Chapter 1 – Encounter: The Mysterious Purple Lake

Mu Shuiqi’s best friend, Cui Mengmeng, had actually invited her to climb Sacred Snow Mountain to watch the sunrise.

Cui Mengmeng said that watching the sunrise on the snowy peak would definitely be romantic.

Sacred Snow Mountain was a rarely visited peak, surrounded by a pristine, well-preserved forest.

All the snow in Yicheng had already melted, leaving only the mountain’s summit shimmering white. It would not begin to thaw until early summer.

The thought of wild beasts in the forest and the dangers of the mountain made her want to stay curled up in her dorm room binge-watching dramas.

But she couldn’t resist her best friend’s endless coaxing. And so, that morning, she found herself at the summit of Sacred Snow Mountain.

They had climbed up the previous evening before dark, spending the night wrapped in sleeping bags. Or rather, awake all night—too cold, and too afraid of wild animals, to truly sleep.

Even in an extreme-cold down jacket, she shivered uncontrollably in the orange warmth of the sunrise.

She heard Cui Mengmeng’s teeth chattering, and realized her own were as well.

“Rom… romantic, right?” Her top teeth clattered against her bottom teeth.

“Rea… really romantic…” Cui Mengmeng’s trembling voice came through the icy wind, her lips already turning purple. “Dear Qiqi… thank you… for helping me fulfill this wish!”

Cui Mengmeng gave her a radiant smile. Looking at that delicate face, still soft and childlike, all her complaints melted away.

Forget it. When you’re young, you should do something unforgettable—something to look back on when you’re old, right?

It was also her first time standing so high up, watching the sunrise and overlooking Yicheng.

The small city where she had lived for nineteen years actually looked beautiful from above.

On the way down the mountain, she and Cui Mengmeng somehow got separated. Cui Mengmeng said she needed to use the restroom and told her to wait in place.

But she waited for a long time, and Cui Mengmeng never came back. Mist swirled around the mountain. She must have gotten lost.

Worried, she set off to search. She called out as she walked, but only echoes answered her—startled birds burst from the trees, yet there was no sign of her friend.

Something wasn’t right.

Something must have happened.

There was no way Cui Mengmeng would have gone far just to relieve herself. Morning had already broken, but the thick forest canopy still made everything appear dim and gloomy.

“Mengmeng, where are you?” Panic filled her chest—fear of being alone and dread for her friend’s safety.

She didn’t know how long she had walked when suddenly, not far ahead, she saw a strange expanse of purple mist.

Such peculiar mist. Curiosity pulled her forward.

It was a lake.

There was actually a hidden lake here!

Purple, vast, and seemingly endless…

The surface was unnaturally calm. When a breeze rippled across it, dazzling streaks of violet light shimmered on the water.

The closer she came, the more she felt a chilling aura enveloping her.

“It’s so beautiful,” she whispered, crouching by the shore and peering into the water. “But also so eerie.”

She had only been curious why the lake was purple. She never expected that, when she looked closely, she would see something moving deep below. The lake seemed bottomless.

Something glowing was swimming there—long and misty-white, impossible to discern.

She glanced around. Not another soul was in sight.

“Mengmeng… Mengmeng, where are you?” she called softly, afraid of waking whatever lived beneath the surface.

A terrifying thought flashed through her mind—had Cui Mengmeng fallen into the lake?

Was that glowing figure a fish, or some kind of mythical beast? Could it eat people?

She dipped her hand into the water, drawing a line across its surface. The lake was shockingly frigid—colder than a freezer—yet somehow not frozen.

The moment her fingers touched the water, the calm surface erupted into violent currents. In an instant, a massive whirlpool formed at the center.

A gale tore through the forest, uprooting trees along the shore.

She stared in horror as her feet lifted off the ground, her body spinning, completely beyond her control.

The sudden tornado dragged her straight into the vortex at the heart of the lake. The world spun violently, and with a sharp scream, she lost consciousness.