Six hundred and sixth shadow.
To the southwest of Prit’s main island lies the outskirts of Gramorn.
Under the dark sky, the waters of Twinkling Star Lake shimmer with faint moonlight. On the vast, verdant grasslands by the lake, many citizens stroll along the small paths beside the lake, enjoying the gentle breeze after dinner and taking evening walks. The streetlights illuminate the lakeside with a dim glow, lighting up the edges of the large lake.
On a long bench by the lakeside, Doro is sitting there, using her Spiritual Vision to observe the light spiritual fog gradually rising on the surface of the lake, and couldn’t help but feel a sense of reflection in her heart.
‘Here they come again… They are very punctual. Every night, they control the entire lake surface. It seems they are determined not to let anyone interfere with their search…’
Observing the extremely thin bl**d mist spreading across the lake surface, Doro thinks to herself. This invisible bl**d mist has been blocking her nighttime exploration of Twinkling Star Lake for several days now. Up until now, she still hasn’t found a way to break through this bl**d mist barrier and continue her exploration of the lake. She can only watch helplessly as the Eight-pointed occupy the entire lake every night, slowly accumulating their exploration progress, while she remains powerless.
‘Based on all the clues collected so far… The secret of the Mirror Moon Goddess Temple is most likely hidden in Twinkling Star Lake. But now, the control of the lake at night is seized by the Eight-pointed. I can’t explore the lake during this critical time for Mirror Moon faith. Under the cover of the Eight-pointed bl**d mist, any attempt to enter the lake for reconnaissance would be discovered. I can’t enter the lake surface without completely avoiding these bl**d mists… This would be detected by the Eight-pointed Red Tier. Just like back when in Duke Barret’s villa.’
Facing the bl**d mist of the Eight-pointed, Doro thinks deeply, troubled. Although her current detection ability is very powerful, it cannot be used recklessly against Red Tier Extraordinary Beings. They might have various countermeasures. Not only would she fail to detect the specific whereabouts of those Red Tier beings, but she could also be detected and expose the location of both her zombie puppet and herself, posing a great risk.
Previously, Doro had successfully spied on Red Tier Extraordinary Beings and gathered intelligence, mainly relying on special circumstances. In Adis, she relied on the Enlightenment Mark Temple’s barrier. In Moncala, it was thanks to the Little Fox’s dream-entering ability that allowed Doro to stealthily steal memories from those Red Tier beings’ subordinates, gaining information about the Red Tier. However, given the current situation, neither of these methods can be used.
Firstly, the Little Fox is not in Prit. It’s uncertain whether she would agree to rush over to help. Even if she did agree, a transnational trip would take too much time. Additionally, although the Mirror Moon Temple might have a half-Inner Realm barrier, Doro first needs to find the temple to enter the half-Inner Realm barrier. But now the lake surface is sealed off; how can she find it?
Facing the bl**d mist blockade of the Eight-pointed, Doro finds herself in a difficult situation. At this moment, she considers whether she should first try to find a few of the Eight-pointed lackeys hiding in the city and start gathering information about the Eight-pointed from them. But she realizes that doing so without the dream-entering ability would be inefficient, and even if she knew the movements of the Red Tier beings, she couldn’t directly confront them. Gramorn is not like Moncala, where multiple factions of Red Tier beings gather together. Her opponent is only the Eight-pointed, and there’s no way to leverage other forces.
“This is indeed quite challenging…”
Rubbing her chin, Doro gazes at the crescent moon in the sky and says, somewhat distressed, after pondering for a long time without finding a way to break through the Eight-pointed bl**d mist blockade. She has another idea in mind.
‘Maybe… Now I can change my approach. Instead of focusing solely on breaking through the Eight-pointed blockade to reach the lake surface, I should concentrate on deciphering the riddle. There are still many parts of the prayer riddle unsolved. Perhaps I can try to decipher the next part of the prayer content without entering the lake surface. Although the temple is most likely in Twinkling Star Lake, what if there are other entrances elsewhere? Doesn’t the prayer mention several doors to enter the temple?’
