Chapter 105: Linking Up
"Pilgrimage? What's that?" Wyrm 16 reflexively asked.
Wyrm 9's brows immediately furrowed slightly as he turned to Wyrm 16 with a displeased expression.
Wyrm 16 had also realized his mistake, and a sheepish look appeared on his face.
"The pilgrimage is..." The waiter was just about to reply when his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he yelled, "You don't know about the pilgrimage? You're outsiders..."
Two translucent threads of light shot into the waiter's head in a flash, and his voice immediately cut off as a dazed look appeared in his eyes.
Right before the waiter began yelling, Wyrm 9 had already conjured up a blue light barrier that encompassed the entire booth to prevent any sound from escaping.
"My apologies..." Wyrm 16 said with an embarrassed expression.
"It's fine. It's a good thing that Wyrm 15 was able to react so quickly," Wyrm 9 said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"Go on, tell us what this pilgrimage is," Han Li prompted.
He had cast a small enchantment onto the waiter. The enchantment was very weak as he wasn't able to use any spiritual sense, but it was more than enough on a mortal like the waiter.
"The pilgrimage is a tradition that has been around since ancient times. Once every 60 years, the residents of each city would be taken in batches by their respective city lords to Red Moon City, where they would be preached to by the holy lord. The year of the pilgrimage is also known as the holy year," the waiter replied in a robotic manner.
"If they're only going to see the holy lord, then why do they have to pack all of their belongings as if they're relocating?" Han Li asked.
"Because everyone wants to be chosen. The holy lord will bestow his blessings upon the fortunate chosen ones, granting them more fertile land," the waiter replied without any hesitation.
"Who are the chosen ones? And what happens to those who aren't chosen?" Han Li asked.
"The ones who are chosen are all the most devout followers of the holy lord. It is the highest honor one can receive. As for those who aren't chosen, they can only return to their original cities," the waiter said as a hint of longing appeared in his eyes.
Han Li's trio exchanged a glance with one another upon hearing this, and all of them could see their own surprise mirrored in one another's eyes.
That explained the deserted cities, and as for the holy lord that the waiter was speaking of, that was almost definitely Gong Shuhong.
"What else do you know about the holy lord?" Wyrm 9 asked.
"The holy lord bestows upon us fertile land and protects us for generation after generation..."
The waiter rattled off a long list of things that this supposed holy lord did, but none of this information was useful to Han Li's trio.
Han Li shook his head as he interrupted the waiter's pointless rambling and asked, "You all seem to be very hostile toward outsiders. Is this a part of the holy lord's teachings?"
"That's right! All outsiders are sinister devils who covet the fertile land of our Red Moon Island. If we discover any outsiders, we are to inform our city lords right away and have those outsiders killed," the waiter replied with a dazed expression, but a cold and forbidding tone had crept into his voice.
Wyrm 16 gave a cold harrumph upon hearing this, while a contemplative look appeared on Wyrm 9's face.
Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he asked a few more questions regarding the holy lord, but unfortunately, the waiter was but a mere mortal who knew very little, so Han Li was unable to dig up much more information.
Thus, he indicated for Wyrm 9 to withdraw the blue light barrier in the booth, then chanted an incantation as a faint gleam appeared in his eyes before vanishing in a flash.
The waiter abruptly shuddered as a hint of clarity returned to his eyes, and he looked around with a slightly dazed expression.
"You can go now. We'll call for you if we need anything," Han Li said in a calm manner.
He had just wiped away the waiter's memories of the last few minutes.
"Enjoy your meal." The waiter's head was still feeling a little fuzzy, and he flashed an apologetic smile before exiting the booth.
"So that's why those cities were deserted. It seems like we were overthinking things," Wyrm 16 said with a smile.
"That may be true, but we did manage to get some rather interesting information out of him, nonetheless. Seeing as all of the residents of those two cities have been summoned for the pilgrimage, doesn't that mean that Gong Shuhong should currently be accepting the pilgrimage in that so-called Red Moon City?" Wyrm 9 mused.
Han Li nodded in response with a contemplative expression, and the information about Red Moon Island contained in the jade slips that Wyrm 3 had given them surfaced in his mind.
The map included in the jade slips was very basic, and there were very few cities marked out on them, but one of those cities was indeed one by the name of Red Moon City. However, it was quite some distance away from Heavenly Water City.
If these mortals were going to attend the pilgrimage, they most likely had to be taken to Red Moon City by high-grade cultivators through some special means. Otherwise, at the snail-like rate that mortals were capable of traveling at, there was no guarantee that they would be able to reach Red Moon City in this lifetime.
Wyrm 16's eyes suddenly lit up, clearly having also drawn the same conclusion, and he asked, "Should we communicate this information with the others?"
Han Li considered this notion for a moment before offering his opinion on the matter. "Given how we were able to obtain this piece of information so easily, I'm sure the scouts sent by the Transient Guild would've already been able to secure the same information.
“The list of locations that they proposed that Gong Shuhong could be at right now didn't include Red Moon City, and there had to have been a reason for that. Perhaps what the waiter just told us was nothing more than a circulating rumor."
Wyrm 9 nodded in agreement. "I think we should follow the original plan and travel to Heavenly Water City to link up with the members of the guild lurking in the city, then think about what to do next."
After arriving at a consensus, the three of them promptly departed from Calm Rest City.
After that, they passed through many more cities, towns, and villages, and around 20% to 30% of them were deserted.
Having already learned the reason why these places were deserted, the three of them made no further stops along the way.
Three days later, a majestic black city that was over 100 feet tall appeared on a set of vast plains that stretched for thousands of kilometers.
