523 The Halo’s Afterglow
Benson Walton’s POV:
Before entering the temple, I repeatedly confirmed with Kevin, “Do you really think we should go in? You might not know anything about this temple. You might know more than I do, but no matter what, this is not a place that you can enter as you please. The heresy’s Moon Palace stands majestically on the royal family’s land. I think anyone with a brain knows how to avoid suspicion and ensure they won’t be ‘shut up’.”
It was true that I was looking for Julie, but it was obvious that there was a bigger problem that couldn’t solve our current problem!
But Kevin turned a blind eye to my warning.
He looked at me with a creepy gaze and said seriously and contemptuously, “Take back your words, kid. Here... The master of this temple is very tolerant, but you have no understanding of it. Ignorance is not a flaw that can be forgiven forever.”
It made me feel like he had gone crazy for a moment.
I should be angry and be offended by this, but the truth was that I was like a deer that had been scared silly by a shotgun, not moving at all. I shuddered violently.
I didn’t understand what Kevin meant by that. Perhaps he had long become a captive of the heresy without him knowing? No matter what, Kevin had become the second temple in my eyes, full of secrets and strangeness. My radar was ringing like crazy, warning me not to try and discover secrets that I shouldn’t.
“... Alright,” I said stiffly. “Get your sorcery ready, Werewolf Grandmaster. I’ll be the vanguard.”
The temple’s door was tall and heavy, and the two-door rings as thick as oil barrels were about six or seven meters high. They were exquisitely carved decorations.
Of course, whoever knocked on the door was a fool. When I tried to use brute force to push this door that weighed a few tons, Kevin fiddled with it a few times, and the heavy stone door quietly opened inward, revealing a gap that two people could walk through side by side.
... Although Kevin didn’t even spare me a glance, I could somehow sense a sense of disdain from him.
I retracted my hand and walked to the door as if nothing had happened. I tried to observe the gap for a while to ensure no threats in my vision.
“This is the temple, ” Kevin said. “In the werewolf pack, except for those lunatics who believe in the cult, no one would be crazy enough to cause trouble under the eyes of a god.”
‘Aren’t you a heathen yourself?
I was the first to enter.
The temple wasn’t dark. The floor was inlaid with countless lamp stands in the shape of moon laurel branches and leaves, and at the top of each branch was a white, cream-like smokeless candle. The candles burned quietly, emitting a faint yellow light and a faint strawberry fragrance.
What a god who knew how to enjoy life, I wondered. What did her believers usually offer her? Strawberry ice cream and a blueberry sandwich biscuit?
I saw a huge stained glass embedded in the tall ceiling. The glass had a drawing of a woman with her arms open as if she was hugging. I couldn’t see her face because a few lifelike flying moths were covering her face with a light veil.
The moonlight poured down through the glass, causing the goddess on the glass to emit a soft halo as if she had some divinity.
Unknowingly, I was engrossed in it. I only came back to my senses when Kevin came over and gave me a push.
I immediately looked away from the glass window. ‘Oh my Moon Goddess, I didn’t mean to spy on the heresy. Please forgive me.’
It was an empty temple. There were no statues or altars anywhere I could see, not even an altar for offerings. It was as if the temple had been ruined halfway through its construction. It had a golden and jade exterior but lacked the core inside.
I didn’t see Julie or anyone else in this clear place.
I looked at Kevin, signaling for him to use his little sorcery to help us find clues. But Kevin did not look sideways and walked straight to the innermost wall of the temple.
I quickly followed him to the wall with gorgeous embossed. However, I didn’t find any clues. There was no sign of Julie nor any invisible windows or doors.
At this moment, Kevin suddenly reached out and touched the wall. I thought he would fiddle with some small mechanisms like he did when he opened the door, but the next second...
Under my horrified gaze, those moth-shaped ’emboss’ started moving. They flapped their wings in a daze, and then the rock-like color around their bodies faded, revealing the black and gold intertwining inside.
A moth flew up and circled Kevin and me twice before landing on a laurel-shaped lamp stand. Immediately after, the second and third moths flew into action, and then all the moths on the wall followed the previous guide and flew off the wall.
This wasn’t the most creepy thing. After the moths left, they revealed the pattern of the moon laurel branches on the wall. The branches gradually shed their gray disguise and became tough and delicate again. The green leaves trembled and retracted, gradually revealing a stone door under them.