# Chapter 4: Moonless Night
A figure emerged from the innermost house. The newcomer had white hair and beard, wearing a loose dark purple robe with six embroidered patterns on the wide sleeves, each circular in shape, the designs extremely intricate and detailed.
The clan leader of Bamboo Village, Qing Zhang, had arrived. The wrinkles on his face didn't give him an aged appearance; instead, they made him look even more severe.
The clan leader's command of "withdraw" immediately deflated the child named Stone, who pouted and stepped aside, clearly both respecting and fearing the clan leader. This was actually his grandfather; his full name wasn't Stone, but Qing Stone.
"Guests, you've traveled far. Please, come inside."
Clan Leader Qing Zhang showed no hostility. He wasn't overly warm, but certainly not unwelcoming.
"Then we won't stand on ceremony."
Baha responded, ready to play the bad guy to the end. The earlier probing behavior would likely have displeased Clan Leader Qing Zhang.
"Lord Liu, you come too."
"Ah? Me? Better not."
The white-robed youth Liu, who was about to slip away, turned around with a smile, scratching his head.
"How can you be so rude to the guests you brought?"
"Sigh~ I knew it."
Liu stepped forward a few paces and placed a hand on Little Qing Stone's shoulder. Little Qing Stone visibly shuddered; he too had been planning to escape, but was caught by Liu. Good brothers, sharing hardship~
"Don't think about running."
"I, I still need to practice my blade..."
Despite Little Qing Stone's struggles, he was dragged into the innermost house of the courtyard.
Compared to the other stone-and-thatch houses in Bamboo Village, this one was larger, with an A-shaped roof covered in straw on both slopes, the gray-yellow thatch neatly arranged.
Entering the house, Su Xiao was quite surprised by the furnishings. The floor was covered with polished smooth wooden planks, paintings hung on the walls, and at the innermost part of the room was an altar. On the wall above it was the character 'Ba', with a bamboo incense stick inserted into the altar, emitting a thin wisp of blue smoke.
On the far left of the room was a folding screen painted with green bamboo. On the far right hung over a dozen bamboo plaques, each bearing a name. On these, Su Xiao noticed two names: 'Qing Huo' and 'Zhu Gui'.
What caught Su Xiao's attention even more was that ever since Little Qing Stone entered this room, he never once looked at those bamboo plaques on the far right. This was a deliberate avoidance.
"Qing Huo and Zhu Gui are Little Qing Stone's parents. They have passed away."
Clan Leader Qing Zhang, seated cross-legged before a low table, spoke. Indeed, the perception and insight of a blade master were this terrifying. In battle, even the slightest flaw in an enemy could be detected, let alone in daily life.
"Qing Stone, go play outside."
Liu, sitting beside the low table, spoke and patted Little Qing Stone's back. He had forgotten about this earlier.
"Mm."
Little Qing Stone ran out of the room. Soon, his laughter with his playmates could be heard. This little rascal was clearly a drama king; he had never even met his parents, so where would the sadness come from?
"Three travelers from afar, since you've arrived at Bamboo Village, stay here for now. Depart in five days, heading east. It should take about three days to reach the Sacred Guardian Kingdom."
The Sacred Guardian Kingdom the clan leader mentioned was one of the two great nations—Sacred Guardian and West Tower. The two countries had been allied for a long time. One was in the nearby region, the other on the western side of the continent, both absolute hegemons.
Surrounding the two countries were over a hundred small nations, with populations ranging from hundreds of thousands to only tens of thousands. Compared to the behemoths of Sacred Guardian and West Tower, these small nations had no capital to oppose them.
The name Sacred Guardian Kingdom originated from its geographical position during the Godfall War. Like a sacred wall, the Sacred Guardian Kingdom stood guard at humanity's front line. During the war, even when over 80% of the nation's elite and soldiers were killed or wounded, the Sacred Guardian Kingdom never retreated an inch, firmly blocking the front, preventing the ancient gods and their vassals from crossing the border.
Compared to the current West Tower Kingdom, the Sacred Guardian Kingdom was much more diminished. The Godfall War had only ended a little over a decade ago. Given the intensity of the conflict, the Sacred Guardian Kingdom would need at least several decades, even a century, to recover its former glory. Too many of its strong ones had died there.
"Five days?"
Su Xiao was somewhat puzzled as to why Clan Leader Qing Zhang wanted him to wait five days before leaving.
"There will be no moon in the night sky for the next few days. Rumor has it that strange things happen on moonless nights. Best to be careful."
