# 708
Chapter 708: Demon Shrine
The knight took out a positioning device from his arms, scanning the area. His gaze finally landed on the side pillar of the torii gate, where a pixel-style signal transmitter the size of a palm was quietly attached, its indicator light flickering.
The knight removed the signal transmitter, his brow furrowed with confusion.
"What's wrong?" Wu Xiangnan walked over to him, seeing the device in his palm. "Is this the 'Paratrooper's' signal transmitter?"
"That's right..."
The knight hesitated before speaking. "But, since the signal transmitter was already set up, logically the 'Paratrooper' should be waiting here to rendezvous with us..."
"But there's no one around here." Wu Xiangnan continued, crouching down to carefully examine the blue stone slabs beneath his feet. "And there's no signs of battle or pursuit... Did he leave on his own?"
"That doesn't make sense. The 'Paratrooper' wouldn't leave at such a critical time. Without him leading the way, it would take us a lot of time and effort to figure out the layout of the 'Human Enclosure,' and there's also the risk of exposure. He wouldn't just abandon us like this."
"Do you think something happened to the 'Paratrooper'?"
The knight remained silent, his gaze fixed on the device in his hand. After a long moment, he raised his head and looked toward the path ahead.
"Let's search the area first and see if there are any other clues."
The three of them moved forward along the blue stone path. The dark gray walls stretched endlessly, growing darker with each step, while the temperature dropped rapidly.
This eerie transformation didn't escape Jialan's senses. Wu Xiangnan stopped walking, frowning as he examined the walls around him. "Something's wrong here..."
Jialan raised her head, sniffing the air, and unconsciously gripped the black box in her hands tighter. "I can sense the aura of 'Mysteries,'" she stated with certainty. "They're strong, and there's more than one. But... the scent seems different from ordinary 'Mysteries'?"
Over two years of drifting, Jialan had battled countless "Mysteries"—so many that even a whiff of their presence in the air was enough for her to detect their existence, approximate location, and even their strength.
"That doesn't make sense though?" The knight's confusion deepened. "'Human Enclosure' was created by the gods—how could there be 'Mysteries' here? These things shouldn't be able to enter 'Human Enclosure' at all...
Could it be we're not actually in 'Human Enclosure' yet?"
After hesitating for a moment, the knight reached out and grabbed at the air. A ball of snow-white waves tumbled in his palm. His brow furrowed immediately.
"The 'Forbidden Ruins' work fine here. This really isn't 'Human Enclosure'?" He contemplated for a moment, then a realization struck him. "I understand now—we're still inside the 'Breach.'"
"Still inside the 'Breach'?" Jialan asked, puzzled. "Didn't we just pass through it?"
"Every 'Human Enclosure' has a 'Breach' of a different size. Generally speaking, the larger the scale of an 'Human Enclosure,' the larger its 'Breach' could be. If the space we're currently in is really the 'Breach' of Japan's 'Human Enclosure'... then the scale of this 'Human Enclosure' would be at an absolutely terrifying level!"
The knight continued gravely, "To this day, the largest 'Human Enclosure' we've encountered was Egypt's Sphinx Nation, which holds nearly ten million people. Judging by the scale of this 'Breach,' its 'Human Enclosure' might be even larger than Egypt's.
If that's the case, then this 'Human Enclosure' could be the largest and most insane one in the world."
Hearing these words, both Jialan and Wu Xiangnan fell silent.
Jialan couldn't help but worry.
Such a dangerous place... Would the others be okay?
The hand holding the black box tightened further. A determined glint flashed in her eyes. She quickened her pace along the blue stone path, her deep blue hanfu fluttering in the wind, the red cord binding her black hair swaying gently with each step.
Sensing Jialan's shift in demeanor, Wu Xiangnan and the knight exchanged a glance, both seeing confusion in the other's eyes.
What happened to this girl...?
Ignoring the dropping temperature and the spreading cold aura around her, Jialan walked straight to the end of the blue stone path. The dark gray walls abruptly ended, and before her lay a vast shrine ruins.
Within these ruins stood one after another pitch-black stone statues. Most were grotesque and bizarre—a long-haired woman with two mouths, a short and ugly child crowned with green lotus leaves, a sinister youth with a single horn on its head, a graceful maiden draped in pale blue hair...
These stone statues were covered in cracks and moss, scattered haphazardly across the ruins. Their expressions were rigid and eerie, their poses awkwardly unnatural. Standing together, these statues filled one with an inexplicable sense of dread.
"Stone statues?" The knight followed behind Jialan, entering the ruins and looking around. He licked his lips, as if barely containing the Oath Society's bone-deep instinct to blow up shrines. "Are these the gods this shrine worships?"
"No." Wu Xiangnan walked to the youth statue, examining it carefully. His expression suddenly shifted. "These aren't divine statues... These are demon statues."
He stood up, his face阴沉. "Judging by their appearance, this statue strongly resembles the Zashiki-warashi from Japanese folklore. The pale blue-haired maiden beside it should be a Yuki-onna, and the child behind should be a Kappa...
This shrine doesn't worship Japanese gods at all—it worships Japanese demons."
"A shrine that worships demons?" The knight was greatly puzzled. "How could something like this exist? Who made these statues?"
"Not made by anyone."
Standing before the Yuki-onna statue, Jialan, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke. "The 'Mystery' aura I detected originates from them. They're not stone statues... These are Japanese native 'Mysteries' that have been petrified and trapped here!
They're... alive."
As the Night Watch believed, the vast majority of "Mysteries" came from legends and folklore from around the world. These statues before her were manifestations of Japanese folklore.
"Alive?"
Hearing this, both Wu Xiangnan and the knight's expressions changed simultaneously.
Things were not as they had imagined.
This was an entrance to "Human Enclosure," yet a shrine worshipping demons had been built here, and all the demon statues were alive... This matter itself was extremely bizarre. Even the knight, who had seen much in the Mist, began to feel at a loss.
What on earth is this place?