Sitting on the long bench by the lake, Doro thinks this way, then shifts her thoughts back to solving the prayer riddle rather than breaking through the Eight-pointed bl**d mist. She begins to carefully examine the unsolved lines of the prayer.
‘The most crucial point in the remaining lines of the prayer lies in those doors. What are the meanings of Scythe Gate, Longbow Gate, and Abundant Gate… Do these gates represent some unique symbols of the Mirror Moon cult? No, if I don’t fully understand the Mirror Moon cult, I won’t be able to interpret them.’
Doro thinks to herself. At this moment, she tries to put herself in the shoes of a believer of the Mirror Moon faith, observing the meaning of these prayers from the perspective of the Mirror Moon cult’s unique worship of night and the moon. Looking up at the crescent moon in the sky, Doro suddenly has some ideas.
‘Scythe… Could these gate names be referring to the state of the moon itself? More precisely, they refer to the phases of the moon.
‘This world’s moon seems similar to the one in my previous world, both essentially non-luminous, reflecting sunlight to illuminate the night sky. This aligns with the Mirror Moon Goddess’s mirror symbolism. The Night Sky Empress may also be linked to the concept of mirrors because of this. If moonlight is essentially refracted sunlight, then different moon phases would naturally arise due to the relative positions of the Earth and the moon. And these moon phases might be related to the doors mentioned in the prayer.’
‘The current phase of the moon is a crescent, which resembles a scythe’s blade. Following this logic, the Longbow Gate refers to a half-moon, resembling an unopened bow. The Abundant Gate represents a slightly fuller moon, indicating waxing and waning phases. And the final Jade Wheel Gate corresponds to a full moon…
Doro ponders carefully. This idea of the moon phase corresponding to the doors in the prayer excites her greatly. She continues thinking along this line.
‘The riddle prayer states, “The clear mirror of Grahomir reflects the divine domain of the night sky, which is also the gateway to the sanctuary.” Here, the clear mirror refers to Twinkling Star Lake. If different gates correspond to different moon phases, then the divine domain of the night sky must refer to the moon itself in the sky, and the gate must be the reflection of the moon on the lake surface.
‘Considering the silver peak mentioned in the prayer, the complete meaning should be, “Standing on the mountain top where silver is produced, looking at Twinkling Star Lake, the projection of the moon on the lake surface is the gateway to the Mirror Moon Temple.” Depending on the moon phase, the shape and position of the moon’s reflection on the lake surface will differ. According to the description in the prayer, there are four such gates corresponding to four different moon phases.
‘This means that I just need to go to the top of Guanhu Mountain, observe the lake surface, and record the positions of the moon phases when they peak. Once I reach that position, I might be able to search for the key clues to enter the temple.’
Looking at the crescent moon in the sky, Doro thinks repeatedly. Currently, this idea of the moon phase corresponding to the door is the most consistent with the description in the prayer. If all these deductions are correct, the riddle prayer would almost be solved. Feeling a surge of excitement, she stands up from her seat and looks at the crescent moon’s shadow on the lake surface. After staring at it for a while, her eyes narrow again.
‘No, if the reflection of the moon phase on the lake surface is the gateway to the temple, wouldn’t I still need to go to the lake surface to have a chance of entering? The entire lake surface at night is completely sealed off by the Eight-pointed. I dare not even send a mosquito zombie puppet in. How can I locate the reflection on the lake surface?’
Although deciphering the Mirror Moon cult’s prayer momentarily lifts Doro’s spirits, she quickly realizes that she still needs to find a way to enter the lake surface, causing her expression to darken. This conclusion is bad news for her. She originally thought that deciphering the prayer would lead to a method to enter the temple without going onto the lake surface. But ultimately, she still needs to go to the lake surface.
If Doro’s interpretation is correct, the gateway to the temple will exist at the perfect positions where the moon phases can be seen from the top of Guanhu Mountain overlooking Twinkling Star Lake. The moon only appears at night, so I only have a chance to find the gateway at the correct position on the lake surface after dark. But this is incredibly dangerous.
