Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Standing before it, Niu Hong couldn't help but sigh in relief that they made it. 

"It was a good thing that Ming Yue was here, if not we might've had to retreat", he quietly thought. 

The trip itself was shorter than he had thought, just a day or two earlier. And if it wasn't for their new addition, the trip might've taken two weeks or worse, they would've had to abandon it. 

"To think, we would encounter a family of Inferno Bears... Just one would be troublesome enough but three of them..."

Just thinking about it made him shudder. 

"That thing breathes fire, practically takes a dozen seekers to kill and she manages to take one on by herself. At least, the nights weren't as terrible as She Xing thought they'd be."

Aside from the dangerous encounter, there was a fear that Ming Yue's trouble during the night. Among everyone, the snake woman seemed to be the wariest of her. Fortunately, the young woman seemed to anticipate this, sleeping somewhere more isolated like the treetops. On top of that, the dreams or visions weren't getting worse. 

"Ah, but she'll warm up to Ming Yue soon enough. Getting her to join our team was difficult, she was so suspicious of us."

Thinking this, the leader of the Four Claws felt hopeful as he took a secretive glace at his group before turning back to the ruins. 

"Alright, let's check and prepare to enter. There will be traps of some sort and possibly a nest of beasts in there. Whatever it is, reports say that after the first level, there's nothing but when descending, there are creatures of some sort that lurk there. They can only be described as shadows or apparitions."

He then looked to Ming Yue. 

"I've already informed the other Seekers that we are entering and that they are to not provide help. I hope that this is enough to hide your existence."

She nodded before responding. 

"Yes, that's enough."

Even if he hadn't said anything, she had already sensed their surrounding areas, making sure that it was just them. 

"Alright then, once everyone's ready, we can begin."

After speaking, the Four Claws went to check their equipment whilst Ming Yue studied these ruins. 

"Ruins of a Broken Banner, it's a fitting name, isn't it?" she quietly thought. 

Standing in front of the ruins, she was quite small compared to it. 

There seemed to be two levels above ground and an unknown number down below. From the outside, it looked exactly like what a fortress abandoned for thousands of years would look like. The walls were crumbling but much of the damage was covered by the snaking vines and thick moss. For the most part, it wasn't damaged from battle but time. The stone was worn down, the gates had rusted, and there were cobwebs in many of the nooks and crannies. 

Hanging from the top of the walls were banners but all of them had been ripped apart, leaving barely anything recognizable. The air around it all was strange, to say the least. It felt... alive and yet, there was no movement at all. 

"There are definitely formations within it", she thought. 

After a bit of time, Niu Hong and the others were done checking their equipment, tightening any loose parts before joining Ming Yue. 

As they looked at the ruins, the leader of the Four Claws glanced at Ming Yue before a look of anticipation. 

"So, do you have any thoughts or ideas as to the nature of these ruins?" he asked her. 

She shook her head. 

"Whatever it is, it is beyond my knowledge", the cultivator answered. 

"Oh, I see. In that case, let's begin."

He then walked forward with his axe in hand, leading everyone into the ruins. As they entered, they saw a massive hall within, dark and dreary. Everything inside was ancient, weathered, and covered in either vines, cobwebs, or moss. 

"According to the report, the first two levels have been fully explored except for a few rooms in the second level which seem to be locked. Let's have a look there first before delving down."

Everyone nodded, moving forward, and ascended to the second floor. 

The scene was similar as down below, dark and filled with a musty air. 

The Four Claws tapped their medallions which hung from their necks. It began to glow and shine, providing light for them all. Ming Yue took out a torch from her spatial ring, lighting it ablaze with some sparks of lightning. 

They moved together, checking the corridors. Many of the rooms had been opened and searched. 

As Ming Yue looked around, she took note of the rooms, not expecting them to be clean. 

"I thought it would've been a mess. It doesn't even look like they searched it." 

Everything seemed neat and tidy rather than looking as if a great gust of wind blew over them all. But then they got to the rooms that haven't been open, the ones that previous teams couldn't open. 

At the first one, Yu Tu walked forward, retrieving a set of lockpicking tools for the door. As she began to fiddle with the lock, trying different things, Niu Hong explained their process

"Yu Tu specializes with lockpicks and traps so, she's usually the one to go first and the first one to warn us about any traps. But some doors may be locked differently, usually through smaller formations or magic. Qiang Rong works with those. She Xing and I make our move if the doors are incredibly thick, we usually cut those apart."

Ming Yue narrowed her eyes at this. 

"Why not just cut them all instead?" she asked. 

"Well, these ruins often have traps and we don't want to activate them unless we have no choice. Most of the time, we can just disarm them and go in."

Niu Hong answered her as if to say that this was common sense. 

"Oh, I see, I see. I haven't done many expeditions before so I didn't know this", she explained. 

Before he could reply, there was a click and the door opened, revealing another room. 

"Alright, let's see what's inside."

They walked in and began searching the room, checking for any documents and treasures. Only Ming Yue stood aside, not really knowing what to do. They were quick and efficient, looking through the desk and drawers. Their fingers were swift, flipping through pages and quickly skimming. 

Among them, Qiang Rong went through what looked like a big book and flipped through it with a strange look. 

"Strange, what kind of book is this? There are only paintings of clouds and lightning on it", he muttered. 

Ming Yue perked up when hearing that and moved towards Qiang Rong. At the time time, she took out another book from her spatial ring. 

"Can I have a look at it?" she asked. 

He turned and glanced at her, seeing both a curious and odd look on her face. 

"Here you go."

He handed the book to her, to which she then compared the two. 

"To think, I would see this here", she muttered. 

On one hand, was the book of the Huan Shi Ti, the Savant of a Hundred Flashes. On the other, was another book of his, another collection of his paintings. She compared them both, checking to see if the styles were similar. 

Meanwhile, the Four Claws looked at her, obviously noticing the similarity between both books. 

After a brief moment, she closed the book and looked at Qiang Rong and the other seriously.

"Can I have this? Just for a few months", she asked them. 

Niu Hong walked forward and looked at her, thinking about what to say. But it only took a few moments to do so as he nodded. 

"If you truly need it, then sure, you can keep it. It's better this way as it would be useless in our hands." 

Ming Yue looked at him gratefully. 

"Thank you." 

After the exchange, Ming Yue joined in the search, checking the room. 

"What else could there be?"

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