The ascent into the foothills of the Kunlun Mountains was a slow process that tested the endurance of every man and animal in the caravan. The wide, flat plains of the Tang heartland had been replaced by narrow, winding paths that hugged the sides of jagged cliffs. Li Mei sat atop her pony, her face wrapped in a thick wool scarf to protect her skin from the biting wind. She used her Golden Finger to monitor the shifting environment. She no longer smelled the dust of the Silk Road. Instead, she identified the scent of crushed pine needles, cold granite, and the thin, sharp aroma of high-altitude snow.
As they reached a small plateau known as Frost Creek, the caravan stopped. This was a remote village that served as a resting point for travelers entering the Tubo Kingdom. The houses were made of rough stone and heavy timber. No smoke rose from the chimneys. The silence was heavy and unnatural.
"The air here is wrong," Mei whispered to Prince Zhao. "I do not smell the scent of cooking fires or livestock. I smell frozen salt and old iron."
Zhao dismounted from his horse and gripped the hilt of his sword. He looked at the village with his obsidian eyes. He felt a cold vibration in his blood that resonated with the silver power of the First Wolf. He signaled for the Lunar Dissidents to form a defensive circle around Li Mei and the medical supplies.
"Lord Gombo, is it normal for this village to be so quiet during the day?" Zhao asked.
The Tubo envoy shook his head. He looked troubled. "No. The people of Frost Creek are famous for their hospitality to travelers. Something has hushed them."
They walked into the center of the village. Mei stopped in front of a stone well. A man was slumped against the side of the structure. He looked like he was sleeping, but his skin was a strange, translucent white. Mei knelt beside him and used her rationality to perform an examination. She did not touch him with her bare hands. She used a silver probe from her kit.
As the silver touched the man's skin, it did not draw blood. Instead, the skin shattered like thin glass. Beneath the surface, the muscles had turned into jagged, crystalline structures that glowed with a faint silver light.
"This is not the same as the plague in Chang'an," Mei said. Her voice was tight with the sense of crisis. "In the city, the arsenic forced the body to grow fur and muscle. Here, the cold and the mountain energy are turning the flesh into mineral and ice. It is a different dimension of the curse."
Suddenly, a high-pitched sound echoed from the houses. It was the sound of glass breaking. Three villagers emerged from the shadows of the stone huts. They were no longer human. Their bodies were covered in silver-blue crystals that acted like armor. Their eyes were empty holes filled with blue light. They moved with a stiff and unnatural speed, their limbs making a clicking sound as they walked.
"Do not let them scratch you!" Mei shouted. "The crystals are infectious. They carry the Ability to freeze the blood on contact."
One of the glass-creatures lunged at Zhao. He used his invincible strength to parry the strike with his sword. The impact produced sparks and a sound like a hammer hitting an anvil. Zhao realized that his steel blade could not easily cut through the crystalline armor. He tapped into the silver blessing he had received in the tomb. He allowed the lunar energy to flow into his arms, turning his strength into a blunt force that could shatter the mineral growth.
"Mei, find the source of the water!" Zhao commanded as he struck the creature in the chest, breaking it into a thousand pieces. "If the well is contaminated, the whole mountain is a trap."
Mei ran toward the well. She used her Golden Finger to sniff the water. She identified the scent of sulfur and the basalt stone from the pyramid. She realized that the "sleeping god" in the mountains was leaking its energy into the underground streams. This was the Background of the mountain plague. It was an environmental contagion that turned the world into a frozen tomb.
"The water is the carrier!" Mei cried out. "The spores have adapted to the ice."
Lord Gombo and his men joined the fight, using heavy maces to crush the remaining glass-creatures. The battle was short but intense. As the last creature shattered, the village returned to its silence. Mei looked at the shards of silver glass on the ground. She knew that her temporary solution from Chang'an would not work here. She needed to develop a new branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine that combined heat with alchemical solvents.
"We cannot stay here," Gombo said, wiping blue dust from his cloak. "If the sun sets, the cold will make these things even stronger. We must reach the high monastery before the moon rises."
Zhao looked at the high peaks above them. He saw a blue glow coming from the clouds. He felt the magnetic pull of the mountain god. He turned to Mei and saw the determination in her eyes. They were no longer just fighting a conspiracy; they were fighting a supernatural force that wanted to turn the living world into a garden of glass.