Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 295 - 274 Bizarre Dialogue

Chapter 295: 274 Bizarre Dialogue

The refugees who sought refuge in the mountain forest and were saved by the Ancient Moon Goddess established Ancient Moon Village, a settlement that worshiped God, but in later generations they seemed to have collectively moved out due to some kind of fear...

I tried to summarize the information I had obtained before.

As for the content of the fear, the Shopkeeper and regular customers couldn’t provide a clear reason for it, and they even could not conclusively say whether the former inhabitants of Ancient Moon Village—or rather, Hu Family Village—had moved away from Moon Concealing Mountain because of fear.

Seeing this, I could only change the topic and asked, "Do you know any more about the deeds of that Ancient Moon Goddess?"

"Well, I heard that the Ancient Moon God not only created food and water sources, but also provided the refugees with the necessary clothing and shelter to survive the winter. I don’t remember the rest very clearly," said the Shopkeeper. "The original witnesses have all passed away, and only in the legacies that have been passed down is it said that the Ancient Moon God could fulfill any wish, anything that the devotees could imagine, the Ancient Moon God could create."

The regular customer added, "Not only did she meet the basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter, but even ’health’ and ’courage,’ these abstract qualities, seem to have been provided by the Ancient Moon God for the devotees—at least that’s how it is described in the legends of Moon Concealing Mountain City."

Anything that can be imagined, can be created—

This so-called "Ancient Moon Goddess who can fulfill all wishes," gives me the feeling of Yinyue, who has the power to "turn fantasy into reality."

In Luo Mountain, only Impermanence is regarded as a God, while someone of Great Success Rank is at most considered a Demigod. Even if Yinyue is exceptional within the Great Success Rank, in mainstream demon hunter opinion, she is not considered a Goddess.

However, for ordinary people, especially for the uneducated masses a century ago, it was different.

Whether it was creating an inexhaustible supply of food, generating endless water sources, or changing the climate of the mountains... all of these, in their view, are undoubtedly the works of God. With the power of Yinyue, almost all human desires can be satisfied. And once she unleashes her fury, she can even annihilate an army or destroy a city with one blow.

Some gods from Eastern and Western mythologies may not even be as powerful as she is.

Furthermore, after a careful thought, the name "Ancient Moon God" is also quite interesting. "Ancient Moon" translates to "Hu," so Ancient Moon Village is Hu Family Village, and the Ancient Moon God is the Fox God. "Hu" and "fox" are homophones in Chinese, so "Hu God" also means "Fox God." This also coincides with Yinyue’s identity as a Fox Demon of Great Success.

Therefore, it seems likely that the naming of "Ancient Moon Village" and "Ancient Moon God" was intentional. It is possible that Yinyue did not hide her fox attributes from the refugees, or it could be that the Ancient Moon Villagers stumbled upon Yinyue’s true identity by chance and kept part of the truth hidden within the locally inherited culture.

Also, from this practice of hiding the truth in legendary culture, one can vaguely sense the avoidance of the Ancient Moon Villagers who fled from the mountain forest towards the Ancient Moon God. They wanted to preserve and pass on the history, yet they feared that once the truth was widely known, it would bring some ominous disasters.

While analyzing this, I slowly captured the feeling of investigating folklore and legend, and a nostalgic emotion welled up in my heart.

"Previously, you mentioned that there were tourists who went astray in Hu Family Village on Moon Concealing Mountain... Since you specifically brought it up as a topic of conversation, it must mean that it wasn’t just an ordinary incident, was it?" I asked.

By the way, the "fireflies" I had sent out in advance to scout around Moon Concealing Mountain didn’t find any trace of Hu Family Village; the area just seemed to have dense, intricate forest vegetation.

"The Hu Family Village area now has only a few households left, and it’s also located in the unopened area of Moon Concealing Mountain. Normally, tourists wouldn’t be able to find Hu Family Village. Most likely they carelessly strayed from the mountain path and then got lost in the forest," said the regular customer.

The Shopkeeper scoffed, "Careless? I think it’s overconfidence. Occasionally some young people with inexplicably high self-esteem appear, they don’t listen to the guide’s advice, and insist on sneaking into the forest to engage in adventures or camping, and then never return. It’s all due to these foolish people underestimating their own abilities, causing the number of tourists who come here to decrease.

"Wasn’t there a boy found dead in the forest a week ago? His hair dyed white, and he was wearing white ancient clothes, as if he believed himself to be a wandering hero of the woods. And until now, no one has come forward to claim his body."

A boy with white hair, also dressed in white ancient clothing? I immediately asked for more details about this person, and the Shopkeeper then fetched a newspaper from under the counter and handed it to me.

