Why play in a band if you don't form one for life?

After passing through the former commercial area, they walked up a hill and came to a new construction area. The buildings here are relatively intact, and many of them seem to be still usable. This place is at the foot of the mountain. Not far away there is an uphill road leading to the top of the mountain. The visibility is not high, and the situation above is not clear, but you can see that there are torii gates all along the road, and the top of the mountain seems to be a shrine.

"It's all safe here," another LAYER stopped and looked up at the sky, then turned around and said to everyone, "It's getting late, everyone should rest first. You can choose any room here as long as it's usable."

I didn't encounter any monsters on the road.

Youkina raised his head and looked at the black sun above his head.

The evil sun never moved. Maybe they were here too late and didn't notice it - but then, what right did this LAYER have to say "it's getting late"?

Making excuses? That's lame.

Moreover, Yukina remembered that it was already close to evening before they passed through the Torii Gate. Calculating the time, it was indeed night now.

Can she see things that I can't see? Yukina thought. If she can see the traces of time changes normally, but I can't, then who is normal, us or her?

There is no point in thinking too much. Hong Xia has already taken the others to choose a room.

"If you want to use water, there is a well over there. I made the rope on the well myself, so it can be used." Another LAYER was still introducing it to others. From her expression, it can be seen that she really wanted to gain trust.

"Let's go, we'll stay here for the night now." She called the other members of Roselia and followed the band to finish.

The RAS people were still surrounding the two LAYERS.

"You are... CHU? Right?" Another LAYER pointed at CHU? and then turned to PAREO, "And you are PAREO."

MASKING interrupted her: "Rui Yi... No, I'm not sure if you are Rui Yi. Ah... It's so troublesome, is it true?"

LAYER said: "We both have the same memories of reality, and the same memories in the early days after the time travel. The difference is that she came here, and I was wandering until I met you." She seemed to have some trust in her other self.

"One of them is fake, or both are real, or both are fake..." CHU? muttered to himself, his eyes shifting between the two LAYERs, trying to make a distinction.

"No, at least Ruiyi who has been with us must be real." MASKING couldn't accept the idea that LAYER, who had lived with him for several days, was a fake.

On the other hand, the ending band also had their own discussions.

"Woohoo, woohoo..." Kita dressed up as a ghost and walked in front of the team. Because she was inexplicably familiar with this place, everyone treated her as a fortune teller and asked her to choose the room. Kita was also in a playful mood. Although the strange feeling in her mind did not react at all, she still wanted to pretend to have fun.

"I think it's two..." Shizi's steps were unsteady, still immersed in an inexplicable sense of happiness. After the confirmation just now, she tended to believe that the LAYER was also LAYER, just like the other Shizi was also her.

"Are you familiar with this situation?" Liang asked.

"The only times I really met my other self were the last two times." Shizi tapped Liang's head, "Don't be such a pessimist."

"Woohoo... fate told me that I had to choose this place..." Kita suddenly stopped and pointed at a door in an exaggerated gesture. This was a single-story wooden house with a yard, which looked the most complete in the area.

"Oh, Yudai, this move is very rock and roll." Liang patted Kita's shoulder, walked forward and pushed open the dusty door.

ps: Did anyone go to bw to see nnm today? By the way, were there four people coming together today or just nnm?

Chapter 40: The Sacred Road

Finally, the three bands lived in adjacent rooms so that they would not be caught in a single move and could look after each other. Another LAYER took the initiative to live in a farther place.

Shizi climbed onto the roof and found a flat surface to sit down.

She was here to take the night shift. In this strange environment, they resumed the night shift system.

Although they were on night duty, they actually couldn't tell what "night" meant. They felt like several hours had passed, but the sun was still high above their heads, and the world was still dim, as if time had stopped again.

On the roof on the left is LAYER.

On the rooftop on the right is Yukina.

Shizi looked at both sides and began to think wildly: Both sides were lead singers, should she go down and take over with Xiduo? However, she changed her mind and thought that Xiduo's current mental state was not right and he was not suitable for keeping watch.

Shizi looked at the empty space, and a happy evil smile appeared on his face. He was the only one who couldn't keep watch at night, and today he would let Xiduo have a taste of the feeling of being isolated, hehe!

She accidentally let out a silly laugh. She snapped back to her senses and looked around. Layer seemed to be unaware, and Yukina - she glanced at Shiko indifferently and turned her head away.

I have goose bumps all over my body.

+1 for dark history.

LAYER did not fail to hear Shizi's voice, but she was focused on the surrounding environment and ignored it. The other people in RAS still assigned her to keep watch, which showed a kind of trust. Another self suddenly appeared, and others were willing to trust her. She was very grateful, so she had to do her duty well.

