Chapter 288 The Ancient Moon God Appears

In the old man's recounting of the past, the deity who originally wanted to live in seclusion with the refugees and ultimately sealed the ancient moon god at the cost of his life seemed to have some understanding of the past situation where the strange world and the common world kept to themselves.

Based on what I know, before the Fantian incident, the demon hunters didn't realize how strange it was that they couldn't interfere with the world of common sense.

Just like this old man whose mind is being manipulated, he is clearly in a position to remain silent about information related to the Ancient Moon God, but under the power of the fake Moon in the Water, he becomes very talkative to us, and he himself is unaware of the contradiction in his behavior.

Of course, even the power of the divine seal is not absolute. Leaving aside other demon hunters, the Great Impermanents, as super beings capable of altering the natural order, can, to some extent, consider themselves "the will of Heaven." Even if they cannot resist the power of the divine seal, they might still vaguely sense that something is amiss in their situation.

However, since the immortals described by the old man could only seal the Silver Moon at most, it meant that the other party was at most at the Great Completion level. It was hard to imagine that a demon hunter of that level could be aware of its existence in a world influenced by the power of the divine seal.

Perhaps what the old man said is not the truth.

It's not that he's deceiving us. Under the mental manipulation of the fake Moon in the Water, he shouldn't be able to deceive us. But ultimately, the fake Moon in the Water is a replica of the real Moon in the Water, and the real Moon in the Water imitates the power of the Silver Moon. Now this incident involves the Silver Moon herself, and perhaps these villagers have all been affected by the Silver Moon's power; their memories... even their personalities themselves may not be real.

Moreover, there are contradictions in the content about the past that cannot be ignored—since Yin Yue was sealed in the ancestral hall of Guyue Village a hundred years ago, then who was the Yin Yue who raised Ying Lingyun to adulthood and gave birth to Chang'an?

Could it be that my thinking was fatally flawed from the very beginning, and that Gu Yue Shen and Yin Yue are not the same person?

"And what's with the fog here?" Dongche asked.

"That's a phenomenon caused by the power of the Ancient Moon God spreading out from the seal," the old man replied. "Although we don't understand it very well either, even divine seals may have time limits. After all, that's something from a hundred years ago, and it imprisoned the Ancient Moon God, who possessed boundless magical power. Over such a long period of time, it's inevitable that loopholes would appear."

"The mist that appears in the mountains is the manifestation of the evil thoughts of the ancient moon god. It will forcibly trap intruders in the mist until they die. But we villagers who stayed behind to guard the seal are blessed by the gods before their death, so we can ignore the fog and come and go freely."

"bless……"

Dongche scrutinized the old man with the same look one would give a suspicious person.

The latter continued, "Are you leaving this place now? If you want, we can send you out right now."

Even under mental manipulation, the old man still seemed to desperately want us to leave this fog. I don't know if his attitude reflected his own will or the will of Silver Moon, who might be manipulating the puppets behind the scenes, but in any case, he really didn't want us to stay here.

However, I had no intention of leaving empty-handed.

“Take me to the Ancient Moon God,” I said.

"Senior Zhuang Cheng?" Dongche said cautiously, "Shouldn't we be even more careful?"

Although the other party is said to be in a sealed state, no one can judge the truth until they see it for themselves. Dongche's caution is reasonable.

"The opponent might be Silvermoon. No amount of preparation or contingency planning will be of any use. The more direct the better." I had my own insights to share. "However, while I don't need to make any preparations, you still do."

"Ma Zao, don't come with me. You should take Dong Che back to the edge of the mist first. If you hear any magical fluctuations from a battle coming from here, retreat from the mist immediately, understand?"

“…I understand.” Mazao nodded. “However, time is disordered inside the mist. After I leave the mist, you, who are inside it, may not be able to wait for me to come back and take you out. In that case, how do you plan to leave the mist?”

"In at most twenty days, my power should be able to reach the Great Impermanence realm. By then, even if I still can't find a way to break through the fog, I can try to force a breakthrough through brute force," I said.

"Huh? Senior Zhuang Cheng, you'll be able to become the Great Impermanence in just twenty days at most?" Dong Che was dumbfounded.

After listening to me and thinking it over, Ma Zao had no choice but to accept my proposal.

