Chapter 17: The Bone Tree
Ji Ma loved the night.
When she was still human, she liked cloudy days. Cloudy days were cool without the sun and, unlike the night, you could still see the path.
Since her rebirth as a demon and gaining the ability to see in the dark, she completely fell in love with the night and grew to despise the sunlit days.
Now, as a succubus, she adored the night even more.
In the deep of night, when all dreaming creatures let their guard down and drifted into sleep, they became prey to the succubus.
Ji Ma spread her wings and soared through the night sky, gliding over the gray and white trees below, dotted with clusters of pale “dream balloons.”
Tilting her body slightly, she spread her wings and circled in the air.
In the distance, a group of “dream balloons” gathered together, surrounded by the scattered “dream balloons” throughout the forest.
Ji Ma set her sights on a cluster of “dream balloons” where intelligent beings undoubtedly resided, likely the village of Melon. As for the scattered clusters of “dream balloons” in the forest, they were probably the handiwork of the fledgling beastmen.
It seemed that Melon Village was like a “meat storage” coveted by the beastmen. As a demon, Ji Ma had learned about the beastmen and even collaborated with them since they all served the dark gods. To the beastmen, humans behind stone walls were merely domesticated sheep waiting to be eaten.
However, now both the beastmen and humans alike had become Ji Ma’s prey.
She extended her middle finger, creating a line between the camp and the distant Melon Village, remembering the “dream balloons” near her middle finger before folding her wings and diving towards one.
The next morning.
With the call to arms blaring.
A small troop from the chapel was gathering.
Last night had been quiet, and other than a few suspicious individuals looking sluggish, most were energetic.
The army formed a square formation in front of George, who was on horseback.
Ji Ma approached George riding her chestnut mare, which seemed restless from a sleepless night, prancing happily as they reached George’s mount.
Ji Ma suspiciously walked behind her mare, glancing at the mare’s rear before turning her head to glower at George’s divine warhorse.
This gossiping stallion pretended not to see anything and continued to paw at the ground.
George looked at Ji Ma, and she nodded, mounting her mare.
“Travel light, let’s go!”
The army resumed their march towards Melon Village.
After more than an hour, the sky brightened from dawn to full light.
Ji Ma strutted around like a proud hen, running from the front to the back of the line shouting, “Ji Ma divines, trustworthy! Today is suitable for easy travel…”
The accompanying priest yawned at the noisy voice and said, “The succubus is misleading people again; the next line is definitely ‘No beastman attacks today.'”
“Today there are beastman attacks.”
“Completely expected; lies spoken a thousand times will become the truth. Wait,” the accompanying priest woke up suddenly, “Is there an attack?”
He quickly took off his shield from behind and grabbed the flanged mace at his waist.
By the God of Dawn above, the succubus must have torn off her facade, no longer toying with them, as their troop had already entered the enemy’s encirclement.
The accompanying priest looked around, scanning the nearby woods.
The forest was neither quiet nor noisy, rather ordinary, without a beastman in sight.
The whole army halted, looking around.
Ji Ma smiled and said, “It’s a small enemy attack.”
George rode over, “Ji Ma, what’s going on? How can you falsely report military situations?”
“I’m not lying,” Ji Ma replied, “It’s just a small group of beastmen shooting arrows by the roadside.”
“You’re just trying to scare people.”
“A small attack is still an attack; I’m just divining here.”
George understood Ji Ma’s nature. Although she didn’t care about others’ opinions or prejudices, it didn’t mean she wouldn’t tease others.
“Continue marching,” George commanded, “If there is an enemy disturbance, I’ll handle it.”
The army continued to move forward.
The accompanying priest grumbled, continuing to carry his shield. As he passed by Ji Ma, he intentionally muttered loudly, “The demon is cunning, repeatedly playing jokes to weaken our morale. Our army… sigh.”
Ji Ma pretended not to hear, urging her horse forward and riding alongside George. She looked up at the flagpole he was holding and said, “George, don’t you think the flagpole looks bare, lacking something?”
George raised his head; the dark-red flagpole was smooth, and the chapel’s banner was fluttering above.
“Nothing is missing.”
“Missing decorations,” Ji Ma said, “a few head trophies.”
“I don’t want to hang the stinking heads of beastmen on the flagpole,” George retorted, “and besides, that’s not my style.” It’s the style of the demon army.
“The army still needs a few beastman heads to boost morale,” Ji Ma insisted, “for instance, so that the villagers know this army isn’t afraid of beastmen.”
“What’s the point?”
“To simplify supplies.”
“We don’t need that.” George shook his head, “Just tell me if there are beastman attacks.”
“Wait a moment.” Ji Ma clasped her hands and said, “I curse you with epilepsy.”
George was confused, but his doubt didn’t last long. A dark shape stumbled out from behind a large tree not far away; it was a brown-skinned beastman, with two goat horns on its head and a face resembling a sheep’s, more like a quadruped than a human standing upright.
