Hall of Valor

"Where is this place?" Wei Ke asked, looking at the house in front of him with some confusion. "Is this the Blood Healer Hunter Statue?"

"No, it's not," Yi Weina shook her head and said, "This is the Hall of Heroes."

"... The Hall of Heroes?"

"Yes," Yi Weina explained. "My grandmother told me that when the Senro God was still alive, Hunter could not immediately pray to the Senro God after passing through the Temples of Courage and Trust. Instead, they had to register at the Temple of Heroes first."

"Registering with the Hall of Heroes? Why is that?"

Yi Weina thought for a moment and said, "You can interpret this as announcing your name to the Senro God. After all, before the Senro God bestows power upon you, he must first know who you are. Of course, this is only one interpretation. Another interpretation is that after the Hunter have passed the tests of courage and trust one after another, they are mostly exhausted. At this time, it is not appropriate to pray directly. Therefore, the Hall of Heroes is also a place where they can rest and adjust their condition."

"I see, but..." Wei Ke was still a little confused, "Why did we come here? Shouldn't we go directly to the Blood Therapy Hunter's statue?"

"Do you remember what I said before?" Yi Weina said, "You didn't acquire the skill of blood healing, so either something happened to you on the way, or there's something wrong with the blood healing statue. Either way, it means our journey isn't safe. So we need some self-defense capabilities in case we really encounter danger."

Wei Ke's expression suddenly dawned on him, and he looked at the Hall of Heroes again. "You mean there's something in here that can help us protect ourselves? Is it a weapon?"

"It's not just weapons." Yi Weina placed her hand on the door, then raised an eyebrow at Wei Ke with a smug look. "Come on, you'll be amazed..."

After saying that, Yi Weina pushed open the door.

Just like the previous two temples, as soon as the door opened, dust rushed out, instantly covering the unprepared Yi Weina and Wei Ke's faces.

"Cough cough cough..." Wei Ke closed his eyes, coughing violently, "There's too much dust, Saintess."

He opened his eyes and then froze on the spot.

Because what he saw before him was no longer Yi Weina and Hall of Valor, but a sky full of flying yellow sand.

Beneath the yellow sand lie countless skeletons, some human, some wild.

They wore Hunter's attire and carried Hunter's weapons, but they had all been damaged over the long years.

The sounds of battle cries could be heard from even further away.

Wei Ke raised his head and looked into the distance.

At the edge of his field of vision, he saw countless Hunter and hounds fighting.

Wei Ke couldn't see who they were fighting; he only saw them fall like harvested wheat, turning into withered bones beneath the yellow sand.

"This is the future He desires." The familiar voice rang in my ears again. "Do you want to see this kind of future?"

Wei Ke opened his mouth, but before he could speak, he felt someone shaking his shoulders violently.

The sound of the wind in their ears was replaced by the girl's slightly anxious calls.

"Wei Ke! Wei Ke!"

Wei Ke blinked.

The yellow sand and withered bones were gone; what remained before them was still Hall of Valor and Yi Weina.

"Saintess?"

Seeing that Wei Ke had returned to normal, Yi Weina breathed a sigh of relief, then asked anxiously, "What's wrong? Did you remember something? Have you been here before?"

"I..." Wei Ke scratched his head, "I remembered something very strange."

"Something strange?"

Wei Ke quickly told Yi Weina what he had just seen and heard.

After listening, Yi Weina frowned deeply.

"Strange, so strange," she murmured. "From your description, those who died seemed to be Hunter and hounds of the Shinra, but there shouldn't be such a battle in the history of the Shinra. Hunter are born to fight against death and the strange."

"That voice was talking to me about the future," Wei Ke reminded me. "It's the future that 'He' wants."

"The only one who can be addressed as 'He' is the Senro God, but why would the Senro God desire such a future?" Yi Weina for a moment, then turned her gaze to Wei Ke. "And more importantly, what's still in your head? This is clearly not your memory. Is it that Saint's?"

