Chapter 122 Nighttime Investigation of the Withered Forest (Part 1) Mysterious Energy, Empire, Nighttime Investigation...
Barnett stared intently at the withered forest, seemingly lost in thought. The dozen or so people who remained behind also wore somber expressions and remained silent.
"The signs have already appeared, and the prophecy is about to be fulfilled."
"It was said by a very old man."
"What prophecy? It's all alarmist talk. It's all caused by that demonic plant; it's growing, so it's absorbing their life force."
Elder, please stop spreading such disheartening rumors. If it were truly as you say, decades ago, you, me, and the entire village would already be gone.
Everyone turned their attention to Barnett, who seemed a little off. Hagrid frowned, clearly disagreeing with Barnett's accusations against the elder.
He was somewhat speechless; this was the first time in recent years that he had seen Barnett's emotions fluctuate so much.
Hearing Barnett's somewhat harsh accusations, the elder chose to remain silent. It was clear that Barnett, as the current clan elder, was emotionally unstable; after all, he was old and did not want to continue arguing.
Arguing won't solve the problem or bring any good results.
He was a wise and kind old man, except that he was a little too superstitious about prophecies. He never got angry because of the rudeness of the younger generation.
"Sorry, I got a little too excited."
Barnett quickly realized his slip of the tongue and apologized after regaining his composure.
“It’s alright, Barnett. I know you didn’t mean it, but it’s a serious matter, and you have a heavy burden to bear. May God bless us to get through this difficult time.”
"Thank you for your selflessness and generosity."
Barnett tapped his shoulder in respect.
"This matter still needs to be reported to the higher-ups. They should have a better solution than sending our own people to take such a risk. Everyone should work hard these days and not let any disobedient villagers or curious children run in."
"good."
Everyone agreed, and Barnett gave them a few more instructions before letting them leave.
The situation was urgent, and Kari didn't even go home; he rode his mule straight to town.
In the afternoon, he returned to the village with a knight and a bishop from the church.
The resident monks of the Dharma Association are not present and cannot provide them with assistance.
With a bishop present, the usual perfunctory welcoming ceremonies were omitted. As a result, things proceeded swiftly, and Barnett and his party went directly to the woods where the incident had occurred after only a short stay in the village.
Reality was so cruel that Barnett almost lost his composure. He had initially held a sliver of hope for the knights in the mayor's mansion and the bishop of the church, but that hope was quickly dashed.
The knight at least went into the woods and circled around, while the bishop stopped as soon as he approached the woods.
In his words, he felt a very powerful, "demonic" force in the forest.
Based on the knight's description, the group finally learned some of the situation inside the forest.
There was no living creature in the forest; dead wild birds lay scattered on the ground, resembling several corpses. An eerie atmosphere permeated the area, "as quiet as if nothing had ever existed."
The knight and the bishop stated frankly that they couldn't resolve the matter and needed to report it to someone higher up, then hurriedly left, not even bothering to take the gift Barnett had prepared beforehand.
Their words chilled Barnett to the bone.
Are they really going to give up this land that their ancestors passed down to them and that they have worked hard to cultivate for generations?
Without a place to stay, where will they go?
Of course, this is only the worst-case scenario. Things haven't reached that point yet; there's still hope for the small mountain village.
The truth will eventually come out.
Despite their best efforts to conceal it, the fact that the town's powerful knights and mages were unable to solve the problem spread throughout the village in just one afternoon.
Meanwhile, a rumor circulated among the villagers: the prophecy was coming true, and the sleeping demon was awakening.
The situation is alright for now; everyone just treats the fulfillment of the prophecy as a joke. This prophecy, or whatever it is, was something their grandparents used to nag about when they were little.
This story has been passed down and told for hundreds of years, but everyone is still doing just fine. Prophecies have long been used by adults as jokes to scare children away from running around.
Therefore, although rumors are rampant, they have not caused any disturbances, and people generally take a "watching the show" attitude towards these prophecies.
"Brother, I heard something bad happened in the village!"
"Um."
Neil looked somewhat worried.
"The entire forest outside the village has withered. What if this withering continues?"
"You went to the woods?"
"No, no, I just glanced at it from afar with my classmate."
Upon hearing Ray's question, Neil hurriedly waved his hand to dispel any suspicion that he had been disobedient and running around.
"Yes, don't go near there in the future."
"Okay, brother."
Ray was clearly out of sorts, but Neil's words gave him some reminders.
The small village is near the Eton Forest, so the surrounding vegetation is very lush, with forests stretching as far as the eye can see. If this withering is contagious, then all the surrounding forests will suffer, and it might even eventually affect the Eton Forest itself.
It's important to know that the small village is located on the edge of the Duke of Spes's territory.
Duke Speth's territory occupies the third largest area of the known continent, including a quarter of the Eton Great Forest, meaning that if the conjecture comes true, Speth will be embroiled in endless disputes.
Moreover, the nobles in the territory have always disputed the bloodline of the newly succeeded Grand Duke Spes.
Can that young heir, known for his ruthless methods and nicknamed "The Bloodthirsty One," lead Speth to reclaim his father's glory?
His lineage seemed to be the only thing the nobles could criticize him for, and these insatiable hyenas certainly wouldn't let it go.
