From the end of the world

Chapter 278: Hidden Mountain on the Moon
Since my becoming the Great Impermanence will cause large-scale climate warming, then Xuanming, who has already become the Great Impermanence, is likely to cause the same phenomenon. In a sense, it seems that Xuanming and I are not environmentally friendly in our existence.

The more I know, the more I feel that the order of the world I live in is much more fragile than I thought in my previous life.

How many great impermanences have appeared in the long river of history? How many great impermanences have lost their anchors and are active in areas that cannot be perceived by the common sense world and the strange world? It is incredible that this world with the great impermanences can still exist "stably" until now. Should this also be attributed to the divine seal that divided the world into two in the past?
The Navy Xuanwu wanted to kill Xuanming in order to stop global warming, and he was planning to kill me next... I even had such a bizarre thought. Of course, this was just a joke. After all, the Navy Xuanwu seemed to not let go of even the weak flame ability users.

I also don’t think that the existence of the Great Impermanence is all negative for human beings. Since the Great Impermanence has existed in the dark side of the world since a long, long time ago, many of the "healthy natural orders" that we are accustomed to today may have been formed under the interference of the Great Impermanence.

After temporarily ending the call with the Zhu family, I shifted my attention to the "Firefly" who was investigating Yueyin Mountain.

Although I sent out only one "firefly" at the beginning, in order to facilitate the investigation, I split the "firefly" into "firefly swarms" and searched the mountains and plains for any noteworthy traces.

Unfortunately, no valuable clues have been found so far.

At the same time, a vague intuition arose in my heart.

Yueyin Mountain is definitely not as ordinary as it seems. There are some key things hidden in it that cannot be missed. Even if I still have to wait until tomorrow to find the souls of Yinyue and Chang'an, it will not prevent me from going to investigate Yueyin Mountain in depth tonight. I began to consider whether I should go there in person, or even take Ma Zao with me to investigate.

Before I could make a judgment, Ma had already sat on the bed and looked at me, and took the lead in saying, "Zhuang Cheng, let's go investigate Yueyin Mountain first."

Although I would rather investigate on my own, Mazao would definitely not agree, and might even follow me. And objectively speaking, I do need Mazao's assistance. So I nodded.

We left the hotel and moved quickly towards Yueyin Mountain.

The sun had already set in the west, and the night had fallen. The rainstorm had not stopped yet, but neither Ma Zao nor I were the type to take rainy days to heart. We did not bring an umbrella when we went out, and just rushed straight into the rain. Ma Zao's hair and clothes did not seem to be wet at all, and they were always kept dry under the effect of the return force. I, who was made of flames from body to clothes, did not have to worry about moisture.

Today's trip to Yueyin Mountain is actually more of a personal matter. Yinyue is my enemy, Changan is my friend, and Mazao is just accompanying me to go deeper into the unknown. I know she will definitely help me without complaint, and she probably won't feel like causing trouble, but I still told her first that there might be danger next.

"Where can I not be in danger?" She said as a matter of course, "Rather than bearing those unknown dangers as usual, I would rather share the danger for you. As long as I can help you, I am willing to accept the difficulties.

"——Hmm? Zhuang Cheng, what's wrong? You look a little weird..."

"Nothing." I controlled my expression.

It was clearly me who spoke sweet words to her in the past, but why does it feel like it's her turn to speak sweet words to me now?

Moreover, unlike my "lines" which were full of scheming and played to the situation, her lines seemed to be spoken unconsciously, making them even more destructive.

On the way, I told her that the navy master Xuanwu might also be in Yueyin Mountain City. She was happy but worried.

"If I had all my strength back, I could help you better, but..."

She was worried about the threat that the Water Master Xuanwu might bring to me.

Finally, we decided on the priority of the investigation, and put the matter of finding the location of the navy Xuanwu in Yueyin Mountain City in advance after investigating Yueyin Mountain tonight. No matter how powerful Ma Zao's tracking ability is, it is not the kind of divination that can get answers without reason. There is no way to find a target whose appearance you don't know from the vast sea of ​​people.

While we were discussing, we had already entered Yueyin Mountain and went straight into the unopened areas.