There were thousands of acres of lush fields outside of the city, and they were surrounded by several branches of a large river that flowed out to the sea, segregating the land into plots of farmland of different shapes and sizes.
The main branch of the river had been diverted by an artificial channel, which passed through a rice field before circling around the entire city to form a moat that was over 100 feet wide.
At the moment, it was early in the morning, and the drawbridge that led into the city hadn't been lowered yet. Countless mortals were gathered outside the city, carrying different wares in their hands, on their shoulders, or on carts, waiting for the city gates to open.
Among them were three completely unremarkable-looking figures in coarse linen clothes with conical hats on their heads. The trio looked no different from the average farmers here.
They were none other than Han Li's trio, who had arrived outside the city and adopted disguises for themselves.
The light of the rising sun illuminated the large characters that spelled out "Heavenly Water City" on the plaque above the city gates, and all of a strike, the loud strike of a bell rang out from within the city.
Immediately thereafter, the sound of moving mechanical parts rang out, and the heavy drawbridge was slowly lowered while tethered to a pair of thick black chains.
Everyone outside the city had already been waiting for quite some time, and they began to enter the city along the drawbridge.
Stationed on either side of the city gates were several Nascent Soul cultivators standing on guard duty, and they were led by a Deity Transformation cultivator. All of them wore dark blue robes with a crimson crescent moon embroidered on each of their chests.
Han Li was unable to use his spiritual sense to examine the city, but he knew that there had to be even more powerful cultivators inside.
With the observation that they had made through visiting the previous few cities, they had discovered that Red Moon Island was the same as the other islands in the Black Wind Sea in that cultivators lived among the mortals in the cities, and the mortals seemed to be accustomed to the existence of the cultivators as well.
However, it seemed that all of the cultivators at or above the Nascent Soul Stage on the island were wearing these blue robes emblazoned with crimson moons, making it appear as if they all belonged to a certain sect.
After entering through the city gates, a faint burst of light appeared above Han Li. He raised his head slightly to discover an octagonal array diagram engraved onto the brick above his head, with a round copper mirror embedded at the very center of the diagram.
There was a beam of faint red light that was shining down from the copper mirror, encompassing everyone who made passed by beneath it.
With just a single glance, Han Li was able to figure out the purpose of the array. It was most likely an array that was designed to pick out cultivators who were intentionally posing as mortals to prevent them from sneaking into the city.
Given Han Li's current level of expertise in arrays, this array wasn't very complex or advanced. Anyone above the Grand Ascension would be able to easily pass through under it without being detected after making some simple preparations.
However, given how powerful the auras of cultivators above the Grand Ascension Stage were, if they didn't possess any special treasures to conceal their auras, they would've most likely already been detected upon entering the island, so they wouldn't even have made it to this point.
Han Li and the others were all above the Grand Ascension Stage, and with the aura concealment effect of these masks, they had nothing to worry about.
Thus, the three of them followed the crowd in a relaxed manner as they slowly drew closer and closer to the city, and while passing under the array, the light in the copper mirror only flashed briefly before returning to normal, clearly passing them off as mortals.
After entering the city, the crowds of people began to diverge in two separate directions, and the sights and scenes in the city were gradually laid out before them.
The street that was directly facing them was lined with shops and merchants, and different flags used to attract customers were hanging off all of the shop buildings.
However, it was still quite early, so quite a few of the shops still weren't open for business, and there weren't too many people on the bluestone streets aside from those who had just entered the city.
The only shops that were open were ones that were serving breakfast to the early risers.
This city was larger than any other city that Han Li's trio had passed through on Red Moon Island, and the entire city was split up into four major areas by two main streets, one that ran from northeast to southwest, and the other from northwest to southeast.
Han Li's trio followed one of the main streets to the southern area of the city, then branched off onto a smaller path. After walking for over an hour, taking many turns in the process, they arrived in a secluded alley.
The alley was extremely quiet, and the few courtyards inside all had their doors tightly shut. There was no sound to be heard coming from any alleys, and not a single person could be seen, either.
The three of them made their way to an ordinary-looking estate at the deepest point in the alley, then drew to a halt.
"This is the place," Wyrm 9 said as he took a glance at the dark red doors of the estate.
This estate was a secret stronghold established by the members of the Transient Guild who had already infiltrated Red Moon Island, and Han Li's trio had arrived here to link up with them and obtain intelligence.
Wyrm 16 made his way over to the doors of the estate, then knocked on them using the door-knockers just like any ordinary mortal would, employing a sequence of two short knocks followed by a long knock.
A few dull thuds rang out, but there was no response from inside.
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he was just about to use his spiritual sense to assess the situation when he remembered the warning that Wyrm 3 had issued to them.
Wyrm 16 and Wyrm 9 had naturally also realized that something seemed to be amiss, but they didn't use their spiritual sense, either, clearly harboring the same inhibitions as Han Li.
Wyrm 16 turned around to look at Han Li and Wyrm 9 with a suspicious expression, and Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly in response, but he didn't say anything.
As for Wyrm 9, he was also silent for a moment before gesturing for the two of them to prepare for battle.
Right as the three of them were preparing to break in by force, a string of four bell chimes suddenly rang out from inside in the agreed-upon three short and one long sequence.
The three of them faltered slightly as they turned their attention back to the doors, and Wyrm 16 hesitated momentarily before quickly knocking on the door three more times, this time with more force.
Moments later, the dark red doors swung open to create a gap that could allow a person to pass through, and the head of a middle-aged man poked out from within.
"Come in," the man said in a low voice after taking a glance at Han Li's trio.
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