and their paces failed in hesitation. A few of the wolves even split up to chase after the illusions in different directions.

Seizing this brief opening, Lin Zhiyue shifted her thoughts again, and the Seven-Colored Deer leapt out from her storage space.

Its snow-white body stepped onto a seven-colored halo as it landed beside her. Its four hooves hovered slightly above the frozen earth, and the seven-colored patterns on its back shone as brilliantly as a fallen rainbow against the greyish-white snowy plains.

She pulled Cen Xi'er onto the deer's back. With a kick of its hooves, the Seven-Colored Deer soared into the air with them, galloping at breakneck speed in the opposite direction of the wolf pack.

The Seven-Colored Deer was incredibly fast. The snowy plains beneath them receded rapidly, and the ice hills and streams blurred into fuzzy, greyish-white lines passing on either side of their vision.

Behind them, the growls of the wolf pack gradually faded, softening from distinct snarls into distant murmurs before finally vanishing completely into the whistling wind and the thrumming sound of the deer's hooves slicing through the air.

Lin Zhiyue looked back three or four times from the deer's back. Only after confirming that the wolf pack was no longer pursuing did she finally let out a long sigh of relief, dropping her hands and letting the Seven-Colored Deer continue to fly forward.

By the time she snapped out of it, the surrounding scenery had become completely unfamiliar.

The end of the snowy plains had vanished, replaced by a boundless ice field.

Beneath them was a surface of ice as smooth as a mirror, layer upon layer of it, stretching from under her feet all the way to the distant horizon where it merged with the greyish-white sky.

Complex cracks and bubbles were faintly visible beneath the ice. Even the sound of the wind here had changed, becoming vast and distant, as if the entire world were left with nothing but ice and the greyish-white sky.

Lin Zhiyue had the Seven-Colored Deer land gently on the ice.

The moment its hooves touched down, a crisp echo rang out from beneath them, rippling far across the empty ice field.

Cen Xi'er leapt down from the deer's back. Once she steadied herself, she turned to look at Lin Zhiyue, her eyes filled with a mixture of lingering shock and a trace of fear. “Junior Sister, that dharma robe just now... and that green mist... and this deer...”

“There's no time to explain,” Lin Zhiyue said, recalling the Flowing Green Satin back into her storage space and changing back into her practical everyday clothes. She patted the Seven-Colored Deer's neck to send it back to the system space to rest. “I'll tell you later. First, let's figure out where we are.”