Night in the northern peaks always carried an indescribable chill. Ye Chenyu set up a simple campfire in the valley, its flames flickering amidst the snow, casting light on his tense features. The wind howled, mingling with strange low moans echoing from the valley floor, like invisible bells struck, their resonance deep and piercing to the bone. A sense of foreboding crawled up his spine. Clutching his ice staff, he sensed that this valley was far from ordinary.
As night deepened, the bone-like echoes grew clearer. The sound was intermittent yet continuous, as if thousands of skeletons were being struck by invisible hands, forming a strange, rhythmic cadence. Each echo seemed to etch unknown symbols into Ye Chenyu's mind, involuntarily recalling the low reverberations of the stone chimes in the Southern Mountain ruins. Pain lanced through his chest; he instinctively tried to suppress his fear, yet deep in his consciousness, an invisible force seemed to erode his sanity.
Amid the wind and snow, a figure emerged silently from the shadows of the valley floor. It was a long-armed, ape-like creature, its body covered in dark fur, with joints unnaturally twisted and limbs bent in impossible ways. Its eyes were pitch black, seeming to pierce directly into Ye Chenyu's soul, and its low, wooden, stone-like growl resonated strangely in harmony with the valley's bone-like sounds. Every swing of its arms intensified the echoing bone resonance, stirring his mind, stiffening his body, as if he himself were becoming part of the valley's skeletons.
The creature suddenly leapt, its long arms whipping like whips toward Ye Chenyu, shattering the ice and snow upon impact. He dodged swiftly, but the illusions formed by the bone echoes intertwined with reality, making it nearly impossible to distinguish truth from mirage. The air carried the mixed scent of ice, snow, and the creature's pungent musk, each breath sending a tearing pain through his mind.
At that moment, a faint blue light flashed deep within the valley. Xuan Ye appeared, his sigil arrays glowing as light flowed through the air, tracing precise geometric patterns in the snow. The sigils instantly formed a seal around the creature. It slammed against the invisible barrier but was restrained, the bone echoes weakening, and the tremor that had shaken Ye Chenyu's mind gradually subsided.
Xuan Ye's expression remained cold as he spoke softly, "This creature is only one of the guardians of the northern peaks. Its power is bound by a certain sigil." The light of the sigils hummed low as it connected with the monster. Its roars were suppressed within the valley, yet its fury and wildness could still be felt.
Ye Chenyu slowly adjusted his breathing, his heart pounding. The scene before him filled him with unprecedented fear—deep within the frozen bones of the Northern Mountains, even snow-covered barren valleys concealed twisted life forms, and these beings seemed to silently test the sanity of any intruder. Xuan Ye reminded him quietly, "The bone echoes of this valley resonate with the stone chimes of the Western Mountains. Those whose minds are weak are easily lost."
Ye Chenyu's gaze swept to the valley floor. The bone echoes lingered in the residual resonance, as if reminding him: the depths of the Northern Mountains were far more brutal and dangerous than anywhere he had ever experienced. The wind whipped, ice shards pricking his face like needles, filling him with a sense of indescribable void. In this frozen bone valley, every breath felt like approaching an unknown abyss.
Xuan Ye withdrew the sigils, leaving the creature restrained at the valley floor. He turned to Ye Chenyu and said lightly, "Be careful. Do not be fooled by illusions again. The northern peaks are only the beginning; the true trial lies further within." Ye Chenyu nodded slightly, a mixture of caution and subtle relief in his heart—at least for now, someone beside him could confront the dark forces of the northern valley.
The wind continued to howl. The bone echoes were suppressed by the sigils but still lingered like a hidden current, whispering in Ye Chenyu's ears. He understood that every deep valley of the northern peaks, every sound of bones, could become a trap capable of consuming the mind. Clutching his ice staff, he stepped deeper into the northern wilderness, each footfall measured with awe and careful courage before the unknown.