The front is no longer a realm dominated by civilization, but a mountain like a demonic domain. All you can see is pitch-black darkness, and the sound of raindrops hitting plants fills the forest, making people subconsciously feel timid and fearful. Since ancient times, towering mountains have been regarded as places closer to heaven than the human world, so people in the past believed that there were immortals living in the mountains. On the other hand, the mountains at night make people feel gloomy and terrifying, causing countless people to die in them, so the mountains are also considered to be closer to the underworld than the human world, and Mount Tai, the first of the Five Sacred Mountains, is like this.

Regardless of whether people regard mountains as heaven or the underworld, they always unconsciously believe that mountains do not belong to the mortal world and view them with mystery and awe.

Even I find it hard not to have this feeling. If consciousness has genes, then what is driving me to this state of mind now should be the fear of mountains and wilderness that has been passed down from ancient times to the present.

Although Ma Zao and I can see at night, I still summoned a few fireballs as a source of light for psychological reasons. At first glance, it looked like phosphorescent fire surrounding ghosts. However, my fireballs were much larger and brighter than the phosphorescent fire of ghosts, and they illuminated the surroundings as if it were daytime in one breath.

Before we knew it, we had reached a fairly deep place, at least halfway up the mountain.

I have been moving all the way here, but I still haven't found any signs of abnormality, and I don't know where to start searching. I am really at a loss. It would be great if I could know where Hujia Village is, but unfortunately my "firefly" can't find Hujia Village on Yueyin Mountain, and I can't even find any signs that someone lives on the mountain.

I was beginning to wonder if I had been fooled by the owner and regular customers of Yueyin Mountain City Hotel, or if they didn't even know what they were talking about. If I went back to the foot of the mountain to find them, would they act like, "What Hujia Village? Did we ever say those things?"
At the very least, there is definitely something strange on Yueyin Mountain. My perception is becoming clearer. On a rainy night, the wind howled through the forest, and the darkness surged like chaos, as if there were eyes in the dark observing us with malice. Although all of these feelings seemed like psychological effects, making people wonder if it was the instinctive fear of the mountains at work, I think I can distinguish between spiritual premonitions and pure psychological effects.

We stopped moving in the forest for the time being. Ma seemed to have seen that I was helpless, so he asked, "Zhuang Cheng?"

“Some don’t know what to do next.”

I confessed my predicament. Even so, I didn't feel depressed or defeated. From the beginning, I didn't think I would come back empty-handed like I had done countless times in my past life investigating strange incidents, because I had Mazao by my side.

Facing my gaze, Ma Zao nodded, and seemed to smile first, then said: "You said before that I am your lucky star, right?"

"I can say it again now," I said.

"I never thought I could be associated with the word 'luck' in the past, but now I think I might actually be able to bring a little bit of luck," she said. "Next, let me take action."

After she finished speaking, she took two steps outside, but then did nothing. She just stood there, as if waiting for something.

Perhaps this is the right way to use her talent.

In fact, we probably don't need to run around in the mountains and forests to search for clues. If there really is something strange in this mountain, and there is a causal relationship with the goal of our trip, then, given that Ma Zao has already appeared here in person, there is no reason for him to miss us completely. We will definitely run into him somewhere at some point, and even if we just stand here motionless, the clues will probably come to us by themselves.

To put it another way, even if we suddenly regretted it and wanted to get out of this situation, it might be too late. The Jinx physique is not a convenient thing that we can use at will, but an uncontrollable force. Even if we turn around and run down the mountain immediately, that unknown strange thing might catch up with us relentlessly from behind.

Just what I wanted.

We waited in silence, the blazing fireball suspended in the sky, providing dazzling illumination. Not long after, Ma Zao seemed to have observed something and suddenly made an alert sound: "——Here it comes."

I also noticed the change in the situation.

There were no monsters that appeared directly in front of us, nor were there any changes that could be seen as dangerous at a glance. What appeared in front of us were wisps of white mist that looked like it was coming out of the bottom of a refrigerator.

I controlled the fireballs in the sky to fly in different directions, illuminating the more distant places. I don't know since when, the forest we are in has been shrouded in an endless white mist.

(End of this chapter)