Chapter 46 The Burning Maiden
(Well, let’s just let the cover incident go. Actually, it had quite an impact, causing this book to be directly removed from the trending list.)
(Because the author was very conflicted about whether to formally address this matter due to concerns about affecting the reader’s experience. However, too many people asked, so I had no choice but to talk about it.)
(Also, I’ve been reported, so I’ll focus on the plot for now. There will be more benefits in the next volume, so please look forward to it~)
…
I don’t know how long I slept,
…
Accompanied by a feeling of being both present and absent, Lonis slowly woke up.
However, this time…
“W-What’s going on?”
Her mouth felt completely filled, and Lonis realized she had a large rubber ball stuffed into her mouth… its immense size made it impossible for her to even move her jaw, let alone speak.
Her legs were tightly bound, and she couldn’t move her thighs, calves, or even her toes.
Her hands were tied at her waist, and a tearing pain, as if her limbs had lost all sensation, shot through her.
A magical penetration rod was fixed in front of her, giving Lonis a distinct feeling of foreignness.
She didn’t know where she was, only that she was lying flat… Lonis could only register that. Her eyes were also covered by a thick cloth strip, pitch black, making it impossible to see anything.
(What’s going on?)
(Did the villagers finally capture me?)
Lonis wanted to cry out for Elus, but she soon felt something was different.
Her chest should have been larger, but now it felt somewhat empty and much smaller.
And considering what had happened last time…
(Is this a dream?)
As Lonis was contemplating this, she heard the villagers’ voices by her ear:
“The purification fire ceremony, it officially begins now!”
“Burn her, burn her quickly!”
…
Torches were lit, and it seemed someone walked up to her.
And what happened next…
“Wuwu! (So hot!)”
Lonis didn’t know how to describe her feeling, but she had been burned by a hot pan before… At that time, being burned for just 1 second had caused her to get a blister.
And now?
Her entire body was covered by this scorching heat.
The crackling firewood and fierce flames roasted her body, turning every inch of her skin to a withered state.
An internal and external torment, a double infliction.
Intense pain spread throughout her body, making Lonis’s physical sensations almost disappear.
Then…
…
“Lonis, stop screaming.”
“Huh?”
“Wake up quickly, it’s just a dream.”
Waking from the nightmare, she saw a black-haired loli with a stern expression. She frowned, her gaze fierce as she looked at her.
“E-Elus. I…”
“Hmph, you… you wouldn’t have dreamed of the vengeful spirit’s death, would you?”
“Huh… I guess so?”
“Hmph, as expected of a masochist, you just love to dream about these things.”
“I don’t like it at all, I’m really troubled by it!”
After speaking, Lonis looked around with lingering fear.
Fortunately, it was already daytime. Although it was still raining outside, there was already some light filtering through the window, shining in.
Elus was also safe and sound, showing no signs of panic: “I’m going to ask the villagers some questions next. Do you want to come with me.”
“I-I do!”
“Then don’t make a sound. Just pretend to be silly.”
Encountering the kind-faced villagers again, Lonis’s heart skipped a beat.
She hadn’t forgotten that these villagers had been crawling like zombies last night… but today, they were like nothing had happened, starting their day’s labor.
The kind-faced old grandmother even stepped forward and asked Elus proactively:
“Little girl, did you rest well last night?”
“Yes, very well! Thank you, Grandma. The bed was soft, and dinner was delicious, but…”
“But…?”
“But… last night I thought I heard some strange sounds? It sounded like… hmm, it sounded like a flute.”
Elus put on an absent-minded expression, appearing like a innocent and lively little loli.
“Oh, flute sounds. We’ve heard them occasionally recently too… but that’s just the wind, right? When the gale blows through the bamboo forest, such sounds occur.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t be afraid. There haven’t been any malicious incidents around here for 7 years.”
The grandmother smiled kindly, seeming to genuinely like Elus: “And don’t worry about the caravan. Old Hu has already gone to notify the nearby lord. Soon, there will be soldiers sent to deal with this kind of thing.”
“Huh… then what happened seven years ago? Grandma, was it also attacked by monsters like our caravan? Soooo scary qaq!”
“…”
Upon hearing Elus ask this, the grandmother’s expression suddenly became despondent.
Her eyes seemed to pierce through the rain clouds, drifting far away: “No, that was something else.”
“Huh?”
“That incident was a tragedy. Perhaps it didn’t have to be that way, but… sigh, what’s past is past.”
The grandmother sighed, and in her slightly clouded eyes, there was only regret and a sense of loss.
Elus, seemingly reassured, nodded:
“Oh… then I’m relieved~ But Grandma, I want to go play with that uncle.”
“Uncle?”
“The middle-aged uncle named Old Hu from yesterday?”
“Oh, Old Hu is our messenger. He set out last night to find the nearby lord.”
“Oh~ Thank you, Grandma!”
“You’re welcome… I hope you all stay safe.”
After bidding farewell to the grandmother, Elus first returned to the village and then quietly slipped out again… This time, even without Elus saying anything, Lonis knew where she was going.
That small, burned-down wooden hut from last night, the place the villagers had gone to.
Day and night had alternated, and Lonis couldn’t recall the path she had taken last night: but Elus was like a compass, and before long, they arrived at that area.
There was still a faint mist, and the environment of the ruined house seemed a few degrees colder than the surroundings. Coupled with the humid air, Lonis could feel a damp chill seeping into her sleeves.
Without the cover of night, the layout of the room was more clearly visible…
It was a small, one-room wooden hut: the roof had long since collapsed, there were broken glass bottles and charred wooden sticks, and only a few remnants of walls still stood.
No one was operating it, no zombie-like villagers were walking around.
At least, in the daylight, the environment seemed very ordinary, just a common ruin.
…
Elus walked into it expressionlessly and said to Lonis:
“Lonis, lie down here.”
“Here…?”
Lonis blinked, seeing where Elus was pointing – a rectangular area… originally, something like a table should have been placed there, but it had been moved away.
However, Lonis felt a bit reluctant to be ordered like this, not only because the ground was wet and dirty, but also because she found the place a bit unsettling… Furthermore, with many villagers having visited here yesterday, Lonis felt a sense of dread.
“Do I really have to lie here?”
“This is an order.”
“Ugh…”
There was no other way, so Lonis could only lie down as Elus instructed.
The moment she lay down,
Lonis’s eyes widened as if she had been electrocuted.
Because, she felt…
This was the place where “she” had been burned to death in her dream.
…
