Chapter 38 Part 2

Qin Lang said, “It might very well be the same thing.”

Xia Xifeng murmured, “It might truly be.”

The two exchanged a smile—a smile only players would understand.

Hahaha, did the Heavenly Father have a stake in developing the game?

“Qin Lang, let’s go back to the mine pit tonight. Have the mayor give us the green light. The Silver Moon appears at night, so maybe we’ll find clues then. If the mine pit really has been tampered with, I’m worried the final Silver Moon ritual might go wrong.”

“Alright.”

A single song was all it took to energize the two, as if injected with adrenaline.

Rest?

No time for rest! Hurry and do the quest!

Blackstone Town’s mayor was very surprised by the sudden late-night visit and their purpose.

Normally, asking to “tour” the Silver Moon altar early at night was truly presumptuous and impolite. But seeing their grave expressions, and recalling the recent major incident in Green Sand City, the mayor grew tense inside.

The mayor asked, “Could it be that our town also has…”

Xia Xifeng stopped her. “Shh. Not to be spoken aloud.”

The mayor immediately shut her mouth.

Xia Xifeng lowered the index finger he’d placed before his lips.

Pretending to be a mystic was so useful.

“If the mayor is worried, you can send someone to accompany Qin Lang and me,” Xia Xifeng said. “Please send someone with high mental resistance.”

The mayor said, “I will go personally. Please wait a moment while I change into my equipment.”

Susan had been cheerfully preparing homemade cookies when Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang visited. Seeing them talk with her mother in the study, and then watching her mother don the best equipment she hadn’t worn in ages and take up the family’s treasured greatsword, Susan felt a surge of panic.

“Wh-what happened?” Susan tugged at her mother’s sleeve.

She’d just had a heartfelt conversation with her mother, who very much supported her exploring other interests.

She’d only just locked away the equipment and weapons she loathed into a cabinet. Why was her mother, who hadn’t been fully armed in a long time, now picking up a sword?

“I’ll call Lynn to stay with you. Stay at home. Don’t go anywhere.” The mayor instructed. “Don’t worry. Nothing will happen.”

She told her daughter nothing, and simply left with Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang.

Susan sat numbly in her chair until Lynn rushed over.

Seeing the tears in Susan’s eyes, Lynn was startled. “What happened?”

Susan wiped her tears. “I don’t know… I don’t know… wuwu, Mother didn’t tell me. She never tells me anything…”

Lynn pulled Susan into his arms, gently patting her back, silently comforting her.

No words would make Susan happy right now.

The mayor led Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang through a secret passage within the mayor’s manor.

The passage led directly to the altar of the secret Silver Moon ritual.

Night had already fallen. Xia Xifeng asked Perila if they needed to go to the Silver Moon Church, to have the Silver Moon grant him and Qin Lang a buff.

Perila: [The god says, can’t do it. If they could buff you two, they’d have burned your hair off long ago.]

Xia Xifeng: [If you can’t buff us, can you give us something fancy but functionally useless? Anything with the Silver Moon’s divine power would do.]

Perhaps the Silver Moon altar task required a specific item to activate, just like how obtaining the Sunflower Pendants from Perila and Leo, and saving the dwarf girl Lana, triggered the story dungeon quest.

Perila: [The god says, he can bless that sword. Have her hold it for you.]

Perila: [Aaaaaagh, so annoying! Can’t you finish saying everything at once? It’s such a hassle to burn incense and pray every time!]

Xia Xifeng: [Who told you to burn incense and pray?! Just ask directly. Your Sun God didn’t tell you to burn incense and pray; that’s on you.]

Perila: [Fuck!]

Xia Xifeng said to Qin Lang, “Perila actually flipped me the middle finger. Leo’s been a bad influence on him.”

Qin Lang said, “If even Perila is flipping you off, you’d best do some self-reflection.”

Xia Xifeng flipped Qin Lang the finger.

Seeing Xia Xifeng finish his communication, the mayor asked nervously, “Has the Sun God’s Child discovered something?”

Xia Xifeng said, “Please lend me your sword for a moment. The Silver Moon shall bestow a blessing.”

Without hesitation, the mayor handed her ancestral greatsword to Xia Xifeng.

Holding the sword, Xia Xifeng pantomimed a few swings, then asked Qin Lang, “How do we do this?”

Qin Lang said, “Try holding it under the moonlight.”

Xia Xifeng stepped out of the tree shadows, searching for a spot where the moon shone through.

The mayor’s expression was uncertain.

Could that really work?

A beam of moonlight, like pouring milk, descended and fell upon the greatsword.

The greatsword was coated in a layer of lunar radiance, as if glowing with its own light.

The mayor’s expression froze.

That REALLY worked?!

Blessing was that simple?! What about burning incense? Cleansing the body? What about offerings and hymns? Shouldn’t there at least be a prayer?!

Xia Xifeng offered the greatsword back to the mayor, but she dared not take it.

“Take it. Qin Lang and I can’t use it anyway. When the time comes to use it, you can hand it to me again.” Xia Xifeng passed the blessed greatsword to the mayor.

The mayor’s hands, holding the greatsword, trembled ceaselessly.

This was the first time in her life she had ever touched a divine artifact!

Even if it was only a temporary artifact, briefly blessed by a deity… it was still a divine artifact!

Seeing the mayor so agitated, Xia Xifeng asked curiously, “Doesn’t Blackstone Town have a divine artifact blessed by the Silver Moon?”

