บท 358: AZI Volume 6 Chapter 59
"Hm?"
"Oh?"
Contrary to the wariness that the others are showing in response to the sound of approaching footsteps, Gui Lian and Teng Hao felt a sense of relief, as they looked through the dense fog, and saw the people who were approaching them.
"Hm?"
Leading the group is none other than Yang Hai, and behind him are five other villagers, to which, Teng Hao raises a hand, and greets—
"Aiya, Lao Yang, long time no see."
"…?"
Towards Teng Hao, Yang Hai narrows his eyes while tilting his head.
Momentarily—
"...…Ah, Gui Lian and Lao Teng."
"Took you long enough, I was starting to worry about you not recognizing us…"
"You can't blame for that."
Due to the attire worn by the two being very different from the sort that he is used to seeing them in—in his memories, Yang Hai took a while to realize that they were peers of the same village.
Clearing his throat, Yang Hai asks—
"In any case, what's going on? …Judging by the mood, it feels like a fight would break out."
Maintaining an expression of wariness towards Yang Hai and the others, Ye Chen asks—
"Who are these people?"
Towards the foreign Sinners' display of wariness, Gui Lian says—
"For the time being, let's just head back inside, and have a chat. Don't worry, we don't have any ill intent. …Correct?"
"…Un."
Towards Gui Lian's question, Yang Hai nods his head.
"…Well?"
"…Can they be trusted?"
"…What choice do we have but to trust them? It's the quickest means to get more information."
"Hmm…"
As Ye Chen and the others exchanged looks, they eventually decided to put a bit of faith in the other party.
Just as Ling Yi had pointed out, so long as the other party aren't practitioners, there's room for negotiation.
"…"
"…"
Heading back into the cave, and seating themselves in a circle, Gui Lian begins the conversation by explaining—
"Teng Hao and I, we're members of the village that Yang Hai and the others are from. The name of the village is the Serpent Deity Village. We…- Hmm, basically Teng Hao and I are sort of like the scouts of the village, who ventures into the outside world to conduct a survey of the lands. We're charged with bringing information back to the village—regarding the situation outside, whether that be information related to the Sinners or the Immortals."
"…How long has this village existed for?"
Towards Wang Yongning's question, Gui Lian shakes her head, and replies—
"Everyone has already lost count, but I could give you a very rough estimate. If I recall correctly—throughout the course of its existence, the language spoken in the village has changed more than 20 times."
Hearing this, Long Hua thought—
(More than 20 times? Hmm, assuming that one language was used per era, then… Has this village been able to avoid the wipe-out phenomenon, while maintaining records?)
Turning to Yang Hai, Gui Lian asks—
"Yang Hai, what's the situation like back at the village right now?"
"The village chief had tasked me with bringing foreign Sinners back. The fact that there is this layer of fog outside, it means that some of them might already be near the village."
The village's first defensive measure is this fog—it only appears when outsiders approach the village, a simple means to misdirect them.
And just as Long Hua had suspected to a certain degree, to enter this village with greater ease, one must pray to one of the statues of Lord Tian She Zi.
"…Or it could just be the Immortals."
"…"
"…"
Towards one of the villagers' remarks, the faces of the other villagers darkened.
"…So, I take it that we're all on the same side then?"
In response to Li Xue's question, Teng Hao answers—
"None of us in the village like the Immortals. As soon as we're conscious of our surroundings, we were taught that the Immortals were our enemies. …In any case, shall we head over—once all of you are done praying?"
"What kind of weird entrance ceremony is that?"
"It's just the way the magic array of this ruin was set up. The greater your faith in Lord Tian She Zi is, the thinner the fog would be."
Rising to a stand, Shao Tianming says—
"Right, let's get on with it."
As the others got up, and turned to the statue to pray, Long Hua thought—
(Screw that. This just seems like a cheap way to get someone roped into a cult…)
"Long-laoban, are you not going to pray?"
Towards Gui Lian's gaze, Long Hua heaves a sigh, and turns to the statue.
Clapping his hands together, Long Hua pretends to pray, while thinking—
(Clear this stupid fog.)
"…"
Similarly, Tian Cheng also pretends to pray to the statue.
Due to the nature of her combat body, she has other means to navigate through the fog.
"…Hm?"
Leaving the cave, Long Hua pauses for a brief instance prior to resuming his stride.
(The greater your faith in this deity, the thinner the fog would be? Well, right now, this fog may as well be utterly nonexistent to me…)
Towards this situation, Long Hua has all but confirmed that this Lord Tian She Zi is indeed something that is related to that unpleasant individual.
Following Yang Hai's lead, the group is guided towards the Serpent Deity Village's direction.
...…
"Damn this stupid fog…"
Treading through the dense fog, Qing Ming Yang, Lin Yu Heng, and Su Xuan all had a look of irritation on their faces.
The strength of their divine senses, it's only enough to ensure that they won't bump into any trees while moving through the forest at a snail's pace.
"Qing-xiong, what if we call out to the others?"
Towards Su Xuan's suggestion, Qing Ming Yang replies—
"And risk drawing weapon spirits to us as well? Look, the spirit Qi in the outer domain isn't very high. I don't want to take unnecessary risks."
"…True, I guess? Ai, if only the clan has more Incarnation Scrolls to spare. That way, we won't have to worry about dying."
Using their own blood as ink, and drawing an image of themselves onto an Incarnation scroll, a practitioner can create a clone of themselves.
The clone could then be used to descend into the Leng Bing Realm, and be controlled via their divine senses.
These reusable magic treasures are limited in numbers, and the images that are drawn onto them can only fade over time.
Usually, less than 500 of them are actively used, while the rest are stored away in preparation for the big harvesting season.
Towards Su Xuan's remark, Lin Yu Heng shakes his head, and says—
"Dream on. Also, this is an investigation. Those cloned bodies don't last for more than a few hours at most, they're not suitable for this task."
Adding to this, Qing Ming Yang says—
"Surnamed Su, a practitioner can't possibly grow as efficiently—if there's no pressure to stimulate them."
"Ai Qing-xiong, Lin-xiong, you two are just…- You're both so much more braver than me. I bet you two fear nothing."
"Heh…"
"Haha…"
Towards Su Xuan's praise, both Qing Ming Yang and Lin Yu Heng can't help but laugh in a bitter manner.
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