"Pilgrimage?" Jiao Shiliu put down his cup and asked without hesitation.
Jiao Jiu frowned and glared at Jiao Shiliu.
A vexed look appeared on Jiao Shiliu's face as he realized something.
"Pilgrimage, naturally to …" The waiter was about to answer when his expression suddenly changed.
"You, you don't know about pilgrimage … You are outsiders …" The waiter shouted and was about to do something.
Two crystal lights flashed and disappeared into the waiter's head.
The waiter's voice came to an abrupt halt, and a misty look appeared in his eyes. His soul was immediately controlled.
Han Li looked directly into the waiter's eyes with a translucent light flashing through his eyes.
Just as the waiter shouted, Jiao Jiu flicked his hands and the entire room was covered in a faint blue light. Not a single sound could be heard.
"Sorry, I …" Jiao Shiliu blushed.
"It's okay. Fortunately, Jiao Shiliu was quick." Jiao Jiu waved his hand.
"Tell me, what is a pilgrimage?" Han Li's eyes flashed.
This was a spell that could enchant souls. As one could not use their Divine Soul, it was very weak. However, the waiter was just an ordinary person, so it was enough.
"Pilgrimage is a tradition that has lasted since ancient times. Every sixty years, the people of each city will be led by the city lord to the Holy City of Crimson Moon City in batches to listen to the teachings of the Holy Lord. This year is also known as the Year of Pilgrimage," the waiter replied mechanically.
"If you are only going to see the Holy Lord, why do you need to bring all your belongings? Is it like you are migrating?" Han Li continued to ask.
"That's because everyone wants to be chosen. The Holy Lord will bestow blessings upon those lucky people and grant them more fertile land," the waiter replied without hesitation.
"What do you mean by chosen?
What about those who are not chosen? "Han Li asked again.
"Those who are chosen are all the most devout believers. This is the greatest honor … Those who are not chosen can only return to their original cities," the waiter said with a look of envy.
When Han Li and the others heard this, they glanced at each other and saw astonishment in each other's eyes.
So this was what happened to those empty cities.
The Sacred Lord that the waiter mentioned was most likely the Lord of the Red Moon Island, Gongshu Hong.
"What else do you know about the Holy Master?" Jiao Jiu asked.
"The Holy Lord has bestowed us with fertile land and has protected us for generations to come …" The waiter rambled on, but it was all useless information to Han Li and the others.
Han Li shook his head and cut off the waiter as he asked, "You seem to be very hostile toward outsiders. Is this also part of the Holy Master's teachings?"
"Yes!
The outsiders are all demons from overseas. They covet the riches of our Red Moon Island. Once they are discovered, we must immediately inform the City Lord and kill them all, "the waiter continued to speak blankly. There was a cold aura in his words.
Jiao Shiliu snorted, while Jiao Jiu fell into deep thought.
Han Li narrowed his eyes and asked a few more questions about Island Master Red Moon, the Holy Master. Unfortunately, the waiter was only a mortal and didn't know much, so Han Li wasn't able to get much out of him.
Han Li gestured for Jiao Nine to put away the blue light shield in the room. He chanted a few incantations and a crystal light flashed in his eyes.
The waiter's body shook and his eyes regained their clarity. He looked around blankly.
"Alright, there is nothing for you to do here. You may leave," Han Li said calmly.
He had just used a spell to erase some of the waiter's memories.
"Yes, please enjoy your meal." The waiter's mind was still in a daze. He smiled apologetically and left.
"So that's what happened to those empty cities. We were thinking too much," Jiao Sixteen said with a smile.
"From this person's mouth, there is some information worth pondering.
Since the people in the city are going on a pilgrimage, doesn't that mean that the Lord of the Red Moon Island is going on a pilgrimage in the so-called Holy City, Red Moon City? "Jiao Nine said.
Han Li nodded thoughtfully. He could not help but think of the jade slip with the map of the Red Moon Island that Jiao San had given them.
The map was very simple and there were not many cities marked on it. However, there was a city called Red Moon City. It was quite a distance away from Tianshui City.
If these ordinary people wanted to go on a pilgrimage, they would have to be brought there by a high-ranking cultivator using some special method. Otherwise, with their speed, they would not be able to make it there in their lifetime.
"Do you think we should contact the others?" Jiao Sixteen's face lit up. It was obvious that he had thought of the same thing.
"In my opinion, it is impossible for the Impermanence Alliance not to find out that we obtained this information so easily.
They reported that the Island Lord of the Red Moon Island was not in the Red Moon City. There must be a reason.
After all, what the waiter said could be just a rumor, "Han Li said after thinking for a while.
"Let's stick to the plan and go to Tianshui City first. We will find the people in the alliance before we decide what to do," Jiao Nine nodded.
After the three of them discussed, they quickly left An City.
During the rest of the journey, the three of them passed by many cities. There were also many empty cities, about twenty to thirty percent of the cities.
Now that they knew the reason for the empty cities, the three of them did not stay any longer.
Three days later, on a plain that stretched for thousands of miles, there was a black city that was more than thirty meters tall.
