Surviving in a Collapsed World, Is Something Wrong?

Chapter 355: There is a Lolita at the Foot of the 8th Mountain

Yaeyama.

The spring breeze blows silently across the Yaeyama Mountains.

It was still midnight, and a cool breeze was blowing on the grass, the lakeside and the leaves.

But Yaeyama is not dark. From the mountainside to the foot of the mountain, there are many faint lights flashing, as if covered by a brilliant Milky Way.

These lights come from the Yae Shrine. It is said that generations of shrine maidens there have worked tirelessly to bring them down all the way.

Although there cannot be said to be tens of thousands of lights, there are still thousands of them, adding a faint sense of human habitation to these vast and silent mountains.

The origin of the name Yaeyama is also chosen from the Yae shrine maiden who lived more than 500 years ago, as a commemoration.

Feeling the fresh, moist and refreshing mountain air around them, Jiang Ming and Lin both breathed a sigh of relief and breathed the fresh air in the mountains rhythmically.

The season at this time is the end of spring and the beginning of summer, so even in the middle of the night, it is not cold in the mountains. It is even more like this every year, which makes people believe that the Yae Miko is still guarding this mountain.

But after all, more than 500 years have passed, and most people already think that it was just the feudal thinking of their predecessors, and almost no one believes it anymore. However, they don’t know that contemporary people’s thinking is still feudal.

Looking at Jiang and Lin who were breathing in the mountain air, Xia couldn't help but ask: "You seem very tired."

"Oh, we both have a special way of practicing. Although it can help us make obvious progress, the disadvantage is that it consumes too much time and energy. Therefore, we rarely have time to relax. At most, we can drink tea, but soon we will bury our heads in practice again. So most of the time we are very tired."

After Jiang Ming's detailed explanation, Xia nodded as if she understood. After thinking for a few breaths, she immediately said, "Actually, I still have two questions in my mind."

"Oh? Haha, Xia, just ask."

Jiang Ming smiled and said, "As long as I can answer your questions, I will tell you everything I know."

"Well, first of all - why don't you try to calculate the location of Raiden Mei? You obviously have the divine art of calculation, and all kinds of intelligence data are obtained through this method. Now that we have so much information, can you still not calculate the location of Raiden Mei?"

"Uh......"

Obviously, this first question almost stumped Jiang Ming, but after thinking for a moment, Jiang Ming smiled and explained: "Haha, I knew you would bring it up, so I won't hide my incompetence - in fact, I have already calculated that we will definitely meet Raiden Mei again soon. The cause and effect has been determined, and no one can change it as long as I don't want to. Therefore... instead of bothering to look for her, it is better to let nature take its course and let the other party find us on their own initiative, which can save a lot of trouble."

"That's it..."

Xia murmured, and then asked again: "You said before that the Yae Shrine, which enshrines the so-called gods, and the gray street block Nevernight, which is full of people of all kinds, are the most suspicious. If that's the case, why don't we split up into two groups? This will undoubtedly be the most efficient way."

"Well, on the surface, it is true, but according to Destiny, there are only three original curse seals. If we act separately, we don't know which original curse seal we will encounter. Therefore, even if the original curse seal is placed in front of us, I am afraid we don't have 100% confidence in recovering it."

"Besides, we don't know how many people are eyeing the original curse seal. Even if we stay near the original curse seal, we will become a sitting duck. The enemy is in the dark and we are in the light. It is a waste of time and the loss will outweigh the gain. Therefore, it is absolutely not advisable."

"I see... huh?"

Xia's thoughtful eyes suddenly became clear, and Jiang Ming and Lin also stopped at the same time.

This was because a shrine suddenly appeared in front of them, and its timing of appearance was so unexpected.

"I didn't expect that when I came here, I would see another strange phenomenon after [Thunder in the Clear Sky] - a mirage... The area with the strange phenomenon may be related to the Ninja Scrolls. Is this your judgment?" Xia glanced at Jiang Ming slightly.

"Yes, this shows that our intelligence is correct. There may indeed be an original curse here, but we don't know which one it is? But according to my previous investigation, the shrine should be on the mountain, and this place is only halfway up the mountain."

Jiang Ming strode forward, but just as he was about to step into the shrine, the mirage gradually faded away the illusion of the shrine, and what appeared before his eyes was still the wilderness and jungle of the past.

"...It seems that once we realize that this is just an illusion, the mirage will collapse on its own."

Xia nodded and expressed her own opinion: "Although the strange phenomena in many strange stories mostly appear by affecting the minds of the people around them, causing them to fall into a self-righteous situation, but from the current intelligence, we cannot rule out the possibility that the strange phenomena have indeed invaded reality... Hmm?"

At this moment, the smell around her changed. When Xia noticed this, she suddenly looked to the left: "Someone is coming."

"Oh? There are still people here at this time? Could it be..." Jiang Ming already had some guesses in his mind, "Then let's go and take a look."

Although the night had provided sufficient camouflage, the three of them still carefully sneaked in the shadows of the trees. However, now in addition to the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, there was also...an indescribable sweet or astringent taste of bitter melon that broke into this area.

The familiar smell made even Rin more or less aware of the other party's identity, but... the source of the bitter melon smell made her feel afraid of the surroundings -

“Who! Someone come and save me——!”

A girl dressed in a shrine maiden's costume, short in stature, about 1 meters tall, with pink fox ears similar to Kasumi's, ran over while wiping her tears, and hugged the evergreen tree where Yae Rin lived.

“Wow…what’s going on…I was clearly heading down the mountain, so why did I end up back at the shrine…someone…someone help me!!” the pink-haired loli girl cried out.

"Obviously she is the victim of the vision [mirage]." Jiang Ming transmitted a message into Xia's mind.

"And judging by her attire, she is most likely the shrine maiden of the Yae Shrine. We can use or follow her to the shrine to investigate for clues about the Ninja Scrolls."

Xia nodded secretly: "Just do as you say."

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