Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
Two days later, Hezi and Jie Kun finally brought Meiduo near Mudu Winter Town.
They had traveled tirelessly, with almost no rest. The loli had limited stamina and couldn’t walk after just a quarter of the way, so they had to take turns carrying her.
“Whoa! What a big town, it’s so much bigger than Dawn Town!” Meiduo, perched on Jie Kun’s back, exclaimed in surprise, pointing a small, cute hand towards the distant Mudu Winter Town.
Her loud shout startled Jie Kun and Hezi, causing them to quickly retreat back into the woods.
“Shhh!”
“My dear child! Why are you shouting now? What if we get discovered?”
Jie Kun was utterly exhausted. Although Meiduo was incredibly cute, she had given him a premature taste of the hardships of raising a child.
“So what if we get discovered? We were going to Mudu Winter Town anyway!” Meiduo said, blinking her innocent big eyes in confusion.
“We told you on the way, right? Something might be wrong here. We’ll go in first to check, and you wait outside obediently,” Hezi instructed the loli as he observed the situation in Mudu Winter Town.
The town seemed eerily calm, and Hezi couldn’t quite describe it; it was just… gloomy.
Something felt off immediately.
“Meiduo, you told us earlier that as long as someone is a demi-human, they can enter, right?”
“Yeah! It’s a paradise for demi-humans! Although girls seem to be more popular, since most awakened demi-humans are girls like us!” Meiduo replied, clapping her hands with a grin, puffing out her nonexistent chest proudly.
“Is that so? Jie Kun, take out the things we prepared earlier.”
Hezi said expressionlessly, then pulled out a homemade wolf’s ear and wolf’s tail from his backpack, along with a wig and lipstick bought from a strange shop.
“This is unbelievable, we absolutely cannot let other players know about this… or we’re done for.” Jie Kun wiped his face helplessly and also took out his props from his backpack.
Half an incense stick later, Meiduo excitedly clapped her hands as she looked at Hezi and Jie Kun, who had finished their disguise.
“Whoa! Heroic Spirit brothers, you’re so amazing, you’ve turned into demi-human sisters! Though you’re a bit ugly.”
Jie Kun and Hezi exchanged a helpless glance, seeing their own horrifying appearances in each other’s eyes. They then sternly warned Meiduo.
“We’re going in to check. If we’re not out in half an hour, it means we’ve encountered danger, and you need to run quickly, understand?”
“Okay… okay,” Meiduo nodded obediently, but it was uncertain how much she had absorbed. She might forget their words in half an hour.
Jie Kun and Hezi re-checked Meiduo’s hiding spot to ensure she wouldn’t be easily discovered, then walked towards Mudu Winter Town hand in hand.
“Are you two also demi-humans joining Mudu Winter Town?” On the way, Jie Kun and Hezi unexpectedly encountered another group of demi-humans who had fled after hearing about Mudu Winter Town.
“Yes~ Yes~” Hezi said in a high-pitched voice, swaying his hips, trying his best to appear feminine.
Beside him, Jie Kun sneakily activated his screenshot function, taking over a dozen photos rapidly.
“Where are you two from~?”
“We’re fleeing from the Eagle Territory,” one of the demi-humans continued, a look of lingering fear on his face. “That damned demonic Lord of the Eagle Territory is hunting demi-humans everywhere. We barely managed to escape after hiding and running.”
Hezi and Jie Kun exchanged glances. They hadn’t expected to run into a group fleeing from Eagle Territory.
“What a coincidence~ We’re also from Eagle Territory~ That Lord of the Eagle Territory is so mean~ I’m so scared~”
“Ugh…”
This time, Jie Kun really couldn’t hold it in.
“Kun Kun, what’s wrong~ Kun Kun, did you eat something bad~?” Hezi shot Jie Kun a cold look, signaling him not to expose them, and pinched him hard on the waist, causing Jie Kun to twitch in pain.
The demi-humans looked at the two rather abnormal “demi-human girls” with strange expressions and awkwardly suggested.
“Um, let’s not delay. Let’s go to Mudu Winter Town now. We heard Mudu Winter Town will provide us with food, and we haven’t eaten all day.”
“Okay~ I’m hungry too~ And you, Kun Kun?”
“Ugh… Me too, I’m hungry~ Ugh…”
A group of demi-humans, some genuine and some fake, received a warm welcome in Mudu Winter Town. They did indeed eat delicious food, but Jie Kun and Hezi could clearly feel that something was wrong.
The guards were too strict. They weren’t criminals, so why were there soldiers with masked faces watching them while they ate?
This was clearly to prevent them from escaping.
Moreover, the tails of these soldiers looked fake…
They were similar to the wolf tails they had imitated, hanging stiffly on the ground. Even worse, one of them had come unraveled.
After the demi-humans finished their meal, a seductive woman with red fox ears approached them.
“Hello, new compatriots. I am your person in charge, Qi Ya. From now on, I will guide you and teach you how to live in Mudu Winter Town and what rules to follow.”
Qi Ya’s gaze swept across the surroundings, lingering on Jie Kun and Hezi for a moment.
It wasn’t suspicion about their identities, but rather, she had never seen such ugly demi-human girls before.
