One after another, the figures in wooden masks, their bodies covered from head to toe, carried enormous clay jars onto the wooden walkway that led from the foot of the mountain into the mist-shrouded peaks.
"Everyone, follow them."
Leona looked at the wooden-masked figure leading the way, then waved for everyone to follow.
After a brief hesitation, the others followed their captain up.
The Mind Prophet's probing had revealed no hostility from these strange humans, and the two civilizations shared a language, allowing them to communicate.
Yet their calm, almost indifferent attitude still left the group confused and uneasy. Such a reaction seemed rather abnormal when encountering an unfamiliar human civilization.
Only after stepping onto the wooden walkway did they realize it was far longer than it had appeared from below.
With so little sunlight,
the path ahead remained hidden in the gloomy mist, stretching onward little by little as though it would never end.
The wooden-masked figures walked ahead, their silhouettes disappearing into the haze. Unable to see clearly beneath their feet, the visitors could only hear the unnerving creak of swaying planks with every step, afraid that a single misstep would send them tumbling off the cliff to their deaths.
After following the wooden-masked figures into the first structure on the mountainside, they found themselves inside something that looked very much like
a temple.
The temple was embedded deep in the mountain, its interior hollowed out to create a space far larger than it appeared from outside. Openings had been chiseled through the stone slabs of its vaulted ceiling.
Shafts of dim light spilled down, illuminating the dust suspended in the darkness. A strange smell of decay permeated the temple.
The smell was somewhat pungent, but not particularly unpleasant.
Many wooden-masked figures in red robes moved back and