A few minutes after the drums sounded, Jing Mu led the team into the mountains and forests in the rain, rushed towards the direction where the sound came from, and began a frantic search work.

The dark crows in the sky have not yet dispersed. Considering that the sound of the drums might be a trap to lure the flames out of the valley, the captain of the guard ordered only a few elite warriors to dispatch, and they skillfully concealed their bodies under the canopy, avoiding the eyes of the air, and followed the sound.

Xiao Ye was ordered to stand by in the valley, but did not follow the team to set off, so he had to wait for the news from the vanguard team.

At the time of the search party's dispatch, the Flame Valley was filled with low pressure, even worse than the atmosphere in the morning when the patrol was attacked. Xiao Ye was a little confused about this, and it was only after she returned to the infirmary and chatted with Yang Yu that she understood the reason why people were so angry.

"The Upei drum is the only way we can communicate with Niwa-sama, and even though the adult is sleeping in the lava, we believe that the sound of the drum and our will can convey the past. ”

The red-haired boy's gaze looked through the window, looking at the mountains and forests blurred in the rain in the distance.

"In our clan, the only ones who are qualified to beat the Upe drum are the patriarch and the future successor. If others sound it without permission, even our own people will be regarded as eternal enemies by the people of the flames. ”

The cold tone in Yang Yu's words made Xiao Ye stunned, and before he could say anything, the boy who was passing by the corridor with the medicine box interjected, "It's equivalent to someone else using your LINE account to send a string of swear words to your idol, and the message also shows that it has been read, who can't be angry?"

Sayo: "......"

Looking at Yang Yu and nodding his head in deep agreement after hearing this, Xiao Ye didn't know what to do for a while.

Well, that's a simple and easy to understand analogy indeed.

...... It's just a little bit of a disruption to the atmosphere.

A few hours later, the search party returned to the Valley of the Flames, and the remaining ones finally knew the results - unfortunately, they had found no trace of the Oope Drum or anything related to it.

The land of Mt. Aso is so vast that it is almost impossible to locate it with the sound of a drum that only sounds once. Since the unknown enemy dared to knock on it, it must have done enough to disrupt it from being found.

By this time, it was almost evening, and the sky was not dark but bright—the rain had stopped, and the clouds that had hung over the island had finally dispersed, revealing the warm orange of the setting sun.

For the Flame People, this may have been the only good thing in a whole day's bad experience.

As if the drenched fire chicken had been shaken dry and finally able to stretch in the sun, the deliberately suppressed whispers resounded in the valley, and soon became a series of familiar laughter and joy.

A regular entertainment on the eve of the Fire Festival, it's time for dinner.

It may be easy for a single person to change their mood, but it has always been a long process for group morale to go from low to high. However, the people of the flames did not seem to follow this rule, and the moment the sun poured down, the torches burned, and the music sounded, they threw away all bad moods and enjoyed the dinner party with all their heart.

As for Saya, she overheard the neighboring table talking in a cheerful tone, "When you catch the person who beats the drum, you have to roast him until he is ripe...... Well, she thought she could act as if she hadn't heard anything.

The water in the river is a little more turbulent than usual, but it is not enough to swallow up the small lanterns floating on the water, and it is not enough to extinguish people's enthusiasm for lighting lamps. When it was Yuzhen's turn, the boy smiled and stuffed a Niwa lamp into Saya's hand.

"You've helped us so much, and you're our own. Make a wish, and maybe Niwa-sama will hear it. Yujin said as he threw the lit lamp in his hand into the water in a sonic spiral ball throwing position, causing a wave of embarrassment on the side of Saya - this momentum was not like "maybe Niwa-sama can hear it", but like throwing a wish in the face of the poor flame bird.

And the lamp is really miraculously stable, which makes people wonder if the lamp-making process of the Flame People has the function of "preventing a 360-degree large spiral into the water".

Xiao Ye nodded in response, and waved his hand to call the well-fed Charizard.

The Flame Folk never use matches or lighters to light Niwa lanterns, and they simply let their fire-type Pokémon do the job. Naturally, Sayo also followed the local customs, placing the small Niwa lantern on the ground and pointing out the position of the wick for Charizard to see.

