Returning to the shore, Xia De put on his shoes and socks, while the Black Dress Girl sat on a rock by the shore, putting on her white knee-high socks and black leather shoes.
Xia De squatted by the stream to wash his hands before picking up the night watchman again and slinging the god's gift box onto his back.
The Black Dress Girl did not introduce herself by name, but instead asked curiously, with her hands behind her back:
"Sir, may I ask what you are doing in the mountains?"
Her blue eyes looked at Xia De with a smile.
"My friend and I made an appointment to see the scenery at the mountain-top lake."
"But for the past two weeks, the Five Gods Church has blocked the road to the mountain top; it's not accessible right now."
The mountain top was also an important location for the grand divine ritual prepared to re-seal the Between Life and Death. Regardless of their reasons, the Church would not allow ordinary people to enter there in the near future. However, Grandma Cassandra must have already considered this, so Xia De was not worried about not being able to climb up:
"Then, madam, may I ask what you are doing in the mountains alone? Although the continuous murders in Mi Fort were solved by a Captain some time ago, a girl your age should still not venture into the mountains alone."
"I'm surveying the old villages in the Sicar Mountain area for my graduation thesis preparation."
The Black Dress Girl raised the notebook in her hand. The old villages in Sicar Mountain referred to the secluded small villages scattered throughout the mountains before the City was established. However, with the advent of the Steam Age and the increasing prosperity of Middlesburg, most of the young people from the mountain villages moved to the City below, and within just a few decades, most of the villages in Sicar Mountain were abandoned:
"Are there any small mountain villages nearby?"
Xia De was very curious.
"Yes, sir, just over there."
The Black Dress Girl pointed to the other side of the stream, but in the dense mountain forest, it was impossible to see if there were any mountain village settlements in the distance:
"I plan to go take a look, sir. Would you be willing to accept my employment and temporarily protect me?"
She smiled at Xia De again, her blue eyes appearing somewhat transparent in the sunlight.
"You trust me that much?"
"When you were carrying me just now, I noticed you had guns, two of them. If I'm not mistaken, the item wrapped in cloth in your hand should be a longsword in its scabbard. More importantly, you don't look like a bad person; bad people don't look as handsome as you."
"Why?"
Xia De asked curiously, and the smile on the Black Dress Girl's face became even brighter:
"If you have such looks, making money is a very easy thing; why would you need to do bad things? Sir, I bet you are a Detective."
"Yes, Xia De · Su Lun · Han Mi Er Dun."
Xia De did not say "John Watson," but instead gave his true name. (Actually, his true name is Xia De):
"Madam, are you really a history student, not a folklore student?"
"Folklore and history are sometimes indistinguishable."
As she turned, the Red Butterfly pendant at her waist swayed. For a moment, the butterfly seemed to come alive, but with just a blink, it returned to its normal appearance.
Xia De did not refuse and followed behind the Black Dress Girl. After crossing the wooden bridge upstream of the stream—which was actually just a rotten plank—they arrived at the opposite bank of the stream, further away from the main mountain road.
Entering the jungle again, the midday sunlight of late autumn was completely obscured by the tree canopy, and the temperature seemed to drop as well. The Black Dress Girl was a talkative person, leading the way while asking Xia De various questions.
His identity, his family, his life, the differences between Middlesburg and Tobesk, and she even asked about the box Xia De was carrying, which Xia De still explained as "a fierce beast sealed within."
As for her own matters, the Black Dress Girl did not say much. She only admitted that she had a twin sister and that she was in a long wait, anticipating her sister's return.
"Are you two very close?"
"Yes, very much so. We once swore to be together forever."
They walked for a full half hour, but there was still no sign of the small mountain village ahead. The Black Dress Girl stopped in a clearing in the forest. Xia De looked around in confusion, still seeing no trace of the village.
"Look."
The Black Dress Girl suddenly extended her finger and pointed to their front right. Xia De looked up and saw a fiery Red Butterfly fluttering among the trees. Its body seemed transparent, and as it moved, it left red specks of light around it.
the moment Xia De noticed the Red Butterfly, it flew deeper into the forest, as if luring the two of them to follow.
"That's it! There are often such Red Butterfly near that small mountain village!"
The Black Dress Girl said, grabbing Xia De's hand and quickly chasing after it. Xia De tried to pull free a few times but couldn't, so he simply followed the Black Dress Girl, chasing the Red Butterfly deeper into the forest.
Such reckless behavior is usually the beginning of a horror story.
The dense trees made the forest increasingly dim, even somewhat eerie. At the same time, more and more Red Butterfly gathered from all directions, appearing around them. These Red Butterfly fluttered among the leaves and grass, becoming the brightest light source in the vicinity, adding a hazy color to the eerie scene.
The concentration of whisper element was becoming increasingly terrifying as the two continued to advance. The light dimmed, whispers murmured, and a cold wind swept through. But surrounded by the Red Butterfly, Xia De did not feel the slightest impact from the relic.
"Look, this is it."
When the two finally stopped, their surroundings were already as dark as night, but swarms of Red Butterfly still surrounded them, shielding them from the cold wind and resisting the invasion of the whisper element.
Before them lay an old village nestled in the mountains, appearing to have been abandoned for a long time. Most of the visible buildings were constructed from straw and earth, and the two houses at the village entrance had completely collapsed. The path into the village was almost covered by weeds, and looking across the entire village, apart from the central tower, there were no buildings more than two stories high.
Not only that, Xia De could even see black mist enveloping the village, and faintly visible figures wandering within it—a scene that would likely only appear in horror stories. For a Ring術士, this was clearly a location-type relic, a location-type relic attracted by the four-element chaos in the Middlesburg area, just like the 【Sin Manor】.
"There really is such a place in the mountains; it must have been difficult to find it."
Xia De looked at the Black Dress Girl, who still wore a cheerful smile:
"Sir, this is my destination."
She held Xia De's hand, refusing to let go, and when she turned to look at him, her blue eyes seemed to glow in the reflection of the surrounding Red Butterfly.
"Madam, are you sure you want to enter this place?"
Xia De asked with some hesitation:
"Usually, in the stories people tell, the beginning of those tragedies is often the situation we are facing now. An abandoned village shrouded in black mist in the mountains, an unexpectedly intruding man and woman, centuries-old hidden stories and tragedies, and the secrets and horrors buried in the abandoned village... If my Writer friend knew this story, she might immediately publish another excellent Detective novel."
PS: Announcing good news, the author's old book "Master of the Strange Realm," which is not here and has 5 million words, finally reached ten thousand subscriptions a year after completion. Interested readers can check it out.
After this volume ends, the author will update a linked extra chapter here, which has no impact on the main storyline. The story's time point is in the interlude after the end of the third volume and before the official introduction of the plot in the fourth volume.
