Chen Miao and Qingtian explored most of the market in Jiangya County, sharing quite a few pastries along the way.
Qingtian had been embarrassed at first, but Chen Miao bought an extra portion every time. After eating so many, he had grown much more comfortable reaching for them. "Qingtian, let's head outside the city and take a look at Bright Moon Lake."
"Sure!"
After all that good food, Qingtian was brimming with energy.
He spilled everything he knew, even rumors he had never verified himself. Chen Miao did not think Qingtian was simply talking nonsense.
There was no smoke without fire. By the time some stories reached ordinary people like Qingtian, they might have lost their original shape.
But Chen Miao could judge for himself and piece together some of the truth.
The legends from the Moon Mountain Range were one example.
According to Qingtian, in the villages and towns around Jiangya County, a Mountain Wanderer might go into the mountains and disappear for days. Then, one night, he would appear atop the courtyard wall and call his wife outside before vanishing with her. Unless Chen Miao was mistaken, those creatures were probably the modified Human-Faced Beasts he had seen before.
Bright Moon Lake was another example. Someone enjoying a daytime outing by the lake would suddenly see a face in the water staring back at him. When he looked again, the face would be gone. Such incidents were fairly common, yet no one had openly been reported to have died from them anywhere around Bright Moon Lake.
Unless Chen Miao was mistaken, there were probably water ghosts in Bright Moon Lake. But why did they not harm people?
Chen Miao suspected it was not that they did not harm people, but that they did not do so openly!
Just