210: Chapter 210 The Ruined Tianyuan

The moment the light engulfed everyone, Lu Cheng subconsciously raised his hand to block his eyes.

The floating bridge beneath their feet disappeared, and the stone gate behind them vanished.

Lu Cheng could feel his body falling forward.

There was no sound of wind.

There was no gravity.

Only an extremely clean white.

The next second, a sense of solidity finally returned beneath his feet.

Patter.

Lu Cheng landed.

The others landed beside him one after another.

As soon as Heavenly King Lin stood firm, he subconsciously gripped his battle-axe and raised his head to look around.

Reinhardt, Lan Jin, and the others did not let their guard down either.

After all, in their imagination, a place like Pseudo-Takamagahara should at least look somewhat like a divine realm.

Even if it wasn't a celestial palace in the clouds,

there should at least be temples, heavenly gates, floating divine thrones, or something similar.

At the very least, a few broken giant stone pillars or some ancient divine corpses would fit the oppressive atmosphere built up along the way.

But when the light dissipated, everyone fell silent.

There were no celestial temples...

Beneath their feet, there was only a dirt road.

The dirt road was very narrow.

Weeds grew on both sides.

The grass was withered and yellow, speckled with blackish-gray spots, as if it hadn't been properly tended to in a long time.

In the distance, there were a few cracked paddy fields; the water in them had nearly dried up, leaving only a layer of turbid mud.

A few crooked wooden signs were stuck into the ridges of the fields.

The wooden signs swayed gently in the wind, the characters on them blurred beyond recognition.

Further away was a ruined village.

Low wooden houses huddled together.

Some roofs had collapsed, some were covered in blackened thatch, and some simply exposed a few broken beams.

A faded shimenawa hung at the entrance of the village.

A Torii had half-collapsed, with the remaining half propped crookedly in the mud.

As the wind blew, the worn-out paper lanterns hanging at the entrance of the village swayed gently.

The patterns painted on the paper lanterns had faded, leaving only a few faint red streaks.

There was also a well at the entrance of the village.

A few wooden buckets sat by the well.

The edges of the buckets were cracked, and dark water stains marked their bodies.

Jiang Xuance stared for a long time before finally squeezing out a sentence:

"This is... Pseudo-Takamagahara?"

Heavenly King Lin shouldered his axe, a subtle expression on his face.

"I thought it would be a bit grander."

Reinhardt stood not far away, his eyes equally complex.

Lan Jin looked down at the mud beneath his feet.

"This place..."

"The aura is not right."

The bronze compass in Yue Wujiu's hand had completely stopped.

The needle didn't spin, and the runes on the face didn't light up.

He frowned and said,

"The compass has failed."

Xu Xinglan also looked up at this moment, her expression even more solemn than before.

"The terminal has no signal."

"The map has disappeared."

"The point records cannot be read."

"Even the basic scanning function is gone."

Everyone looked down at their terminals.

Sure enough.

All information had vanished.

The screens were completely black.

Lu Cheng tapped the casing of his terminal gently, but it didn't react at all.

"After entering the gate, we've been cut off from the outside world."

Jinguji Ayane was not too surprised.

She stood in the middle of the dirt road and looked around.

Her face was paler than before, and the wound on her arm cut by the key had stopped bleeding, but her aura was clearly somewhat weak.

Yet, as she looked at the ruined village before her, there was not much surprise in her eyes.

It was as if she had long known it would be like this.

She gently exhaled a breath of turbid air.

"Let's go over there and check the situation first."

Everyone followed her gaze.

Beside the village entrance stood a wooden sign.

The wooden sign was mostly decayed.

Three characters were originally carved on it.

Tianyuan Village.

It was just that the characters for 'Takamagahara' were almost illegible, with only the final character for 'Village' remaining barely intact.

They walked along the dirt road into the village, and to their surprise, there were actually people in the village...

The villagers looked very ordinary.

There was an old man sitting in front of a house, drying a net.

The net was tattered; the old man squinted as he slowly untangled it with his withered fingers.

There were children chasing each other in the mud.

They were barefoot, splashing muddy water everywhere, their laughter crisp.

There was a woman carrying a wooden bucket to the well to fetch water.

The bucket dropped into the well, making a dull thudding sound.

There was also a one-armed blacksmith sitting under a shed, striking a broken blade with a hammer, blow by blow.

At first glance, this was just a backward, ordinary village.

