I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 361 - 361 Loft Above_1

Chapter 361: Loft Above_1 Chapter 361: Loft Above_1 The shrine maiden on duty certainly hadn’t noticed Lu Ban, who had turned into a haze of ash.

The murmuring voices lingered in Lu Ban’s ears as he paid them no heed and continued forward.

The shrine hall was very spacious, and there seemed to be no one else here.

Among them was the Clean Fire Courtyard.

Lu Ban glanced at that separate courtyard.

Peaceful and quiet.

Even though it was late at night, Lu Ban did not feel the trace of anyone’s presence.

He decided to take a look at the Clean Fire Courtyard first.

The smoke continued to waft as Lu Ban made his way into the Clean Fire Courtyard.

Upon entering the room, he found that there was nothing inside.

There were no retired shrine maidens, not a single one.

“Could it be that they haven’t moved in yet?”

Thinking about it carefully, this generation’s shrine maiden had served for thirty-seven years, and her predecessor for many years before that—it’s possible they had long since passed away.

And she had just retired, perhaps inspecting somewhere else.

Lu Ban entered the room and saw that the furniture inside was neatly arranged, but there were no signs of anyone having used them.

A thick layer of dust covered the tables and chairs, clearly not something a couple of years could amount to.

After making a round, Lu Ban came to the main hall.

Although according to the shrine, the main hall was the dwelling of the gods, if there were gods in this world, they would definitely be that one cherry tree, so the main hall should be quite empty.

His True Sight also told him that there was nothing special in the main hall.

Curiosity led Lu Ban to enter the main hall.

He saw that the vast hall was empty, the mysterious moonlight shining in, a picture of desolation.

But no, it wasn’t completely empty.

On one side of the main hall, there was a rack.

On that rack, there were countless jars.

Seeing this scene, Lu Ban quickly realized what they were.

He moved closer.

Each jar had a name written on it.

Changming, Daisy, Irino, Yayoi…

The jars showed varying degrees of wear based on different times.

Without a doubt, these were the remains of past shrine maidens.

The ashes of shrine maidens throughout the generations were arranged here.

In the deep darkness that even the moonlight could not penetrate, the remains of those who had protected this world were neatly placed, not worshipped by everlasting lamps, not visited by anyone, more like something under a seal that must not see the light of day.

One day, Amber might also become part of this collection.

Lu Ban sighed.

After leaving the main hall, Lu Ban took another look at the Shrine Maiden Pavilion.

He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to go see Amber.

At least to see her one last time.

Turning into drifting dust, as he approached the tall pavilion, Lu Ban first noticed something.

The door of the pavilion was locked with several locks.

Not just one, but several.

These locks were full of scorch marks, but they firmly, definitely locked the door.

And this was the only entrance to the Shrine Maiden Pavilion.

It was only then that Lu Ban realized, the Shrine Maiden Pavilion had no windows.

This entire building was like a sealed jar.

When he became aware of this, Lu Ban’s heart skipped a beat.

“Could it be that the process of becoming a shrine maiden is a process of mutation?”

Lu Ban thought to himself.

In the Silent Lands, only pollution can resist pollution.

Could the Pure Fire possibly be another level of pollution?

By relying on the Pure Fire to eliminate filth, and if the Pure Fire itself is pollution, eventually the whole island would become a land dominated by Pure Fire, and if humans could not adapt to the Pure Fire, would civilization vanish?

And all of this required a vessel.

This vessel was the shrine maiden.

This Great Shrine of Harmony Island, this Divine Sakura, was a fetter.

A fetter to ensure the peaceful progression of self-pollution.

“Amber…”

Lu Ban had a bad premonition.

The locks were securing Amber, who was sitting inside.

After the role of Shrine Maiden was passed down to Amber, this lock was put in place to prevent her from escaping.

“Wait a minute, after all… Can the Shrine Maiden really leave the Shrine Maiden Pavilion?”

Lu Ban came to a realization.

During his many days at the Great Shrine of Harmony Island, he had never seen the Shrine Maiden.

In fact, besides those elderly shrine maidens responsible for the handover of the Shrine Maiden, no one had ever seen her.

After the Shrine Maiden Pavilion was locked, could the Shrine Maiden truly leave this place, only ascending to the Shrine Maiden Pavilion to release the Clean Fire Arrow when Pollution appeared?

If the Shrine Maiden had never left the Shrine Maiden Pavilion over the years, then how did she survive as a human being?

Lu Ban’s heartbeat began to accelerate.

He felt he was touching the edge of the deepest taboo of He Dao.

If he continued down this path, he might encounter something undesirable.

Something he did not wish to see or understand lay ahead of him.

It was right above the Shrine Maiden Pavilion.

He hesitated for a moment.

But a final stroke of luck made Lu Ban decide to continue upward.

In his smoke-like form, he ascended in the moonlight, arriving outside the door of the Shrine Maiden Pavilion.

He smelled a scent.

A scent that should not be present here.

A burnt smell.

It was the acrid odor of animal fats burning left behind.

Hummm—

Lu Ban felt a buzzing in his ears.

The good news was, his previous guess might have been incorrect.

The bad news was, reality could be worse than his speculation.

Facing the door, Lu Ban paused in midair and ultimately chose to enter.

Transforming into light smoke, Lu Ban slipped through the locked doors.

The first floor of the Shrine Maiden Pavilion was spacious, but other than the scorch marks blackening the walls, there was no sign of human presence.

The burnt odor grew stronger, and Lu Ban also sensed a hint of heat.

“Amber?”

Lu Ban called out tentatively.

He ascended to the second floor.

The Shrine Maiden Pavilion had three floors, the second being smaller in size.

But there were more things.

Lu Ban saw that, besides the same blackened scorch marks as on the first floor, there were long drag marks on the floor of the second floor.

Indeed.

Those were the traces left by a human who, having lost the ability to walk, dragged themselves on the floor using their hands.

The trail led towards the first floor but didn’t quite reach the staircase.

On the banister leading up to the third floor, there were even more signs of desperate grasping.

Fingertips were bloodied, scratching the wood, leaving behind deep, consecutive marks.

The sensation of heat grew stronger.

“Amber, are you there?”

Lu Ban asked once more.

There was no answer.

He climbed the stairs to the third floor.

The third floor was no longer spacious.

Ashes of wood and straw, which had not completely burned, covered the floor. Here, the stench of the flames reached its peak.

Lu Ban quickly found the source of the burnt odor.

She stood in the center of the room.

Chains bound her body, tethering her firmly to the central pillar.

On the pillar, numerous fingerprints told the tale of her fear and desperation at the time, a sight so disturbing it seized the heart.

Her blackened, withered, mottled body retained only scraps of what were once beautiful clothes, and the Golden Crown that her scorched hair could no longer hold had turned black, lying at the charred remains that were once her feet.

Her face still held an expression of shock and fear, displaying the desperation one can only have, but her beautiful amber eyes were nowhere to be seen, only the deep, dark eye sockets remained along with her shriveled, withered cheeks, marking the expression of primal fear.

In her hands, she still held the pose of an archer, with a Pale flame forming a bow, burning quietly in her hands, illuminating the place, and bringing with it a scorching sensation.

This was the current Chief Priestess of the Great Shrine of Harmony Island.

This was Amber.

*

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