Chapter 2513: Moonless Night

A figure walked out from the innermost house. The person had white hair and a beard, wearing a loose, dark purple long robe. On the wide sleeves were six embroidered patterns, each circular, and the design was extremely complex and fine.

The chief of Bamboo Village, Qingzhang, had arrived. The wrinkles on his face didn't give a sense of old age; instead, they made him look even more serious.

The chief's command to 'step down' made the child named Shi immediately wilt. He pouted and retreated to the side, clearly both respecting and fearing the chief. This was actually his grandfather, and his full name wasn't Shi, but Qingshi.

"Guest, you've traveled far. Please, come in."

The chief, Qingzhang, didn't show hostility. He wasn't overly enthusiastic, but he definitely wasn't xenophobic.

"Then I won't be polite."

Baja took over the conversation. It was prepared to play the villain to the end; the previous probing behavior would likely cause dissatisfaction from Chief Qingzhang.

"Lord Liu, you come too."

"Ah? Me? Better not."

The white-clad teenager Liu, who was just about to slip away, turned around and scratched his head with a smile.

"How can you be so rude to the guests you brought?"

"Sigh~ I knew it."

Liu walked forward a few steps and placed one hand on little Qingshi's shoulder. Little Qingshi clearly shivered; he was also preparing to slip away, but unfortunately, he was caught by Liu. Good brothers, suffering together~

"Don't even think about slipping away."

"I, I still need to practice my blade..."

Under little Qingshi's struggle, he was dragged into the house at the innermost part of the courtyard.

Compared to the other stone and grass houses in Bamboo Village, this house was larger, with a human-shaped roof. The slopes on the front and back were also covered with straw, and the grayish-yellow straw was very flat.

After entering the house, the furnishings made Su Xiao quite surprised. The floor was covered with polished, smooth wooden planks, and there were paintings hanging on the walls. At the innermost part of the house was an altar, and on the wall above it was the character 'Ba'. A bamboo incense stick was inserted into the altar, emitting a slow, thin trail of blue smoke.

On the far left of the room was a screen painted with green bamboo, and on the far right hung a dozen bamboo plaques, each with a name on it. On this, Su Xiao noticed two names: 'Qinghuo' and 'Zhugui'.

What made Su Xiao even more concerned was that ever since little Qingshi entered the room, he never looked at the bamboo plaques on the far right of the room. He was deliberately avoiding looking over there.

"Qinghuo and Zhugui were little Qingshi's parents; they have passed away."

The chief, Qingzhang, who was sitting cross-legged in front of the low table, spoke. That's right, the perception and insight of a blade-master were just that terrifying. In battle, they could discern the slightest flaw in an enemy, let alone in daily life.

"Qingshi, go out and play."

Liu, who was sitting by the low table, spoke, and even patted little Qingshi on the back. He had forgotten about this just now.

"Mm."

Little Qingshi ran out of the room. Before long, the sound of him laughing with his playmates came. This little brat was clearly a drama king; he hadn't even seen his parents, so where would the sadness come from?

"The three of you who have traveled far, since you've arrived at Bamboo Village, just stay here for now. Set off again in five days. Head east, and you should reach the Holy Guard Kingdom in about three days."

The Holy Guard Kingdom mentioned by the chief was one of the two major kingdoms. Holy Guard and Xita had been allied for a long time. One was in the nearby area, and the other was on the west side of the continent; both were absolute overlords.

Around the two kingdoms were hundreds of small countries. These small countries had populations ranging from hundreds of thousands to only tens of thousands. Compared to the two behemoths of Holy Guard and Xita, these small countries had no capital to oppose them.

The origin of the name Holy Guard Kingdom was its geographical position during the War of Fallen Gods. The Holy Guard Kingdom stood like a holy wall, guarding the front line of humanity. During the war, even if 80% of the country's powerhouses and soldiers were killed or injured, the Holy Guard Kingdom didn't retreat a single step, firmly blocking the front and not letting the ancient Gods and their kin cross the border.

Compared to the current Xita Kingdom, the Holy Guard Kingdom had declined significantly. The War of Fallen Gods had only ended a dozen years ago. Given the intensity of the tragedy back then, the Holy Guard Kingdom would need at least several decades, or even a century, to recover its former prosperity. Too many powerhouses had died there.

"Five days later?"

Su Xiao was somewhat puzzled as to why Chief Qingzhang wanted him to leave five days later.

"There is no moon at night for the next few days. Rumor has it that strange things will happen on moonless nights. It's better to be careful."

Chief Qingzhang didn't explain too clearly. After a brief chat, the chief let Su Xiao stay in the house on the right side of the courtyard. It was said that this was once the residence of his daughter, Qinghuo, and her husband, Zhugui.