In one corner of the newspaper, there was an obituary with a photo of the deceased attached. Mazao peeked over and looked, and I too focused my gaze. The person in the photo was a young boy with an innocent and cute face, clearly someone both Mazao and I knew.

"Dong Che?" Mazao read out incredulously.

Dong Che is dead? And he had died a week ago on Moon Concealing Mountain, long before he met me and Mazao?

So what was the deal with the Dong Che who had been with us before? Was it really a strange creature wearing his skin that had been moving about in the outside world after killing Dong Che?

Speaking of the strange creatures lurking in Moon Concealing Mountain, all I could think of was Yinyue. With this in mind, I considered an absurd possibility—could it be that Mazao and I had been spending time with Yinyue, who was disguised as a beautiful young man?

But what motivation would Yinyue have to take the risk of coming close to me? If she had approached me with some purpose in mind, why hadn’t she done anything to us?

Or had she already done something in the shadows that we simply hadn’t perceived?

Countless conjectures intertwined in my mind, and then, I questioned the shopkeeper and the regular customers: "Since you know that the tourist who got lost in the woods had accidentally entered Hu Family Village, does that mean he safely returned to the foot of the mountain? Was he sent back by the villagers of Hu Family Village?"

"No, he was saved by a boy with white hair, dressed in ancient white garments. It seems it happened this morning," said the regular customer.

The shopkeeper nodded: "Right, I’ve heard about it too. Fortunately, the person was rescued. Otherwise, if news of another tragedy spread, our place would suffer yet another blow to its popularity."

"Wait a moment..." I immediately sensed something was amiss, "Didn’t you just say that the boy with white hair was found dead in the woods? How could he have saved the tourist this morning... wasn’t the person who died a week ago and the one who appeared this morning the same person?"

Most likely, the one who died a week ago was the real Dong Che, and the one who appeared this morning was an impostor. I had explicitly told Dong Che not to approach the Moon Concealing Mountain area in the next two days, yet he still came close. Indeed, it was a cunning strange creature, and there was no expecting it to comply with my arrangements.

That’s what I thought at first, but the reactions of the two people opposite me caught me off guard.

The regular customer looked puzzled, while the shopkeeper asked in bewilderment: "What do you mean found dead a week ago... when did I say that? The boy isn’t dead."

"Didn’t you just show me the obituary?"

Saying so, I picked up the newspaper beside me and scanned it. Then, I realized that the obituary that was originally in the corner of the newspaper page had mysteriously disappeared.

I immediately realized that I was encountering a strange phenomenon.

The Dong Che who had just been spoken of as deceased by the shopkeeper was now said to be alive, and the obituary had vanished as if past events had been stealthily altered, while only I kept the original memory.

No, not just me. Mazao also showed a shocked expression, her whole body tensed as she observed her surroundings. She had clearly noticed the discrepancies between what we had just heard and the present situation.

I also held my breath and concentrated, scanning the surroundings with my perception, but I couldn’t find any abnormal traces. Meanwhile, the shopkeeper and the regular customer continued to look at me in incomprehension.

"So... what about the tourist?" I asked again, "Wasn’t he saved by the white-haired boy this morning? Do you know where he is now?"

"What saved?" the shopkeeper asked, puzzled, "Didn’t I tell you earlier that the tourist was found dead in the woods?"

His words contradicted what he had said just a moment ago. I looked down at the newspaper again, and I saw that the obituary reappeared in the corner of the newspaper page—this time it was with the picture of an unfamiliar young man.

Meanwhile, Mazao activated Fake Water Moon, further affecting the minds of the shopkeeper and the regular customer. Initially, she made them merely willing to answer all our questions, but now Mazao took direct control. They became lifeless, like marionettes.

Fortunately, there were no other customers in the shop at the moment, making it convenient for our investigation. We continued to interrogate the two people and check the surroundings. We could almost be certain that the source of the strange phenomenon was not with them, nor in this restaurant. They were just influenced by the strange happenings.

If the source of the strange phenomenon could not be pinpointed, then conversely, it could potentially be anywhere in this town.

Considering the scale of the previous topic, it was possible that the entire town, along with Moon Concealing Mountain, fell within the range of influence. Perhaps it was not by chance that we encountered such phenomenon while gathering information in this restaurant; we might encounter inconsistencies in communication with the locals anywhere in the town of Moon Concealing Mountain.

With the investigation fruitless, Mazao and I had no choice but to leave the restaurant.

By then, the night sky had become overcast without our notice, and the muffled sound of thunder could be faintly heard, suggesting that a downpour was imminent.