Pillar of Yita

”Nini,” Fang Hong couldn’t help but ask, ”Did you hear something?”

Nini nodded seriously, placing her hand beside her pointed ear, making a ’listening’ gesture, then told him: ”Tianlan, singing.”

How could Tianlan be in this place? Fang Hong was full of doubts. He looked at Tata, but the latter shook his head—Tata was a Fairy Dragon Soul, and in terms of perception abilities, he was much inferior to Nini, at most on the same level as Fang Hong.

He looked ahead again, slowed his steps, and walked forward. The Energy Angel was nimbly clearing the way ahead, making even less noise than he did.

After walking about a hundred meters—Fang Hong estimated—he finally faintly heard the ’singing.’ It was a timeless, melodious song, the voice thin and melodious, completely unlike Tianlan’s tone-deaf voice.

Fang Hong then realized, Nini had only heard Tianlan sing, so she probably thought only Tianlan could sing, which led to such a misunderstanding.

The song came from afar, not very loud, yet very clear, as if it echoed in one’s mind. It was like the legendary song of the Sirens, but it did not intoxicate one’s soul. Fang Hong listened for a while, and merely thought it sounded somewhat nice.

He then continued to walk in that direction. It was somewhat strange; as he gradually approached the source of the singing, the sound did not increase much in volume, as if the singer was approaching him, gradually lowering her singing volume.

After a few more steps, the space ahead suddenly opened up.

Fang Hong saw a hall almost identical to the previous square hall, but this one had a skylight embedded at the top, with a soft white light streaming down through the window, illuminating a rock in the center of the hall.

The giant rock was originally part of the dilapidated ceiling above the hall, now standing solitarily in the center.

In the gentle light, Fang Hong saw a girl in a linen robe, half sitting on the rock, one hand resting on her chest, eyes closed, singing softly. She had uniquely ebony long hair, like a black waterfall, flowing over her slender neck, down to her snow-white feet.

As Fang Hong entered the hall, the girl seemed startled. She turned her head, her long eyelashes fluttering slightly—but Fang Hong saw clearly, her eyes remained closed, ’looking’ in this direction.

”Yoshude, is that you?”

The girl asked, her voice, like her singing, consistently pleasant.

Fang Hong paused for a moment, Yoshude, could she mean the legendary Dragon Slaying Hero? He hesitated about whether to respond but then the girl suddenly realized, chuckling lightly, her laughter like a string of silver bells falling to the ground: ”So it’s not Yoshude—I’m sorry, I’ve been waiting here for someone for a long time, and every time someone comes, I mistake them for him.”

Looking at her closed eyes, Fang Hong thought, so she couldn’t see, this girl was blind, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry.

But he quickly realized, perhaps this shouldn’t be his main concern, who was she, and why was she deep underground? She said that every time someone came, she would mistake them for another.

Was there more than just him who had been here?

He couldn’t help but look up at the skylight above the hall, wondering where the light was coming from. Was the surface of Idus outside? But it also didn’t seem likely; not to mention this should be at the same depth as the outside hall, and by this time, the surface of Idus should be night, shouldn’t it?

He calmed down and looked at the girl.

The girl’s features were somewhat lovely, and with her long eyelashes and closed eyes, she gave off a delicate impression. However, Fang Hong looked carefully and vaguely felt her appearance bore some resemblance to Hilveld.

He couldn’t help but rub his eyes, wondering if he was mistaken, as the feeling wasn’t obvious, more like a fleeting psychological suggestion.

”You’re waiting for someone here?” he asked.

The girl nodded.

”The person you’re waiting for is named Yoshude?” he asked again.

”Yes, have you seen him?” The girl’s voice held a slight hint of surprise: ”He told me to wait here for him, but I’ve been waiting so long, he hasn’t come back. I don’t know how much longer I have to wait. Can you tell me where he is?”

Fang Hong was faintly surprised; he wondered if this girl was a ghost from the time of the Dragon Witch. But ghosts should be afraid of light, and she didn’t have the slightest aura of a phantom. Unfortunately, he had no means to detect the Undead; seeing her from afar gave him no clarity on this matter.

He walked a few steps closer and asked, ”I do know a certain Yoshude—but he’s been gone from here for a long time. He’s the Dragon Slaying Hero of Colin Ishurian, is this the Yoshude you know?”

The girl was slightly taken aback: ”Dragon Slaying Hero, huh, others have told me this too, so he really became a hero after leaving here. But did he tell you when he would come back?”

The more Fang Hong listened, the more peculiar it seemed, perplexities growing in his heart—others had told her as much, had many people actually been here? But hadn’t those people informed her that Yoshude had passed away over seventy years ago?

He thought for a moment, then replied: ”If you really mean this Dragon Slaying Hero, then he can’t return. To my knowledge, he passed away many years ago; I’ve never even seen this Dragon Slaying Hero.”