Chapter 694

Chapter 694: The Divine Shrine in the Tranquil Valley

After obtaining the map, Lolan Hill walked out of the old man’s house and saw two children hiding under the windowsill, eavesdropping.

They had lively big eyes, but their bodies were frail, and with their pale skin, they looked as if they could fall with just a breeze.

Seeing the old man send off Lolan Hill, these two children dispersed and ran elsewhere.

“These are the village children; they’re not very well-behaved, I apologize for any inconvenience,” the old man briefly explained.

“It’s fine,” the young lady understood, after all, there were few outsiders here, and children being curious was normal.

“I’ll take my leave then.”

With that said, Lolan Hill soared into the sky, flying towards the other side of the mountain pass. The old man remained standing in place, silently watching her distant figure.

After a long while, several thin men from the village approached.

“Village Chief, this woman—”

“There’s no need to inquire further. She has nothing to do with recent events; she is a disciple from afar. Just don’t provoke her easily,” the old man shook his head after saying this, then quietly returned to his house, flipping through his tattered diary from his youth.

[Xiangyu Sect: Huilu Continent’s external branch, with vast surrounding forces, but fortunately, most are peripheral factions. True disciples are few. It is also the source lineage of Zhaoye Palace.]

This diary was written on yellow mulberry paper, with curled edges and stained with black soot, indicating its age.

“Grandmother Ge Luo actually skipped Zhaoye Palace and directly invited Xiangyu Sect for support. This shows the situation is becoming increasingly difficult, sigh…”

The old man put down this item he had written during his youth when he roamed the world, sat at the table, and fell into deep thought again, while outside the window, the village gradually returned to its usual tranquility.

—

Crossing the mountains and wilds, time slowly approached afternoon, and the air carried a hint of coolness, brushing against the young lady’s dress and hair.

After turning over dozens of peaks and valleys, a peculiar spot finally appeared in Lolan Hill’s perception. She changed direction, her body tilting toward the canyon, flying forward.

As she continued to descend, a tall and deep canyon gradually came into view.

On both sides were steep and towering cliffs, shaped as if a giant axe had been swung at the earth and lifted, leaving a groove.

The cliffs were not V-shaped, but rather A-shaped, converging at the top, giving a sense of imminent collapse, causing fear and dread.

Walking inside, cold winds blew from the front of the valley, howling mournfully, and the view became increasingly dark, as if leading to the underworld.

Although Lolan Hill was not particularly afraid, she could feel the heart-pounding and panic that this would cause ordinary people.

Two birds slowly descended from behind, landing on a stone beside the young lady, chirping loudly, echoing far and wide in the valley.

“All right, stop chirping, we might attract something bad—” Before the young lady could finish, a rapid running sound came from ahead.

Soon, a group of people dressed in black robes arrived. They barely showed any skin, their entire bodies wrapped in black robes, even their hoods covered with wooden masks, resembling specters.

Upon seeing the young lady, the leader paused, raised his left hand, and signaled his people to stop, then began to ask.

“Who are you, why have you come here?” The voice was cold, seemingly filled with strong caution.

Reluctantly, Lolan Hill had to explain again, and it took considerable effort before the leader temporarily believed her.

“You wait here, give us your token.”

“Alright.” The young lady nodded helplessly, realizing that outsiders were not welcome here.

Then, one of the black-robed people took the token and went back. Lolan Hill had no choice but to lean against a nearby rock, closing her eyes to rest, ignoring the watchful eyes of this group.

About half an hour later, the person who took the token finally returned, whispering a few words to the leader, who then eased up somewhat.

“I’m sorry for keeping you waiting. Please follow me.”

With that said, this group stepped aside, and the leader led the young lady deeper into the canyon.

Underfoot, the land was strewn with many small broken stones, very barren, looking like it wasn’t suitable for farming. The sky above was small, like a thick line stretching forward. On both sides, the rock walls were slightly weathered, with peeling traces, tilted angles blocking much of the sky, making one worry that they might collapse at any moment, burying the entire valley.

After walking for a few miles, the rock walls gradually converged, becoming narrower, until they seemed to almost touch, leaving only a narrow passage.

That sliver of sky. And leading to that distant sliver of sky was a long flight of stairs.

Ascending along this nearly 45-degree staircase, she slowly climbed up until finally, a relatively flat open space appeared before her. Behind this open space stood a ‘refined’ shrine.

The reason for this description was that this shrine already had several damaged areas; the eaves and corners were somewhat chipped. Even so, one could still see its former refined and elegant appearance from its general shape.

“Madam Priestess is inside the shrine. I won’t go in.” His voice was slightly deep, carrying a military air.

“Mm.” The girl nodded, beckoning two birds to land beside the open space, then walked inside alone.

Coincidentally, it was just dusk, and the canyon directly opposite the shrine happened to be to the west. The afterglow of the sunset shone through the long canyon, dyeing the surroundings of the shrine with a faint red.

A few cold calls came from the woods nearby. A few crows perched on the treetops, watching the girl walk towards the interior of the shrine, her shadow stretching long on the ground.

Thud, thud.

Even as light-footed as Lolan Hill, her footsteps echoed clearly on the wooden boards of the shrine, while everything around was silent.

The shrine was quite dim, with a dry and cool atmosphere.

As Lolan Hill gradually adapted to the dimness, she focused her gaze ahead. There, an old man sat with his back to her, wearing black ceremonial robes.

She was called an old man because he had grayish-white, withered long hair on his back, which was not the appearance of a young person.

“Welcome.” The old man’s deep and slow voice sounded in the room. She bowed again, then slowly stood up and turned around.

“You are the disciple sent by the Xiangyu Sect, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

The girl looked at the old man in front of her. His face was wrinkled, and his skin was somewhat loose. From his brows, one could still vaguely see the once beautiful appearance. If he were to return to being 20 years old, he would probably still be a beautiful woman.

“My name is Ziqiu Geluo, the priestess of this shrine.” The old man’s attire indeed bore some resemblance to those of priestesses outside, grand yet elegant and noble. However, his age made it hard to associate him with the young and beautiful priestesses outside.

“Hello, my name is Lolan Jialan.” The girl said it by mistake but quickly corrected herself.

“Lolan Jialan, a fine name.” The old man nodded, his serene demeanor causing Lolan Hill to hesitate, missing the chance to explain.

“Still carrying your luggage? Come with me, I’ll help you arrange your accommodation.”

After saying this, the old man led Lolan Hill toward the side exit. From there, they could see a small courtyard beside the shrine.

Seeing the girl come out, the two birds on the open space in front of the shrine chirped and flew over.

“Are these your companions?” the old man asked.

“Yes.” The girl nodded.

“Good, then we need to arrange their living quarters as well.” The old man nodded approvingly.

Accompanying the girl and the two birds, the old man walked steadily ahead. Although she looked very old, her steps were steady and calm, as if nothing could faze her.

Pushing open the gate of the courtyard, the hinges creaked slightly as they entered.

The courtyard wasn’t large, with a small open space in the middle, and there was a well in the center.

“This place is not as luxurious as the outside world, it might seem a bit shabby. I hope you can understand.” The old man explained slowly, then took out a key, opening another door to reveal the interior.

In the simple hall, there was a table, and to the side was a bedroom with a wooden bed. The wood looked old and somewhat dull, but the bedding and sheets on the bed were new, seemingly recently prepared.

“You can stay here normally.” The old man briefly introduced the layout of the courtyard—bedroom, hall, and kitchen.

“We have very few trees here, and they are precious. If you need to cook, you might have to use magic to start a fire yourself.” The old man apologized somewhat.

“Mm, it’s no trouble.” The girl shook her head; it wasn’t difficult for her.

“I’m glad you can adapt.” The old man looked at Lolan Hill with relief and added, “You must be tired from traveling such a long distance. Why don’t you rest tonight, and I’ll tell you about the surroundings tomorrow.”

After thinking for a moment, the girl nodded. Seeing this, the old man left after giving some instructions.

Seeing the courtyard become quiet, Lolan Hill let out a sigh of relief and returned to the house.

She first put down her luggage, checked the bedroom roughly, found nothing wrong, and lay down on the bed. At this moment, the two birds also hopped up and curled together.

Crouching beside the young lady.

  ”You’re not cats; you’re not soft at all,” the young lady said as she stroked the two slightly plump birds, looking up at the ceiling. Well, perhaps this couldn’t be called a ceiling, because above her was the eaves and tiles, and she could even see the crossbeams with a few spider webs.

  After coming to this region, the young lady had seen many new things and filled her head with information. At this moment, she was immersed in analysis and contemplation.

  According to what she had heard at the border inn and the explanations of the elderly in the village during the day, she could roughly understand that this place should be isolated from the outside world, rarely visited by outsiders.

  The Ximu Range was located between Xiyou Prefecture and Mumu Prefecture. Compared to other regions of the Jinquehua Dynasty, this place was more like an outer territory, not under the jurisdiction and protection of the dynasty.

  According to what people in the inn and the old man described, the mountainous area here contained a heavy amount of necromancer sequence magic power, causing ghosts and undead to spontaneously arise within the region, making it very dangerous and requiring frequent clearance.

  Additionally, under the pollution of the necromancer sequence magic power, much land was unsuitable for planting crops and posed a certain threat and corrosion to humans.

  The Chì clan living here were ancient practitioners of the necromancer sequence. Thus, they still retained the tradition of studying the necromancer sequence. One reason was to absorb those wandering necromancer sequence magic powers, and another was to deal with wild ghost monsters of the same sequence, achieving multiple benefits.

  However, due to complex historical reasons, the relationship between the residents here and the outside world was not good, and could be considered mutually hostile. On the borders of the outside world, many subjects within various dynasties believed that it was these Chì clan members who drove the ghosts and spirits to harm people, so they needed to be strongly suppressed.

  As for the Chì clan within the Ximu Range, judging from their behavior, they also had a strong aversion to the outside world, indicating that there had been no shortage of conflicts and contradictions accumulated over the years.

  However, due to historical reasons, few people outside sympathized with the Chì clan, and with the remoteness of the area, it gradually became a forgotten corner of the dynasty.

  ”However, that prefectural governor seems to have a strong enmity towards the Chì clan,” the young lady recalled what she saw in the inn.

  Not only did the Black Leopard Riders often patrol the borders, but they also deliberately provoked those half-blooded white-clothed people.

  According to Lolan Hill’s observations flying around the Ximu Range over the past two days, these Chì clan members were not powerful, and could even be considered weak. There were few residents and villages, far less prosperous than towns outside. They didn’t pose a threat to the outside world and even struggled to survive in the mountains.

  Logically speaking, the Chì clan should be in a disadvantaged position and didn’t need to be so emphasized and suppressed.

  Why provoke conflicts? What benefit would there be in making the border people hostile towards the Chì clan?

  As she recalled the events she had seen these days, the young lady slowly analyzed them.

  Finally, she gently closed her eyes, temporarily putting aside these thoughts.

  It would be better to wait a few more days. Currently, the information she had was too limited, and thinking further wouldn’t lead to any insights. It would be better to stay for a while and see what happens. Over time, everything would become clear.

  Furthermore, she was only sent here to assist the shrine maiden in subduing evil spirits. There was no need to intervene in this chaotic situation.

  She should complete her tasks step by step. For now, she would stop here. It was time for a good sleep.

  Thinking this way, the young lady first rested on the bed for a while. When night fell, she woke up from her dream.

  Her stomach was growling; she couldn’t sleep well without eating.

  Lolan Hill got up from the bed, and the two birds were also awakened by her movements.

  ”Do you guys need to eat?” The young lady stroked the excited birds and walked out of the room into the courtyard. There were a few sparse stars in the sky, and faint insect sounds echoed around.

  She drew a bucket of water, then went to the kitchen nearby. After a simple cleanup, she conjured a blue flame with magic and placed it in the stove.

  Looking at the stone-cut fire pit and the large iron pot on top, the young lady sat beside it, feeling as if she had returned to her childhood home, just like back then.

  By the way, what should she eat tonight? The young lady suddenly realized she hadn’t asked the shrine maiden for food, and her gaze drifted to the two birds beside her.

  If only they were fatter, she thought suddenly.

  Seeing the innocent look of the two little birds, the young lady smiled and then stood up again.

  It would be best to ask the shrine maiden for some food. Otherwise, she might starve tonight. At this moment, the shrine maiden should still be awake.

  Lolan Hill pushed open the courtyard gate, and a loud insect sound entered her ears. She lit several cold flames formed by necromancer magic, surrounding herself, and then walked toward the shrine in the night.

  The night was cold and dark, but faint lamentations could be heard from the shrine in the distance.

  (The chapter ends)