# 910
Chapter 911: Blood-Colored Murals
Lin Qiye and Jialan walked to the entrance of the shattered palace. After hesitating for a moment, the former stopped in his tracks.
"What's wrong?" Jialan asked, confused to see Lin Qiye halt.
"Jialan." Lin Qiye turned around, his gaze fixed intently on her eyes as he spoke solemnly, "Promise me."
"Pro… promise what?"
Jialan was stunned, as if having thought of something, and her cheeks flushed with two streaks of red.
"From now on, without my permission, you must never unilaterally transfer【Immortality】to me." Lin Qiye's eyes were filled with seriousness.
Jialan, who had been full of anticipation, heard these words, and the light in her eyes dimmed, as if somewhat disappointed.
"And even if【Immortality】has been transferred to me, if I tell you to take it back, you must take it back… understand?"
Lin Qiye's expression was utterly serious.
Though they had already left the fishing village, it didn't mean Lin Qiye had forgotten what happened after the Time Annihilation began…
Lin Qiye could accept dying in battle, but he could not accept surviving alone through his teammates' sacrifices. He absolutely would not allow Jialan to transfer【Immortality】to him during a crisis, preserving his life while she fell into danger.
He didn't want his loved ones to give up their chance to survive because of him.
He had to make a three-point agreement with Jialan.
Jialan looked into Lin Qiye's resolute eyes and tentatively asked: "Then what if… I don't agree?"
"…" Lin Qiye was stunned, stumbling over his words as he said, "If you don't agree, I'll… I'll…"
He really hadn't thought about what he could do if Jialan didn't agree.
Expel Jialan from【Nightfall】? That seemed too harsh… Beat her up? Don't joke about it. If they really fought, Lin Qiye would probably be the one getting beaten…
After thinking for a long time, Lin Qiye couldn't come up with a good punishment method.
After stammering for a long while, Lin Qiye seemed to have made up his mind. Looking into Jialan's eyes, he said word by word: "If you don't agree, from today onward… I will not take the initiative to communicate with you, nor will I respond to any of your statements, nor will I react to any of your actions in any way."
Jialan blinked, processing this for a moment before replying:
"You mean… if I don't agree, you'll give me the silent treatment?"
"… Yes."
Jialan: ヾ(??▽?)ノ
Looking at the utterly serious Lin Qiye before her, Jialan couldn't help but find him unexpectedly cute somehow.
"Alright, I promise you." Jialan stuck out her tongue.
Upon seeing this, Lin Qiye nodded slightly, turned around, and stepped into the shattered palace.
It was called a palace, but what stood before Lin Qiye now were merely a few broken walls barely forming a ring, collapsed massive pillars and a shattered dome reduced to piles of stones on the ground. Standing inside the palace, one could look up and see the red moon in the sky without obstruction.
"It seems like there's nothing here…" Jialan looked around, puzzled, "Why did Uncle Merlin ask us to come here?"
Lin Qiye's gaze also swept across the surroundings. After hesitating for a moment, he released his spiritual perception.
Soon, his attention fell upon the scattered stone debris beneath his feet.
"Here."
A wisp of night spread from within Lin Qiye's body, like a streak of ink rapidly dyeing the white stone fragments on the ground black. His fingertips lifted slightly, and countless碎石 fragments rose into the air.
On the ground of the shattered palace, murals drawn with scarlet brushstrokes were savagely exposed to the two's eyes, as if outlined with blood.
"This is…" Jialan stood frozen in place.
"Murals from over fifty years ago, depicting the Takamagahara divine war." Lin Qiye's gaze swept across the floor beneath him, speaking thoughtfully, "It should be that during the chaotic war among the gods, a deity barely maintained consciousness under the red moon and recorded everything using their own divine blood…"
Lin Qiye crouched down and carefully observed the murals from their starting point.
On the first painting, crude blood strokes勾勒出 rows of divine shadows standing in mid-air, seemingly gazing up at the sky. Directly above them, a red moon hung quietly in the heavens. Among these rough divine silhouettes, three figures standing at the very top were particularly prominent.
One divine figure had a sun drawn on its forehead, another had a moon, and the third had waves.
"Who are they?" Jialan asked, pointing at the three divine figures, puzzled.
Lin Qiye contemplated for a moment. "In Japanese mythology, the father god Izanagi's first three children were Amaterasu Ōmikami, who governed the sun; Tsukuyomi-no-mikoto, who governed the moon; and Susanoo-no-mikoto, who governed the sea. These three deities ruled over Takamagahara, their status above all other gods.
If I'm not mistaken, these three figures refer to them."
Lin Qiye's gaze moved to the next mural.
In this mural, among the three divine figures, the one symbolizing the moon suddenly changed its facing direction. It stood beneath the red moon, holding a weapon in its hand, and thrust it into Amaterasu Ōmikami, who symbolized the sun. This painting specifically enlarged its eyes, with layers upon layers of scarlet blood heavily smeared around its two eyes, appearing somewhat blackened and extremely eerie.
"Was the traitor him?" Lin Qiye spoke in astonishment.
Jialan observed carefully for a moment. "Does this painting mean that Tsukuyomi-no-mikoto, who symbolized the moon, defected to the red moon and caught Amaterasu Ōmikami off guard, thrusting the weapon into their body?"
"That's right." Lin Qiye contemplated earnestly for a moment, then continued, "This makes sense. I should have realized earlier… Among the three Supreme Gods of Takamagahara, Tsukuyomi-no-mikoto deeply revered the power of the moon, and his own divine power was closely tied to the moon. If the moon was polluted by the Cthulhu faction, he would definitely be the first one affected."
Jialan thought about it. "Like Chen Yangrong in the fishing village?"
"Probably." Lin Qiye pointed to Tsukuyomi-no-mikoto's eerie eyes in the mural. "His eyes, and that frenzied expression, look very similar to Chen Yangrong's… If I'm not mistaken, he must have also heard the whispers of the red moon and completely succumbed to the Cthulhu faction's brainwashing.
Before this, I've always had a question—why did the Cthulhu faction specifically target Takamagahara when there are so many divine kingdoms in this world…
Looking at it now, besides the reason that the Takamagahara divine kingdom is isolated, so the red moon's descent wouldn't attract the attention of other divine kingdoms, Tsukuyomi-no-mikoto's existence was also a crucial reason. After all, there are no other Supreme Gods in other divine kingdoms who revere the moon.
Having Tsukuyomi-no-mikoto as a card that could be controlled at any time meant they could catch another Supreme God off guard. The resistance they would face when conquering Takamagahara would be greatly reduced."
Lin Qiye walked to the third mural and looked down once more.