125 Suspicion

The landscape before our eyes shifted rapidly; in the blink of an eye, snowflakes began to drift down, and everything was blanketed in white.

We had been teleported to the top of a snow-capped mountain. As soon as the energy of the spatial transport dissipated, a bone-chilling wind wrapped itself tightly around us. I hurriedly activated the ability of my Ancient Mirror. The Spade 2 flew from my hand, and the mirror floated before me, forming a protective barrier that kept the freezing gale at bay.

Even so, we were all terrified by the environment, especially dressed as we were in summer clothes. Zhong Ling, the young girl, was even wearing a skirt that left her legs exposed. Gao Ge’s teeth were chattering uncontrollably; while the temperature wasn’t necessarily extreme, the heavy snowfall made the cold feel truly piercing. Jin Qiling pulled his clothes tighter around himself, while Li Yuan, conversely, appeared completely unaffected.

Surrounded by a vast, endless expanse of white, we had no idea where to go.

"Why don’t we head down the mountain first?" Zhong Ling suggested. "At the very least, it’s bound to be much warmer at the base."

"But I believe our mission objective is at the summit," I said without hesitation. "This must be Tianshan, the ancestral grounds of the Spade Artifact School." I figured the entrance had to be somewhere at the peak.

"How do you know about Tianshan?" Jin Qiling asked, catching me off guard.

Since we were already in this predicament, I stopped hiding things and told them what Li Xinxin had shared with me regarding the mountain. Hearing this, everyone fell into deep thought. For those of us who weren't Awakened, acquiring such information was incredibly difficult. If not for Li Xinxin's guidance, I would have been just as clueless as the rest of them.

"But if we can't find the entrance at the summit, can you hold on?" Gao Ge raised his concern.

I shook my head and confessed, "My mental energy can only maintain the shield for the ascent or the descent. If we can't find it, I truly can't guarantee how we’ll survive up here on the mountain."

"In that case, let’s take a vote," I proposed a fair solution, and everyone agreed.

"Who wants to head up?"

I raised my hand first, followed by Li Yuan. Gao Ge and the others were hesitant. If just one more person raised their hand, we would commit to climbing. As the seconds ticked by, just as I was about to say, "Then let's head down," Zhong Ling’s hand slowly rose. Jin Qiling and Gao Ge stared at her, bewildered.

"Are you trying to get us killed?"
"Are you the hidden Ghost Card?"
"Heh, the Red Lady did say there was a Ghost Card hiding in our group."
"It wouldn't happen to be you, would it?"

Zhong Ling’s sudden change of heart sparked intense resentment in Jin Qiling and Gao Ge. Combined with the revelation the Red Lady had dropped during our teleportation, everyone’s suspicion was ignited. Jin Qiling and Gao Ge were convinced that Zhong Ling was the Ghost Card. Her vote had directly placed both of their lives in an uncertain position.

***

It was true; heading down would be absolutely safe. But I couldn't guarantee we would be able to return to this altitude, as mountain climbing becomes exponentially more difficult the higher you go. The dropping temperatures, thinning air, and altitude sickness would severely impact both our physical and mental states.

"I’m not it," Zhong Ling argued weakly, but Jin Qiling and Gao Ge had already locked onto her. Perhaps just to vent their own frustrations, Zhong Ling had become an innocent scapegoat.

However, the Red Lady’s words surely weren't without basis. Among our five-person squad, there was indeed one of the people we had suspected from the start: my roommate, Li Yuan. He hadn't uttered a single word since the trial began. Had he been struck mute? Or was he intentionally concealing something? If he were the one replaced by the Ghost Card, perhaps his voice had been altered, which was why he remained silent. Furthermore, no one had ever seen Li Yuan use his ability; no one knew what his poker card actually was. My suspicion of him now far outweighed that of the others.

Zhong Ling, holding the Spade 5; Jin Qiling, the Spade 7; and Gao Ge, the Spade 10—each of them was busy calculating their own interests. I had to stay guarded as well. I had no desire to harm anyone, but that didn't mean they wouldn't harm me. When their own interests were at stake, anyone could become desperate.

