The courtyard was not large, nor was the fence high; from outside, everything within could be taken in at a glance. There were two houses inside, both built from massive logs gathered locally. The joinery was meticulous, plain without feeling rough or uncouth. Out of courtesy, Yu Ci and the others did not enter, leaving You Rui to search for someone inside. Strangely, no one answered her.
You Rui made a circuit through the house and around the yard but found no one. She did not seem particularly surprised. "It seems she went out, but she will not have gone far. Why don't we look around the village first?"
Yu Ci had no objection and nodded.
The group turned farther inward. After walking for a while, Yu Ci suddenly found something strange: the black moon in the sky seemed to have lightened in color. Looking closer, he saw that it had indeed become a deep purple.
Lu Qing soon explained it to him. It was said that the rising and setting of the sun and moon caused the array's strength to fluctuate without fixed measure. As its core, the black moon's color would change accordingly. At its peak state, it was black; after that came purple, yellow, and silvery white. For this reason, there was no obvious boundary around the Black Moon Ring Array, and its range rose and fell like the tides, sometimes larger, sometimes smaller.
"But as for the core area, there is no dispute." As she spoke, Yu Ci heard the low murmur of water, like waves gently slapping the shore with a soft splash, splash.
"This is Black Moon Lake. This underground lake covers roughly a thousand qing, with varying depths, divided by sandbars into dozens of sections. Thanks to the Black Moon Ring Array, its