Chapter 104: Pilgrimage
It didn't take long before Han Li's trio arrived at their designated entry point, which was a certain beach on the western coast of Red Moon Island.
To their surprise, the area was completely barren and devoid of human population. However, they then recalled that Red Moon Island had been isolated from the outside world for thousands of years, so this wasn't all that surprising.
As for the alert restrictions set up here, they were concealed in a clever fashion, but for a trio of immortals like them, they were naturally able to avoid the restrictions with ease.
Even so, they didn't dare to let down their guard and made sure to keep their auras concealed as they traveled toward the first target on the map, a place by the name of Heavenly Water City.
At the moment, there was a dense blanket of clouds in the sky, allowing the trio to travel even more discreetly.
While flying through the air, Han Li was inspecting the environment on the island, and he discovered that the terrain in the western part of the island was quite flat, with very few hills or mountains.
Most of the terrain here consisted of plains, and there was lush greenery stretching as far as the eyes could see in all directions.
Perhaps it was due to the properties of the soil here, but all of the trees on the island were of a crimson color.
The leaves on the trees rustled incessantly amid the sea breeze, presenting a sight that resembled a flickering sea of fire.
After a while, the three of them finally flew out of the forest, and a plain appeared up ahead. Several dozen kilometers away from the forest was a large city, and even from afar, they could see the words "Maple Sea City" emblazoned onto the plaque above the city gates.
All of a sudden, Wyrm 9 raised a hand and stopped cold in his tracks.
Han Li and Wyrm 16 immediately followed suit.
"Did you see something?" Wyrm 16 asked as he inspected his surroundings.
"This is the first city that we've encountered after entering the island, so why don't we take this opportunity to ascertain our location? After all, the map provided to us by Wyrm 3 isn't accurate, so let's make sure we haven't gone off track," Wyrm 9 said.
"That's a good idea," Wyrm 16 replied with a nod.
Han Li naturally had no objections to this, either. They had been flying for close to a day up to this point, so there was indeed a need to ascertain their location.
Thus, the three of them descended onto the ground below before making their way toward the city.
However, upon arriving at the city, the three of them were surprised to find that not only were the city gates tightly shut, there was no sound coming out of the city at all. This certainly wasn't a small city, yet it seemed to be completely deserted.
"Keep your guard up, this could be a trap set by the enemy!" Wyrm 9 cautioned through voice transmission.
Han Li and Wyrm 16 nodded in response, and the three of them approached the city in a stealthy manner. After verifying that there were no restrictions set up outside the city, they leaped onto the city wall.
Due to what they had been told by Wyrm 3, they refrained from releasing their spiritual sense to inspect the state of the city. However, after inspecting the city through other means, they didn't notice anything abnormal.
"Looks like it really is just an empty city. It seems I was overly cautious," Wyrm 9 mused.
"How strange. This city doesn't look very old, so it should've been inhabited not long ago. It doesn't look like it's been attacked, either, so why is there no one here?" Wyrm 16 asked in a puzzled voice.
Han Li's brows also furrowed slightly in befuddlement.
Through the use of his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he had seen that many of the houses in the city were empty, and some of the shops also had their doors tightly shut. However, there were many signs indicating recent human activity, so it did indeed seem like the residents of the city had only recently left.
The wind blew through the empty streets, causing some of the open doors and windows to creek and clatter incessantly. An occasional stray cat or stray dog would pass through the area, but those were the only signs of life in the city.
"In any case, what happened here has nothing to do with us. We've already confirmed our location, so it's time to leave. We have to prioritize our mission above all else," Wyrm 9 said, clearly not wanting to investigate what had happened here.
Han Li and Wyrm 16 nodded in response. They had no interest in such trivial matters, either.
Thus, the three of them departed from the city and continued onward.
After leaving the city, the terrain up ahead only became flatter and flatter, and it didn't take long before a lush grassland appeared up ahead. There were many cows and sheep roaming and grazing freely over the grassland, but there was still not even a single person to be seen.
In fact, they didn't even discover any people in the small villages littered across the grassland.
At the end of the grassland was another city, and after encountering the deserted Maple Sea City and all of those empty villages, the three of them had no intentions of stopping at the city, but they still reflexively took a glance down at it.
As a result, they were once again surprised to find that this city was also deserted.
"Why is this city completely deserted as well?" Wyrm 16 asked in a puzzled voice.
Wyrm 9 contemplated the situation for a moment before speculating, "Perhaps something recently happened in this area, so everyone has been evacuated."
"If the next city is also deserted, then I feel like there's a need to inform the others of what we've seen," Han Li said.
"Let's wait and see. According to the map, there's another large city less than 1,000 kilometers up ahead," Wyrm 9 replied with a nod.
Sure enough, it didn't take long before another city emerged up ahead.
This place was known as Calm Rest City, and it was quite a large city that was several hundred kilometers in size.
To the surprise of Han Li's trio, everything was normal in this city. Long lines of people were entering and exiting the city gates, and all of the shops in the city were open, presenting a lively and bustling sight to behold. Aside from mortals, there were also many low-grade cultivators here, presenting a stark contrast with the previous two deserted cities.
Wyrm 16 seemed to have relaxed a little upon seeing this, and he speculated in a joking voice, "There are quite a few people here. Could it be that everyone from the other two cities has come here?"