"Just set this place on fire, be careful not to burn the lamp wall - can you do it?"

Charizard answered the trainer's question with a long, airy howl. Then, with a jerk of its neck, it spat out a beam of flame...... Uh, no, a big lump of flames?

Well, as Charizard's trainer, Sayo could tell that it had been extremely restrained. It may be that for this guy who yawns and has to shoot a flame, the delicate work of lighting the lamp is really very low, and it is not surprising that the "big pile of flames" even the wick and the lamp are burned to charcoal.

Sayo: "......"

The red-haired onlookers seemed to have expected this ending, and laughed in unison after watching the whole process in anticipation.

"It's okay, it's okay, keep burning, we have more lights here!"

Hearing someone shouting in the midst of the chaos, the sightseers only felt the urge to dig a pit and bury themselves with Charizard.

Seeing that Charizard had already stared at the second lamp handed over by Yang Yu, and looked eager to continue making coke, Xiao Ye quickly reached out and covered its mouth.

"Stop, don't move yet—yes, don't move your tail. ”

With that, Saya brought the Niwa lantern to the tip of the fire dragon's tail and safely lit the wick.

Charizard's eager expression suddenly changed to "QAQ".

Xiao Yayi calmly held up the lamp holder in front of his partner's eyes to show it, "Charizard, since you lit the lamp, can you make a wish?"

Charizard: "Hoohoo!"

Sayo: "—a wish that has nothing to do with food. ”

Charizard: "Woo QAQ......"

When the big guy hummed and chirped and made a wish, a group of people crowded each other to step onto the wooden boat, row to the center of the river, and gently put the Niwa lantern in their hand into the water.

The river is full of boats with lights, and the bright Niwa lanterns sway along the river, and the riders feel as if they are wrapped in a torrent of light, and some unrealistic thoughts arise for a while.

The wish is pinned on the lamp in the name of Niwa, maybe it can really be conveyed to the gods in the distance?

So......

"Bang-"

The sudden opening of the Poké Ball stunned everyone on board. The ghost stone who broke out of the ball writhed in the air and squeaked and screamed, gesturing, not knowing what he was talking about.

The red-haired people turned their trusting eyes to Ghoststone's trainer with a look of "You can understand your partner's heart", but Ghoststone's strange screams may not even be understood by Pokémon. Fortunately, Pichu had already been trained to translate to level 10 and saved his trainer in time.

Sayo: "You mean, you want to light the lights too?"

Ghost Stone: "Boom!!"

Yongzhen: "Hahahahaha, why is your ghost Stone screaming so strangely?"

Sayo: "......"

Exhaustion.

After feeding a sweet fruit to Pichu, who is proud and has hidden his fame, Sayo finds the unlit Niwa lamp and hands it to Ghost Stone.

Unlike Charizard, Ghost Stone is adept at fine moves, even if it wants to pinch the Shadow Ball into an awl, let alone light a lamp with the Ghost Fire. It's just that......

Watching a blue Niwa lantern merge into the stream of light, shining like a traitor, the whole boatload fell silent.

The tourist forced his composure: "...... Well, will Niwa-sama accept such a wish?"

Yang Yu forced a smile: "Yes, yes...... Niwa-sama is so gentle, it's just that there is a color difference in wishes, and it won't care!"

After the "lighting process" ended, the noisy crowd finally dispersed. Yujin was escorted back to the house by his parents early to drink the bitter medicinal soup, Yang Yu still went to the altar to participate in the training of the Dance to Welcome the Gods, and Xiao Ya came to a remote corner of the valley according to the location that Haruna had told him before.

It's not too far from the heart of the Valley of Flames, but the terrain is undulating and covered by dense forests, making it difficult for either the light or the sound of fire to reach the dwellings. The elite fighters who participated in the secret special training had already assembled early, and the battle was in full swing.