"It should be," Wei Ke said in a low voice. "Since I came here, I've been able to hear him talking to me from time to time. Before, I could only hear him vaguely or quickly forget him, but this time... it's very clear."

Yi Weina saw anxiety and fear in Wei Ke's eyes.

She also knew what Wei Ke was afraid of: being devoured by the Saint, and losing himself.

So what can I do? Should I comfort him?

Yi Weina for a moment and quickly came up with an idea.

"Don't think about it too much." She turned around and quickly entered Hall of Valor. "Come in with me, we have important things to do."

Hearing Yi Weina say that, Wei Ke shook his head, told himself not to overthink it, and quickly followed her inside.

Once inside, Wei Ke discovered that the building was pronounced Hall of Valor, but written as Armory.

He saw various Hunter -style equipment hanging on the wall, including the Serrated Knife used by Bai Wei, the Long-handled Scythe used by Ryan, a cane that could be used as a whip, and an extremely small hand crossbow.

He could find the actual equipment here for anything he had ever seen in a book!

He couldn't help but mutter, "This is amazing."

"These were left behind by the Hunter who came to register before," Yi Weina said. "They were their most treasured equipment because they believed that they could not take power from the Senro God for no reason. They received the power of the Senro God, so naturally they had to leave a part of their power to give back, or rather, to protect the Senro God. These weapons are the best symbol of that."

"I see," Wei Ke asked. "Then can they still be used?"

"Of course," Yi Weina said. "These weapons are imbued with divine power."

"Divine power?!"

"Yes," Yi Weina explained, "But not the kind of divine power with special abilities that you might imagine. The Senro God simply uses divine power to freeze them, keeping them at their sharpest point forever. Whenever you take them off, they can be immediately put into battle. In other words, they are always weapons, not decorations."

Perhaps to prove her point, Yi Weina took a short knife from the wall, and as soon as it was drawn, blood began to flow from her wrist.

Wei Ke was quite surprised. "You didn't need to go to this extent, did you?"

"... Actually, my previous wound reopened." Yi Weina silently sheathed the knife and tossed it to Wei Ke. "Anyway, these are all usable. You're Hunter now, but you don't even have a Hunter's weapon. What kind of situation is that?"

Only after Yi Weina reminded him did Wei Ke realize that he didn't even have a proper Hunter's weapon on him.

The fake Old Hunter did give him a hand axe, but it was damaged during the Wildfire Cultist's pursuit, and he never received a new weapon after that.

Bai Wei did have a Serrated Knife, but Bai Wei used a much better one, so he was too embarrassed to ask for it.

So, all this back and forth, he was still just an unarmed Hunter, with nothing but the Hunter's bloodline in his body.

Now that he had finally obtained a proper Hunter's weapon, Wei Ke suddenly had a very subtle feeling in his heart.

Then he heard Yi Weina casually say, "Oh, that sword of yours has quite a history. You can take a look."

Does he have some kind of background?

Wei Ke instinctively looked down and, sure enough, saw a name on the hilt of the sword—"Ge Man".

This name... Wei Ke seems vaguely familiar.

"This is the first Hunter's sword in the history of Senra," Yi Weina said.

Wei Ke's eyes widened.

He remembered, Ge Man... yes, it was Ge Man.

The name of this first Hunter in history is recorded in all books about Hunter, and he is also the first Hunter that Wei Ke knows.

At that moment, Wei Ke suddenly felt the weight of the sword in his hand, as if a legend had come to life.

"This..." Wei Ke asked nervously and expectantly, "Can I really take it?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Wei Ke suddenly felt something tap his shoulder.

He looked up and saw that Yi Weina had found a scepter somewhere and was placing it on his shoulder.

"Saintess?" Wei Ke tilted his head. "What is this..."

"Hunter Wei Ke, I am speaking to you now as the current Holy Maiden of Senro." Yi Weina's expression was no longer as casual as before, but full of seriousness and solemnity. "Please kneel down and swear allegiance to the Lord and the Lord's representative, which is me. I will record your name forever in this Hall of Heroes."

