Chapter 45: Night Secrets
Pouring heavy rain continued to fall without stopping.
Even at night, there was no sign of it ceasing. In the attic of the large house, Lonis and Elus sat facing each other with bended knees… The faint candlelight illuminated the pretty, flickering face of the little loli.
“Lonis, what do you think?”
“Eh… Me, me?”
The silver-haired girl seemed somewhat surprised. It was the first time Elus had asked for her opinion.
“I don’t think the people in this village are bad people, do you? The dinner we had just now was delicious, everyone was very welcoming, and I didn’t see anyone among the villagers who was bullying me.”
“Oh?”
“Perhaps we’ve arrived at a different village, or perhaps the dream the vengeful spirit entrusted to me isn’t happening in modern times?”
“Hmph, perhaps so.”
Elus smiled gradually, a complex expression flashing in her eyes. “I didn’t sense the villagers lying either. At least from what I saw during the day, they were all good people, completely good people.”
“During the day? What do you mean by that?”
“Lonis, every person carries a beast within their heart. Even if people appear very kind on the surface, their inner desires could erupt on a quiet, deserted midnight.”
“!”
“Take this, the show is about to begin.”
After a while, a flute sound actually came from outside the window.
This flute sound was very gentle, almost blending into the sound of the rain… If one didn’t listen carefully, it would be difficult to notice.
But the moment Lonis heard the flute, her head felt heavy, as if she wanted to lie down on the bed and fall asleep.
However, at that very moment, Elus shouted:
“Hey, don’t fall asleep on me.”
“Eh?”
“Or do I need to activate my little toy for you to perk up?”
“Ah!”
Lonis shook her head and quickly cheered up. Although she didn’t know what was happening, she felt as if she was being controlled by the flute sound.
“Elus, I…”
“Stop with the nonsense now that you’re awake, come here and see.”
Following Elus’s guidance, Lonis looked out the window.
But she didn’t know what she was going to see until she looked, and as soon as she saw it, Lonis was almost scared to death… On the quiet, dark street, the villagers were crawling forward with their heads hanging down.
Their pace was stiff like zombies, their eyes vacant, and rain continuously slid down their cheeks, dripping onto the ground.
(What is going on?)
Although the light outside the window was dim, and even the moon was obscured by clouds, Lonis couldn’t see the distant scene clearly… but the horrifying sights nearby were enough to make her feel a chill down her spine.
“Elus, this is…”
“Shh, keep your voice down.”
Before Lonis could even ask, her mouth was covered by Elus’s fingers with a hiss. The little loli observed the flying heads outside, seemingly pondering something.
“Mhm, do you remember the puppet worms we saw before? This is one of them, called a night-crawling puppet worm.”
“Eh?”
“It’s just that this kind of puppet worm only acts up at night, making the villagers lose their ability to think independently, as if they were hypnotized… Hmph, Lonis, take some cow’s blood from your storage ring and smear it on your face.”
“Elus, what are we going to do?”
“Of course, we’re going to mask our scent and follow these villagers. I want to see where they’re going!”
…
…
Elus’s actions could only be described as “highly skilled and daring.”
Following zombie-like villagers into the wilderness on a moonless, pitch-black night… Just thinking about it made Lonis’s legs tremble, almost causing her to stumble.
But what about this little loli?
Her eyes showed a look of extreme excitement, as if she had found an interesting toy.
“Hurry up, stop dawdling.”
“Are we really going out just like this…”
“Of course, put on your collar too.”
…
…
On the pitch-black night, Lonis couldn’t see the road.
Her high heels easily slipped on the wet meadow. It would be very unpleasant if the rainwater soaked her stockings and her toes were submerged in the rain.
But somehow, Lonis found that her white stockings had waterproof functions at this moment… The water droplets simply covered her insteps, forming clusters of water beads.
“You masochist, are you so lost in thought looking at your own feet?”
“Ah, no! (;≧Д≦)y”
“Hmph, it’s a good thing it’s raining today, otherwise, dragging you, a weakling, would definitely expose our tracks.”
…
Although the rain and the night made it inconvenient to advance, they also provided excellent cover for the two.
Following the zombie villagers for about an hour, the two arrived at a strange place.
Logically, once it rains, the fog should dissipate, but a faint mist lingered here. In the air watered by the rain, there was a special scent of rotten wood.
The chirping of insects disappeared, and the surroundings became so quiet that only the sound of raindrops could be heard.
Upon closer inspection, the place where the zombie villagers had arrived was actually a long-abandoned house.
The pitch-black wood was broken in half, looking as if it had been burned and then shattered. The stone brick wall was covered with sticky stains that even the rain couldn’t wash clean.
Elus did not proceed further but stopped here.
“There’s someone in the abandoned house, a man.”
“A man…?”
“Mhm, it must be him controlling the hypnotized villagers and bringing them here.”
“Elus, are we going to break in?”
“Oh, are you crazy? If we break in now, we might catch him red-handed… but what if the villagers attack us? Do we fight or not?”
“Oh… right!”
“Besides, if we have to fight, it’s my business alone. You’ll only be a hindrance to me, so you just watch from the side.”
“Then what are we going to do now…”
“Go back to sleep. We’ll talk about anything tomorrow.”
“Ah, sleep?”
“The world is big, and sleeping is the most important thing.”
…
Back in the attic, Lonis truly admired how Elus dared to fall asleep… There were many zombie villagers in the village outside, and there was even a mysterious controller?
From a rational point of view, wouldn’t these strange villagers definitely attack them?
If they slept now, perhaps they would wake up to find themselves directly tied to a cross by the villagers, just like in a dream.
Or like in a horror movie, countless cold hands caressing their bodies, holding them tightly.
Therefore, Lonis really didn’t want to sleep… But seeing Elus’s peaceful sleeping posture, Lonis felt that it would be too much of a loss if she didn’t sleep.
(Perhaps this black-hearted beautiful girl, Elus, has discovered some crucial information but hasn’t told me?)
“Hmph, sleep if you want! The worst that can happen is getting captured by the villagers, right? I refuse to believe that if I get caught, you’ll Ditch me and leave me alone alone?”
Lonis stubbornly closed her eyes, lied down beside Elus, and slowly fell asleep.
