The entire mountaintop was ablaze, roaring flames lighting up the surrounding area as bright as day.

That arrogant, mocking warning still echoed through the valley.

At that moment, Baili Weisheng and the others, still winding their way through the eighteen bends of the mountain path, all stopped in their tracks at once, staring off into the distance.

Jue Mingzi, silent the whole while, grew visibly anxious, speaking up repeatedly. “Something must have happened — Baili Weisheng, go check on them right away!”

“A fire that big can’t be an accident!”

“Master’s afraid of fire…” Baili Xiaosheng said timidly — otherwise, her master would have already rushed over, wouldn’t he?

Without his true golden scales, and left with only a golden-scaled afterimage, Baili Weisheng genuinely was afraid of fire.

Still, he acted as if he hadn’t heard a word, saying lazily, “Might just be that fire was set by Jun Beiyue and his family of three.”

As he spoke, he casually lit a signal flare, and a sharp whistling sound shot into the air.

Sure enough, Jun Beiyue and Ziqing soon rushed over upon hearing it, joining up with the group.

The speed at which they arrived caught everyone off guard.

“Wait, was that fire really started by you two?” Lady Jinjiao asked in disbelief. This family of three was a bit too brazen, wasn’t it — this wasn’t even their territory.

Yet Ziqing and Jun Beiyue both wore grave expressions, while Xiong Xiaobao kept his head down, not daring to speak. Yeah — his daddy had been warned. The situation was getting serious.

“Yelu Qianqian and Situ Haonan have been taken to Flame Valley — we must head into the valley right now to save them.” Ziqing spoke concisely.

At this, everyone was shocked.

“Who on earth could have captured Situ Haonan!” Meng Duo’er couldn’t help but exclaim.

“Right there in the mountains, and he just got away from us!” Ziqing said coldly.

Xuanyuan Lige’s collusion with Wanyan Lie — their true purpose was probably more than just luring them here to deal with them, there had to be some deeper intent behind it all.

But for now, Ziqing didn’t want to dwell on that — she’d leave it to Jun Beiyue to sort out!

Right now, all she wanted was to see Situ Haonan and Yelu Qianqian as soon as possible!

The fire at Flame Mountain had also cut off the direct route down to Flame Mountain proper from that side, forcing them to backtrack.

“Looks like they came prepared,” Baili Weisheng said with a cold smile, immediately signaling Mingtian to lead the way. “Let’s go — I’d like to meet whoever’s behind this myself!”

Mingtian, quite familiar with the terrain here, took several shortcuts. What should have taken several days’ journey, they covered in a day and a half, circling around to the back side of the Flame Mountains — right at the base of Flame Mountain itself!

The Flame Mountains proper were extremely tall, but by comparison, Flame Mountain itself was practically a small hill.

The hill was round in shape, with a massive, crater-like opening at its summit — the only way into Flame Valley was through that single path, descending straight down through the crater!

Everyone marveled at the shape of this mountain, finding it strange and mysterious!

Yet the moment Ziqing laid eyes on it, she knew at once — this wasn’t some place guarded by fire dragons at all, but clearly an active volcano.

And what was called “Flame Valley” was, in fact, nothing more than the crater of that active volcano — or one might call it a volcanic caldera.

The volcanic crater was a circular depression, like a giant funnel plunging straight down into the mountain’s peak, connecting below to the underground magma.

Generally speaking, the outer rim of an active volcanic crater consists of a ring of rocky terrain, and beneath that rocky layer lies the lake of molten lava.

The depth of a volcanic crater varies, but regardless of depth, the rocky zone is the deepest point humans can reach — as for the lava lake itself, that’s a realm humans can never enter, filled entirely with scorching, molten magma!

If Yelu Qianqian and Situ Haonan had been taken here, they could only be held within the rocky zone. As for what connection this place might have to the natural sound at the climax of “Parting Grief,” Ziqing had no time to think about that for now.

Flame Mountain wasn’t actually all that tall — at their pace, it would probably take just a few steps of lightness skill to reach the summit.

Yet, gazing at this seemingly unremarkable little hill before them, everyone suddenly came to a halt.

A low mountain, still nothing but barren rock with no vegetation at all — yet the surrounding temperature was noticeably different. Even now, still at the base of the mountain, everyone felt as though they’d been plunged into the scorching midsummer sun of Nanzhao — not just hot, but stiflingly oppressive too!

The air all around seemed almost solidified. Within moments, everyone began feeling unwell — tightness in the chest, difficulty breathing, their whole bodies seeming to protest against the heat. Something was clearly very wrong.

“What’s going on? Isn’t this supposed to be the dead of winter?” Jun Beiyue asked, brows furrowed. They’d deliberately chosen to come during the depths of winter, and it was still this hot — if they’d come in summer, wouldn’t they have been roasted alive?

“It’s a warm winter this year, but…” Mingtian was equally baffled. “We’ve had a few warm winters before, but… never this hot!”

“So you really are just here to guide us, nothing more.” Baili Weisheng clicked his tongue, saying flatly, “Something must be happening inside.”

“Whatever’s happening, we have to go in!” Jun Beiyue had no intention of stopping. “Mingtian, straight up?”

Ziqing stopped him. The sudden spike in temperature was indeed caused by something happening within Flame Valley — but it wasn’t man-made, it had to be a natural cause!

“Beiyue, wait. This place is extremely dangerous.” Ziqing’s expression turned grave, and she concisely explained the existence and eruption mechanics of volcanoes to everyone!

Everyone listened, utterly dumbstruck, their expressions full of disbelief!

It had to be admitted — they’d all genuinely believed there were fire dragons within Flame Mountain, never expecting the truth to be this instead!

“Mommy, how do you know so much?” Xiong Xiaobao asked curiously — a question everyone else was equally curious about too.

Answering that question properly would probably take half a day.

“I’ll tell you once we’re back home!” Ziqing could only put it off.

“You mean… the magma in Flame Valley has already accumulated to a critical point, and this volcano is about to erupt?” Jun Beiyue’s brow furrowed tight, finally grasping the severity of the situation!

Xuanyuan Lige and Wanyan Lie hadn’t tampered with Flame Valley themselves at all — they’d simply harnessed the power of nature!

And this kind of natural force was, without question, unstoppable!

Just as they were speaking, a sudden commotion erupted from partway up the mountainside. Everyone tensed, on guard — only to see a pack of earth wolves fleeing for their lives, bolting down from the rocky outcrops on the mountainside!

Earth wolves!

These were creatures far more aggressive, a hundred times more vicious than even the wild wolves of Xi Jing — creatures that would charge without hesitation even at the sight of a tiger, let alone humans.

Yet, strangely enough, the entire pack of earth wolves completely ignored Ziqing and the others, fleeing for their lives, and instead charged down the mountain, racing off into the distance!

“Do we look that terrifying?” Baili Weisheng muttered to himself.

“No, they’re fleeing for their lives — they already know the volcano is about to erupt!” Ziqing said gravely. She was the only one among them who truly understood just how serious the situation was.

Volcanic eruptions came with many warning signs, and abnormal animal behavior, along with sudden unexplained deaths, was one of them.

And the sudden temperature spike here was a result of magma converging and rising.

Just as everyone exchanged puzzled glances, suddenly: a loud “boom” rang out, like an explosion. Everyone turned toward the sound, and saw a massive white pillar of gas suddenly erupt from the top of Flame Mountain!