Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 308 - 287 Ancient Moon God Appears

Chapter 308: 287 Ancient Moon God Appears

Within the recounting of the elderly man, the Immortal who originally intended to live in seclusion with the refugees and eventually sealed the Ancient Moon God at the cost of his own life, seemed to have some understanding of the past situation where the abnormal world and the common sense world did not interfere with each other.

And according to the information I know, before the Fantian incident occurred, the demon hunters actually didn’t realize how strange it was that they were unable to intervene in the common sense world.

It’s just like this old man whose Spirit is under control; he clearly should be in a position where he has to remain silent about information related to the Ancient Moon God, yet under the power of the Fake Water Moon, he became verbose towards us, and he himself is unable to realize the contradictions in his behavior.

Of course, even the power of the divine seal is not absolute. Putting aside other demon hunters for the moment, the Impermanence, as super-existences capable of altering the natural order, can also to some extent regard themselves as "Heavenly Number." Even if they can’t resist the power of the divine seal, perhaps they can faintly sense that something is wrong with their circumstances.

However, since the Immortal in the old man’s narration could only seal Yinyue at most, it means that the opponent is at best of the Great Success Rank, and it is hard to imagine that a demon hunter of such level could be aware of their existence under the influence of the Divine Seal Power.

Perhaps what the old man narrated may not necessarily be the truth.

Not to say that he is deceiving us. Being under the influence of the spiritual control of the Fake Water Moon, he should not be able to deceive us. But in the end, the Fake Water Moon is an imitation of the Water Moon, and what the Water Moon imitates is the power of Yinyue. The event currently in question involves Yinyue himself. Perhaps these villagers have all been influenced by the power of Yinyue; their memories... even the authenticity of their personalities might not be real.

Moreover, there are contradictions in the past content that cannot be ignored—since Yinyue was sealed in the shrine of Ancient Moon Village a hundred years ago, then who is the Yinyue that raised Ying Lingyun into an adult and gave birth to Changan?

Could it be my thoughts have been fatally flawed from the beginning, that the Ancient Moon God and Yinyue are not the same entity?

"What’s with this fog here?" Dong Che asked.

"That is a phenomenon caused by the power of the Ancient Moon God spreading out from the Sealing," the old man replied. "Although we don’t quite understand either, perhaps even the Immortal’s sealing has a time limit. After all, it’s a century-old relic, and it’s also holding the Ancient Moon God, who possesses boundless Mana. Over such a long time, it is inevitable that loopholes would appear.

"The fog that appears in the mountains is the manifestation of the malicious thoughts of the Ancient Moon God, which will forcibly retain anyone who enters the fog in a life-and-death struggle. And we villagers who stayed behind to watch over the sealing, we are protected by the blessings left by the Immortal before his death, which allow us to move freely despite the fog."

"Blessings..."

Dong Che scrutinized the elderly man with the eyes of suspicion.

And the latter continued: "Are you planning to leave this place now? If you want, we can get you out right away."

Even in a state of spiritual control, the old man seemed very eager for us to leave the fog. I don’t know if his attitude reflects his own will, or the will of Yinyue who might be manipulating behind the scenes, but either way, the other party is very keen on not having us stay here.

But I had no intention of leaving empty-handed.

"Take me to the Ancient Moon God," I said.

"Senior Zhuang Cheng?" Dong Che cautiously said, "Shouldn’t we be a bit more careful?"

Although it is said that the opponent is sealed, before seeing with our own eyes, no one can judge the truth. Dong Che’s caution is reasonable.

"If the opponent is possibly Yinyue, then no amount of preparation or contingency will be useful, the more direct the better," I had my own insights, "However, while I don’t need to prepare, you guys still need to.

"Mazao, don’t follow me. It’s better if you take Dong Che back to the edge of the fog first. If mana fluctuations from combat emanate from here, you should retreat from the fog at the first moment, understand?"

"...I understand," Mazao nodded, "But the time inside the fog is chaotic. After I leave the fog, you, who are inside, may not be able to wait for my return to lead you out. In that case, how do you plan to leave the fog?"

"In at most twenty days, my power should be able to rise to the realm of Impermanence. By then, even if I still cannot find a method to navigate through the fog, I can attempt to break through forcefully with brute force," I said.

"Ah? Senior Zhuang Cheng, you can become Impermanence in at most another twenty days?" Dong Che was astonished.

