Nightingale walked slowly along the mountain path.
The road beneath her feet was barely shoulder-width, with a massive stone wall on one side and a steep cliff face on the other, separated by a ravine about a丈 wide and of unfathomable depth. She carefully leaned against the stone wall, avoiding a misstep that would send her plummeting.
Looking up, only a thin, faintly glowing line remained of the sky, like a silver thread hanging in the night. But she knew it was just past noon—even during the day, she needed to hold up a torch, as the light filtering through the rock walls was insufficient to illuminate the path ahead. After walking for a long time, she would even have the illusion that she was walking inside a mountain.
The only good thing about this place was that, despite the howling winds and heavy snow in the mountains, the gorge walls remained unaffected. Occasionally, a few snowflakes would fall from above, quickly turning into vapor on the walls or the path. It had a temperature inconsistent with the outside world, and sometimes she could even see heat rising from the abyss below.
If it weren't for this, she wouldn't have dared to venture alone into the Endless Mountains during the Month of the Evil Spirits. The Mist could hide her, but it couldn't insulate her from the cold. If she were to walk against the cold wind, she would probably freeze to death in the snow within an hour.
But Nightingale didn't want to stay here a moment longer—because she always felt like something was watching her in the darkness, making her skin crawl.
If she could, Nightingale would have preferred to walk the entire way in the Mist, but her stamina couldn't support that. Prolonged use of her ability would quickly exhaust her.
Nightingale raised the torch, and the opposite cliff face appeared and disappeared intermittently. In the dim light, she could occasionally see black shadows of varying sizes on the opposite stone wall. Nightingale knew those were all rock caves, too deep for the light to reach, so they looked like clusters of shadows. And the stone wall she was close to also had corresponding deep holes in the same positions.
This reminded her of the rumors about the North Slope Mines, which were said to be the lairs of underground monsters, with many interconnected岔路 carved out by the monsters. And the North Slope Mountain was just a corner of the Endless Mountains. Could it be that these caves also had passages connected to the mines?
The thought sent a shiver down her spine.
West of the Endless Mountains was an untouched wilderness. If it were possible to carve countless holes inside the towering mountains stretching for hundreds of miles, only the monsters living in the wilderness could probably do it.
She didn't dare to think about it anymore, concentrating on moving forward.
Finally, the road ahead changed. The shoulder-width path split into two, one gently upward and the other turning straight down, extending deeper into the darkness. No one knew where this road ultimately led. Standing at the fork, the feeling of being watched had become very strong, as if countless pairs of eyes were staring unblinkingly at her from the darkness, making her mouth dry and her scalp tingle.
Nightingale gritted her teeth, activated the Mist, and walked quickly upward. Soon, that strange feeling disappeared.
As the altitude increased, the surrounding temperature gradually decreased, and the silver line above her head grew wider. After half a刻钟, a huge cave appeared to her right front, the lower edge of the entrance slightly higher than the road. She lifted her leg and stepped into the cave, and she could faintly see firelight in the depths of the cave.
This was where the Association of Witches hid.
Nightingale stepped out of the Mist and was immediately discovered by the witch on guard. A black wall of gas blocked her path, but it quickly disappeared into nothingness, and a surprised cry from her companion echoed in the darkness, "You're back!"
Finally back, she thought, but when she noticed the two white cloths wrapped around her companion's arm, Nightingale's newly lifted spirits sank again. "Two more sisters..."
The other person's voice paused for a moment. "Uh... ah, it's Aining and Aixi. They didn't make it past adulthood five days ago." She forced a smile. "This is a common occurrence, isn't it? Let's not talk about that, hurry to the camp. Wendy has been thinking about you for a long time."
Aining and Aixi, a pair of twins brought from a wealthy family in Dragonfall Ridge, ended their lives in these deep mountains. Nightingale sometimes wondered if she was doing the right thing. If she hadn't brought them away, at least they could have enjoyed a life of plenty before death came, instead of living a nomadic, unsettled life with everyone else.
But thinking of Wendy, a warm current surged in Nightingale's heart. If she hadn't lent her a helping hand, she would probably still be used as a tool that could be discarded at any time, like a puppet. That's right, she had to tell her this news as soon as possible, tell all the sisters that they no longer had to hide like mice, that someone was willing to accept them, and... that it was possible to safely survive the Awakening Day every year!
Walking into the camp, Nightingale saw a familiar figure squatting by the campfire processing food. Before she even arrived, she couldn't help but call out, "Wendy, I'm back."
The other person paused, looked up, and then revealed the smile Nightingale was familiar with, "Veronica, welcome home."
Wendy was an extremely kind woman and one of the earliest members of the Association of Witches. Now in her thirties, she had not a single wrinkle on her face. Her reddish-brown straight hair was almost waist-length, her features mature and charming, and she seemed like an older sister to everyone. She cared about every sister in the Association of Witches, providing help to the best of her ability, whether it was in daily life or psychological counseling. If it weren't for Wendy, the Association of Witches wouldn't have been able to gather so many witches so quickly.
It was because Nightingale met her that she resolutely broke away from her family and embarked on the journey to find the Holy Mountain with her. She was also one of the few people who knew her original name.
"I've told you so many times, I'm no longer the weak little girl I used to be," Nightingale said with a smile, shaking her head. "I am now a powerful witch, Veronica no longer exists."
"The former you is still you. Getting rid of past nightmares doesn't mean you have to sever ties with the past," Wendy said softly. "Of course, whatever you like. Nightingale, I've been waiting for you to come back. You've worked hard along the way."
"Yeah," Nightingale stepped forward and hugged her. "Thank you."
After a while, Wendy asked, "How is that girl? You... couldn't save her?"
Speaking of this, Nightingale immediately perked up. She grabbed the other person's arm and said excitedly, "No, she doesn't need me to save her. On the contrary, she saved all of us!" Then she told the story of Border Town in detail, "The lord there is called Roland Wimbledon, the Fourth Prince of the Kingdom of Graycastle. He is willing to take us in. And he also promised that one day in the future, witches will be able to live like ziyou citizens in his territory!"