Pillar of Yita

She hugged the Magic Guided Piano, kicking a piece of rubble with force, and the stone rolled far away. She watched the stone disappear into the shadow, sighed, then found a large stone outside the ruins to sit on, and looked up at the bright moonlight in the night sky, suddenly thinking of home.

She plucked the strings twice and softly sang a song.

But it scared the vultures not far away, who flapped their wings and flew into the air.

Tianlan saw this scene and couldn’t help but giggle. But after laughing for a while, she felt a bit bored and pouted, saying:

”Tch, really annoying.”

Even these feathery creatures didn’t like listening to her sing.

But it’s not her fault she was off-key, and Tianlan felt quite bored, considering it’s almost time to eat, she was ready to get down from the rock and return to camp.

But suddenly she halted, staring intently towards the north side of the ruins.

In the bright moonlight, the winding roads between the broken walls and ruins were clearly visible. A path passing through layers of verdant vines, the moonlight outlined a stark white exposed wall.

Under the wall, two figures were slowly passing through the ruins.

One of them was taller, wearing a somewhat tattered cloak.

Beside this figure was a smaller, shorter shadow, seemingly a child.

The two also seemed to not notice the firelight from this direction, they just walked straight ahead, towards the Forest.

Tianlan stared wide-eyed at this scene.

”Hey, you guys...”

She suddenly stopped speaking.

A surge of courage arose in her heart out of nowhere, she put down the piano and chased in that direction.

But before she could run a few steps, the two shadows entered the Forest ahead.

When Tianlan chased over, mist rose in the forest, and there were no figures to be seen? When she turned back, she realized that she could no longer see the firelight from the camp.

...

When Reed picked up this little girl from the forest.

Tianlan’s face was pale, as if frightened, her whole body soaked by the mist water.

Ai Xiaoxiao kindly draped a towel over her, and Luo Yu stood by with some worry in his voice, asking:

”Where did you go? We found your piano.”

Tianlan looked away and didn’t glance at him, only wailed as she threw herself into Atira’s arms, crying out loud. Then she sobbingly recounted what happened from start to finish.

”Two travelers?”

Everyone couldn’t help but look toward the Big Cat People and Bakins.

But the two who went to look shook their heads, indicating they had seen no one else.

As for Tianlan, she hadn’t encountered any big trouble after all. When they found her, she was just lost in direction in the Forest.

”They were really there, I definitely wasn’t seeing things!” Tianlan replied tearfully and sniffling, ”And... and I called for you guys in the Forest, didn’t you hear me?”

Everyone glanced at each other, shaking their heads.

Finally, at Fang Hong’s suggestion, the group split into threes and searched the forest for a while.

But no two people were found as Tianlan described, nor any footprints on the northern path.

Elisa managed to find a silver bracelet in the northern forest, but buried among layered moss, it was mottled and worn, not looking like a recent drop.

Had it not been for the torch’s reflection, even Miss Nightingale wouldn’t have noticed it, and after cleaning the surface dirt, it was discovered the bracelet’s size didn’t seem to be for an adult.

”Perhaps it’s a relic of a past resident here.” Elisa said.

”Does it mean it’s half a century old?”

”From the erosion on the surface, it seems even older.” Gita pushed up her monocle, speaking softly.

Ai Xiaoxiao also said, ”If it’s an Adventurer, they surely wouldn’t enter the Forest without lighting a torch, right?”

”Tianlan sister, could you have encountered something unclean?”

With that, Tianlan suddenly turned pale with fear, her upper and lower teeth chattering.

And after Ai Xiaoxiao finished, she too got a little scared, causing her and the three girls alongside Gita to tremble.

The campfire banquet had to be unceremoniously halted due to this unexpected factor.

Even without any evidence that Tianlan wasn’t seeing things, being cautious in the wild mountains and countryside is wise, so everyone quickly ate some food and returned to the platform.

At Hilveld’s suggestion, the bonfire below wasn’t extinguished. The Big Cat People and Bakins cut down two pine logs and dragged them over to make a long bonfire, providing light throughout the night.

Fang Hong also added to the Night Watcher hands.

On the platform of Mr. Greyrock, besides the Captain’s room and the Ship’s Officer’s little room, there were four living rooms.

Usually Parker and the Big Cat People shared one room, Luo Yu and Xiangzi shared another, Atira, Tianlan, and Gita lived together, and Elisa had her own room.

Xiesta and Bakins were accustomed to living in the storerooms on both sides.

Miss Maid was convenient for taking care of the flowers she kept, while Bakins was convenient for guarding the Captain’s room.

Of course, Fang Hong knew that the person he truly guarded was Hilveld.

When Sophie and Xi, Delice, and Uncrowned were still on the ship, the first three lived with Elisa.

And Uncrowned lived in the infirmary.

Now they’ve disembarked, the vacant spaces were naturally given to Tang Xin, Ai Xiaoxiao, and Luo Hao.

So, in a way, this platform still appeared somewhat cramped.

Especially after Heart of Fairy occupied half of the storage space, many odds and ends had to pile up in the corridors, making the platform appear more chaotic.