It lay on the ground trembling, foaming at the mouth, holding a bow in its hand, while a few other similar beastmen emerged behind it, trying to rescue their comrade having a seizure.
George jumped off his horse, drew his massive sword, and charged over. In no time, he raised the blood-soaked golden sword and shouted, “Get someone to burn the corpse.”
This was the duty of the accompanying priest, who took a bottle of holy oil and led a few armored soldiers, their chainmail clinking as they walked.
Ji Ma said from the side, “If you take off your armor, you could move faster.”
The typically pessimistic accompanying priest didn’t respond to Ji Ma’s taunt. Before long, after a brief prayer, several beastman corpses were piled up and began to emit black smoke.
George returned, planted his heavy sword into the ground, and said to the goat-headed child:
“Help me clean the sword.”
The goat-headed boy nodded.
“Everyone, rest for fifteen minutes.”
Since the sword was too heavy for him, he didn’t draw it out, just picked up a cloth to wipe the blood off the blade.
As the soldiers rarely had a chance to rest, they all sat down, putting down their packs and letting their mounts graze.
While marching, they couldn’t chat loudly. The pent-up soldiers began talking, creating a lively noise.
Some remarked that with someone as strong as George leading, there was little for them to worry about; it felt very safe. Others said that this succubus was more reliable than they had imagined, only if she didn’t keep prattling like a hen every time she laid an egg.
The goat-headed boy wanted to talk as well but knew that no one wanted to chat with him. So he simply continued to wipe the blood off the golden sword while listening to others.
Suddenly, someone nearby spoke loudly:
“That group of goat-headed creatures died with such relief. One of them tried to run, and Captain George simply beheaded it with one strike.”
“Beastmen should be burned alive,” another soldier said, glancing at the goat-headed boy, “not a single one should be spared.”
“Goat-headed creatures don’t deserve any extra kindness. They inherently hate humans and want to eat our flesh; that can’t be changed.”
The goat-headed boy buried his head deeper in shame, a shadow covering his face. He wiped vigorously at the bloodied golden sword, completely unaware that the pale golden blade was already smooth and without a single trace of blood.
Fifteen minutes later.
The army continued to march lightly. The way was smooth, and there were no further attacks.
However, shadows occasionally skimmed across the forest; some small groups of beastmen noticed the army but wisely had no plans to attack.
“Ji Ma, those beastmen are quite clever,” George said. “I thought my aide would have to clean the sword again.”
“If you see him looking too frail, feel pity,” Ji Ma said, “you could let me help you polish the sword to a shine; after all, I practically did that every day before and am quite skilled at it.”
Ivy Frostleaf’s pointed ears perked up.
Ji Ma grinned, staring at Ivy Frostleaf’s profile, wondering what thoughts might be going through the proud elf’s mind.
“I have a suspicion.”
“Say it; I’m used to your discrimination.” Ji Ma sighed, “Sigh, there’s no helping it, after all, I was born this way.”
George knew Ji Ma was playing the victim again and shook his head, saying, “That group of beastmen was brought on by you, wasn’t it? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have seized the opportunity so well.”
“Why can’t it be divination?”
“You just tossed some coins earlier; you could only divine two outcomes.”
“Yes, that’s right.” Ji Ma readily admitted, “After all, a group of beastmen will always come to test the waters. Why not let them come to their demise first?”
“Are there many beastmen in this area?” George asked, “Unlike what the soldiers said, we’re still far from the battle zone.”
“No matter where you go, there are always beastmen in the forest,” Ji Ma replied. “Not many; I’ve entered their dreams before. There’s not a large beastman tribe nearby, at least not close to Melon Village.”
“If we encounter a large army of beastmen, we can only retreat.”
“Of course, that’s what we agreed upon.” After Ji Ma said this, she looked at the vanishing shadows of the beastmen among the trees and sighed, “It’s a pity there aren’t any cheap ranged attacks; if only there was an archer who could hit targets accurately from a hundred meters.”
She knew Ivy Frostleaf could hear her.
Around noon.
Melon Village came into view in the distance. Those on horseback could see the wooden walls of the village, causing the morale of the army to rise and their pace to quicken as they marched straight toward Melon Village.
The village was surrounded by open fields, with farmland encircling it and sparse trees.
The army was about to exit the woods.
A gust of wind blew in, carrying a faint stench.
Ivy Frostleaf pulled her horse to a stop, looking deep into the forest. She raised her hand to point and said, “George, that tree looks odd.”
Ji Ma followed Ivy Frostleaf’s finger and saw a strange towering tree deep in the woods. Squinting, she noticed something white beneath the tree, resembling bones.
“It’s bones,” George looked and said, “Let’s check it out. Ji Ma, is there an ambush?”
Ji Ma tossed a silver coin and said, “No.”
“Alright, the three of us will lead the way.” George said, “The army will hold position, put on armor, and keep military discipline and appearance when we reach Melon Village.”
With that, he set off with the two women, riding deeper into the woods.