However, Han Li's brows were furrowed slightly in befuddlement. This city was not far away from the previous city, so why was the situation here so different?
"Those two previous deserted cities are very strange. There must be abnormal circumstances that led up to those two cities being deserted, so I think it's best to conduct a quick investigation. We have more than enough time on our hands at the moment, and we can also gather some information about the island from this city," Han Li suggested.
"Wyrm 15's right. It's better to be safe than sorry," Wyrm 16 chimed in in agreement.
"Alright, in that case, let's make a brief stop at this city, but make sure to keep your guard up at all times," Wyrm 9 said as he pointed at a plaza at the center of the city.
At the center of the plaza stood a crimson statue that was giving off faint crimson light, which encompassed an area with a radius of over 1,000 feet.
All of the people nearby, regardless of whether they were mortals or cultivators, regarded the statue with a great deal of reverence, bowing respectfully whenever they passed by. However, none of the cultivators in the city were very advanced in their cultivation base, with even the most powerful of them only at the Core Formation Stage.
Han Li had naturally also already noticed the statue, and it was a normal statue used by Earthly Immortals to collect the power of faith.
As an Earthly Immortal himself, it was nothing out of the ordinary to see that Gong Shuhong had set up statues like this on his island.
However, according to the information that the Transient Guild had collected, the cultivation art that Gong Shuhong was using was quite special, and it seemed to be able to allow him to conduct surveillance using these statues. As such, they were warned not to stir up any trouble in any of the island's cities to avoid alerting Gong Shuhong to their presence.
However, Han Li had always had his doubts about these claims.
Recently, he had read many scriptures about these statues, and according to everything that he had read, these ordinary statues were only special vessels for gathering the power of faith. They weren't Earthly Deity Avatars, so they didn't have any senses.
However, he naturally wasn't going to go against the instructions of the Transient Guild for no reason.
The three of them landed in a discreet location outside the city, then used the restrictions in their masks to alter their appearance, transforming into three completely unremarkable-looking merchants before entering the city with everyone else.
Even though their auras were concealed by their masks, they were still reining in their auras as much as possible.
Looking at the lively and bustling scene around him, Han Li couldn't help but think back to the time that he had spent traveling the Spirit Domain Realm with Liu Le'er.
At the time, he had still been in a mentally impaired state, but he was able to retain those memories.
In an environment as cruel as the cultivation world, it was very touching that a little girl like her truly cared for him and looked after him like her own brother, and in her, Han Li felt as if he could see a faint shadow of his little sister, the memory of whom had already become rather fuzzy in his mind.
Han Li couldn't help but wonder exactly where Liu Le'er had been taken.
All of a sudden, he was snapped out of his train of thought by the sound of Wyrm 16's voice.
"There's a restaurant up ahead. Why don't we go take a look there?"
Han Li immediately returned to his senses before casting his gaze forward to find a three-story restaurant that appeared to be thriving.
As soon as the trio entered the restaurant, they were immediately greeted by an energetic waiter.
"We would like some privacy, so get us a booth," Wyrm 16 instructed before the waiter had a chance to say anything.
"Sure thing! Please come with me," the waiter said as he led the trio into an elegant booth on the second floor.
"We'd like two flagons of warm wine and a few of your restaurant's best dishes, and make it snappy. Take this silver, you can keep the change."
After taking a seat, Wyrm 16 pulled out a silver ingot before tossing it at the waiter.
Both Han Li and Wyrm 9's attention were drawn to Wyrm 16 upon witnessing this interaction, thinking to themselves that he seemed to be a regular patron at restaurants like this.
The waiter gleefully accepted the silver ingot, then gave an affirmative response before quickly exiting the room.
Wyrm 16 was slightly embarrassed by the scrutiny directed his way from Han Li and Wyrm 9, and he said, "My apologies, fellow daoists. I've transcended beyond requiring food and drink for sustenance long ago, but I'm embarrassed to admit that I've never quite been able to get over my hankering for mortal food."
"There's no need to apologize, Fellow Daoist. Everyone has their individual preferences. Now that you mention it, I'm also beginning to miss the foods that I once enjoyed as a mortal, so this is a perfect opportunity to rekindle some of those past memories," Wyrm 9 chuckled.
The waiter quickly returned with a platter that was laden with all types of dishes and wine.
The food and drink served in the restaurant was quite appetizing, and both the wine and the dishes were giving off alluring aromas.
Wyrm 16 poured out cups of wine for everyone, then quickly downed two cups of wine in succession as a blissful look appeared on his face.
A faint smile also appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he also took a small sip of wine from his own cup.
"I'll leave you to enjoy your meal. Don't hesitate to call for me if you need anything." The waiter turned to depart as he spoke, but he was stopped by Wyrm 16.
"Hold on a second."
"Is there something else you need?" the waiter asked as he turned back around.
"The three of us are merchants who came from the south, and we passed by Maple Sea City and Inkface City on the way here, but both of those cities were completely deserted. Do you know why that's the case?" Wyrm 9 asked with a smile.
"All of the residents of those two cities were summoned to Red Moon City for the pilgrimage not long ago, so they're naturally deserted," the waiter replied with a smile.
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