"Yes, many!" Ting Luo echoed from the side.

"Where?" Han Jing asked.

Both pointed towards the distant lake, as blue as a mirror: "Right in the lake!" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Everyone looked towards the distant Ice Lake. From where they stood, the Ice Lake was still clearly visible.

The entire Hanwu Forest, with its outskirts consisting of flat lands and tall pine trees, was generally safe as long as you didn’t lose your way. However, once inside, the terrain changed. It turned into uneven, hill-like landscapes, but the variety of plants increased. Besides the towering pines, there were various shrubs and exotic plants that seemed unlikely to grow in such a cold environment. Most of the animals here also mutated into terrifying forms under the influence of this strange environment.

But near the Ice Lake, it was yet another scene.

In the middle stood a not-so-tall snow mountain, bare and almost see-through with nothing on it, surrounded below by a vast expanse of blue lake.

Even from a distance, you could feel the chilly air emanating from the lake.

The peculiar part was around the lake.

Around twenty or thirty meters of the lake’s surroundings were barren, as Han Siqu said, "Not a blade of grass grows."

Ting Luo, being of the Merfolk Clan and considered spiritual, had natural senses stronger than humans in many ways. She frowned, watched for a while, and then said, "The air currents above the lake are strange too. Although I can’t see through it, there should be a special array hovering over the lake surface."

Han Siqu nodded and said, "This young lady is right. The lake surface is extremely difficult to approach. It seems normal but when you reach the shore, a peculiar and powerful cold current is felt, making it nearly impossible to get close."

As for whether it was truly impossible to approach, he didn’t know, because after trying, he found it unnecessary to risk his life, so he turned back.

Han Jing speculated, "Could it be like Jingluo Lake, where the array is meant to suppress the ghost spirits in the lake? It’s just quite strange; this place is barren and so far from populated areas. How could there be so many ghost spirits?"

Having spent years in the Ghost Realm, Han Jing naturally knew that the so-called ghost spirits were actually wandering ghosts transformed into fierce ghosts without a place to rest, having missed the chance to reincarnate. Instinctively, they would gather in environments suitable for them to stay. As they gather, they devour each other to grow, becoming so-called ghost spirits. Ghost spirits, in a sense, are no ordinary wandering ghosts but evolved forms, so they can also be considered a type of spirit.

The Ghost Realm has unique conditions, forming gathering places for ghost spirits. But this place... no matter how you look at it, it doesn’t have the conditions for ghost spirits to form! So Han Jing speculated whether someone brought ghost spirits and suppressed them here using an array?

"No, it’s different. The array here isn’t meant to suppress ghost spirits, but I can’t figure out why. Instead, it seems the ghost spirits are guarding something." Ting Luo shook her head. Her abilities were limited, so she couldn’t see what was really going on, but her intuition told her there should be something inside even more powerful than those ghost spirits, and it’s not the array subduing them.