"...You are..."
Shenhe watched her distant relative treat Lin Mo with even more enthusiasm than he showed her, unable to hold back her confusion. "Uncle Mingjun..."
"Shenhe~"
Mingjun looked at Shenhe, his gaze tinged with bitterness. "Back then..."
He had just begun to speak.
But upon seeing Yun Jin, Paimon, and Lumine nearby, he couldn't help but swallow his words.
Instead, he looked at them and spoke with an apologetic tone:
"Everyone, my apologies."
"I'm not too clear on the method for finding the Secret Glaze Stone."
As Mingjun said this, his eyes also turned toward the abandoned village, and he continued: "However, I remember the village should have records concerning it. This place has been deserted for a long time, there's no one else here. You are free to search as you please."
"Huh? Do you two know this old uncle?"
Paimon asked with a face full of surprise.
Shenhe did not speak.
Lin Mo merely offered a faint smile.
Yun Jin was perceptive.
She understood that the reason Mingjun had stopped himself from speaking earlier was precisely because he wanted to send them away.
Therefore, Yun Jin politely said: "Thank you, uncle. Then we'll go look for it first~"
At the same time, she turned her head toward Paimon and Lumine and said: "This uncle means no harm to Shenhe and Teacher Lin, don't worry."
"Well then, let's go take a look around the village first~"
Paimon nodded.
After Paimon and the others had left.
Mingjun then looked at Lin Mo and Shenhe and said: "I often come here, reminiscing about the village's former prosperity. Lord Lin Mo, what brings you here today?"
Shenhe's eyes were filled with incomprehension.
She remembered Uncle Mingjun as the elder who doted on her most in her childhood.
But why, upon seeing her alive, did he not show the expected joy?
Instead, he was full of warmth toward Lin Mo, someone who had no connection to the village?
"I'm just accompanying everyone to find the Secret Glaze Stone."
Lin Mo spoke while also glancing at Shenhe beside him, smiling as he said: "And, by the way, accompanying this child back for a visit."
"I am not a child anymore." Shenhe was quite dissatisfied.
She very much wanted to tell Lin Mo that his child bride had grown up.
But right now, with her uncle here, how could she possibly bring that up?
"Shenhe... It's truly good to see you again."
Mingjun looked at Shenhe, his expression one of relief: "Back when we learned it was Lord Lin Mo who saved you, we were finally able to rest easy."
"Huh!?"
Shenhe looked at Lin Mo in confusion, curious: "Have you been to the village before?"
"I have."
Lin Mo said matter-of-factly: "Because back then, I didn't understand much about the Solitary Star and Calamitous Star fate, so I came to the village to ask about it."
At this point, Mingjun spoke up excitedly: "Yes, I remember! When you arrived back then, the village was suffering from monster disturbances. The villagers were almost at their breaking point~!"
"Eh? What's this about? Why didn't you ever tell me?" Shenhe's eyes showed doubt.
"Well... It wasn't really worth mentioning."
Lin Mo shrugged indifferently: "Mainly it was because you had left too much of the Solitary Star and Calamitous Star aura in the village."
"Back then, because of that lingering remnant of a demon god harassing the village."
"Other weaker monsters didn't dare get too close to the settlement."
"After I slew that demon god remnant, the monsters began to grow restless, launching attacks on the village one after another."
"Coincidentally, I happened to arrive right then, so I just dealt with them."
"I also advised the village to relocate from its original site, to avoid the villagers continuing to be affected by the Solitary Star and Calamitous Star aura."
"So... the village's relocation... was because of you..."
Shenhe's gaze was complex, and she then asked: "Why... didn't you tell me about these things back then?"
"Weren't you already upset and sad about your own Solitary Star and Calamitous Star fate back then~"
Lin Mo said with a bitter smile: "If I told you, you'd only blame yourself again. It was better to keep it from you."
"Lin Mo..."
"Hmm?"
"Thank you..."
"Alright, with our relationship, what's there to thank me for?" Lin Mo waved his hand dismissively.
He then turned back and asked: "Old Brother Mingjun, how has the village been these years?"
"Good~ Good~ Good~"
Mentioning this, Mingjun was clearly very happy, saying joyfully: "No strange incidents have occurred in the village in recent years."
"Because you would often come to the village to guide the young people."
"We actually produced a rather talented individual~"
As Mingjun said this, he also looked at Shenhe beside him and said with a smile: "Shenhe, you are actually this young man's aunt~
His name is Chongyun."
"Chong... yun..."
Shenhe seemed to have a faint impression of this young man.
She remembered in the wilderness, she had once saved a young man with light blue hair, wielding a greatsword. He seemed to be called Chongyun.
"Hmm... If Shenhe is Chongyun's aunt..."
"Then I must be Chongyun's uncle-by-marriage, right..."
At this moment, Yun Jin, Paimon, and Lumine had already found clues regarding the Secret Glaze Stone.
Found along with the clues were also records of the events that transpired in the village years ago.
Yun Jin gazed into the distance toward Shenhe at the village entrance, murmuring to herself: "So... the divine maiden in 'The Divine Damsel of Devastation'... was Shenhe all along..."
"Thinking about it carefully, she does possess an immortal's aura... and the age matches up."
"No wonder when chatting with her, I originally had a strange feeling... I should have realized it sooner."
"And judging from these records."
"The divine maiden in the opera was the daughter of that couple."
"She did not volunteer to join the battle."
"Rather... she was pushed before the monsters... by her own birth father."
As Yun Jin said this, as if able to feel the young girl's helplessness from back then, a trace of sorrow couldn't help but surface in her eyes.
"The truth being so... is truly lamentable..."
"No wonder she said 'the little girl in the story wasn't actually that brave'..."
"Because... she was forced to face such a perilous situation..."
Having said this.
Yun Jin gazed into the distance at Shenhe, her eyes firm, as if having made some decision:
"It seems the 'The Divine Damsel of Devastation' written by my father requires some revision."
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T/N:
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