Traces of human activity had always existed in the forest of the deserted island, whether it was paths worn down by footprints or the occasional sight of sacrificial candles.
After walking for a while, a small stone path appeared before them, with a tall but decaying torii gate standing at the entrance.
Torii gates are commonly placed on the main paths leading to shrines or at the wooden fences surrounding them. In legends, a torii is a type of barrier representing the entrance to a divine realm; it can be seen as a "gate" that separates the human world from the domain of the gods.
"I didn't expect the buildings on this island to have not completely rotted away. It's truly incredible."
Lara walked along the sando, observing the chozuya, komainu, and stone lanterns along the path. Although the shrine here was dilapidated, it had all the necessary components.
"The even more incredible part is further ahead."
Xia Yu gestured forward with his chin and strode over. Lara followed suit, and before long, a statue appeared before them.
It was a lifelike statue of a woman wearing a golden sun crown and clad in embroidered robes with a square collar. Even as a mere statue, an air of elegance and nobility wafted from it.
"Look, this is Himiko."
Xia Yu stepped forward, shining the light of his small flashlight on the female statue. While Lara was shocked by the statue's existence, she was even more surprised by something else—
"Why are there bowls and candles here? Is someone worshipping Himiko?"
Lara stepped forward and felt the temperature of the candles. Judging by how much they had burned, they had clearly been lit not long ago, indicating that someone had been here recently.
But before the two could discuss it further, a strange voice suddenly called out.
"Don't move!"
A middle-aged man wearing a knit beanie and a full beard stepped out from the dark forest. He held a bow, with an arrow nocked and aimed at Xia Yu.
"If you don't want to get hurt, then..."
"Bang!"
A gunshot rang out. Before the man could finish his sentence, Xia Yu had already fired. The middle-aged man's eyes widened with unwilling resentment as he fell straight backward.
"Xia Yu, you killed him!"
Lara looked at the middle-aged man ahead who had been shot in the head in disbelief. Before she could say anything more, Xia Yu suddenly darted backward. In the next instant—
"Swoosh!"
An arrow thudded into the spot where Xia Yu had just been standing. Archers suddenly appeared on higher ground nearby, nocking arrows and aiming at the two.
Xia Yu didn't waste words; he aimed and fired. After several gunshots, the forest fell silent.
After dealing with the nearby enemies, Xia Yu quickly pulled Lara into the forest. The gunshots had already exposed his position, and they could no longer stay there.
Based on where the enemies had appeared, Xia Yu wove through the forest, turning left and right until they reached a nearby high point before stopping.
Only then did Lara recover from her shock, her voice trembling slightly. "Xia Yu, you just killed someone..."
"Yeah, because they are enemies. Look over there."
Xia Yu knew that Lara's mindset hadn't shifted yet. Before landing on the island, she was just an inexperienced college student who had never seen such a scene.
But in order to face Trinity in the future and explore dangerous, unknown tombs, Lara had to go through this to grow.
Hearing Xia Yu's prompt, Lara looked down from the high ground. Below was a crowd that had been alerted, but more importantly, a row of their companions from the endurance were kneeling there, tied up.
They were all sailors from the ship and Captain Roth's men.
"Oh no..."
Seeing her companions being kicked and beaten at will, Lara couldn't help but cover her mouth, her eyes filled with pity.
"Don't be merciful to enemies; that will only lead to our own people getting hurt. If I hadn't fought back just now, we would have been captured and subjected to that as well."
Xia Yu added appropriately. Hearing this, Lara gradually accepted Xia Yu's actions. Right, it was just self-defense, and it didn't even break any laws.
The enemies below hadn't discovered the two hiding on the high ground. They were still loudly discussing the gunshots from earlier, but as Lara listened, she noticed something was wrong.
"Why are they speaking Russian?"
"Because Americans always make Russians the villains."
"Huh?"
Hearing this nonsensical answer, Lara didn't react for a moment, and Xia Yu had already changed the subject.
"Don't worry about it. To avoid alerting the enemy, I can't use the pistol for now. It's up to your bow and arrows, Lara!"
Hearing this, Lara took down the makeshift bow she was carrying. Although the bow was crude, it could still kill an enemy if it hit the head.
"But..."
"No buts. I'll give you some magic power to boost you."
With that, Xia Yu slapped a hand onto Lara's back, channeling a stream of cool magic power into her body. From now on, he wanted Lara to gradually become familiar with using magic.
Lara wanted to say something else, but an indescribable, cool sensation interrupted her thoughts. Once this cool power entered her body, she couldn't sense it specifically, but she could feel the changes in her body.
By focusing, she could see further and hear more clearly. The dark forest became clearer under her concentration. With every breath, she could feel her body was stronger than before.
"Is this magic power?"
Lara felt the changes in her body. She didn't know how to guide that indescribable power, but she believed Xia Yu would explain it to her.
After letting Lara adapt for a moment, Xia Yu took her hand and guided her to nock an arrow, whispering in her ear.
"Feel that cool magic power in your body, then guide it out and attach it to the arrow. Imagine a thin film wrapping around it."
His warm breath on her ear made Lara a bit uncomfortable, but she knew Xia Yu was just teaching her. Suppressing the flutter in her heart, Lara focused and silently felt the magic power within her.
The cool magic power was hard to describe; she could only guide its flow by intuition. Lara silently told herself she had to succeed because someone important was watching with expectation.
At that moment, Lara seemed to glimpse the magic power flowing inside her—it was a beautiful azure nebula, like a sea of stars, drifting irregularly within her body.
As Lara communicated with it through her focus, the nebula seemed to be guided, and streams of magic power, like auroras, were led into her palm.
Then, this magic power that could only be felt covered the arrow in her hand through her palm. Lara snapped her eyes open, her gaze full of joy.
"I did it!"
"Yeah, you did great."
Xia Yu smiled and ruffled Lara's hair.
"Now try shooting the arrow. Don't be afraid; they are enemies, and they deserve to die!"
Hearing this, Lara took a deep breath and suppressed the other emotions churning in her heart. Right, they were enemies, and they deserve to die!
She nocked the arrow and drew the bow in one smooth motion.
The arrow wrapped in magic power didn't make the slightest sound; even the sound of it cutting through the air was masked.
"—!"
The arrow directly hit a patroller on the perimeter. It pierced through his skull without any resistance, making no sound and attracting no attention.