Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 306 - 285 Speedrun Ancient Moon Village

Chapter 306: 285 Speedrun Ancient Moon Village

The villagers slowly gathered around, and the twenty-something-year-old youth seemed to have grown bolder, approaching the spot where Mazao and I, two strangers, were standing.

He could be the young traveler mentioned in Dong Che’s narrative; I also retrieved from my memory the appearance of the corpse I had seen before.

I could judge that this youth’s height and build were almost the same as that of the corpse. The reason I could only say "almost" is because the latter had, after all, decayed, showing some phenomena like the giant’s perspective typical of rotting corpses. More convenient than comparing their physical similarities was comparing their clothing. He wore a black and green windbreaker, identical to the one the corpse was wearing.

The young traveler, who was clearly already dead in a mountain ditch, was now strangely alive in this place.

Moreover, like Dong Che, he gave me an inhuman impression. Not just him, the villagers also had the same non-human sensation as Dong Che. Previously stopping Dong Che and them from approaching was just a reflex on my part; in reality, Dong Che and they were of the same kind.

If it were only Dong Che, who gave off an inhuman vibe, appearing before me, I would have just been cautious. But now, seeing so many seemingly inhuman figures crowd around, it suddenly breached some threshold in my mind, triggering the uncanny valley effect.

Maybe I should just annihilate this village... Such a thought crossed my mind.

"Dong Che, where had you gone earlier?" the young traveler complained.

"Where did I... go... I was looking for you," Dong Che answered confusedly, "Where exactly did you go before?"

"I didn’t go anywhere!" the young traveler said, baffled, "I heard from the villagers that you suddenly went into the fog, leaving me alone here. I was considering re-entering the fog to find you, but luckily, you came back so soon..."

A villager next to Dong Che said: "Young man, where did you go before? The mountains are very dangerous. If you want to leave this place, we can show you the way."

"That’s right," another villager agreed.

Everyone started chattering all at once.

"How could this be..."

Dong Che first frowned, then turned to look at me.

In his earlier narrative, the villagers had said that the young traveler left first, then Dong Che went into the fog outside the village. The villagers’ statements in the two narratives didn’t match, as if the villagers were intentionally telling different lies to them. But I knew clearly that it wasn’t the case. The young traveler’s corpse indeed appeared in the woods, indicating he really left the village on his own initiative.

It seems that while unaware, the " established fact" has been altered again by a mysterious force. Probably even the villagers are within the modified scope. The shopkeeper and regular customers of the Moon Concealing Mountain Inn had also encountered such contradictions in narratives without realizing, so I could easily accept this situation.

Even so, watching this group of people, who vaguely exuded a non-human aura, behave so abnormally before me, I felt an indescribable eeriness.

As if in the darkness there were a pair of large hands, like those manipulating and twisting marionettes, controlling everyone who seems alive, who should be dead, and who is uncertain whether alive or dead, performing this grotesquely illogical drama.

Perhaps, these villagers are like Dong Che, unaware that they are not human.

"Young man, did you also come to hike?"

Among those dozen villagers, an elderly man, who seemed to hold some authority in the village, first looked at Mazao and me, then said: "Your attire doesn’t seem suitable for mountain hiking, and you both look so young... Where are your parents? Did they also get lost in the mountains?"

"I am a folklore enthusiast."

Like how I used to investigate strange events all over the country, I habitually made such a self-introduction, then continued: "I want to study the folk traditions of Moon Concealing Mountain City, and during my inquiries, I learned about Ancient Moon Village in Moon Concealing Mountain, so I wanted to visit your village. I wasn’t prepared for hiking because it was a spontaneous decision. If possible, please help us leave this mountain, and I will certainly repay you afterward."

"A folklore enthusiast, and promising rewards afterward... at your age?" the elder questioned.

After all, I was presenting as a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy, so it wasn’t appropriate to blame others for underestimating me. Before entering the village, I had considered whether I should revert to my original self, but I didn’t want to break the promise made to Mazao. So, I had no choice but to continue with this appearance and forcefully finished my statement: "I just look young, but I am actually an adult."

The old man frowned, looked at me for a while, then said, "You just mentioned Ancient Moon Village... let’s call this place Hu Family Village instead, ’Ancient Moon Village’ sounds inauspicious."

