Chapter 26: The Ruined Ancient Temple

  In ancient times, the official roads would become muddy in the rain, but due to the local officials' maintenance, many sections were quite passable. Moreover, the drivers of the carriages were all carefully selected and skilled, and there was also Rokka, who had both wealth and a practical mind, taking care of everyone's daily needs. When they entered the city and stayed at an inn, others would know that this person was not ordinary just by looking at Chen Xing's fine clothes. What's more, Chen Xing himself looked handsome and extraordinary, exactly like a noble young master from a prestigious family. Occasionally, there were some nosy people who wanted to take a peek at Rokka's face under her veil, but they were all dealt with swiftly and severely.

  Rothschi couldn't bear to see those wretched figures rolling around on the ground, but she also found those lecherous men utterly detestable. She couldn't blame the Tsukihimes for being ruthless, yet she still turned her head away, unable to watch. Later, Myouren asked if she didn't want to hear their anguished cries, and she nodded in agreement. From then on, whenever they encountered such situations, the Tsukihimes would add a sentence to those fallen villains who were crying out in agony: "If you don't scram quickly and keep yelling on the ground, I'll make sure you can never cry out again!"

  The guest house will soon become quiet.

  Luo Siqi felt helpless in her heart as the Moon Maidens solved problems this way, and they gradually arrived at the town closest to the gathering place. The small city called Gathering Place was originally only the size of a town, and its original name was Lin Yuan Town, but because it was the last small town on the way to the Dark Domain City, from this town to the Dark Domain City, there were no other supply points except for the small roads in the mountains and forests. Therefore, whether it was merchants going to the Dark Domain City or merchants returning from the Dark Domain City, they all liked to replenish and trade here, so this place also became prosperous day by day, and many catering and entertainment facilities appeared, and a small city began to be built. The town selected a virtuous and respected person as the lord of the city, and the small town changed from Lin Yuan Town to Gathering Place City.

  The town they arrived at was called Kuangxi Town, which was only slightly larger than a village. From Kuangxi Town to Liujin City, due to the need to circumvent the mountain range, taking the main road would require another two days of walking. Many merchants chose this route because they were carrying goods. However, some people who went to Liujin City or even Yin Domain to sell small but valuable items often chose to cross over the small hill in front of them, which would only take three hours to reach Liujin City.

  Luo Siqi arrived, and Han Yue was afraid of any unexpected events, so she had already sent a message to the other moon girls who were searching for news about Ling Xian Cao outside, ordering them to gather at Liu Jin City. Even if they couldn't catch up with Luo Siqi to go to Hei Wu Mountain together, they could stay there as backup after Luo Siqi entered the mountain.

  When Luosi and his group arrived at Kuangxi Town, it was already noon. After lunch, they listened to the boss's introduction and decided to take the mountain road, because for Luosi, being able to save two days was two days. Although the small mountain they had to pass through was also lush with vegetation, safety-wise it was definitely not as good as the main road. However, Luosi relied on Chenxing and the two Moon Maidens by his side and didn't put safety concerns at heart. Moreover, the boss said that it would only take three hours to reach Liujin City, so if they set off in the afternoon, they should be able to arrive before nightfall.

  Of course, if everything goes smoothly.

  At the beginning, Lucy was in a good mood because she had been sitting in the carriage for a long time and suddenly it became a hiking trip. Everything looked beautiful and fresh to her, and the journey to the mountain top seemed very pleasant with birds singing and flowers blooming along the way.

  Before long, they climbed to the top of the mountain, which was not steep at all, but rather a gentle slope like a hill. Rosy stood on a rock that was convenient for viewing from afar and could already see a small city with a majestic atmosphere not far below the mountain. She knew that should be Flowing Gold City. Beyond Flowing Gold City, there was an extremely dense forest, where even the main road of the trade route disappeared into the forest. Beyond the sea of trees were continuous mountains that couldn't be seen clearly, and she thought that the Dark Domain and Black Witch Mountain were among those mountains.

