Chapter 1332: Chapter 1332: The Night Shrine and the Legend of the Gold Mine
Shard couldn’t know what the Witch was thinking now; he drew the Silver Greatsword from the air. As Shard’s power continued to grow, the appearance of the Moonlight Greatsword was also gradually changing. Compared to before, now the runes flowing across its blade became more apparent.
The brightness of the Greatsword itself was enough to illuminate the surroundings. Shard bent slightly forward, and the lady behind him leaned her head and placed her hand on his shoulder.
Suddenly, it was unclear which animal moved first, and then the animals surrounding them rushed at them together.
"Heaton Seal!"
As Shard thrust the Greatsword into the soil beneath his feet, a golden hemisphere shield flashed with flowing light and unfurled.
The moment the animals touched the shield, the golden glimmer fractured like lightning. Although these strange animals seemed terrifying, they were merely more powerful animals; under the explosive effect of the Heaton Seal, they were blown away, and a large number died instantly.
"Easier than I thought."
Shard said to the Witch behind him. Miss Benanis continued to curiously examine those animals:
"Though I’d love to experiment here... let’s purify this place and move further inside."
Soil and petals were sprinkled by Shard, and this time during spellcasting, a rare Earth Amulet tied to his right wrist, procured from the Plague Merchant, enhanced the process.
With that precious stone rune, the spiritual energy surged more vigorously than before. Additionally, the Crazy Earth site turned out to be not too severe, allowing purification with ease. As the spiritual energy dissipated, a Soil Holy Grail emerged from the earth before Shard, with ancient runes marked as Preservation.
"Is fertility also a power of the Earth?"
Shard curiously asked, and the Witch of the Earth nodded, adding:
"That Sage of Silvermoon also possesses abilities related to fertility."
Shard couldn’t entirely understand the power of this Holy Grail, planning to study it more after returning.
After the Crazy Earth was purified, the animals that should not have existed there died completely, but soon enough, new ’residents’ would likely move in.
According to Sister Delphine’s map, the interior of the cave should have stairways carved upward. Shard and Miss Benanis searched for a long time but couldn’t find them, until the Witch finally embraced Shard and flew upward, landing on a conspicuous man-made platform, noticing the almost indistinguishable stone steps.
The stone steps still existed, but the corners had worn smooth, and the originally smooth surface of the steps had become bumpy, nearly blending with the cave.
Following the stone steps along the cave wall upward, they soon turned into a small cave within the cave. Continuing upward, they finally saw the light above.
Avoiding the pesky spiders, the flame cleared the animal droppings in the cave, and by almost two o’clock, they arrived at the high-altitude exit of the mountain cave.
Squinting against the unfriendly light, they moved towards the glimmer; the view outside the cave was extremely open, carved into a narrow platform on the steep cliff. Looking up revealed an almost vertical cliff face, roughly one to two hundred meters high with the summit above, smooth and impassable by any method; looking down was a roughly seventy to eighty-degree angled slope leading to the cedar woodland below. Falling unprepared from here would surely mean death without a trace.
The height here is extremely high; no matter whether descending from the mountain top or climbing up from the bottom, neither is feasible.
"Truly spectacular; I didn’t expect a place like this near Randall River Valley."
Miss Benanis, walking behind Shard, couldn’t help but express her awe.
This slender mountainside platform faced west, with views of the slightly somber winter sky, vast stretches of cedar forest, and even the distant Elon River winding like a ribbon through the woodland.
On the platform, from the cave mouth to the platform’s end, grand stone archways stood every twenty meters, totaling three. All but one were damaged, with only remnants of half-pillars and the bases of columns still existing.
The traces of oil paint on the pillars were barely discernible, impossible to identify the original images. The carvings on the column surfaces had disappeared under winds and sun, leaving no trace of what was once inscribed here.
"Sister Delphine said that at least around the 800th year of the Common Calendar of the Sixth Era, villagers from nearby mountain villages would come to worship here. But as Randall Valley City expanded, people from the mountain villages gradually moved to the city, and this place completely declined."
He spoke while touching the base of a column, feeling the passage of time. It’s hard to imagine who built this place; the archways aren’t piled stone, but rather carved from the existing stone when the platform was chiseled.
"In moon worship, ’three’ is a very important number."