Dongche seemed to be struggling to process—or perhaps she was putting aside the information I had revealed—and looking at the atmosphere now that the next steps had been agreed upon, he hesitated for a moment before saying, "...I think I'll stay in this village for now."

"Why?" I asked.

"What's happening in this village might be closely related to my true state of life and death," he calmly analyzed. "Moreover, if I am truly dead, but somehow still alive, then perhaps what's maintaining my ability to move is within this mist. Once I leave the mist..."

“Could you really die? Is that it?” I asked.

He nodded.

It was for safety reasons that Mazao and Dongche retreated to the edge of the fog first. Since Dongche said so, I naturally wouldn't insist.

Asa handed me the fake Moon in the Water, then gave me a deep look. I felt that she still wanted to fight alongside me, but in the end, she probably used reason to overcome her emotions, then activated the power of return, and her figure disappeared from my sight.

The old man stood beside me like a robot that wouldn't react without being given instructions. I asked him to lead the way, and he nodded and said yes, then moved deeper into the village.

Guyue Village is not large. Although it seems that many refugees lived there in the past, it is ultimately just a mountain village. After walking for a while, we arrived at the Fengyin Ancestral Hall of Guyue Village.

This ancestral hall also appears to be a simple thatched hut, but it occupies ten times the area of ​​the other buildings. The ancestral hall is divided into two parts: a front hall with many memorial tablets of the deceased, and a sealing chamber that enshrines the ancient moon god. The latter seems to occupy more than two-thirds of the area of ​​the ancestral hall.

To enter the sealing chamber from the front hall, one must pass through a large wooden door. The door appears to be unlocked. If the sealed object is a fully-fledged demon, then any lock, regardless of its material or structure, would be useless; therefore, the presence or absence of a physical lock is probably irrelevant.

The old man stopped in front of the sealing chamber and said solemnly, "The Ancient Moon God is behind this door... Although it cannot leave this place, it can still exert its divine power normally as long as it is inside. Do you really want to go in?"

“Of course,” I said. “Dongche, you all step back outside the ancestral hall first, I’ll go in alone.”

"Okay." Dongche nodded obediently.

I pushed the door open and went in.

I didn't need to close the door; it closed automatically as if spring-loaded after I entered, making a dull closing sound.

Behind the door was a large, empty, and dimly lit room. The floor was covered with numerous white candles, so many that it was difficult to know where to step. Most of the candles were extinguished, with only a few still burning, providing negligible light. Instead of illuminating the space, they created an eerie and unsettling atmosphere.

Where is the Ancient Moon God? I looked around and then heard an unfamiliar noise. From the deepest part of the room, slow footsteps echoed.

Before the other party could reveal themselves, I made a gesture, and all the extinguished white candles suddenly lit up. The continuous candlelight burned in the dim room, illuminating it as if it were a fire scene.

Then the person deep inside the room came into my view.

She was an unusually beautiful girl dressed in simple white clothes. She had long white hair, golden eyes, and a face so beautiful it seemed inhuman. She looked to be about high school age, and the old-fashioned clothes, which resembled those of a village girl, possessed a unique charm on her.

As expected, the person who appeared in this room was none other than Silver Moon.

Looking at her appearance, it's hard to imagine that she is already a mother, the mother of my friend Zhu Chang'an, and has lived for at least several hundred years. Perhaps before raising Ying Lingyun from childhood and having relations with her, this youthful yet criminal body had already experienced countless romantic and even licentious affairs, and may have even left behind other offspring.

However, this silver moon seems different from the silver moon I remember.

In my memory, Silver Moon was shrouded in an indescribable aura of evil, and her beautiful face evoked more terror than anything else. But the Silver Moon before me appeared remarkably peaceful, like an innocent and harmless young girl. I had expected to react instinctively and attack the moment I saw Silver Moon, but her serene demeanor prevented me from doing so.

At the same time, she did not make any dangerous moves that would be associated with aggression, nor did she even adopt a defensive or alert stance. She simply stood in the candlelight, her hands folded peacefully in front of her lower abdomen, and her eyes were very gentle.

To give an example, the Silver Moon I know is obviously a villainous demon king, but this girl in front of me is practically a saintly version of Silver Moon who has become a nun and converted to Buddhism.

Around her neck was a rough and heavy collar that looked like it was made of gray rock.

"Zhuang Cheng...is that right?"

She spoke in a soft voice.

(End of this chapter)