Leaving the back room, Su Xiao came to the right side of the courtyard. After pushing open the somewhat old wooden door, a very tidy room came into view. Clearly, someone cleaned this place often.

There wasn't a double bed in the room, but a single bed, which meant Qinghuo and Zhugui had likely passed away a long time ago, and this place was used as a guest room.

Sitting on the small wooden bed, Su Xiao had many things he couldn't figure out. First was the white-clad teenager Liu. This teenager was far too carefree, bringing a stranger of unknown origin to Bamboo Village, and the other party was also living in Bamboo Village, clearly showing great confidence in the villagers of Bamboo Village.

The second was that the chief called Liu 'Lord,' but later referred to him as 'you' instead of 'you (honorific).' This meant Liu's status was very high, yet he had lived in Bamboo Village for a long time.

What Su Xiao found most difficult to understand was Chief Qingzhang. Based on Su Xiao's perception, if Qingzhang were to face the Pernier sisters from the previous world, Chief Qingzhang would have a win rate of over 60%.

Su Xiao didn't think this was the comprehensive combat power of this world, otherwise he wouldn't need to continue exploring. His initial transmission point was nearby, and the Reincarnation Paradise sending him to this location clearly had a reason. The main mission didn't provide any clues, and the suspicion that Bamboo Village was special was confirmed.

The clothing of the villagers in Bamboo Village was very similar to the Tianba race in the Abyss World. When the Iron Feather King fought Su Xiao, what the Abyss Snake prepared for him was a similar attire—clothes with wide sleeves, though there were no embroideries on the Iron Feather King's sleeves.

Not only that, when Su Xiao went down to the bottom of the Abyss, he saw numerous houses with grass roofs. Those houses also had human-shaped roofs, with straw covering the slopes on the front and back.

Initially, Su Xiao thought those buildings were transmitted from the God Kingdom above the Abyss, and some were even only half-sections.

But after arriving at the God Kingdom above the Abyss, Su Xiao discovered that although the architectural style of the God Kingdom was similar, they weren't grass roofs, but tile roofs.

Su Xiao obtained the 【Origin】 in the Abyss World. Clearly, the Abyss World and the World of Origin were connected.

It wasn't that the Abyss World influenced the World of Origin, but that parts of the World of Origin were transmitted into the Abyss for some reason, and among them was a piece of 【Origin】.

The Abyss Snake and the Abyss refugees originally lived in the Abyss. They discovered these buildings and the 【Origin】, which led to the God Kingdom on the other side above the Abyss.

Originally, the God Kingdom should have been a wilderness. After the neutral Gods were slaughtered by the Holy Descendants, the Abyss Snake and the Abyss refugees climbed the cliff, arrived here, and established a civilization.

Because the Abyss Snake obtained the 【Origin】, and the development method of the 【Origin】 was simple, this led to the Tianba race of the God Kingdom.

To them, Tianba was a legend. They didn't actually know where the legend came from. Only the Abyss Snake knew that the two characters 'Tianba' were written on the wooden box that once contained the 【Origin】.

Just by looking at it once, the Abyss Snake understood these two characters and used them to refer to those who drank the Water of Origin. Later, as more people drank the Water of Origin, it became the Tianba race.

What the Abyss Snake and all the Tianba race in the Abyss didn't know was that the two characters 'Tianba' were actually the name of a person. In the World of Origin, the first person to slaughter a God was called Tianba. The ancient Gods he slaughtered were completely different from the neutral Gods of the Abyss World. Ancient Gods evolved from monsters and were more adept at fighting.

At the same tier, ancient Gods could hang and beat neutral Gods. Among the God-type, those who could stand on equal footing with them were the Old Gods who were equally adept at fighting.

There was also an essential difference between Old Gods and ancient Gods. Old Gods were terrifying, eerie, and powerful, and some even fed on the fear of living beings, while ancient Gods were clearly a different style.

If a bunch of Old Gods really came to this world, this world wouldn't even have sunlight, and the world might even be 'sucked' until it was shriveled, eventually collapsing, and there wouldn't be the current scene of clear skies and vast horizons.

Su Xiao didn't know if his conjecture was correct. From the current situation, the Abyss World only received a trace amount of influence from the Origin.

In the current World of Origin, there was a large piece of 【Origin】. What would happen here was completely unknown.

Su Xiao lay on the small wooden bed for a nap. He was waiting for night to fall. Strange things would happen on moonless nights. He was prepared to see what these strange things were, enough to make Chief Qingzhang feel wary. ===== CHAPTER 2514 =====