“Since you’ve all eaten well, I will lead you to participate in our town entry ceremony. You’ll also get to meet our leader, Lady Anna, who is honored as Eve by the human Holy See.”
They had finally escaped the terrifying Eagle Territory and no longer had to worry about being captured.
The demi-humans looked at each other, unable to hide their excitement and joy.
In their eyes, this was truly a demi-human paradise, and everything felt real!
Only a leader respected even by the human Holy See could establish such a paradise.
However, Hezi and Jie Kun’s hearts grew heavier. From the moment Qi Ya mentioned the “town entry ceremony,” they had already judged Mudu Winter Town.
Nevertheless, they followed Qi Ya, wanting to investigate further what Mudu Winter Town was up to.
The town entry ceremony was held in a solemn little church. When Hezi and Jie Kun entered, they found hundreds of demi-humans already densely packed inside.
These were all the demi-humans who had arrived in Mudu Winter Town today, and Jie Kun and Hezi were the last batch to participate in the ceremony.
The lighting in the church was dim. On the high ceremony stage stood a demi-human girl with her eyes closed.
Her skin was as smooth as cream, her features were exquisite, her feet were bare, and her waterfall-like black hair cascaded to her heels. She wore a sacred ceremonial gown and a solemn crown.
Just standing there motionlessly, she resembled a divine child, making one feel no inclination to disrespect her.
The murmuring of the demi-humans gradually subsided with the tolling of the church bells.
After the ninth bell, a voice like a celestial symphony finally came from the ceremony stage.
“I am a loyal servant of God, a devotee of flames, Anna. You can also call me Eve.”
“Welcome to Mudu Winter Town. This will be your home in the future.”
The surroundings were eerily quiet, and both Hezi and Jie Kun could faintly hear their own heartbeats.
They were astonished to find that as the girl on the stage spoke, the gazes of the surrounding demi-humans gradually became vacant and fanatical, all rationality disappearing from their eyes.
On the stage, the demi-human girl’s voice continued.
“…But to live in this paradise, you must also contribute your strength!”
“Your blood, your bodies, your souls, all of this will bring joy to my Lord!”
“Only my Lord is the beacon that guides us forward, seeking light and hope.”
“Are you willing to dedicate everything to my Lord!” The girl’s voice on the stage grew more impassioned. All the demi-humans in the church, except for the imposters Jie Kun and Hezi, roared fanatically, “Willing!”
“For the glory of the demi-humans!”
“For the future of the demi-humans!”
“Now, let the town entry ceremony begin! Let us revel, my compatriots!”
As the girl’s impassioned words fell, red gas suddenly sprayed from all around the church.
The red gas quickly permeated the area.
Upon inhaling the gas, the surrounding demi-humans immediately went mad. They began to roar, tearing their clothes and the clothes of those around them.
Then, amidst this deafening uproar, a filthy, vile, frenzied, and lewd party ensued.
“Click—” With the sound of cages being opened, Hezi and Jie Kun, who were desperately trying to push their way out of the church, looked back. They saw countless magical beasts with bloodshot eyes, who had clearly been held back for a long time, being released.
Mixed among them were humans and orcs, and even one or two half-devils.
The scene became even more chaotic.
Mudu Winter Town was a more horrifying den of evil than they had imagined.
Hezi and Jie Kun squeezed out of the church. As a mage and a warrior both at level twenty or above, they no longer cared about hiding their strength.
A group of “demi-human soldiers” who had already noticed something was wrong were closely pursuing them from behind, along with a few demi-human girls whose eyes were filled with madness, having temporarily activated their abilities.
“Kill them! They are spies!”
“Don’t let them escape!”
Jie Kun and Hezi were cornered by their pursuers and inadvertently stumbled into other parts of Mudu Winter Town.
A morgue filled with demi-human corpses and disfigured bodies.
A bloody laboratory where countless demi-humans wailed as they were dissected or injected with serums.
And grotesque, evil arenas and stages where human nobles and wealthy merchants, watching the tragic demi-human girls on stage, clamored as they threw money.
And this was merely a small part of Mudu Winter Town, yet they had already witnessed the extreme darkness and evil within humanity.
“Stop holding back, let’s break through!”
Hezi roared, a whirlwind slash killing one “demi-human soldier.” Jie Kun followed closely, conjuring fire magic and hurling it at the pursuers in front and behind.
They had already seen the gates of Mudu Winter Town and, in the distance, slowly approaching with expectant and excited faces, the loli Meiduo, about to enter Mudu Winter Town.
“Meiduo, run! Don’t look back!”
Hezi and Jie Kun’s anxious shouts caught Meiduo’s attention. She watched her Heroic Spirit brothers being chased by countless “demi-human soldiers,” and the smile on her face gradually disappeared.
Fear began to spread across her small face.
Because she saw a “demi-human soldier” running, his tail falling off and hitting the ground. The person then removed his helmet, revealing the fierce face of an Imperial soldier.
Mudu Winter Town was filled with human soldiers!
Mudu Winter Town was a fake!
Her Heroic Spirit brothers were being hunted by them!
Meiduo’s big eyes welled up with tears. She saw her two Heroic Spirit brothers charge back towards the grinning human soldiers to let her escape.
Their anxious shouts of four words echoed clearly in her ears:
“Meiduo, run!”
