January 1. Clear skies.
Under the old calendar, today marked the New Year.
Yet the Convoy felt no joy whatsoever.
Not only was there no New Year's cheer, everyone's expression was grim.
Something utterly out of place had appeared where there should have been nothing but volcanoes.
Ahead of the Convoy stood a village that looked extremely plain on the outside, yet felt deeply strange when viewed as a whole.
It was broad daylight, and the Endless Volcanic Region went without rain all year round. Never mind rain, there were barely even any clouds. Looking up, all they could see was blue sky.
Yet in this environment, in this weather, a place had appeared amid the volcanoes that looked utterly incongruous, so eerie that a mere glance made it seem dark within.
No matter how they looked at it, the place felt steeped in strangeness.
"What do we make of this place?"
Chu Sheng turned to Captain Hui and Fang Hong.
At his question, An Xi, Lu Guan, and the others also looked toward the two of them.
"This place isn't a trace of civilization." Fang Hong shook her head. "That's all Fate told me."
In truth, even without Fate telling her that, she knew this wasn't some remnant of civilization.
Seeing that she knew little about the place, Chu Sheng and the others turned to Captain Hui.
Feeling their gazes on him, Captain Hui shook his head solemnly.
"I haven't managed to divine much."
"There seems to be some powerful interference here, preventing me from divining anything about this place."
As he spoke, he took a tortoise shell from his pocket and continued, "Give me another moment. I'll try divining with this."
Normally, he performed his divinations on his fingers. It was convenient and consumed little mental power.
But