Just as she begins to see a solution, she encounters an obstacle. For a moment, Doro feels unusually frustrated, contemplating the crescent moon in the sky and its reflection in the lake. She begins deep meditation.
‘Moon phase… Night… Reflection… Lake surface… Sky… Yes…’
Thinking about it, Doro’s mind starts to stir, and her eyes widen slightly as she contemplates this thought.
…
A few days later, southwest of Tivyan, near Gramorn.
During the day, near the outskirts of Gramorn, west of Twinkling Star Lake, on the summit of Guanhu Mountain, many citizens still gather on the observation platform at the top to enjoy the view. Doro’s zombie puppet has once again blended in among them.
On the grass in a small grove by the lakeside, Doro, dressed in a light-colored dress and wearing a sun hat, sits with one of her zombie puppets. She slowly enjoys the toast from the picnic basket placed in front of her, acting like an ordinary girl being taken out for a picnic by her father.
At this moment, Doro is eating her picnic while using the zombie puppet’s vision from the summit of Guanhu Mountain to gaze at the tranquil lake surface of Twinkling Star Lake. She watches the boats gliding on the water and the reflections of the mountains and the sun, seemingly searching for something.
“So, let me see, where exactly is it? The intangible shadow on the lake…”
After taking another bite of her toast, Doro murmurs softly. She is currently searching for the reflection of the moon on the lake surface, hoping to find the gateway to the temple through the moon’s reflection in the lake.
Although it is daytime now, the entire lake surface is illuminated by direct sunlight from the sky. The lake reflects the surrounding mountains and the clear sky, making it impossible to spot any trace of a moon’s reflection. Only the dazzling sun shines in the sky, with no sign of the moon.
It is not yet night, so according to reason, Doro shouldn’t be looking for the moon’s reflection on the lake at this time. To see the moon and its reflection in the lake, she should wait until nightfall.
Of course, this is what a normal person would think. From Doro’s perspective, the moon’s reflection exists on the lake surface, but it is almost invisible. This is precisely the intangible moon reflection mentioned in the prayer, leading to the intangible gateway.
‘If each gate in the prayer corresponds to a moon phase, then what does the first intangible gate correspond to? The Jade Wheel Gate corresponds to a full moon, the Abundant Gate to a waxing and waning moon, the Longbow Gate to a half-moon, and the Scythe Gate to a crescent moon… The last remaining one is the New Moon, so the intangible gate must correspond to the New Moon.
‘The Dark Moon, or the moment of conjunction, is the opposite of the full moon phase in the moon phases. During the new moon night, you can’t see a trace of the moon because the moon is between the Sun and this world’s Earth, making the side facing the Sun invisible from the night regions.
‘However, the fact that the moon can’t be seen doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. During the new moon, the moon is between the Earth and the Sun, on the daylight side of the Earth. People on the back side of the Earth can’t see it, and people on the front side can’t see it either because the Sun’s light is too intense, obscuring the moon. Only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are in a suitable angle, with the Sun and Moon near the ecliptic and lunar nodes, and during a solar eclipse, can the moon be seen during the day.
Doro thinks to herself. At this moment, she slightly pulls down her sun hat, slightly shielding the strong light in the sky to look at the daytime sky, as if seeing the moon that exists but is undetectable. The Night Sky Empress’s domain is submerged in the glow of the supreme lamp.
“Being unseen doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Formless and intangible doesn’t mean total emptiness. During the conjunction, the absence of the moon phase in the night sky doesn’t mean the absence of the moon phase. It simply means that this moon phase exists during the day, not at night. And because the sun’s light is too glaring during the day, it cannot be directly seen.
“Similarly, the conjunction moon phase on Twinkling Star Lake isn’t absent; it’s just that the sunlight is too strong to be seen. The formless moon phase shadow guides the location of the intangible gateway… Through here, I can also cross the mirror.”
Lowering her head, Doro whispers to herself as she looks at the scene on the lake surface. She begins to search for the intangible gateway amidst the most dazzling reflections on the lake surface.