Nothing happened all night.

Shizi woke up naturally. Through the cracks in the wall, she knew that the sky outside was still the same as it was a few hours ago. So, she didn't know how much time had passed. She could only hope that her biological clock was accurate enough.

"(However, if I have to stay here for a few months, my biological clock may not be accurate.)" she thought.

The people around her were still curled up in their beds. Yili's bed was empty, and she was still on the roof.

There was a creaking sound at the door. Yili stood at the door, looking apologetic: she tried to be as gentle as possible.

"How is it?" Shizi stood up and tiptoed towards Yili.

"MASKING-san is still a little scary..." Ichiri's facial muscles were still a little stiff, "Luckily, Lisa-san is here too."

Shizi was somewhat relieved: "Yili can get along well with everyone in Roselia, that's very good~" She gently stroked Yili's head, as if praising her own child.

Yili hid half of his face in his sportswear: "But those people from RAS still seem a bit scary..."

"Take your time, don't rush."

Suddenly, Shizi felt the murderous aura coming from behind her. She paused and turned back mechanically. Kita had been standing behind her since some time, watching the two of them being intimate with an expressionless face.

Shizi stretched out his other hand without changing his expression and rubbed Kita's head: "Good, good, good boy, good boy~ It's so hot!" She was so burned that she spoke in her native language.

When another LAYER knocked on the door of the room where the band was ending, he saw Hongxia carefully bandaging Shizi's hand. While bandaging, she also taught her and Kita: "Be careful next time, talk things over nicely, don't quarrel..."

"What a good relationship." She couldn't help but sigh.

LAYER agreed: "It's really good."

"How can you tell?" Chu? complained to them and walked into the door, "Hey, I'm going out."

Today, another LAYER will introduce the situation here to them in detail and then discuss the future arrangements.

"So, how do you two tell them apart?" Hong Xia looked at LAYER and LAYER. They were wearing different clothes, so they could still be distinguished, but it was not so easy to address them.

"Um..." Ako pointed at their LAYER, "LAYER-san." Then she pointed at another one, "Rui-san."

"Huh? That's so troublesome. I always call her Ruiyi. What if I call her the wrong name?" MASKING said.

"We've already discussed it." LAYER pointed at himself, "Number one."

"I'm number two." Another LAYER raised his hand.

"Eh..." Hong Xia was a little speechless. But she couldn't come up with a better idea, so they just stood at the foot of the mountain, at the entrance to the pilgrimage.

"You can see the whole city clearly from the mountain. There's something on top that I want you to see." LAYER No. 2 explained.

"What is that?" Yukina asked.

"A knife." There was nothing to hide, so LAYER No. 2 naturally told him everything. "It was stuck in a stone."

"Huh?" Shizi tilted his head. "Curry sticks? Cong Yuwan?"

"I don't know what it's called." Number Two shook his head, "But it's just like the Sword in the Stone, so I'll let you try."

As she spoke, she began to climb the stairs. Seeing this, the others also began to climb.

Shizi stood at the entrance to the shrine: "Um, are there any rules for walking through the shrine?" She looked towards Yili.

Yili was not very confident either. She had only been to the shrine with her family during the New Year. Fortunately, none of this mattered. They continued to climb along the road. There were ancient torii gates on the roadside, with different ages of construction, and low stone lanterns could be seen from time to time.

"Maybe these lanterns will suddenly light up with will-o'-the-wisp fire..." Kita grinned and started to scare Ako and Rikka.

"Ah——!" As she wished, Rikka's face changed and she hid behind MASKING. The latter's fierce appearance gave her enough sense of security at this moment.

However, Ayako sneered and covered her eyes: "That's better... hehehe... the Great Demon Princess Ayako will... ah!" She really saw the stone lamp beside her suddenly emit a blue light, and her face turned pale, but she did not retreat. Instead, she stood in front of Rinko, raised her hand towards the stone lamp, made a fierce expression, with black light surging, and was ready at all times.

"This has never happened before." LAYER No. 2 frowned and stepped forward to check.

As soon as she approached, the ghost fire immediately went out, and no heat remained.

MASKING calmly protected everyone behind him.

"Sorry, sorry, I did it." Kita quickly claimed the responsibility. She snapped her fingers and the stone lamp lit up again, this time with a golden glow. Then Shizi tapped the air and the flame turned into a dark blue, exactly the same as before.

"I added some copper chloride." Shizi explained. She and Kita clapped in unison.

The tense atmosphere was instantly relieved. A few rays of starlight lit up, replenishing everyone's energy, and they continued to move upward.

CHU? glared at Kita and Shiko fiercely. The two laughed at him.

Halfway up the mountain, the mist slowly lifted. The turbid yellow of the air was gradually replaced by pure white. The temperature gradually dropped and became chilly, but the air was no longer so turbid.

