"What should we do? Should we enter the village first?" Li Le supported Shi Yu, looking at Lu Zhi and Yan Shao.
"Are you sure the gods came?" Yan Shao asked Lu Zhi.
Jiang Yue frowned, a flame gathering in his palm. "Hey, hey, hey, shouldn't we enter the village before discussing this? Something bad is approaching."
As she spoke, Jiang Yue threw a fireball into the darkness.
The light swept through, dispersing the thick black fog and hitting a viscous mass in the dark, eliciting a sharp hiss and a burnt stench.
"What are these!" Li Le exclaimed in shock, pushing Shi Yu behind him. A gun appeared in his hand, and he fired at the black, viscous objects surging from the ground.
The silver bullets were like meteors in the night, each one precisely piercing the black, viscous mass. Upon death, these things dissolved into a pool of liquid, merging with the ground, much like contaminated slimes.
"I'm not sure," Lu Zhi replied, covering his forehead. Suddenly, he looked up at the night sky and murmured, "When did a moon appear?"
The others abruptly looked up, astonished to find a full moon indeed in the night sky.
But they all clearly remembered that after nightfall, not only was there no moon, but not even a star was visible.
"What did Senior Shen go to do?" Jiang Yue's only thought was about what Shen Qi might have done to cause the mutation in Long Kan.
"I don't know," Lu Zhi said, summoning his Man Luo. Golden-green vines emitted a faint, white-green light in the darkness. Each swing was like a thousand fireflies flashing past. A gentle brush against the black objects instantly turned them into liquid and they disappeared.
"We can't get into the village," Yan Shao stated, his hand resting on the village's closed gate. A thin barrier enveloped the village.
Jingle~
Dada~
The group abruptly stopped their actions, their gazes uniformly directed towards the mountains.
The black objects that had been closing in on Lu Zhi and the others, as if encountering their natural predator, vanished into the darkness. The sound of wolf howls echoed from the mountains, and pairs of green glowing beast eyes stared at them from the darkness.
Gulp.
Jiang Yue couldn't help but swallow, his voice weak. "Hey, hey, hey, so many wolves, are you kidding me?"
If it were just a dozen or two, they could handle it with ease.
But the green beast eyes covering the mountainside, like a galaxy of emeralds, were so numerous they made one's scalp tingle and their hair stand on end.
"Hush, be quiet," Yan Shao said, who had somehow appeared behind Jiang Yue.
Jingle~
Dada~
Silver ornaments chimed, flashing in the moonlight. The 'dada' sound came from a cane.
Every time the cane lightly touched the ground, the filth lurking in the darkness fled in terror.
A beautiful young girl, dressed in Miao ethnic attire, walked barefoot in the darkness, her skin glowing white.
She had silver hair and features as delicate as a porcelain doll. Unfortunately, her eyes were closed, so it was impossible to see how beautiful they were beneath her eyelids.
A colossal black wolf, like a loyal guard, followed closely behind the girl, stepping towards Lu Zhi and the others, finally stopping three paces away.
"Hei Wu, retreat for now," the girl's ethereal voice gently broke the silent stillness. She raised a hand to stroke the black wolf behind her.
The black wolf lowered its head and nuzzled the girl's hand, slowly stepping back. From a distance, it fixed its emerald beast eyes on the group.
Upon seeing the girl, Lu Zhi's head began to ache again.
The girl's eyes were closed, yet she seemed to see. She smiled friendly at Lu Zhi and greeted him, "Hello."
Lu Zhi was stunned for a moment. "H-hello."
The girl then 'looked' at Yan Shao and the others. "Hello to you all."
Jiang Yue subconsciously replied, "Great, great, great, everyone's great."
Yan Shao: ...
Li Le: ...
Shi Yu: ...
"I'm very sorry," the girl raised her luminous white hand, accurately pointing at Shi Yu. A cool breeze, carrying the scent of snow, enveloped Shi Yu's entire body.
"What are you doing!" Li Le exclaimed in alarm.
Shi Yu grabbed Li Le, lowering the hand that had been covering his injured eye. He blinked, surprised. "I... my eyes are healed."
Jiang Yue: "Holy crap! Instantaneous healing!"
"I'm very sorry," the girl apologized to Shi Yu again.
Shi Yu nervously and awkwardly waved his hands. "It's... it's fine."
"I cannot see," the girl pointed to her eyes, then to her ears. "But my hearing is very good. Your companion was killed by me, causing you harm. I am truly sorry."
The companion referred to the drone Shi Yu had used for surveillance.
"I thought it was Shao Xinran spying on me again, so I injured you by mistake. I am truly sorry," the girl said, full of guilt.
Her repeated apologies made Shi Yu blush. "It's... it's really okay. You don't need to apologize to me anymore."
"Shao Xinran, that name sounds so familiar?" Jiang Yue muttered. "I think I've heard it somewhere."
Lu Zhi replied, "Theory class, the truth of Long Kan, Shao Xinran."
"You just said Shao Xinran was spying on you," Yan Shao's expression suddenly turned grim. "Shao Xinran has been dead for a long time."
The girl tilted her head and pricked up her ears. "In your human world, he is dead. But in our world, he is still alive, and has even become a god."
Jiang Yue blurted out, "How is that possible! He was the first to expose Long Kan and bring hope to humanity. How could he have become a god!"
Ever since they learned the truth that Long Kan's bizarre path to godhood required the sacrifice of countless lives, their initial reverence for gods had vanished.
"I don't know what kind of person he was in your human world," the girl said, tapping her cane lightly on the ground, her voice filled with indignation. "In my world, he was born evil!"
The news was so shocking that for a moment, none of them could recover, remaining silent for a long time.
Lu Zhi, who had been silent, finally asked, "What is your name?"
The girl seemed somewhat shy and bashful when facing Lu Zhi. She raised a hand to touch her silver hair and said, "My name is Yin Yue. I'm happy to see you again, although you may have forgotten me."
"Is it because you have such beautiful hair, like the color of the moon, that you're called Yin Yue?" Lu Zhi blurted out.
Yin Yue was very pleased. "Ah, you still remember."
Yan Shao and the others looked at Lu Zhi.
"No, I just feel that this name suits you very well," Lu Zhi found it difficult to articulate the feeling, the sense of encountering an old acquaintance and the lingering emotions of time passed.
"You still speak so nicely, my lord," Yin Yue said, lowering her head with a hint of sadness. "I failed to protect your belongings, and they were stolen by a despicable thief. In the end, you were the one who came back for them."
Although they didn't understand what "belongings" Yin Yue was referring to, everyone instinctively looked at Jiang Yue's backpack, where the glowing stone was.