They seized on this point, constantly spreading statements unfavorable to the new Grand Duke of Spes, making people question the legitimacy of his succession to the title.
Fortunately, they ultimately failed, and the king publicly bestowed the title of duke upon the young heir.
Although the king did not particularly like this heir, he still gave him a great deal of respect.
His choice was correct; the battle for succession was extinguished before it even began, averting a war and bringing peace to the people of Speth.
But I digress. In short, the situation in the small mountain village urgently needs to be addressed.
If anything goes wrong, and this matter involves the safety of the Eleton Forest, then people may face an even greater crisis.
One thing that particularly bothered Ray was that when he used magic to probe the situation in the forest, he discovered a very strange energy.
He could feel this energy weakening at an alarming rate, and at the same time, a deep, inexplicable longing arose within Ray, as if that energy was calling to him.
"What's going on here?"
"ah?"
Neil looked at Ray with a puzzled expression.
"It's okay, let's get ready to cook."
"good!"
After dinner, night fell.
Ray and Neil had a good sleep schedule; when it was almost time, Neil went upstairs to sleep on time. An hour later, a dark figure left the small building.
The figure belongs to Ray.
Knowing full well that he shouldn't act impulsively, after tossing and turning for more than an hour, Ray decided to go into the woods under the cover of night to take a look.
The mysterious energy that was beckoning him was very intriguing to him. From the elemental feedback, he was certain the demonic plant was gone, which was why he dared disobey Barnett's orders and secretly come here.
The reason for this certainty is that last winter, after Ray made his final gamble by using intermediate-level magic to absorb the energy of the magical plant vines, he seemed to have formed some kind of connection with it.
He wasn't at the level to perceive its emotions, but he was exceptionally sensitive to its presence. Whenever he approached the vicinity of that forest, as long as Ray didn't deliberately ignore it, he could sense its presence.
As winter ends and all things revive, its power grows stronger and stronger.
Experience told Ray that this was something he couldn't handle, so he tried to avoid it as much as possible. Fortunately, no villagers had been injured during this time, which eased his anxiety a little.
After what happened in the woods today, Ray finally decided to take his life-saving weapon and go into the woods to find out what was going on.
Not long after Lai left home, a white furry ball followed him; the furry ball was Tata.
The beast's keen senses alerted him to Lai's actions, and Tata followed without hesitation.
Lai didn't notice the little tail that had sneaked out behind him. He had to be careful not to be discovered by the villagers, and most of his attention was focused on concealing his movements.
He left the village quickly. Fortunately, the villagers all went to bed early that night, and no one was around. This was probably largely due to what happened during the day.
The withered forest looked eerie and terrifying under the moonlight. The branches stretched out their dry, claw-like branches, like the last struggle of a dying person, or like vicious weapons.
If there were a swamp here, the Witch of the Waste would absolutely love this place.
Lei thought to himself.
He had been here for so long and had never seen a real witch, except for the harvest festival.
Ah, that's not a witch, but a priestess. Her role at the festival is that of a saint who receives miracles. When the goddess descends and possesses her, she casts a harvest spell, ensuring the villagers have more food and livestock in the following year.
This is what Vivian told Neil and Luna.
She has a wealth of short stories—some cute, some thrilling, some legendary—and she doesn't mind the children's chatter. She instills a positive and uplifting spirit in them through each story. It must be said, Vivian is indeed a very competent and excellent teacher.
As he pondered, Ray, holding the candle, took a detour, intending to enter the woods from the other side, where he was more familiar with the path.
To the left is a dark, gloomy forest, to the right is the rushing sound of flowing water, with fish occasionally leaping out of the water. One side is deathly still, the other is surging, creating a stark contrast and an eerie sense of separation.
Lei slowly stopped, cast a small protective spell, and walked alone into the withered forest.
It was still summer, and the trees were naturally lush and leafy. However, overnight, for some unknown reason, they withered, leaving a thick layer of fallen leaves and withered grass in the forest. Stepping on it felt like stepping on a cotton quilt.
Normally, Ray wouldn't have dared to so casually venture into the woods. But now, unable to sense any animal life, he no longer needed to be overly cautious of the snakes that always seemed to appear out of nowhere in the forest.
Candles were absolutely incompatible with this dry forest full of flammable materials, and Ray didn't want to destroy the entire forest because of himself, so he decisively extinguished the candles.
Even if there's a lampshade outside the candle as an insulating layer, he doesn't want to take such a big risk to try and fail.
Fortunately, the moonlight is very bright tonight, and I can see objects about two or three meters away.
Lai felt the energy fluctuations; the energy was getting weaker and weaker. If it weren't for the slightest trace that could be probed, the energy would be completely undetectable.
Guided by this energy, he ventured deeper and deeper into the withered forest. Before he had gone far, he saw several dark shadows in the woods, as if someone were sitting there.
Who are you!?
-----------------------
Author's note: I've briefly interspersed some background information. Ah, I'm sleepy.
Check out the child's pre-orders! Favorites, comments, collections, nutrient solutions—the child wants it all! (Ah, you greedy human!)
See you tomorrow~
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2024-03-13 23:58:21 and 2024-03-17 23:46:04!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: Fengyu (1);
Thanks to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Fengyu (20 bottles); Ten Years of Professional Teammate-Troublemaker (5 bottles); Yuanxu and Luoning (1 bottle each);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com