Kita saw herself walking in the mist. There was no one walking with her. The torii gates around her were all made of nanmu wood and painted red. There were not so many when she came last time. The stone bricks under her feet seemed to have been newly built in the past few years. Occasionally, she could see one or two people coming down from the top of the mountain. When they saw her, they didn't react and went down the mountain on their own.

Although I am reluctant to leave, there is no point in staying here.

Before leaving, meet one last person.

Kita suddenly woke up. Everyone was around.

"(What happened just now? Did it happen again?)" Kita shook his head and whispered to Hongxia what he had just seen before the memory faded.

"Hmm... maybe you saw someone else's memory, someone else's memory of this mountain." Hong Xia guessed. Kita felt that this was probably the case. The feeling at that time still remained in his mind and could not be forgotten.

Yukina looked down the mountain. Although the fog was thick, it was not so thick that it was completely invisible. Most of the city's outlines were indeed visible.

The entire city was built on a small plain at the foot of the mountain. A river ran through the city, and the city followed it all the way to the sea. She saw the commercial and residential areas they had already visited. There were no tall buildings in the city, and the center was not visible. Rather, where could it be called the center... Youxina turned around and looked at the top of the mountain that was already in sight.

This was probably the administrative center of the city back then.

It is a bit strange to make the shrine a political center and combine politics and religion.

A large flat area was cleared on the top of the mountain to build a shrine. It is obvious that this shrine has been expanded many times, and most of the buildings have collapsed, leaving only the main hall. Some structures that are not common in general shrines can be seen in the collapsed buildings.

The torii gate at the entrance collapsed to the ground, pointing towards the main hall.

LAYER No. 2 stopped in the middle of the main approach.

The air seemed to be dripping with water. The shadow of the main hall enveloped No. 2, and at this moment, she seemed to merge with the surrounding buildings.

A silence.

"Where is the knife you mentioned?" The muscles on Youxi's back tightened.

The second LAYER did not suddenly burst into laughter, draw out his long sword, shout "Here" and show his blood bar, but simply pointed to the inside of the hall: "Here."

Inside the main hall, there is a huge stone with a rope wrapped around it, which is dull and covered with dust. A samurai sword is stuck on it, which looks ordinary.

ps: I'm praying here in advance that I can get mggm's hand port and the voice actor's to autograph, anyone's will do qwq

Chapter 41: Tribute to the Legendary Young Blade Cong Yuwan

Everyone gathered around the boulder.

The hall was not as dusty as other places. It seemed that Layer 2 would clean it regularly. CHU? signaled Layer 2, who immediately understood. She climbed to the edge of the boulder, grasped the handle of the knife, took a deep breath, and tried to pull it out again. Her face was slightly distorted, and it seemed that she had indeed used some strength, but the blade did not move at all, with no signs of movement.

She gave up quickly. After all, she already knew the result and it was just one last try. "Look, I can't pull it out." She said to CHU? to show that this was indeed not a trap.

CHU? snorted, activated the armor, whispered "Excuse me", and stood on the stage in the same way, holding the hilt of the knife with both hands and pulling upwards.

Not moving.

CHU?'s face could not be seen from outside the armor, but in fact her face was already red and she was furious. She clenched her teeth and exerted all her strength, but the Sword in the Stone did not give her any face. Neither the sword nor the boulder itself reacted at all.

"CHU? Lord, if you can't do this, you have to admit defeat~" PAREO put his hands around his mouth, gloating.

"Then you go!" CHU? shouted, jumped down, and yelled at PAREO. PAREO saluted and went up to try. She didn't have much hope, so she didn't use much effort, so naturally she didn't get any feedback.

Next came Sayo. She looked very serious and tried with her best power posture, but still to no avail.

Yukina used thorns, but even though she had the greatest strength, it was useless against the mysterious sword in the stone. The same goes for MASKING's stand.

Liang just pretended to do something and went downstairs.

Lisa and Hongxia both seemed to try hard, but it was no use.

Ichiri and Rinko were both not used to being stared at by everyone, so they just pulled out their swords without even looking at the result, and jumped down as fast as they could. Then it was Kita, and there was a fire around her, which looked brilliant, but the sword didn't seem to care much about this special effect. Her mental state was not even a problem.

The rest are Yazi, Shizi and LAYER.

Yazi and Shizi looked at each other, and neither of them was willing to go first.

"The protagonist will be the last to appear." Shizi looked confident.

“But Ayako is the real protagonist, hehehe…” Ayako tried hard to make her face look fierce, but she still looked cute.

LAYER glanced at the two people who refused to give in, and stepped onto the table: "Then I'll try first... hm?"