I’m Trapped in a Cube - Chapter 231

Jeff slowly crouched down, touching those mysterious runes.

That was exactly the “clock” character Mo Ling had seen before.

Jeff’s fingers slid slowly along the carved traces, as if toying with a clock’s pendulum.

But no matter what, he couldn’t shake those hard carved marks. The clock was frozen dead at that moment.

The little small fry naturally wouldn’t swim either, just lying there quietly, motionless.

Jeff’s face carried exhaustion and dejection, his gaze seeming to pierce through that clock to see the mermen race’s desperate future.

Just then, a faint moonlight shone on the center of the clock, illuminating that lifelike little small fry.

Jeff’s hand rested on the little small fry and froze.

The moonlight also sprinkled on his hand, passing through his fingers to fall on the clock.

The light spots seeped into the deep carved marks, and faint mist with white specks slowly drifted out from the depths.

Mo Ling was still puzzled when Li Luo had already taken out her recording device, aiming it at the moon in the sky.

“What’s this moonlight?”

Mo Ling couldn’t see the sky, but seeing that suddenly appearing moonlight, he instantly understood everything.

Jeff was probably seeing such light for the first time. He stared wide-eyed, blankly looking at the back of his hand.

“It’s like the Mid-Autumn Festival.”

Other pseudo-mermen also noticed that moonlight, raising their heads to look up.

“Has the Sea Moon risen?”

Jeff was very surprised.

Li Luo also looked toward the sky like everyone else present.

He stiffly turned his head to look at the high sky, then froze again.

But her expression was very awkward, as if she had seen something strange.

“What happened? Is there something wrong with the moon?” Mo Ling asked, puzzled.

Seeing the content displayed on the electronic screen, Mo Ling finally understood why Li Luo showed such an expression.

That wasn’t a moon.

That wasn’t a moon at all, just a large searchlight-like thing hanging above Merman Island.

It was somewhat whitish in color, emitting moonlight that was also unnaturally white and eerie, hanging high in the sky at a distance much closer than a normal moon.

Although the moon was originally just a rock, this moon on the screen was completely different from a normal moon.

“It was just a rock that emitted moonlight?”

As Li Luo continuously zoomed in, Mo Ling also clearly saw what that fake moon hanging in the sky really was.

That was a Moon Altar!

A Moon Altar identical to the one beneath their feet, another Moon Altar.

The runic lines were exposed completely under the recording device’s high-definition camera, no different from what they were currently standing on.

However, the runic lines wrapped around the Moon Altar in the sky were all glowing, and the fake moon’s light was created by these runic lines.

The circular Moon Altar just floated in the air like that, aimed at the ground, looking not much different from a moon when seen from afar.

“It seems not far from Merman Island.” After careful observation, Mo Ling came to this conclusion.

“Isn’t it supposed to be five days later?” Mo Ling was somewhat puzzled.

Mo Ling didn’t know the details of the Sea Moon Ceremony, much less the Sea Moon’s cycle.

He could only guess that perhaps the Sea Moon didn’t rise five days later, but would rise early, with the Sea Moon Ceremony held when the Sea Moon was brightest.

The pseudo-mermen present also quickly noticed something was wrong.

“Is that the moon? Why does it feel somewhat strange?”

“Is it because of the fog? Why is it different from the moon in my memory?”

“Did I stay on Merman Island too long and no longer recognize the moon?”

The pseudo-mermen whispered among themselves. They were also somewhat uncertain, because the fog was very heavy, and looking at this moon from a distance would only make them feel vaguely that something was off, unable to discern any details.

After Li Luo saw that Moon Altar floating in the sky, she was also very shocked. After coming to her senses, she quickly handed the electronic screen to Jeff.

“Is your moon here like this?”

Jeff looked at the electronic screen, also completely bewildered.

“I’ve never seen the moon. Does it look exactly the same as the Moon Altar?”

“…”

It seemed they couldn’t get anything from Jeff.

Li Luo quickly showed the electronic screen to other pseudo-mermen. These pseudo-mermen all had experience leaving Merman Island and should easily be able to spot the abnormality.

“This isn’t the moon!” The pseudo-mermen looking at the clear fake moon on the screen were all shocked.

Anyone who had really seen the moon wouldn’t think this was the moon.

Only Jeff still looked completely confused.

“That’s not the moon?”

Seeing him so puzzled, a nearby pseudo-merman quickly pulled him aside to explain.

Jeff listened while nodding as if he half-understood.

Describing the moon to someone who had never seen it was indeed a very difficult task.

After some explanation, Jeff finally had an epiphany.

“You mean the moon and Moon Altar look different? The moon is something else entirely?”

“Of course! That thing up there isn’t the moon!” a nearby pseudo-merman explained anxiously. “What exactly is the Sea Moon Ceremony worshipping? Did the Great Chieftain tell you?”

Jeff shook his head.

“Why did our Moon Altar fly up to the sky? Then what’s beneath our feet?” Jeff was still very confused.

“That might be a projection, or that’s another Moon Altar. Did the village only build one Moon Altar?”

“Of course, we only built one…”

Saying this, Jeff suddenly realized something and asked with slight suspicion, “Two hundred years ago, did we also build a Moon Altar?”

At these words, everyone present froze.

“Where did that Moon Altar go?”

The pseudo-mermen all looked toward the sky. They seemed to know the answer.

After a long time, someone finally broke the silence.

“It seems no one has ever known where the previous Moon Altar went?”

“Given the Moon Altar’s architectural scale, it couldn’t possibly disappear without a trace in two hundred years, but we’ve never seen ruins of previous Moon Altars on the island, have we?”

“Merman Island isn’t that big. Such a spectacular building definitely wouldn’t disappear into thin air for no reason.”

While speaking, everyone suddenly realized that such a strange thing had never been questioned by any mermen.

For this Sea Moon Ceremony, the tribe had followed the procedures recorded in the Merman Ancient Texts step by step, and no one had ever suggested using the previous Moon Altar.

This type of large sacrificial site could be used multiple times.

Although Merman Island’s fog severely eroded buildings, as long as they maintained regular repairs, such stone structures wouldn’t easily be damaged, much less disappear without a trace.

But the mermen race had never mentioned previous Moon Altars, as if the Sea Moon Ceremony had to start from scratch building a Moon Altar.

No mermen had ever questioned this point.

“Was this Moon Altar built from scratch? Not built on previous ruins?” a pseudo-merman confirmed with Jeff.

“Yes.” Jeff nodded seriously. “The Great Chieftain personally selected the location according to the Merman Ancient Texts. I even participated in laying the foundation. The village definitely built it from scratch.”

At these words, there was another silence.

“The one in the sky should be the previous Moon Altar, no mistake. Could it be that after this Sea Moon Ceremony, the one beneath our feet will also fly up to the sky?” a pseudo-merman asked incredulously.

“How did such a heavy thing fly up to the sky?”

No one present could answer his question.

Before long, someone else raised a question:

“Tell me, how many years ago is that Moon Altar in the sky from?”

“Two hundred? Four hundred? Or eight hundred…”

“If that’s the case, shouldn’t there be more than one?”

“Where did the even older Moon Altars go?”