"Lei Tan Shrine? It really isn't Yimu Qingling's Temple, huh."
Gazing at the plaque above the main entrance, Zhong Liuyan was somewhat surprised as she looked at Feng Yuan, who responded with an air of having predicted this all along,
"Of course, the design of the Divine Beast Temples has always been fixed, how could there suddenly be a strange style?"
"Then why did the Beast Path appear?"
"I don't know, I'm guessing Yimu Qingling set it up himself, after all, only it can change these things at will."
Seeing Zhong Liuyan's befuddled look, Feng Yuan felt helpless as he was also unclear about the reason.
"Ooh~"
The Dreaming Dragon Baby, which had been napping on Feng Yuan's shoulder, seemed to sense something and floated toward the Lei Tan Shrine, rushing inside. Seeing this, everyone followed with curiosity.
"Eh, could it actually be Xuan Shui Qing Jiao?"
As the Dreaming Dragon Baby nuzzled against a majestic stone statue in the center of the temple, Feng Yuan was surprised; Pei Yu glanced at the statue dismissively and said to Feng Yuan,
"You must be mistaken, right? How could it be Xuan Shui Qing Jiao when it's called Lei Tan Shrine? Besides, the statue isn't colored; for all you know, I could say it's Lei Ting Zi Jiao!"
Dou Yanlan, holding her cotton, carefully examined the statue and then said,
"It really is Xuan Shui Qing Jiao. These characteristics here, and here, and here are unique to Xuan Shui Qing Jiao."
After examining the features Dou Yanlan pointed out, Pei Yu argued stubbornly,
"Maybe the person who carved the statue made a mistake? It's not uncommon for that to happen, is it?"
"Meow~"
"Hmph!"
Seeing Yanlan's cotton gazing at her with disdain and uttering a contemptuous meow, Pei Yu couldn't endure any longer and slinked away to sulk alone.
"Ji?"
Watching Feng Yuan with Xiao Ji on his head studying the murals around the great hall, the others grew curious and began to examine the paintings as well. Xiao Ji glanced at the murals briefly, found them dull, and after provocatively eyeing the Dreaming Dragon Baby, who was settled on the statue doing who knows what, and seeing it pay no attention, Xiao Ji leaned out, poking half its body in front of Feng Yuan and gazed up at him,
"Stop messing around, Xiao Ji."
Finding Xiao Ji's tuft of hair suddenly in his line of sight, Feng Yuan reached out to push Xiao Ji's head back,
"Ji!"
Unhappy about being rebuffed by Feng Yuan, Xiao Ji shifted into a more relaxed position on top of Feng Yuan's head, its tuft of hair swaying with each step he took.
"I thought it was built by our ancestors, but it turns out it was the Divine Pact Maker who constructed the Lei Tan Shrine. No wonder there's something like the Beast Path."
After browsing the surrounding murals, Feng Yuan seemed to understand and said; Pei Yu looked at him disdainfully,
"You understood them? How can you make sense of such abstract murals?"
Seeing the others also looking at him with curiosity, Feng Yuan shrugged and said,
"You could take pictures and ask about it online once we get out."
"You really understood those murals?"
Zhong Liuyan looked at Feng Yuan skeptically, to which he pointed at the paintings and said,
"Of course. The general content of these murals is just about a child who encountered a severe drought when he was young, came here alone to ask for Xuan Shui Qing Jiao's aid. Xuan Shui Qing Jiao repeatedly used its Rain Invocation to alleviate the drought, and afterward, the child's relationship with Xuan Shui Qing Jiao grew increasingly close, and at the child's request, Xuan Shui Qing Jiao helped the surrounding villages many times."
"But what's strange, according to the murals, is that there seems to be something off about the drought."
"Ji?"
As Feng Yuan spoke, he looked perplexedly at the mural depicting Xuan Shui Qing Jiao repeatedly using its Rain Invocation, finding it odd, while Qi Chen, dissatisfied, said to him,
"What's the problem? Stop beating around the bush, will you!"
"Could it be the repeated use of Rain Invocation? Wait a minute. Aren't the invocations that change the weather supposed to work like natural phenomena unless they're forcibly overridden by another invocation? Why would there be a need to repeatedly use Rain Invocation?"
Zhong Liuyan suddenly realized there was an issue, and Feng Yuan nodded,
"Indeed, that's the case. But the specific circumstances aren't explained by the murals, so it's unclear what exactly happened at that time."