The Witch, who looked at the scenery, also spoke to Shard:
"Passing through three archways signifies undergoing the trial of three moons. If I’m not mistaken, the most significant location of this ruin should be beyond the three archways; crossing the moons leads to the darkness."
The platform ground was quite smooth, unlike the ruins of a previous era. Shard and Miss Benanis passed through the ancient archways, and found nothing at the end, just a flat open space.
The sun cast shadows of the remaining column fragments on the ground silently but impressively.
"I imagined I would at least see an altar or a divine statue."
Shard said, turning his face towards the afternoon sun:
"I don’t feel anything."
"Hold on a moment."
The Witch looked down at her feet, and after her right boot lightly tapped the ground, a source-less wind swept the dust off the surface, yet no pattern appeared on the ground:
"I thought there’d be a Holy Emblem painted on the ground."
They searched the narrow platform thoroughly again but had to admit that there was absolutely nothing here except for those remaining pillars.
Fortunately, Shard was experienced with situations like this:
"It seems we’ll have to wait until nightfall. Since this is the Night Shrine, clues might appear come night."
Miss Benanis also agreed that waiting for nightfall was the best course, though Shard had another idea beforehand:
"Take a look at this."
As he spoke, he took out the Mithril Cube from his pocket. So far, the cube had provided Shard with three stories: "Church of the Forgotten," "Saint Perry Cemetery," and "Stonemason Guild Chamber." Although the Night Shrine was located in the mountains and not in the Randall Valley Urban District, it still belonged to Randall Valley, so Shard decided to try his luck.
He didn’t hold much hope, but unexpectedly, when Shard held the Mithril Cube under the afternoon sun, fine characters actually appeared on one of its faces.
However, the content revealed by the cube was quite different from what Shard had anticipated—
[Randall Valley Gold Mine—
Legend has it that beneath Randall Valley lies a gold mine that is easy to extract, even contributing to the city’s founding. Yet, no one has been able to find this source of wealth. An ancient nursery rhyme circulates among the villagers, truly pointing to the gold mine’s location: where the moon falls, under the depths of night. But the Greedy One, surely engulfed by yearning, the gold mine may not be able to redeem our souls.]
"Huh?"
Shard rubbed the surface of the Mithril Cube with his fingertip and, with "her" help, read the words on the Mithril Cube, then looked around in surprise:
"I’m clearly dealing with the Night Shrine now; how did a rumor about the gold mine emerge... the gold mine where the moon falls, under the depths of night... hmm..."
The Witch was also greatly astonished and immediately looked at the feet of the two:
"Although I’m not a local either, I’ve heard of the ancient gold mine legend from Randall Valley City. Didn’t those who founded the city build their fortune on the gold mine? And recently, it’s been rumored in town that Ston Osenfort discovered a gold mine in the mountains."
"But we all know that’s fake; it’s actually just a cover for the unsolved ownership of that offshore Mithril mine, preventing others from beating them to it before excavation begins. I even asked Margaret to commission an investigation by Xerxes Higher Medical Academy... Could there really be a gold mine here?"
Shard said, recalling another matter:
"When I found Osenfort’s ring at the river bottom, I also picked up a piece of gold ore. Now that I think about it, since Osenfort and Prince William’s gold mine is fake, where did the gold ore come from?"
Miss Benanis also wore a surprised expression:
"Speaking of which, which river did you find the gold ore in..."
"The section of Elon River flowing past the east of the city."
The two looked up toward a distant place, at the ribbon winding through the cedar forest; that ribbon was Elon River. After a moment of silence, the Witch blinked:
"The town’s rumors about the gold mine were indeed fabricated by Osenfort. Turns out, the gold mine really exists, while the Mithril mine is likely false; this truly is..."
"Black humor."
Shard used a rather fitting term:
"Especially for Prince William. I even suspect that... or rather, Osenfort might have known there was a real gold mine here, and he was just deceiving Prince William."
The Witch shook her head slightly:
"If Osenfort really knew about the gold mine, his collaboration with the Prince would be smoother, so I lean towards him not knowing."
Shard also assumed he didn’t know, yet the Stone Mirror Demon must have believed the gold mine truly existed, regardless of the position.
Miss Benanis then suggested again:
"Since there’s still a long time until dark, let’s go search. Hopefully, we can make some findings. If we really find the gold mine, I’ll buy the royal opera house of Velindale!"