Wei Ke's mouth dropped open slightly.

He stared blankly at Yi Weina, their pupils trembling slightly in each other's vision.

"From this day forward," Yi Weina said, enunciating each word clearly, "You are the true... Senro Hunter!"

Wei Ke heard a sneer in his mind.

Clearly, this is yet another version of myself.

But Wei Ke didn't give him a chance to speak. Instead, he slowly bent down and spoke in a trembling voice.

"I am Wei Ke A De, the Hunter," he said, adding A De's name, "And I pledge my allegiance to you."

From this point on, he truly became the Senro Hunter.

A few minutes later, Wei Ke stood up, looked at Yi Weina had deliberately stood on the steps to make herself taller, and scratched his head. "So what am I supposed to do next?"

Yi Weina jumped down the steps. "Just do what you're supposed to do, um... if you really have to say, you'll protect me."

"Protect you?"

"Yes," Yi Weina said. "The duty of Senro Hunter is to protect Shinra, but right now, besides you, I am the only one connected to Shinra, so you can only protect me."

"...oh."

"Your disappointed look makes me want to take back the ceremony we just had," Yi Weina said, glaring at Wei Ke.

"No, no," Wei Ke waved his hands repeatedly, then mustered his courage and said to Yi Weina, "Thank you."

"I asked you to protect me, and you're thanking me?"

"Yes, because I know you're doing this for my own good," Wei Ke said. "You don't want me to lose myself, just like Father Ulu always did."

Yi Weina was somewhat surprised. "Did Rhine Father always do that too?"

"Hmm... I think so, although he didn't say it explicitly, I think so," Wei Ke said. "And it's not just you and Father Ulu, but also Hunter Ryan and Rui La. A lot of people have helped me along the way, which is really... good."

Wei Ke took a deep breath and then said with a determined look.

"Therefore, I will absolutely not be controlled by that Saint!"

Seeing how serious Wei Ke was, Yi Weina was at a loss for words. She wasn't very good at handling these kinds of things, so she could only cough twice and say, "It's great that you think that way."

"Yes!" Wei Ke said excitedly, "I'm fine now, let's continue!"

Seeing that Wei Ke was about to rush out, Yi Weina immediately called out to him, "Hey, wait, wait, you're done with your business, but I'm not done with mine yet!"

"Huh?" Wei Ke turned to look at Yi Weina, puzzled. "Is there anything else?"

Yi Weina sighed and pointed to the back of Hall of Valor: "Didn't you notice there are more rooms in the back? Honestly, we didn't come here just to find weapons for you, we came here for mine too."

Wei Ke was quite surprised. "You have one too?"

"Yes, my grandmother told me that the Senro Saintess can also fight," Yi Weina said. "It's just that she didn't have time to teach me before she passed away... But it doesn't matter. The Temple of Heroes also has special artifacts for the Saintess. As long as I find those, I can at least protect myself, if not fight."

As Yi Weina spoke, she led Wei Ke to the room at the back.

Then she opened the door to the room, and froze on the spot.

"What's wrong?"

Wei Ke quickly stepped forward and looked into the room, then his eyes widened.

What did they see?

Dry bones.

Countless Hunter skeletons were piled up haphazardly in the small room.

In that instant, Wei Ke's previous hallucination became reality.

"Why..." he murmured, "Why... why are so many Hunter dying here?"

Wei Ke sensed that something was wrong.

By this time, Yi Weina had recovered her senses and immediately went inside to examine the skeletons.

While checking, he said to Wei Ke, "Come and help."

"Oh oh."

Wei Ke quickly followed up, but he didn't know what to examine, because these bones were so ancient that it was impossible to know when they had died.

"Look at their clothes!" Yi Weina said. "Hunter have their names and dates of birth engraved on their clothes."

"Oh oh oh oh!"

Wei Ke understood and immediately found the name on the clothing of the most recent Hunter's remains.

"Lei Ao".

Wei Ke was stunned.