A winter sky was a bit dark as the snow kept falling down, turning everything into a white world. Yun Lintian wrapped in thick clothes, appearing on a roadside along with Yun Huanxin and Yun Qianxue. They were currently heading toward Green Leaf Town by walking.
Before coming out, Yun Lintian consulted with Lynn about the disguise method, but he was disappointed as every effective disguise technique required him to reach the Spirit Profound Realm first. Hence, he could only disguise himself by wrapping his head with the scarf, leaving the eyes area out.
Meanwhile, Yun Huanxin and Yun Qianxue were wearing a white veil personally made by Yun Qingrou. In order to hide the Misty Cloud Sect's identity, both of them had to change their attire into an azure robe.
"It's been a while since I see snow." Yun Huanxin said while spreading her palm to catch the falling snow.
As a member of the Misty Cloud Sect, she was used to the environment on the Misty Cloud Peak that was full of snow year-round. Even though the Land of Beyond Heaven was better in every aspect, she was still missing the Misty Cloud Peak a bit.
Yun Lintian was silent. In the Land of Beyond Heaven, there was no season. The weather there was warm, without wind or rain. Moreover, it only had a day without night.
He discussed this matter with Lynn and found out later he needed to collect the Beyond Heaven Relic in order to complete the respective elements within the Land of Beyond Heaven.
The reason behind the awakening of the Gate of Beyond Heaven was because he obtained The Sun back then. Without it, Yun Lintian had no way to activate his plot-armor. Once he obtained The Moon, he was quite certain the night would appear within the Land of Beyond Heaven, and it might give birth to a season. The problem was, he did not know if The Moon had truly existed within the north direction.
Suddenly, Yun Huanxin halted her step and said, "There are people ahead." She spread her Spiritual Sense out and said further, "It seems they are a group of bandit?"
A kilometer far away from Yun Lintian's group, there were a group of fifteen men in black attires. Behind them was a group of helpless women and children that kept shivering because of the chilly wind. Their wrists were tightly bound with thick ropes, and they were dragging and urging to move forward by the group of men.
At the front of the line were several carriages loaded with wheat and other crops. Evidently, this group of men had just plundered all of them from a village nearby.
"Move!" A skinny man with a scar on his left cheek whipped a poor woman with a leather whip.
The poor woman cried out in pain as blood seeping out from her back. Her eyes were filled with boundless fear and horror.
"Brother Sun, you shouldn't whip her like that. I still want to appreciate her smooth skins, though." Said another man in black beside the skinny man. His lecherous eyes swept over the pitiful woman's body with a lustful grin. His mind had already drifted to a scene in a bedroom that was bound to happen tonight.
The skinny man, Sun Qiang, gave a slight chuckle and replied jokingly, "Scram! All you know is playing with a woman. Why don't you practice more?"
"Hey, hey, you can't blame me for this, Brother Sun. Aren't you the one who taught me this? Anyway, who makes the weather so cold this year? I just want her to warm my bed, alright?" The man on the side replied with an innocent shrug.
The pitiful woman was paled in fright after hearing this. She could see what kind of future awaited her. She wished she could kill herself right away. Unfortunately, she did not have the strength to do so and could only lower her head, resigning to fate.
"What are you two chitchatting about? Hurry up!" Shouted a bulky man who sat on the carriage in the front. His eyes were sharp like an eagle, and there was a hideous scar across his face, making him appear very scary.
"Yes, Leader!" Sun Qiang and the man on his side said respectfully in unison. Their foreheads were full of sweat, appearing nervous when they looked at the bulky man who was their leader.
Wu Zuo, the Black Eagle Bandit Group leader, snorted coldly and urged horses to move forward. He raised his head to glance at the sky and frowned with annoyance. This year's winter was quite strange. It was colder than the past year, causing their reserved supply to plummet as they needed to burn more wood and coal.
Furthermore, all the crops they cultivated around their camp had suddenly wilted for no reason. When one of Wu Zuo's men ate the wilted crops, his body immediately filled with poison and died two days later. Hence, Wu Zuo had no choice but to bring his men out of the midst of the heavy snow to plunder the nearby village's reserved food.
"Beast!" Yun Huanxin heard their conversation clearly and was furious. She turned to Yun Lintian and said, "I am going to kill them."
Yun Lintian shook his head and said, "Hold on for a while. We will follow them first."
Yun Huanxin frowned slightly, but she soon understood Yun Lintian's intention. She took a deep breath and led Yun Lintian and Yun Qianxue in the bandit group's direction.
Along the way, Yun Huanxin kept informing Yun Lintian and Yun Qianxue about the conversation between the bandits.
"Something happened with the crops?" Yun Lintian heard about the bizarre incident on the bandit's crops and was surprised slightly.
Yun Huanxin nodded her head. "That was they said. Those wilted crops somehow possess a poison. Anyone who ate it will die within two days."
At this moment, Yun Qianxue, who was silent for all this time, said, "The weather is strange. I remember it's usually warmer than this. Not to mention, there shouldn't be heavy snow during this month."
Hearing this, Yun Lintian and Yun Huanxin looked at the sky and agreed with Yun Qianxue's statement. At first, Yun Lintian thought it was typical weather in the Skyfall Nation, but it seemed not to be the case. From the bandit's words, this heavy snow was an unexpected event. At least, it did not happen in these past several years.
"Poison… Heavy snow…" Yun Lintian muttered while pondering about the cause of the incident.