The mayor replied with a bitter smile, “That’s just a legend. There are many similar legends in this world. Our ancestors left behind not a word about any divine artifact. We dug the mines until the veins were exhausted and never saw one.”

Xia Xifeng still felt the divine artifact might actually exist. Otherwise, why would Outer Gods slaughter this entire town?

Holding the divine artifact blessed by the Silver Moon, the mayor didn’t know whether to feel reassured or more uneasy.

In any case, her feelings were extremely complicated.

After worshipping the Silver Moon for so long, this was the first time she’d personally witnessed the Silver Moon’s blessing.

Moreover, Xia Xifeng had only casually mentioned it to the Sun God’s Child through his communication device, and the Silver Moon had immediately bestowed a blessing.

So this was a God’s Favored of the Sun? She’d met other God’s Favored before. They were just slightly more exceptional clergy; they’d never been this miraculous.

Regardless, she had witnessed a miracle with her own eyes.

A miracle appearing in this peaceful little town… that surely meant there was a grave matter requiring the gods’ attention.

Had Evil God cultists truly come to this town?

Our town is so ordinary. Even the mineral veins are exhausted. We’re wracking our brains trying to find alternative pillar industries… what on earth could attract Evil God cultists?!

Although the mayor was also a Great Professional, this was her first time dealing with god-related matters. Even before encountering any danger, her back was already drenched in cold sweat.

They opened the secret passage’s door and stepped onto the path.

The greatsword’s radiance was brighter than the torches lining the staircase walls. The mayor’s heart settled a little.

The gods were watching over them. Even if Evil God cultists truly lurked here, they shouldn’t be able to cause too much trouble.

She secretly glanced at Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang.

They were both Great Professionals like her. But their utterly composed demeanor indicated they far surpassed her in strength.

She hadn’t fought in a long time. Her armor was gathering dust, her sword had dulled.

After about half an hour’s walk, they reached the altar.

The altar lay directly beneath the mayor’s manor.

It was meticulously clean. Durable offerings and decorations were already in place, only awaiting the ceremony’s start.

Xia Xifeng studied the murals carved on the stone walls surrounding the altar, carefully identifying their stories.

The mayor was a bit embarrassed. “These murals are all later recreations.”

Xia Xifeng said, “Recreations are still based on records left by predecessors. Since gods truly exist, you wouldn’t dare take liberties.”

The mayor admitted, “That’s true…”

Xia Xifeng borrowed the greatsword from the mayor, using its light to meticulously scan every corner of the altar.

As he held the greatsword, its emitted light did not intensify, but the radiance’s reach expanded in an utterly unnatural manner.

The moonlight on the greatsword seemed a spring, endlessly gushing lunar waters, enveloping the entire altar space in a silvery lunar glow.

Without any ritual, the inscribed patterns on the altar began to emit a faint light. The surrounding fire pillars ignited spontaneously.

The mayor’s pupils trembled.

When the ritual began, they would light the sacrificial torches. But those contained ordinary fuel, burning with orange-yellow flames.

These torches now burned with silver-white flames.

Was this truly divine fire?

Today was truly an education.

Xia Xifeng said excitedly, “I knew this would work.”

When the moonlight lit the sacrificial flames, the system finally issued a quest alert.

A directional indicator, like a holographic projection, appeared before his eyes.

Following the indicator’s guidance, Xia Xifeng tried to plunge the greatsword into… ugh, plunge… he couldn’t plunge it in!

“Qin Lang!” Xia Xifeng said through gritted teeth, “Are you just going to stand there watching?”

Having watched Xia Xifeng struggle for ages, arms crossed, Qin Lang only now smiled faintly and took the greatsword.

Xia Xifeng fiercely kicked at Qin Lang, who dodged.

Damn you, Qin Lang, you were even laughing on the side! Laugh at your own head!

Though Qin Lang couldn’t wield the greatsword as a weapon, his Strength stat was very high. He plunged the sword into the soft earth of the crevice between the wall and the floor with ease.

The altar trembled faintly, as if in an earthquake.

Xia Xifeng staggered, nearly falling. “Aaaaaa, what’s happening? Is the cave collapsing?! Hey, Qin Lang, why are you covering my eyes?!”

With one hand, Qin Lang shielded Xia Xifeng protectively against him, the other hand firmly clamped over Xia Xifeng’s eyes.

His hands were shaking, and his voice quavered as he answered, “Don’t move. Close your eyes. Don’t look.”

Xia Xifeng, who had been struggling, went still.

He placed his hands over the hand Qin Lang was using to cover his eyes. “What did you see? Stop covering them. I’ll see it sooner or later. Let go.”

Qin Lang didn’t release his grip immediately.

His gaze was seized fast by the sight before him, terrified, yet drawn in with an obsessive magnetism he couldn’t escape.

When the greatsword pierced the ground, moonlight spread in every direction across the cavern. The previously unremarkable walls, floor, and ceiling were “dissolved” by the moonlight, revealing the hidden interior unseen by mortal eyes.

Layers, upon layers, upon layers, upon layers.

Bodies lay flat, fitted together like puzzle pieces. Every face, frozen in death, stared with those blank, hollow eyes fixed unerringly towards the altar at the cavern’s center.

Qin Lang had a very good memory.

One of the faces nearest the altar—he had just seen it on the wall of the mayor’s manor.

That was where the portrait of the previous mayor hung.