Once their argument concluded, the five of us finally set off. We trudged through the snow step by step, listening to the complaints of Gao Ge and Jin Qiling. The frail Jin Qiling hadn't taken many steps before sweat began to bead on his forehead, only to freeze into ice moments later. It seemed his constitution was truly poor. Conversely, Gao Ge, as a singer, was faring much better. Although he lacked the raw muscle of someone like Chen Hao, his daily training as a public figure and his background as a singer allowed him to adapt reasonably well to the high-altitude environment.

Li Yuan followed us without a trace of emotion, while Zhong Ling and I took the lead. Despite being a young girl, Zhong Ling walked at the very front of the line, skipping along with boundless energy. Yet, I noticed her body was emitting a faint, flickering light. This was clearly a sign that her ability was active, but what was she doing with it? Her ability, "Name," sounded far too strange.

Ten minutes passed, and the scenery remained unchanged. I even began to doubt my own memory; had I remembered incorrectly? The rise in altitude caused the temperature to drop further, and to resist the cold, I had to increase my output of mental energy. Consequently, I could hold out for even less time. The resistance from Jin Qiling and Gao Ge grew stronger as well; if I hadn't threatened to toss them out of the protective barrier if they kept acting up, they would have likely never stopped complaining.

Another ten minutes went by, and finally, the landscape changed slightly—we could see the summit. With great patience, the five of us finally climbed to the top, only to find it completely barren. The only consolation was the view, which was truly magnificent.

The summit of Tianshan was surrounded by an endless sea of clouds, and the peaks rising into the sky prevented us from seeing anything below. Unfortunately, we still hadn't found the entrance.

The frail Jin Qiling and the famous singer Gao Ge finally reached their breaking point. Both of them jumped out of the Ancient Mirror’s protection and instantly activated their spade cards.

"Spade 10, Ancient Bell!"
"Spade 7, Ancient Lamp!"

"Zhong Ling, make your move! You must be the Ghost Card!" Jin Qiling insisted, barking at her to attack.

Although she was reluctant, Zhong Ling realized that since they had already activated their abilities, if she didn't act now, she might be the one to die. Contractors weren't all saints; people like Chen Hao and myself, who refused to kill, were rare indeed.

Zhong Ling’s Spade 5, "Name," activated instantly. The Spade 7 that had just been summoned suddenly dimmed and vanished, returning to Jin Qiling’s hand. His ability had failed before it even fully manifested. Gao Ge, watching from the side, looked at Zhong Ling with extreme caution. "What did you do?"

I was also incredibly curious about her ability. How had she caused Jin Qiling’s ability to fail?

Zhong Ling gently shook the Spade 5 in her hand and said confidently, "My ability is 'Name.' Just as the name implies, I can bestow a name upon an object, and I can just as easily strip that name away. Right now, I’ve stripped the name from your card. Without a name, how can you activate your ability?"

She glanced at Gao Ge, who shivered, fearing she would strip his power as well. So that was the nature of the "Name" ability. Gao Ge and Jin Qiling had both shouted the names of their artifacts. I had also revealed myself as the owner of the Ancient Mirror during our introductions. If the name "Ancient Mirror" were stripped away, would I lose my ability too?

It seemed Zhong Ling’s power surpassed all of ours; it would be effortless for her to deal with us. However, she made no further moves and simply tucked the Spade 5 away. The Spade 7’s ability reactivated, leaving Jin Qiling and Gao Ge looking utterly confused.

"Zhong Ling, what was that for?"

Zhong Ling didn't even look back as she replied, "If I wanted to kill you, it would be easy. I don't need to trick you into coming to the summit."

She stepped out of my protective barrier, and I saw a strange light flickering across her body. It seemed that was what she had been testing all along: by stripping away the "name" of the sensation of "cold," she could shield herself from the freezing temperature. She had succeeded. Without us dragging her down, she quickly vanished into the vast snowy landscape.

I stopped worrying about Jin Qiling and Gao Ge. Li Yuan and I followed closely after her. Gao Ge and Jin Qiling exchanged glances, and ultimately, they hurried to catch up as we continued our ascent.