After hearing my words, Mazao, after some thought, accepted my plan.

Dong Che seemed to have a hard time digesting—or perhaps shelving—the information I revealed, and watching the atmosphere that has already decided on the next action, hesitated for a moment before saying, "...I will stay in this village for now."

"Why?" I asked.

"The things happening in this village may be closely related to my actual state of life and death," he analyzed calmly. "Moreover, if I’m truly already dead and just don’t know why I’m still alive, then I fear the thing that is maintaining my ability to act is within this mystical fog. Once I leave the fog..."

"Then I might truly die—is that what you’re saying?" I asked.

He nodded.

Having Mazao and Dong Che retreat to the edge of the fog was for safety reasons, and since Dong Che said so, I naturally had no reason to send him away.

Mazao handed the Fake Water Moon to me and then looked at me deeply. I felt that she indeed wanted to fight alongside me, but in the end, she probably let reason overcome her emotions and activated the Power of Return, disappearing from my sight.

The old man stood by like a robot that wouldn’t react without input commands. When I asked him to lead the way, he nodded and said yes, then moved toward the depths of the village.

Ancient Moon Village was not large. Even though it seemed to have housed many refugees in the past, it was, after all, just a mountain village. After walking for a while, we reached the Sealing Shrine of Ancient Moon Village.

The shrine was a simple thatched hut, but its area was ten times larger than the other houses. The shrine was divided into two parts: the front hall with many plaques of the deceased and the Sealing Room that sealed the Ancient Moon God, the latter seemingly occupying more than two-thirds of the shrine’s area.

To enter the Sealing Room from the front hall, one had to pass through a wooden door. The door seemed to be unlocked. If it was a demon of the Great Success Rank, any material or structure of a lock would be in vain, so the presence of a physical lock probably didn’t matter.

The old man stopped in front of the door to the Sealing Room and said solemnly, "The Ancient Moon God is behind this door... Although it cannot leave from here, conversely, as long as it is inside, it can still exert its divine power normally. Are you sure you want to go in?"

"Of course," I said. "Dong Che, you guys retreat outside the shrine. I’ll go in alone."

"Okay," Dong Che nodded obediently.

I pushed the door open and went in.

There was no need for me to close the door behind me, as the door automatically closed itself like it had springs, making a muffled sound.

Behind the door was a vast and dim room with a large number of white candles on the floor, so many that it was a bit unclear where to step. Most of the candles were extinguished, with only a few still burning, providing a negligible amount of light. Far from illuminating the interior space, it created a mysteriously terrifying atmosphere.

Where was the Ancient Moon God? I looked around and soon heard an unfamiliar noise. Slow footsteps came from the deepest part of the room.

Without waiting for the other party to reveal themselves, I made a gesture, and those extinguished white candles ignited out of thin air. The continuous candles in the dim room lit up, making the room as bright as a fire scene.

And the person from the depths of the room appeared in my sight.

It was a heterogeneously beautiful girl in white ancient clothing, with white long hair, golden eyes, and a face so beautiful it hardly seemed human. She looked to be about high school age, and the outdated clothes of a village lass had an unique charm on her.

As expected, the person in the room was Yinyue.

Looking at this appearance, it was really hard to imagine that she was already a mother, the mother of my friend Zhu Changan, and had lived for at least several hundred years. Perhaps before nurturing Ying Lingyun from childhood and coupling with him, this youthful and criminally beautiful body had already experienced untold promiscuous pasts and might have even left other offspring in the mortal world.

However, this Yinyue seemed different from the Yinyue in my memory.

The Yinyue I remember was shrouded in an indescribable evil aura, and her beautiful face brought more terror, but the Yinyue in front of me seemed very peaceful, like a harmless beautiful girl. I originally thought I would reflexively attack upon seeing Yinyue, but the peaceful aura she possessed stopped me from doing so.

At the same time, she herself did not make any dangerous moves that would suggest aggressiveness, nor did she even pose any defensive or wary posture; she just stood there among the candlelight, her hands properly crossed in front of her lower abdomen, and her eyes very gentle.

To put it in another way, the Yinyue I knew could be immediately recognized as the great demon king, but the girl in front of me was like a saintly version of Yinyue who had joined a religious order.

Around her neck, she also wore a necklace that looked like it was made from a coarse and heavy grey rock.

"Zhuang Cheng... is it?"

She spoke with a gentle voice.