  The distant mood is just good and unstoppable. Luosiqi couldn't help but smile at Chenxing standing beside her: "It seems that everything is going smoothly, and it will be more effortless to go down the mountain. I really want to see how luxurious the so-called flowing gold small town can be!"

  However, at this moment, a mountain wind suddenly blew up, and soon a dark cloud floated in the sky. This cloud grew bigger and bigger, almost as fast as boiling water, and the sky turned gloomy, starting to drop raindrops.

  On the top of the mountain, there was nothing to block their way, so the four people started running down the mountain. Although going down the mountain required less energy than climbing up, and from the mountaintop it seemed like there wasn't much distance left, when they actually started running, they realized that this road seemed to have no end. Luosiqi ran for a while before feeling tired. Chenxing and the two Yueji's physical strength were better than Luosiqi's, but the rain was so heavy that even in the woods it was hard to keep their eyes open. Moreover, in order to make it easier to go down the mountain, they had to choose some places without trees to move forward.

  Just as everyone was in a bit of a predicament, Lucy suddenly discovered that there was a temple in front of them. The temple wasn't too far from the mountain top and it was like a lifesaver for them. From its appearance, the temple seemed to have been built for many years, with many places on the outside being somewhat dilapidated. Since they just needed to take shelter from the rain, the four of them didn't think much and hastily entered this ancient temple.

  The ancient temple was not large, and the door was not locked. When Luosiqi pushed the door open, she found that in the middle of the temple hall stood two statues of gods. The appearance of these two god statues was very strange. One had a smiling face and held something round in his hand, while the other had no expression on his face, gazing at him with a sidelong glance, his left hand placed horizontally across his chest, and his right hand behind his back, doing who-knows-what.

  The temple seems to have only the main hall, and there are no other rooms behind the hall. Inside the hall, it's not just a statue of a god, but below the statue is a young man who was originally sitting on the ground with his head bowed in thought. When he heard the sound of the door being pushed open, he slightly raised his head in surprise, and when he saw that the four people didn't look like bad people, he let out a sigh of relief and smiled at them, but didn't say anything, then lowered his head again, lost in thought.

  Young people do not know where to find the firewood, in front of their body ignited a pile of fire, next to the fire there are some wood that has not been put into the fire for backup. Everyone was drenched by the rain and couldn't help but gather around the fire. Rosalie moved her luggage closer to the fire to dry it off, one of the maids went to the back of the hall and found some relatively flat firewood to lay on the ground for the four people to sit on.

  Luo Siqi felt warmer after being roasted, and listening to the increasingly heavy rain outside, she became worried again and said to Chen Xing: "I don't know when this rain will stop, if it keeps raining until midnight, it's going to be a big trouble!"

  Chen Xing still had that warm smile that was unique to her, and he comforted her by saying: "Don't worry! Even if we can't make it to Liujin City before nightfall, as long as I'm with you, everywhere will be safe."

  This indeed makes people feel at ease, and Rosalie also believes that Morning Star really has such strength. She thought to herself: "If it weren't for this ancient temple, things would definitely be much worse!" With this mindset, she felt more calm, after all, the temple didn't leak a single drop of rain.

  No longer worried, Rosalie felt that everyone was silent and resting, and it was a bit boring. She became interested in the young man who was thinking with his head down. To know that she decided to go to Liujin City with Chen Xing and two Moon Maidens, this young man appeared here, either going to Liujin City or already back from Liujin City. He didn't look like he had great martial arts skills, and his body was relatively weak. It was strange and unbelievable that he dared to climb this desolate mountain alone.

  Morningstar and the two moon maidens didn't seem to have any intention of striking up a conversation with strangers, so the arduous task of inquiring about this young man was inevitably taken on by Rosethorn herself. However, since she hadn't asked him before entering, now that they were inside, Rosethorn didn't know how to start the conversation either.

  Just then, the gate that Tsukihime had locked for safety seemed to be pushed by someone with great force, and a rapid knocking sound came from it. What made Rosalie feel uneasy was that there was no voice accompanying the knocking sound, and the person outside, although knocking urgently, didn't say a word.