I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

There is a shelf on one side of the main hall.

On that shelf were countless jars.

Upon seeing this scene, Lu Ban quickly realized what it was.

He moved closer.

Each jar has a name written on it.

Changming, Daisy, Iriya, Yayoi...

The jars appear to be in different states of age depending on the time they have been stored.

Without a doubt, these were the divine children of the past.

The ashes of the divine children of past generations are placed here.

In the deep darkness where even moonlight cannot reach, the remains of these people who once protected this world are neatly laid out, without being enshrined by eternal lamps or worshipped by anyone, more like some kind of sealed object that cannot see the light of day.

One day, amber may become part of it.

Lu Ban sighed.

After leaving the main hall, Lu Ban glanced at the Divine Son Pavilion again.

He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to go and see Amber.

At least one last time to see her.

As it turned into smoke and dust and drifted up, Lu Ban noticed something as soon as it approached the tall pavilion.

The door to that attic was locked.

Not just one lock, but several.

These locks were covered in burn marks, but they held the door firmly and securely.

This is the only entrance and exit to the Divine Child Pavilion.

Lu Ban then noticed that the Divine Son Pavilion had no windows.

The entire building is like a sealed jar.

When Lu Ban realized this, his heart skipped a beat.

"Could it be that the process of becoming a divine child is a process of alienation?"

Lu Ban thought to himself.

In a place of silence, only pollution can resist pollution.

Is it possible that purification of fire is just another level of pollution?

The filth is eliminated by the purifying fire, but the purifying fire itself is pollution. In the end, the entire island will become a land dominated by the purifying fire. If humans cannot adapt to the purifying fire, civilization will disappear.

All of this requires a vehicle.

This vessel is the divine child.

This island shrine, this sacred cherry blossom, is a constraint.

To allow the process of self-contamination to proceed peacefully through restraint.

"amber……"

Lu Ban had a bad feeling.

The lock secures Amber, who is sitting inside.

After the previous Divine Child, Pure Flame, was passed on to Amber, this lock was set up to prevent Amber from escaping.

"Wait a minute, after all... can the Divine Child really leave the Divine Child Pavilion?"

Lu Ban realized what was happening.

He had been at the island shrine for so many days, but he had never seen the shrine maiden.

In fact, apart from the elderly priestesses who were in charge of the handover of the divine child, no one had ever seen the divine child.

After the Divine Child Pavilion is locked, can the Divine Child really leave this place and only ascend the Divine Child Pavilion to shoot the Purifying Fire Arrow when there is filth?

If the Divine Child has never left the Divine Child Pavilion all these years, then how has she managed to survive as a human?

Lu Ban's heart began to race.

He felt he had touched the very edge of the island's deepest taboos.

If we continue down this path, something bad might happen.

There are things he doesn't want to see or understand right in front of him.

It's right above the Divine Child Pavilion.

He hesitated for a moment.

But a last glimmer of hope made Lu Ban decide to continue upwards.

Like a wisp of smoke, he rose under the moonlight and arrived outside the door of the Divine Son Pavilion.

He smelled something.

There's a smell that shouldn't be here.

It smells burnt.

That's the pungent smell left after the fat of some kind of animal has burned.

hum-

Lu Ban felt a buzzing in his ears.

The good news is that his previous guess may not have been correct.

The bad news is that reality may be even worse than that speculation.

Lu Ban stood frozen in mid-air before finally deciding to go inside.

Turning into wisps of smoke, Lu Ban slipped into the locked door.

The first floor of the Divine Child Pavilion was very empty. Apart from the charred marks on the walls, there was no trace of human existence.

The acrid smell grew stronger and stronger, and Lu Ban also felt a slight burning sensation.

"amber?"

Lu Ban tentatively called out.

He went up to the second floor.

The Divine Child Pavilion has three floors, with the second floor being a bit smaller.

But there were more items.

Lu Ban noticed that, in addition to the same charred marks as the first floor, there were also long drag marks on the second floor floor.

Yes.

That is, the tracks left by humans crawling on the ground using their hands after losing the ability to move.

The trail pointed towards the first floor, but failed to reach the stairs.

There are even more finger marks on the stair railing leading to the third floor.

Blood flowed from the tips of his fingers as he scratched the wood, leaving behind a series of five-finger marks.

The scorching heat grew stronger.

Amber, are you there?

Lu Ban asked a question.

No response.

He climbed the stairs to the third floor.

The third floor is no longer empty.

The ground was covered with ashes from unburnt firewood and straw, and the acrid smell of the flames reached its peak.

Lu Ban quickly found the source of the burning smell.

She was standing right in the middle of the room.

Chains bound her body, securing her firmly to the central pillar.

The countless fingerprints on the pillar speak volumes about her fear and despair at the time, a truly shocking sight.

The charred, withered, and mottled body had only a few remnants of its magnificent clothes remaining. The golden crown, which could no longer support the burnt hair, had turned black and lay at the feet of the withered wood.

That face still held an expression of terror, fear, and despair, but those beautiful amber eyes were no longer visible; only deep, dark eye sockets, withered, sunken cheeks, and an expression stemming from the most primal fear.

She still held the bow in her hand, the pale flames forming a bow, burning quietly in her hand, illuminating the area and bringing with them a scorching heat.

This is the current head priestess of the Kazushima Taisha Shrine.

This is amber.

Chapter 361 Until Death Do Us Part

Lu Ban had heard before that many people who were burned to death would actually lose consciousness first due to suffocation and eventually die.

However, the traces at the scene told Lu Ban that Amber retained her clearest consciousness while being burned by the flames. She did not suffocate due to lack of oxygen, but felt the flames engulfing her throughout the process.

The flames spread across her fair and tender skin, tearing it apart and gouging out the flesh inside, devouring it like a greedy monster, leaving not even the bones behind.

Lovely hair turned to ashes in the fire, dazzling clothes were burned away by the flames, slender limbs, delicate face, and eyes with the most beautiful light in the world were destroyed in the merciless pale flames, leaving only an ugly, charred, and foul-smelling corpse, imprisoned in this deserted pavilion for decades or even centuries.

Throughout the entire process, Amber struggled, pleaded, and cried out until the very last moment, when she faced the most painful death.

While these things were happening, the people below were cheering, jumping for joy, celebrating, and holding the grandest celebration.

Finally, her life faded away, transforming into something purer.

This thing will protect the world for decades, centuries, until it eventually runs out of fuel and dies.

Amber's small, frail body would be smashed to pieces by the old witches, then burned again, turning into a small urn, which would be displayed on the shelves of the main hall, never to see the light of day again.