After all, as long as one was alone at night, facing the moonlight directly meant annihilation. Even if they avoided it, the Solitude buff would still trigger, making them crave human touch.
Over time, a massive population boom was only natural.
But thinking about it now, it wasn't just a simple population boom.
The more living people there were on this land, the more could be swept into companion duties, patrols, merchant escorts, mining affairs, warehousing, and border commissions.
Many who would have been ordinary farmers, drivers, and servants elsewhere were forced by life here to learn to swing a blade, wield a shield, travel long distances, keep watch at night, carry cargo, and perform first aid much earlier.
They learned to maintain order in places where the moonlight couldn't reach, and they learned to drag another person back to their side before anything went wrong.
Sophie suddenly understood why in a place like Solitude, even the bandits were Trainees and the New Moon Cultists were all Class-holders.
Those who could truly be considered low-tier transcendents were those who had crossed the threshold of their first official advancement; before that, they were just Trainees ground down by life.
But in Solitude, just to live in peace, many had already been forced to grind their way to that very threshold.
It was a brutal rat race.
The mining areas, trade routes, Night-Redemption Carriages, and border anomalies never gave anyone a chance to catch their breath.
As long as they could endure one more night, make one more trip, protect one more person, and return alive from the wilderness one more time, their bodies and wills would be pushed up bit by bit.
Everyone on this land was forced by the night to crowd together, forced by life to learn to embrace, help each other, and pass around cups of hot tea.
The entirety of Solitude was resisting the curse of the moonlight by crowding together, while only the curse itself sat alone on the moon.
What an interesting contrast.
The setting sun finally sank below the distant ridge, the lingering blood-red twilight looking like thick ink splashed across the sky.
The post road continued to stretch out into the twilight.
However, as the carriage went deeper, the dense settlements along the roadside gradually grew sparse and tense.
The windows of the houses grew narrower and smaller, with Moon-Shading boards nailed tightly to the walls, layer upon layer.
Even the resting sheds and warehouses that occasionally appeared by the roadside were thicker and lower than those near Silvervein City, looking like hurriedly closed shells.
The fields were still there, the villages were still there, and the cooking smoke still drifted.
But the liveliness that usually belonged to crowds seemed to have been sucked away in advance.
Even though it wasn't dark yet, Sophie could already sense a trace of the border's unique chill from the increasingly quiet post road, the rare pedestrians, and the windows and doors closing earlier and earlier.
In the silent darkness, the carriage rolled unhurriedly toward the depths of unknown danger.
Night fell gradually.
Sophie withdrew her gaze from the window and focused her attention back on the round blanket cocoon in the corner of the carriage.
“Oh dear, it's already dark,” Sophie drawled intentionally, slowly taking a molten-center pastry wrapped in oil paper from her system inventory, which exuded a rich milky and sweet berry aroma. “Since a certain incompetent teacher is still throwing a tantrum, this top-tier molten-center pastry, which was originally meant as tuition for my romance training, can only be eaten by this student with great reluctance.”
The blanket cocoon wriggled imperceptibly.
Sophie grinned mischievously, deliberately bringing the molten-center pastry close to the gap in the cocoon and gently fanning the air.
“It smells so good, the outer pastry is still warm, and one bite will make the jam inside ooze out...”
Whoosh—
A crack suddenly opened at the top of the blanket, and a pair of eyes glowed faintly in the gap.
“Who is throwing a tantrum!” Miaoyue's muffled voice came from the blanket. “I am the noble Moon Goddess. How could I covet such secular, overly sweet things?”
“Oh? Then this pastry...”
“But since it is a pious offering from my Saintess, not accepting it would be arrogance toward my believer.”
Before she even finished speaking, the blanket cocoon burst open.
Cold, crimson moonlight burst into bloom inside the carriage.
Sophie only felt a blur before her eyes, and the molten-center pastry in her hand vanished.
In mid-air, only Miaoyue's cold snort before dissolving into moonlight remained:
“Tonight's training ends here! Foolish disciple, reflect well on your insubordination!”
The moonlight penetrated the roof of the carriage, shot straight into the clouds, and completely disappeared into the night sky.
Wait, aren't you staying to sleep?
The bed is clearly very big.
I feel like Little Yue would make a much more comfortable pillow than Miss Hero. After all, she is much bigger.
Sophie looked at her empty palm, feeling the trace of coolness left there. She shook her head helplessly, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl up.
“And here you were, practically drooling for it.”
...
Rate on N.U.