"Alright, Hu Family Village," I changed my phrasing.

"Since you are leaving, it’s best to leave as soon as possible." The old man displayed an attitude of hurrying the guests, "Since you have to be sent away, we might as well send all four of you off together."

"Thank you," I said. "However, returning empty-handed, to be honest, I still have some reservations. As previously mentioned, I came here to study the events related to Ancient Moon Village and the Ancient Moon God. Old sir, could you tell us about the Ancient Moon God before we leave?"

Upon hearing this, the old man instantly became alert, his gaze scrutinizing, and said, "—You want to inquire about the Ancient Moon God?"

The other villagers stopped their discussions and unanimously turned to look at me.

"Is this a topic inconvenient to discuss?" I observed the other party as well.

From the information I had obtained, the villagers of Ancient Moon Village had left Moon Concealing Mountain due to their fear of the Ancient Moon God—Yinyue. Although I do not know what Yinyue had done to make them avoid him so desperately, considering Yinyue’s cruel nature, if he could peacefully coexist with humans, that would be truly bizarre. It’s normal for the villagers to want to flee. The question is—what sort of people are these villagers who chose to stay?

The people of the Moon Concealing Mountain City seem to treat the Ancient Moon God as an obscure folklore myth unknown outside their locality and unworthy of trust. Therefore, they might not ponder deeply about this issue. However, I’m very aware that the true identity of the Ancient Moon God is probably the real Yinyue, who is a demon that devours humans, according to the literal meaning.

Could it be that the villagers who stayed consider it acceptable to live under the dominion of a man-eating demon? Or do they have a fanatic faith in the Ancient Moon God that even surpasses basic moral judgment?

Under such circumstances, perhaps these villagers do not intend to honestly lead us down the mountain.

They might use the pretense of leading us down the mountain to guide us into dangerous areas within the fog.

"It’s inconvenient, please return. Someone here will escort you down the mountain, and once you leave, don’t think of coming back again," the old man said coldly. "The Ancient Moon God does not exist anymore; that’s all ancient mythology. It seems you are from the city, right? Do people from the city nowadays still believe in this stuff? You’re young; don’t get involved in so much superstition."

"It might not necessarily be superstition," I said. "For instance, the fog surrounding Hu Family Village seems to also contain incredible phenomena. Before I entered the mountain, it had just turned to night, but upon encountering the fog, it immediately became daytime... I heard that the Ancient Moon God has a legend that he can keep the daytime on the mountain ongoing; could this phenomenon be related?"

"Stop asking so much," the old man’s tone became rougher. "Are you leaving or not? If you keep babbling, we won’t help you descend the mountain."

Upon hearing this, the young traveler also became nervous and quickly said, "We should hurry back, don’t ask so much anymore..."

I also started considering whether I should go along with them.

Up to now, we haven’t encountered real danger within the fog. If they are going to lead us to a dangerous area, I would actually welcome it. This would aid in enhancing our understanding of the strange phenomena occurring on Moon Concealing Mountain and might even allow us to collect more clues related to Yinyue.

An insular mountain village, non-human villagers, a man-eating God, untouchable taboos... These elements combined inevitably pique my interest.

I regretted that I wasn’t acting alone at the moment. Moreover, with our current situation, even if we want to uncover the details of Ancient Moon Village, we don’t necessarily have to accompany them in performing a "mountain village horror story." It might turn out that way if only Dong Che and the young traveler were present, but we have more convenient methods. I’m not interested in setting aside practical methods just to add difficulty for myself.

"Mazao, make your move," I said.

"Ah?" the old man was stunned.

Mazao, catching on, took out the Fake Water Moon.

Instantly, mana fluctuations that manipulated the spirit swept through the entire village.

Including the young traveler, all the villagers became vacant-eyed; even the old man standing before us immediately relaxed his expression, no longer displaying insularity or coldness in his gaze.

At this moment, Ancient Moon Village fell under our control.

Dong Che seemed somewhat affected as well, but after all, he is a demon hunter of achieved level, and the impact was probably only because it caught him off guard.

In just an instant, his gaze returned to normal, then he said in astonishment, "Um... why am I also in the target range?"

"An accident," Mazao said earnestly.

"Old sir, could you now answer my question?" I asked the old man.

The old man, as if his soul had changed, said agreeably, "No problem."

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