<h4>Chapter 222: Temple</h4>
It was already four in the afternoon. The winter sky was no longer as bright, but it was in no way close to evening. Bright light scattered across the ground, and theke breeze blew gently, giving the illusion that they had returned to the early morning.
The highway on the ind was indeed as the murloc captive had described. The damage wasn’t too serious, but some parts had cracked due to the elements. Some parts of the road had more soil and dust.
For Jiang Baimian—who was riding a bicycle—the cold wind that blew at her face made her feel like she was experiencing the early morning. On the left was arge number of farnds that extended all the way to the foot of the mountain. On the right, she could see the vast, mistyke through the two rows of withered trees.
Such a scene and such a feeling broadened her heart and refreshed her mind. If not for the grenadeuncher and the assault rifle slung across her, she would’ve almost forgotten the purpose of this trip.
Jiang Baimian sighed with emotion as she pedaled. “Unfortunately, it’s winter now. There’s not much greenery in the farnds and woods. Otherwise, it would definitely feel better.”
Shang Jianyao tried his best to keep his bicycle from overtaking her by too much. He thought for a moment and said, “Autumn might be more beautiful.”
“Why?” Jiang Baimian never expected Shang Jianyao to select a season.
Shang Jianyao frankly replied, “There must be many fruits on the trees.”
“...” Jiang Baimian decided not to continue the topic and said, “It seems like the merfolk have all evacuated this ind. I wonder if it’s because of the Oracle’s instructions or because something terrifying would happen after three days...”
This was one of the things Pangu Biology had warned them about—they couldn’t stay on the ind for more than three days.
Shang Jianyao—who was wearing a monkey mask—thought for a moment and said, “I didn’t ask the captive that question back then.”
“We didn’t know either.” Jiang Baimian subconsciously consoled him.
When Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong went to interrogate the murloc captive, she was still sick and had yet to report the matter to thepany. Thus, she had yet to receive any notice regarding any taboos when exploring temples.
The morning after Pangu Biology replied, Redstone Collection had exchanged POWs with the merfolk and mountain monsters.
Shang Jianyao—who was trying his best to control himself and not speed up the bicycle—turned to look at Jiang Baimian. “I believe it should be a result of the Oracle’s instructions.”
“Oh?” Although Jiang Baimian had made the same judgment, she was still rather interested in Shang Jianyao’s inference process. She felt that it was necessary to learn a different train of thought and not restrict herself to her own ways.
After all, many Awakened had certain mental problems. It was difficult to guess their behavior patterns with normal logic.
Shang Jianyao truthfully answered, “He had already made friends with Harbinger Song. When he mentioned Lake Heart Ind and the forbidden temple, he wouldn’t not mention that something terrifying would happen if one stayed on the ind for too long unless he didn’t know the exact situation.”
“Yes.” Jiang Baimian was a little disappointed because this was a normal inference.
Ding ring ring!
At this moment, Shang Jianyao rang the bell on the bicycle with interest as if he wanted to y a piece of music with it.
Unfortunately, the bell couldn’t do such a thing.
“...” Jiang Baimian retracted her disappointment.
The two of them rode past the abandoned houses by theke. After about ten minutes, they finally saw a town.
Its style was very simr to Weed City’s. It had white walls and ck tiles, with eaves arched over them. It was filled with the charm of the Old World’s ancient times.
Of course, this ce also had differences from Weed City. The first was theck of city walls. The second was that the houses were generally not tall, with the majority being two to three stories.
In the town, limestone bs wereid out. The dry yellow weeds were asionally plucked up by the cold wind and blown into the sky.
For some reason, Jiang Baimian felt like the light had dimmed a little the moment they entered this town. This made her see an ancient, quiet, and slightly creepy scene.
Without a doubt, there were no signs of human activity in the entire town. If not for the fact that it was winter, this ce might’ve be a paradise for vegetation and wild animals.
Even now, Jiang Baimian could still see dried animal feces in the corners and ditches.
“There’s no smell.” Shang Jianyao sniffed and made a judgment.
Jiang Baimian couldn’t be bothered with him. She flipped her wrist and looked at her watch. “It’s 4:16. We have to leave this town before 4:42, regardless of whether we find anything valuable.”
“You made a mistake,” Shang Jianyao pointed out.
That didn’t add up to half an hour.
As Jiang Baimian identified the way ording to the murloc’s statements and searched for the temple, she scoffed. “This is called leaving some redundancy. Who knows if this ce is different from the ones thepany previously discovered? We can’tpletely follow thepany’s precautions; we have to raise the standards.”
“You’re very suitable to join the Vignce Church,” Shang Jianyao praised.
Jiang Baimian nced over and muttered, “I think you’re making a snide remark at me. How can the Vignce Church’s vignce be the same as a normal person’s?”
After confirming the general direction, she rode her bicycle along the ditch by the side of the road to the center of town.
ording to the murloc’s description, the temple was in the alley east of the town square.