There were more than 30 combatants, and it was not a chaotic melee, but divided into two teams, and exchanged fire in a tense and orderly manner. Their Pokémon didn't seem to be sparing, and the flames and sand and gravel were scattered in all directions, inevitably hurting the people in the queue - presumably this is the reason for the wounded that Xiao Ye noticed at the dinner party before.

There is a drummer behind the array on both sides, and as the rhythm of the drum changes, the array skillfully switches between attack and defense, or charging or retreating, like soldiers fighting with the army on the ancient battlefield.

The people who participated in the training seemed to have known that there would be a "sightseeing tour" today, and they were not surprised by the appearance of Xiao Ya, and the acquaintances who had chatted at the dinner party waved to Xiao Ye in a loud way. Jing Mu was the drumming conductor in the array on the left, and nodded to the outsiders from a distance, signaling him to take his own time.

After quietly watching the "two armies fighting" special training for a while, Xiaoya vaguely understood Haruna's intention of wanting her to come to visit the training.

Tourists are not fire-skilled trainers, so they can't quickly integrate into the team, and they are not suitable for such group battles. But if one day she really needs to fight together, at least she needs to understand the meaning of the drums so that she doesn't accidentally disrupt her teammates.

With that in mind, Saya stood still in a position where she would not be affected by the firefight, took out her notepad, and began to try to record the meaning of each drum sound.

The special training lasted several hours and was not disbanded until near eleven o'clock. Seeing that everyone looked exhausted, Xiao Ye didn't come forward to talk again to delay people's rest time, and retreated to the dark to take out the Poke Ball.

Birds emerge from the red light, flapping their wings lightly, quietly gazing at their trainers.

Dabitori was barely injured in the morning air battle, and his physical strength had long since recovered to his best condition. After confirming that there was no problem with his physical condition, Saya rolled over and boarded the bird's back and flew silently into the night sky.

Mt. Aso sleeps in silence in the middle of the night. The faint white light scattered by the crescent moon was not enough to illuminate the night, and almost no one could see the birds flying on the ground.

The power of the invisible waveguide stretched high and widened, inspecting everything in the sky with a vision that was invisible to ordinary people. It wasn't until the Tabi bird had circled three times over the Valley of Flames that Nightshade patted the bird's broad wings to signal that it was ready to descend.

As Saya had predicted, after the drone in the sky was revealed, the unidentified enemy did not use the same tactics to monitor the movement of Flame Valley. The deep blue night was empty, there was no shadow of a drone, and no Pokémon were moving.

- At the very least, it means that the Flamers can have a peaceful night.

The height of the birds gradually decreased, and the ever-burning torches of the valley night enlarged in view, casting a warm yellow glow to the twilight.

The next moment, Xiao Ye suddenly realized that one of the spots seemed too bright.

She motioned for the Tabito to slow down her descent and set her eyes on the central plaza.

The Pillar of the Covenant, which stands in the center of the altar, radiates a magnificent and mysterious light. The fiery red color surged through the crystal-like interior, as if a living fire spirit was dancing and jumping in it, almost spilling out along the cracks in it. The characters engraved on the surface of the crystal pillar also flow with brilliance, floating between light and dark.

The patriarch of the People of Fire stood by the Pillar of the Covenant. One of his hands was on the surface of the Pillar of the Covenant, and a faint glow of fire enveloped him, dragging a long shadow behind him.

Saya exchanged a puzzled look with Pichu. Mr. Yip...... What is this doing?

Considering that this might be some ritual that should not be revealed to outsiders, Saya was about to signal Tabito to leave, when the light of the Pillar of the Covenant suddenly went out.

The magnificence from the inside out sank into darkness in an instant, the crystalline pillars turned into lifeless dead objects, and the torches surrounding the altar looked dull and colorless.

The young patriarch shook and fell to his knees as if he had lost all his strength.

====================

Small Theatre:

Flame Bird: (curious) Oh, this light is so blue! Let me hear what I want in it......

Unknown Ghost Pokémon: &&& Me #¥@想% Eat *& People *¥#¥* Class +*&%@@头@¥@*+/@

Flame Bird: .................. (bvcxz sense asd by f to ghjkloi uy shock ttre shock ew)