Clan Leader Qing Zhang didn't explain too clearly. After a brief conversation, the clan leader arranged for Su Xiao to stay in the house on the right side of the courtyard, which was said to have once been the residence of his daughter Qing Huo and her husband Zhu Gui.
Leaving the back house, Su Xiao arrived at the right side of the courtyard. Pushing open the somewhat aged wooden door, a very tidy room came into view. Clearly, it was regularly cleaned.
The room didn't have a double bed, but a single bed, indicating that Qing Huo and Zhu Gui had likely passed away long ago, and this place was now used as a guest room.
Sitting on the small wooden bed, Su Xiao had many things he couldn't figure out. First was the white-robed youth Liu. This young man's heart was far too big—bringing a stranger of unknown origin to Bamboo Village, and the fact that the other party lived in the village showed considerable confidence in the villagers.
Second, the clan leader addressed Liu as 'Lord,' but then used 'you' instead of the more formal 'you,' indicating that Liu held a high status but had been living in Bamboo Village for a long time.
What Su Xiao found most difficult to understand was Clan Leader Qing Zhang himself. Based on Su Xiao's perception, if Qing Zhang were to face the Penir sisters from the previous world, Clan Leader Qing Zhang would have over a 60% chance of victory.
Su Xiao didn't think this represented the world's overall combat power; otherwise, there would be no point in continuing to explore. His initial teleportation point was nearby. The fact that Reincarnation Paradise had teleported him to this location was clearly for a reason. The main mission had given no clues, confirming his suspicion that Bamboo Village was special.
The villagers' clothing in Bamboo Village was very similar to that of the Tianba Clan in the Abyss World. When Iron Feather King had fought Su Xiao to the death, Abyss Serpent had prepared similar attire for him—loose robes with wide sleeves, though Iron Feather King's sleeves had no embroidery.
Moreover, when Su Xiao had descended to the bottom of the abyss, he had seen numerous thatch-roofed houses, also with A-shaped roofs covered in straw on both slopes.
Initially, Su Xiao had thought those buildings were teleported from the Divine Kingdom above the abyss, some even only half-intact.
But after arriving at the Divine Kingdom above the abyss, Su Xiao discovered that while the architectural style was similar, the roofs were tiled, not thatched.
Su Xiao had obtained [Source] in the Abyss World. Clearly, the Abyss World was connected to the Source World.
It wasn't that the Abyss World had influenced the Source World, but rather that parts of the Source World had been transported into the abyss for some reason, including a piece of [Source].
Back then, Abyss Serpent and the abyss refugees had lived within the abyss. They had discovered these buildings and [Source], which led to the Divine Kingdom on the other side above the abyss.
Originally, the Divine Kingdom should have been a wilderness. After the neutral gods were slaughtered by the Sacred Descendants, Abyss Serpent and the abyss refugees climbed the cliffs, arrived here, and established civilization here.
Because Abyss Serpent had obtained [Source], and the method of developing [Source] was simple, the Tianba Clan of the Divine Kingdom came into being.
For them, Tianba was a legend. Where exactly the legend came from, they themselves didn't know. Only Abyss Serpent knew that the two characters 'Tianba' were written on the wooden box that had once contained [Source].
With just a glance, Abyss Serpent had understood these two characters and used them to name those who drank the Source water. Later, as more people drank the Source water, they became the Tianba Clan.
What Abyss Serpent and all the Tianba Clan in the abyss didn't know was that 'Tianba' was actually someone's name. The first person to slay a god in the Source World was named Tianba. The ancient gods he slaughtered were completely different from the neutral gods of the Abyss World. Ancient gods evolved from monsters; they were more adept at combat.
At the same rank, ancient gods could thrash neutral gods. Among the god systems, those who could stand on equal footing with them were the similarly combat-oriented ancient gods.
There was also an essential difference between ancient gods and ancient deities. Ancient gods were terrifying, uncanny, and powerful; some even fed on the fear of living beings. Ancient deities were clearly a different style.
If this world were to be invaded by a bunch of ancient gods, there wouldn't even be sunlight. The world would be 'sucked' dry, eventually collapsing, without the current clear, sunny skies.
Su Xiao wasn't sure if his conjecture was correct. From the current situation, the Abyss World had only been slightly influenced by Source.
In the current Source World, there was a large piece of [Source]. What would happen here was completely unknown.
Su Xiao lay down on the small wooden bed to rest. He was waiting for nightfall. Strange things would happen on moonless nights, and he wanted to see what these strange occurrences were that could make even Clan Leader Qing Zhang wary.