Quiet, poor, and ruined.

If they hadn't just come from places like the floating bridge, the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, and the divine gate, they might really have thought this was just some remote countryside.

Xu Xinglan looked at the villagers, took a step back, and spoke in a low voice:

"They have no shadows."

Everyone's footsteps paused slightly.

Lu Cheng looked down.

The sun was still hanging in the sky.

The light shone diagonally from the other side of the village.

There were shadows beneath their feet.

The Dragon Kingdom Team, Sakura Island, Nordic, Tianlan—all the outsiders had shadows beneath their feet.

But the villagers did not.

Whether it was the old man, the children, the woman, or the one-armed blacksmith.

They stood in the sunlight, but beneath their feet, it was completely clean.

There was nothing.

Tang Zhiwei's eyes turned slightly cold.

"And there are no Source Power fluctuations."

Even the fluctuations of vital energy and blood that ordinary living beings should have were extremely faint.

"Like paper-made figures..."

Or like empty shells kept in motion by some kind of power.

Jiang Xuance whispered,

"They see us, right?"

Of course they did... every villager saw them...

It was just that there was no surprise, no fear, not even a hint of curiosity in their eyes.

Just then, an old man walked out from the crowd.

The old man leaned on a cane, wearing faded hemp clothes, with sparse hair and a slightly hunched back.

The wrinkles on his face were deep, but his eyes were clear, unlike those of ordinary villagers.

His gaze fell directly on Jinguji Ayane.

Then, the first words he spoke were not of welcome.

"Child of the Jinguji family."

"You've finally come."

As these words fell, everyone's expressions changed.

Reinhardt looked at Jinguji Ayane.

"You really are connected to this place."

Jinguji Ayane did not refute him.

She looked at the old man, her voice very soft.

"Are you the village chief here?"

The old man nodded.

"That's what they all call me."

Lu Cheng looked at the old man.

"You knew she would come?"

The old man slowly turned his head to look at Lu Cheng.

His eyes were very cloudy.

"The gate is open."

"Naturally, she would come."

After speaking, the old man looked at the others.

"Guests from afar, rest first."

"You've had a hard journey."

"Stay in the village tonight."

"We will talk about other matters tomorrow."

Heavenly King Lin frowned.

"We don't have much time."

The old man didn't get angry; he just smiled very slowly.

"Young man... you are too impatient..."

"After dark, do not leave the village."

"It is very dangerous outside."

The village chief waved his hand, and soon a few villagers walked over.

They arranged lodgings for everyone.

They brought hot soup.

And repeatedly reminded them not to leave the village at night.

This village was very quiet.

So quiet that it seemed like a Peach Blossom Spring forgotten by the world.

The outsiders were arranged separately.

Each team was assigned to a courtyard.

The Nordic Team stayed in the east of the village.

The Tianlan Ancient Kingdom stayed in a courtyard near the paddy fields.

The Dragon Kingdom Team stayed in an old courtyard near the blacksmith's shed.

The few members of Sakura Island stayed in a small hut next door.

Jinguji Ayane was assigned alone to a courtyard deep in the village.

Upon hearing this arrangement, Lu Cheng frowned slightly.

"She's by herself?"

The village chief nodded.

"The child of the Jinguji family has her own residence."

Jinguji Ayane glanced at Lu Cheng.

"It's fine."

Lu Cheng didn't speak immediately.

Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck did not indicate intense danger.

However, Jinguji Ayane being arranged separately was highly unusual in itself.

Yet, she seemed to have anticipated it.

Lu Cheng finally nodded.

"Call us if anything happens."

Jinguji Ayane responded softly with an acknowledgment.

"Mhm."

The Dragon Kingdom Team entered the courtyard.

The courtyard was not large.

There was a main room and two side rooms, with a withered tree in the yard from whose branches hung several worn-out paper lanterns.

The inside of the house was kept relatively clean, with a few coarse ceramic bowls sitting on the table.

The window paper was yellowed.

Dry firewood was piled in the corner.

After briefly checking the situation in the house and confirming there was no danger, Ye Beihan spoke up.

"There's nothing wrong with the house. I think we should go out and take a look... It's best to stay in touch with that shrine maiden... After all, this is her family's domain, so she must know a lot."

Xu Xinglan nodded. "Indeed... It's best to interact more with the villagers here. I always feel like they want to say something..."

