Chapter 559 - The Shrine Maiden
Chapter 559 – The Shrine Maiden
"Wow… to think there was something as expansive as this underneath the mountain ranges of this area…" Feng Mian murmured in awe, glancing around. "What a sight… a shame I didn't bring a camera."
"Good thing I did~!" Qing Yue exclaimed, pulling out a professional camera out of nowhere. And wait, is that a tripod too? How the fu-
Nevermind. I wasn't here to worry about that. And although the view did certainly look nice, what with the heavy fog and all, I was here for a purpose, and there was no time to waste.
"C'mon, you guys," I said. "You can take pictures later. We have a job to do."
The girls were slightly disappointed, but they nodded in acknowledgment and put all the picture-taking equipment away. I could never understand what was so appealing about photography to them, but hey—it is what it is.
The structure of this underground city was somewhat peculiar. It wasn't all pieced together—instead, it was more like several sets of ruins spread out amongst different massive islands that weren't connected and differed in elevation. In other words, to go from one island to another, we needed to fly, and the fog wasn't especially helping either.
To make things easier, Feng Mian activated her succubus form. I don't know when she learned to do this by will, since usually it required some stimulation from me, but I'm guessing Eve must've taught her how. Either way, this was a boon, since this meant I only had to carry Axilia while Feng Mian carried Qing Yue, who was lighter.
Soon, we landed on the first island, and marveled at the ruins all around us. It was very different from anything we'd seen before—this place was ancient, calming, and somehow tranquil. It was the kind of place I would be able to stay in for eternity, simply because of how nice it was.
"Where's the tracker pointing to, Xuan Kai?" Feng Mian asked, and I glanced down at the device on my wrist.
"Hm… it appears to be pointing further down…"
"Further down? But… this is the lowest island there is, from what I can see," Qing Yue said. "Are you sure, Big brother Xuan Kai?"
I nodded. "Maybe there's another portal somewhere that will take us even deeper down…"
"If there is, then it'll be up there," Feng Mian said, pointing at a massive tower-looking structure in the distance. At its top, the half-broken shape of a massive serpent could be made out just barely through the fog, and what once looked glorious was now just a shadow of its former self.
"That's… certainly quite the intricate design, that's for sure," Qing Yue remarked, and Axilia tilted her head at me innocently.
"Xuan Kai, Xuan Kai… when can I kill something…?"
I sighed and rubbed her head. "Very soon, my princess of death. Just hang in a bit tighter, okay?"
"Mm~!"
She nodded happily and clung to me in an embrace, much to the other two girls' envy. Me? I was more concerned about her scythe being about an inch away from my eye.
The girls and I journeyed our way to the big tower with the serpent carving on top, but we didn't just fly straight there. Feng Mian's stamina wasn't enough for that. Instead, we explored each of the islands thoroughly—if the Hex obelisk was in this place, then maybe there would be other clues hidden around somewhere as well.
On the way, of course, we were met with opposition. Various organisms of pure water jumped out from ponds and waterfalls at us, but they were all cut down with ease. The 'dangers' the village head had warned us about didn't seem to be very dangerous after all. I mean, even without the use of magic, these little creatures could be taken down with some good aim and the desire to strike swiftly and lethally.
Eventually, however, we came across a temple of sorts. It seemed to preach a certain religion, but I didn't recognize the symbol—it was like two snakes coiled around a sword, but up on the surface, there was no religion like this. Not that I knew of, anyway. The girls didn't seem to recognize it either.
"What is this…?" Qing Yue wondered aloud, and I shrugged.
"Dunno. A temple of some sort?"
"Wait," Feng Mian interjected. "There seems to be… a person inside."
"Wait, what? A person, here?"
"It seems like it. At least… that's what my succubus senses are telling me."
"Huh… did Eve teach you how to do that as well?" Qing Yue asked, and Feng Mian nodded.
"I'm still not very good at it yet, but… I can tell there's definitely someone in there. I just don't know whether they're male or female, or how strong they are."
"Hm… that's fine. But if there's really someone in here… hopefully, they'll be able to give us some hints as to what's going on with this underground city."
The girls and I stepped into the half-broken entrance of the temple, and sure enough, inside, we found a young woman. She was dressed in a shrine maiden's clothing, and seemed to be a perfectly normal human.
"… Hey there," I said in a polite tone, and waved, hoping for a reply.
Slowly, the shrine maiden turned around, and instantly, I noticed her eyes. The rest of her body seemed normal, but her eyes were that of snakes, like narrow, vertical slits.
"… It has been a long time since I last met someone here."
"Er… how long, particularly?"
"… About a couple thousand years," she replied as if that were nothing. "So? Why have you humans come here?"
"We're looking for something," I said, getting straight to the point. "A stone obelisk, from an ancient, alien civilization. Apparently, it leaks blue energy. Do you know what I'm talking about?"
The shrine maiden fell silent momentarily, considering my words, then closed her eyes and gave a soft nod.
"Yes, I do.. But in exchange for my information… you will need to complete several tasks for me first."