"What about after? How did it come about that the Divine Pact Maker helped them build a commemorative temple?"
"What happened later? The child caught Yimu Qingling's eye and became Yimu Qingling's Divine Pact Maker. He left Xuan Shui Qing Jiao to travel, and when he returned, he found that Xuan Shui Qing Jiao had long since died, so he built this Lei Tan Shrine as a tribute."
Feng Yuan spoke and reached out to try to rub Xiao Ji's belly, but because Xiao Ji was lying on top of his head, he almost poked Xiao Ji's eye,
"How could this happen! He just abandoned Xuan Shui Qing Jiao like that!"
"Ji!"
"Ah! Sorry, sorry, I wasn't paying attention."
Realizing something felt off, Feng Yuan gently stroked Xiao Ji's head and apologized. Xiao Ji, somewhat angered, sat up and turned away. Seeing an agitated Pei Yu, Feng Yuan helplessly said,
"Do you think someone could have made a Beast Tamer contract with the Xuan Shui Blue Jiao right from the start?"
"This..."
"Besides, I reckon this Xuan Shui Blue Jiao must have had a previous pact maker. Otherwise, why would it stay in a place like this?"
"..."
Angrily, Pei Yu was left speechless by Feng Yuan's words, and Qi Chen, with a tinge of regret, asked,
"How did the Xuan Shui Blue Jiao die?"
"Died of old age. After all, Spirit Beasts may live longer than humans, but they aren't immortal—except for Divine Beasts, those guys are born immortal, which is something we can't envy."
"Ji~"
Feeling Xiao Ji becoming suddenly cheerful atop his head, Feng Yuan silently muttered to himself,
"Silly thing."
"I just noticed, does someone live here?"
With a complicated expression, Qi Chen glanced at Ah Mu who had just been about to take a closer look at the statue of the Xuan Shui Blue Jiao, but then he noticed that the altar in front of the statue had a quaint incense burner with a stick of incense slowly burning on it.
"This is!"
Pei Yu rushed to the altar, looking at the incense burner with surprise. Seeing him glance repeatedly at Duomeng, Feng Yuan warned,
"If you're thinking of taking that Prolonging Life Incense for yourself, you'd better give up now."
"What do you know! To not subdue such a heavenly Spirit Beast is simply to waste heaven-sent gifts!"
"Xiao Ji, stop Duomeng, don't let him do something foolish."
"Ji?"
Xiao Ji, somewhat puzzled by Feng Yuan's command, nonetheless jumped down from his head and stared at Duomeng, who was slowly approaching Pei Yu. Under Xiao Ji's watchful eye, Duomeng, who had fought alongside Xiao Ji many times, hesitated and stopped.
"Feng Yuan, what are you doing! I'm not planning to keep it all to myself! Let me take it away! I'll pay you a fair price when we get back!"
"I'm just not interested in watching you get yourself killed."
"You!"
Feng Yuan said, pulling Pei Yu away from the altar. Pei Yu, dissatisfied, glared at Feng Yuan, but then saw Feng Yuan draw out a sickle and point it at him. Pei Yu, furious, went to stand beside Duomeng and said,
"Duomeng! Charge!"
"Ji!"
"Cotton, Enchant!"
"Meow~~"
"Dou Yanlan! What are you doing!"
Seeing that Duomeng was enchanted by Cotton and no longer heeding commands, Pei Yu glared at Dou Yanlan. Duomeng shook its head, breaking free of the enchantment, and angrily glared at Cotton in Dou Yanlan's arms.
"Meow~"
Noticing Duomeng's glare, Cotton scornfully meowed. Zhong Liuyan approached Pei Yu and said,
"That's enough! Calm down!"
"How can I stay calm! Look at them! I said I wouldn't monopolize it, and yet they dare to block me!"
Seeing Pei Yu looking somewhat frantic, Zhong Liuyan put a hand on his shoulder and looked at Feng Yuan,
"Aren't you going to explain? Why is that thing so dangerous?"
"What do you all know about Prolonging Life Incense?"
As Feng Yuan spoke, he walked over to the incense burner and scratched at the quaint surface. After a moment, a pair of light blue eyes slowly opened from within the patterns of the burner.
"Wu?"
The light blue eyes looked at Feng Yuan with some confusion, displaying an adorably dazed expression.