A Tale of Forgotten Gods

Chapter 35: End of Line

The crawling of insects was the only sound in the silence. The sky glowed with fireflies flying by graves. A few of them circled a grave. Alisa sat in the doorway, her hands wrapped on her knees.

Lin and Mo Fei stood there, watching quietly. Sometime silence was a better comfort than loud crying.

Xue Lan stood near the window. His hands folded, he didn’t intervene. ”Pointless. If refinement is what the Overseer wants... Then I’ll give it. But by the path carved by hope.” He stared at them with blank expressions. He turned back, and his figure vanished like dust.

The dawn arrived; the warm light flickered on the horizon. The sun felt like healing the inner wounds, but it only opened the wound more through awareness. The fireflies dimmed one by one. Their tiny light surrendered against the warm miracle of nature.

Behind them, footsteps came. The ticking of sandals brought their senses back to them. Yi Jyuhan stepped out. ”What is going on?” He paused and looked back once at the training room. ”The temple is now a mess.”

No one could speak. Alisa’s gaze locked on her lap. ”Lovenia is gone.” The words broke like concrete, something that couldn’t be broken easily. Yi Jyuhan went quiet: that was the last thing he’d expected. Yi Jyuhan’s hand went to his chest.

”How?”

Alisa couldn’t answer. Lin stepped forward, explaining briefly to him about the headless body in the kitchen and the horns of the Rictus.

”A Rictus... How did it enter?” Yi Jyuhan questioned himself. He indeed put up a barrier, so how did it get inside? ”So it was already here... without traces.” Yi Jyuhan breathed and went silent for a few seconds. ”Is it dead?”

”Most likely.” Mo Fei answered. ”I cut off the threads.”

Then another voice came. Jian Yue and Zhuo both stopped near them. Both looked restless, as if they had seen something horrific. Mo Fei and Lin knew what they had seen.

”Awake?” Mo Fei said.

”Yes,” both said quietly.

”Definitely a pleasant morning, isn’t it?” Mo Fei said, though his tone betrayed him. The words didn’t cooperate with him.

Lin’s eyes scanned Jian Yue and Zhuo and looked at the ground. ”Where are the kids?”

Zhuo glanced at Lin. ”They are sleeping.” His eyes landed on Alisa, her head hidden between her legs. Zhuo quietly moved toward her and sat down beside her.

Mo Fei took a few steps and patted Zhuo’s back, gave him a final glance, and left him with her. