Chapter 278 Hidden Mountain on the Upper Moon

Since my becoming the Great Impermanence would cause large-scale global warming, then Xuanming, who has already become the Great Impermanence, is very likely to cause the same phenomenon. In a sense, the very existence of Xuanming and me seems to be very environmentally unfriendly.

The more I learn, the more I realize that the order of the world I live in is far more fragile than I thought in my past life.

Throughout the long river of history, how many great impermanent beings have appeared? And how many of these lost their anchor, operating in realms imperceptible to both the world of common sense and the world of the supernatural? It's simply unbelievable that a world with such great impermanent beings has been able to "stablely" continue to exist until now. Should this also be attributed to the divine seal that once divided the world in two?

Could it be that the Navy's Genbu wanted to kill Xuanming in the past to stop global warming, and now he's planning to kill me too...? I even had such a bizarre thought. Of course, this is just a joke. After all, it seems the Navy's Genbu doesn't even spare weak fire-elemental users.

I don't think the existence of the Great Impermanence is entirely negative for humanity. Since the figures of the Great Impermanence have existed in the dark side of the world for a very long time, many of the "sound natural order" that we take for granted today may very well have been formed under the interference of the Great Impermanence's laws governing the heavens and the earth.

After temporarily ending the call with the Zhu family, I shifted my attention to the "fireflies" that were investigating Moonshadow Mountain.

Although I initially sent out only one "firefly," I split it into a "firefly swarm" to facilitate the investigation, searching the mountains and fields for any noteworthy traces.

Unfortunately, no valuable clues have been found so far.

At the same time, a vague intuition arose in my mind.

Mount Moonshadow is definitely not as ordinary as it seems; it hides some crucial things that cannot be missed. Even if I still have to wait until tomorrow to find the souls of Silver Moon and Chang'an, it won't stop me from investigating Mount Moonshadow tonight. I'm starting to consider whether I should go there myself, or even take Mazao with me to investigate.

Before I could make a judgment, Ma was already sitting on the bed watching me, and took the initiative to suggest, "Zhuang Cheng, let's go investigate Moon Hidden Mountain first."

Although I preferred to investigate independently, Asahaya would definitely not agree, and might even follow me closely. And objectively speaking, I did need Asahaya's assistance. So I nodded.

We left the inn and moved quickly towards Mount Moonshadow.

The sun had long since sunk in the west, and night had fallen, but the downpour hadn't stopped yet. Neither Asa nor I were the type to care about rainy days. We hadn't brought umbrellas when we went out, and just sprinted straight through the rain. Asa's hair and clothes didn't seem to get wet at all; thanks to the power of reversion, they remained dry. As someone whose body and clothes were made of flame mimicry, I had even less to worry about getting wet.

Today's journey to Mount Moonshade is actually more of a personal matter. Silver Moon is my enemy, Chang'an is my friend, and Mazao is merely accompanying me into uncharted territory. I know she will help me without complaint and probably won't feel any trouble, but I still want to inform her beforehand that there might be danger ahead.

“Where wouldn’t I be in danger?” she said matter-of-factly. “Rather than continuing to endure those unknown dangers, I would rather share the danger with you. I’d gladly endure any hardship as long as it helps you.”

"—Hmm? Zhuang Cheng, what's wrong? Your expression is a little strange..."

"It's nothing," I said, controlling my expression.

I used to be the one saying sweet nothings to her, but now it feels like she's the one saying sweet nothings to me.

Moreover, unlike my calculated and pretentious "lines," hers seemed to be spoken unconsciously, which made them even more destructive.

On the way, I casually mentioned to her that the naval commander Xuanwu was likely also in Yueyin Mountain City. She was both happy and worried.

"If I regained all my strength, I could help you even better, but..."

She was worried about the potential threat that the naval Xuanwu might pose to me.

In the end, we decided on the priority of the investigation, postponing the task of finding the location of the Navy Genbu at Tsukikage Castle until tonight's investigation of Tsukikage Mountain. No matter how powerful Asaho's tracking ability is, it is not the kind of divination that can obtain answers without reason; it cannot find a target whose appearance is unknown in a vast sea of ​​people.

During our discussion, we entered Moonshadow Mountain and went straight into the unopened areas.