Just like outside of town, it was quiet inside the town except for the howling wind and the sound of the advancing bicycles. It was so quiet that it made one’s scalp tingle.
“I didn’t feel it while in the wilderness, but it’s really strange when there’s no sound here.” Jiang Baimian looked around and attributed part of the reason to the narrow road, cramped environment, and oppressive atmosphere.
Shang Jianyao then sighed. “Unfortunately, Long Yuehong didn’te.”
“What will happen if hees?” Jiang Baimian casually inquired.
Shang Jianyao sighed. “Then, I can tell him a ghost story.”
“You’re really his good friend,” Jiang Baimian said sincerely.
The area in front of them widened as they conversed, and a small square appeared. On the east side of the square was a half-meter-tall tform—there was nothing on it.
After crossing this cement tform, they could see a narrow alley. The alley entrance had a putrid smell as if it had been a long time since the winds blew in.
Jiang Baimian quickly got off the bicycle and leaned it against the side.
They had arrived at their destination.
As Shang Jianyao alighted, he spoke of his worries. “Should we lock them? It won’t be good if wee out and find our bicycles missing.”
“If you lose your bicycle, I’ll give you a ride!” Jiang Baimian didn’t mention how anyone could steal a bicycle in such a godforsaken ce. She directly replied ording to Shang Jianyao’s train of thought.
Ten secondster, the two of them left their bicycles, picked up their assault rifles, and walked into the alley in front of them.
The deeper they went, the stronger the smell of rot in the air. It felt like it was about to freeze, but this didn’t stop Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian from breathing.
All the doors and windows in this alley were tightly shut, unlike the other areas of the town.
Many doors were open as if they had been searched. Furthermore, all the doors here were painted ck.
As she walked, Jiang Baimian heard her and Shang Jianyao’s footsteps. They constantly echoed in the alley,yering upon one another.
“This ce is indeed rather strange.” As Jiang Baimian sighed with emotion, the temple appeared in front of them.
The temple was located at a higher spot at the end of the alley. Its architectural style was essentially the same as the surrounding buildings.
Its ck door was tightly shut. Above it was a ck tile, and a white paperntern hung on each side.
Perhaps it was because of the eaves, but thenterns weren’t affected by the rain. It was as if they had been hung upst night.
The door to the temple was taller than that of the other buildings. Under the eaves was a que with ck and white words.
Jiang Baimian casually nced at it and saw the words on the que clearly: “Yama Hall.”
“It does have the looks,” shemented objectively, but this didn’t stop her from moving forward.
Soon, she and Shang Jianyao arrived at the temple’s entrance.
When she was close, she felt a strange feeling—a fear that went straight to the bottom of her heart.
Jiang Baimian didn’t hesitate to stretch out her left hand and softly press it against the door before exerting some strength.
Before riding the bicycle, she and Shang Jianyao had already worntex gloves.
At this moment, she even used her left hand out of caution.
With a creak, the temple’s ck door slowly opened, revealing the scene inside.
The first thing Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao saw was a well. There was a water vat in each corner.
Beyond the well was a temple hall; a white curtain hung from the door.
After crossing the doorsill and entering the temple, the fear Jiang Baimian felt dissipated instantly. However, her heart felt like it was weighed down by several heavy rocks, making her feel extremely stifled.
Even the wind seemed to have vanished. It was so quiet that it didn’t seem like she was in the real world.
Suddenly, Shang Jianyao asked, “Can I get the speaker?”
“Huh?” Jiang Baimian—who waspletely focused—was momentarily stunned.
“Music,” Shang Jianyao quickly exined.
ying music with a speaker in this gloomy, mysterious, quiet, stifling, and strange temple? y those strange songs? Although Jiang Baimian believed that this could effectively destroy the current atmosphere, she felt that it was too strange.
It was crazy to have a ce—which could show signs of a phantasm at any moment—echo with lyrics like ‘you are my little apple.’
She deliberated for a moment and said, “Not yet, but we can prepare.”
“Alright.” Shang Jianyao became excited.
The duo—who was carrying assault rifles—immediately took up position as they entered the main hall’s entrance.
After lifting the white curtain and tying it up, they saw the offering table, the incense burner, ashes, a praying mat, and white candles. However, there was no statue on the offering table.
The actual situation behind the offering table couldn’t be seen at a nce.
At this moment, Shang Jianyao suddenly said, “There’s human consciousness not more than ten meters away.”
He uttered a rtively vague description as if he didn’t dare be too sure of the exact distance.
“You only sensed it aftering in?” Jiang Baimian asked in surprise. She remembered that Shang Jianyao’s abilities covered a maximum range of 20 meters.
Shang Jianyao nodded heavily.
Jiang Baimian then focused. After a while, she hesitantly said, “Indeed, there are electric signals. Very weak... It has extremely low biological activity?”
As she spoke, she held her gun and circled behind the offering table with Shang Jianyao.
They then saw a coffin—a ck coffin.
The coffin was open, and a person was lying inside.