After exchanging looks, several of them agreed with this idea and decided to head out to check the situation.

But as soon as they pushed open the courtyard gate, they saw the one-armed blacksmith standing at the entrance.

The blacksmith was tall with dark skin, and the empty sleeve of his left arm was tied off with a rope.

He held a hammer in his right hand.

The hammer face was stained with black iron filings.

He looked up at Lu Cheng and the others, his voice low and raspy.

"It is getting late."

"Please stay inside your rooms."

"It is very dangerous outside."

Heavenly King Lin raised an eyebrow.

"Late?"

"Isn't it broad daylight..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Xu Xinglan suddenly patted him on the shoulder.

She didn't say anything else, but simply pointed into the distance.

Everyone followed the direction of her finger.

On the distant horizon, the sun was already close to the mountain ridge.

Orange-red light spilled from behind the clouds, dyeing the entire Tianyuan Village the color of old blood.

Xu Xinglan's voice was very soft.

"The sun is setting..."

Everyone was stunned.

It was clearly broad daylight just moments ago.

From the village entrance to their lodgings, at most ten minutes had passed.

But now, the sun was already about to set?

Jiang Xuance felt a slight chill down his spine.

"The time here... is it that fast?"

Tang Zhiwei stared at the horizon.

"It might not be that time is fast."

"It could also be that our perception is wrong."

Ye Beihan clenched his fists.

"Either way is troublesome."

Lu Cheng did not answer immediately.

He looked outside the courtyard gate.

Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck began to provide feedback; the outcome of going out was even more dangerous than imagined.

Several of them all looked toward Lu Cheng...

After all this time, Lu Cheng had already become everyone's backbone.

Lu Cheng looked at the blacksmith.

The blacksmith looked back at him.

There was no expression on that rough face.

Lu Cheng fell silent for two seconds, then suddenly smiled.

"In that case, we'll rest inside for a while first."

The blacksmith nodded.

"Good."

With that, he turned and walked away.

Step by step.

The hammer hung by his side, its handle tapping gently against his leg, making a very soft sound.

Only after the blacksmith had walked far away did Lu Cheng close the courtyard gate.

Back inside the room, everyone looked at each other.

Heavenly King Lin lowered his voice.

"Are we really not going out?"

Lu Cheng shook his head.

"It's not worth going out right now."

Xu Xinglan nodded.

"I judge so too."

"This village itself is a rules-based zone."

"The villagers' reminders could be warnings, or they could be restrictions."

"Before figuring out the rules, forcing our way through carries too high of a risk."

Gu Changqing sheathed his sword.

"Moreover, the Source Qi between heaven and earth here is very strange..."

As everyone returned to the room to discuss their next steps, a knock sounded from outside the courtyard gate.

Thud, thud, thud.

Three times.

Unhurried and steady.

Everyone in the room instantly fell silent.

Lu Cheng looked toward the door.

"Who is it?"

A woman's voice came from outside the door.

"Delivering food."

"The village chief said that our guests have had a hard journey from afar, so you should eat something first."

Lu Cheng walked to the door and opened the courtyard gate.

Standing outside was a woman holding a bamboo basket.

It was indeed the one who had been fetching water by the well earlier.

With a faint smile on her face, she handed the bamboo basket to Lu Cheng.

"It's all simple food."

"Please don't mind it."

Lu Cheng took the bamboo basket.

"Thank you for your trouble."

The woman shook her head.

"Do not go out at night."

With that, she turned and left.

Lu Cheng watched her retreating back.

The setting sun fell upon her, yet there was still no shadow.

He closed the door and placed the bamboo basket on the table.

Inside the bamboo basket was some ordinary, simple food.

A few pieces of rye bread.

A bowl of wild vegetable soup.

A bit of pickled vegetables.

And several boiled mixed-grain dumplings.

It didn't look like anything special.

It was even steaming hot.

Jiang Xuance took a look, and his stomach let out an unhelpful growl.

He felt a bit embarrassed.

"After fighting for so long, I really am a bit hungry."

Tang Zhiwei didn't move.

Neither did Xu Xinglan.

Lu Cheng looked down at the food.

His brow furrowed slightly.

Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck gave a 'Bad Luck' response.

It wasn't extreme bad luck, but it was absolutely nothing good either.

Lu Cheng raised his hand, stopping Jiang Xuance who was about to reach out.

"Don't eat it yet..."