Ahead lay no longer the domain of civilization, but a desolate wilderness akin to a demonic realm. Pitch-black darkness stretched as far as the eye could see, and the dense patter of raindrops against the plants filled the forest, instinctively instilling a sense of dread and fear.

Since ancient times, towering mountains have been regarded as places closer to the heavens than the human world, and thus people believed that celestial beings lived on them. On the other hand, mountains are also considered eerie and terrifying at night, causing countless people to perish there. Therefore, mountains are also considered places closer to the underworld than the human world, and Mount Tai, the foremost of the Five Sacred Mountains, is a prime example.

Whether people regard mountains as the heavens or the underworld, they will always unconsciously think that mountains do not belong to the mortal world and regard them with mystery and awe.

Even I find it hard not to feel this way. If consciousness can be considered a genetic concept, then what's causing me to feel this way now is probably the fear of the mountains and wilderness that has been passed down through humankind since ancient times.

Although both Asa and I can see in the dark, out of psychological necessity, I still summoned several fireballs as a light source. At first glance, they looked like phosphorescent lights surrounding ghosts. However, my fireballs were much larger and brighter than the ghosts' phosphorescent lights, illuminating the surroundings as if it were daytime in an instant.

Before we knew it, we had arrived at a fairly deep place, at least halfway up the mountain.

We've moved along this route without detecting anything unusual, and we don't know where to begin our search. We're at our wits' end. If only we knew where Hu Family Village was, but unfortunately, my "firefly" can't find it on Moonshadow Mountain at all. I haven't even found any signs of anyone living on the mountain.

I'm starting to doubt whether I've been fooled by the owner and regulars of the Moonlit Mountain Inn, or even if they don't know what I'm talking about. What if I go back down the mountain and find them now, and they adopt the same attitude as before: "What Hu Family Village? Did we say anything like that?"

At the very least, there is definitely something strange about Mount Yueyin. My senses are becoming clearer. The wind howls through the rainy night, and the darkness surges like chaos, as if some eyes are watching us with malice from the shadows. Although all of these feelings seem like psychological illusions, making me wonder if it's just an instinctive fear of the mountains at play, I believe I can distinguish between spiritual premonitions and pure psychological phenomena.

We stopped moving in the mountains for the time being. Ma Zao seemed to realize that I was at a loss, so she asked, "Zhuang Cheng?"

"Some people don't know what to do next."

I confessed my predicament. Even so, I didn't feel frustrated or defeated. From the beginning, I never thought I would return empty-handed like I had countless times in the past investigating strange incidents, because I had Asahi by my side.

Meeting my gaze, Mazao nodded, seemed to smile slightly, and then said, "You said before that I'm your lucky star, right?"

“I can say it again now,” I said.

“I never thought I could be associated with the word ‘luck’ before, but now I think I might actually be able to bring a little bit of luck,” she said. “Now, let me do it.”

After she finished speaking, she took two steps outside, but then did nothing more than stand there, as if waiting for something.

Perhaps this is the right way to bring out her talent.

In reality, we probably don't need to wander around the mountains searching for clues. If there really is some strange thing in these mountains, and it has some causal relationship with our goal, then given that Asahi has already shown up here, there's no reason for it to completely miss us. We'll inevitably bump into it at some point, even if we just stand here motionless, the clues will probably come to us on their own.

Even if we suddenly changed our minds and wanted to get out, it might already be too late. The jinx isn't something we can easily manipulate; it's an uncontrollable force. Even if we turned and ran down the mountain immediately, that unknown monster would probably relentlessly pursue us.

That suits me perfectly.

We waited in silence, the blazing fireball hovering above, providing dazzling illumination. After a short while, Asaha seemed to have noticed something and suddenly uttered a warning sound: "—It's here."

I also noticed the change in the situation.

No monsters or demons appeared directly in front of us, nor did any change in the situation immediately suggest danger. What appeared before us were wisps of white mist, like those rising from the bottom of a refrigerator.

I maneuvered several fireballs in the sky, sending them flying in different directions and illuminating more distant places. I don't know when it started, but the mountains and forests we were in were now shrouded in an endless white mist.

(End of this chapter)