At dusk, the sun sank westward, and crimson clouds filled the sky.
The high mountains were dyed red, while their lower slopes lay under a blanket of black, like an ink-wash painting.
The sound of wagon wheels rose through the forest. Nameless and the others slowly emerged from the trees, and when they saw a dilapidated temple in the distance, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
A temple meant people lived nearby.
At last, they could ask around and gather some information.
They urged their horses onward and reached the temple as night fell. Only after checking several times that it was not some mimicking creature did they go inside.
"Jiaoshan Temple? It's neither a Land God Temple nor a mountain god temple." Ye Wenlu glanced at the plaque, sounding surprised.
Mark looked at the statue inside. "So this mountain is called Jiaoshan?"
"Hard to say. What if the statue is named Jiaoshan? As far as I know, there was a Mr. Jiaoshan in ancient times on Earth. 'Jiaoshan had courage of his own'—ever heard that?" Nameless glanced at the statue as he spoke.
That was what he said, but he did not really believe it had anything to do with that Mr. Jiaoshan. After all, Earth had no creatures like Snail Serpents.
Most likely, Mark was right: the mountain was called Jiaoshan. So this was a mountain god temple after all—the temple of Jiaoshan's mountain god!
Once they had confirmed there were no venomous snakes or insects inside, they built a campfire, warmed their dry rations over it, and ate them with water.
After eating, Nameless lay down on a rag to rest. The others settled down too, leaving Mark to keep watch for the first half of the night.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap...
Bored, Mark found