There were thousands of acres of fertile land outside the city. It was surrounded by a few tributaries of a large river that led to the sea.
One of the main tributaries of the large river was guided by a man-made river. It passed through the green paddy fields and surrounded the entire city, forming a moat that was more than thirty meters wide.
It was early in the morning and the drawbridge leading into the city had not been lowered. Outside the city, there were hundreds and thousands of ordinary people gathered. Most of them were either carrying things on their shoulders or carrying carts with bulging bags of goods, waiting for the city gate to open.
Among the crowd, there were three figures dressed in cloth clothes and wearing conical bamboo hats. They looked like ordinary farmers and were very inconspicuous.
They were none other than Han Li and the other two who had disguised themselves and sneaked all the way here.
As soon as the rising sun shone on the three words "Tianshui City" engraved on the city wall, a loud bell rang in the city.
Then, there was a series of "zha zha" sounds from within the city wall. The heavy drawbridge was slowly lowered by the thick black iron chains.
The people who had been waiting for a long time began to step onto the drawbridge and enter the city.
There was only a single tall gate at the foot of the city, and there were several Nascent Soul cultivators standing guard on either side of the gate. The one leading them was a Deity Transformation cultivator, and all of them wore dark blue robes with a crimson crescent moon inscribed on their chests.
Although Han Li couldn't use his spiritual sense to explore, he knew that there must be other people with higher cultivation in the city.
After observing several cities, he found that Red Moon Island was the same as other islands. Cultivators and mortals lived together in the city. These mortals seemed to be used to the existence of cultivators.
However, the Nascent Soul stage and above cultivators on the island all wore this kind of blood moon blue robe. It looked like they belonged to a certain sect.
After walking through the gate, Han Li saw a faint light above his head. He looked up and saw that there was an octagonal formation engraved on the bricks above. There was also a round bronze mirror inlaid in the middle.
There was a faint red hazy light sprinkling down from the bronze mirror, enveloping everyone who passed by.
With a single glance, Han Li was able to roughly guess the purpose of the formation spell.
It should be used to detect cultivators who deliberately hid their identity and prevent them from sneaking into the city.
With Han Li's current vision, this formation was not very complicated, nor could it be said to be very clever. Cultivators above the Great Ascension stage could spend some effort to shield it without being detected.
However, with the strong aura of cultivators above the Great Ascension stage, if there was no special magic treasure to conceal it, it was likely that they would be detected as soon as they stepped on the island.
Han Li and the others had high cultivation, and with the mysterious mask on their faces, they didn't have to worry about this.
The three of them calmly followed the crowd and moved into the city bit by bit. When they passed under the formation, the light in the bronze mirror only flashed slightly, then returned to normal. Obviously, it regarded them as ordinary mortals.
After entering the city, the crowd began to separate into two wings, and the scene of the city gradually spread out in front of them.
They saw that on the street directly opposite them, there were shops everywhere and merchants everywhere. On the houses on both sides of the street, there were banners that were used by merchants to attract business.
However, because it was still too early, many shops had not opened to welcome customers. On the street paved with bluestone, there were not many people except for the people who had just entered the city.
Only some of the morning tea shops had been swept clean and opened their doors to welcome customers.
This Tianshui City was far larger than any city they had seen before. Two streets in the southeast and northwest direction divided the entire city into four large districts.
Han Li and the others followed the main street to the southern part of the city and turned into a narrow path. After walking for over an hour, they arrived at a remote alley after a series of twists and turns.
The alley was very quiet, and the few courtyards had their doors closed. There was no sound, and not a single person could be seen.
The three of them came to an ordinary house in the deepest part of the alley and stopped in front of it.
"This is it." Jiao Jiu looked up and down at the dark red door of the house and nodded.
This house was a secret stronghold opened by the members of the Anicca Alliance who had snuck into the Red Moon Island. The three of them came here to meet up and gather information.
When Jiao Jiu heard this, he took a few steps forward and, like an ordinary person knocking on a door, he raised his hand and knocked on the mouth ring of the bronze beast on the door with a rhythm of two short and one long.
After a few dull knocks, there was no response from the house.
Han Li was slightly surprised. He wanted to use his divine sense to check, but he remembered Jiao San's warning that he should not use his divine sense.
Jiao Jiu and Jiao Jiu sensed that something was wrong, but they obviously had the same concerns as Han Li, so they did not use their divine sense.
Jiao Jiu turned around and looked at the two people behind him hesitantly.
Han Li squinted his eyes and did not say anything.
Jiao Jiu thought for a while and gestured to the two of them to prepare for battle.
Just as the three of them were about to move, the sound of a bell ringing suddenly came from inside the door. It was three long and one short.
The three of them were startled and looked towards the door.
Jiao Jiu thought for a while, then he increased the strength of his hand and quickly knocked on the door ring three times.
A moment later, the dark red door creaked open, revealing a gap that was as wide as a person. From within, the head of a middle-aged man with a broad face and heavy cheeks appeared.
"Come in."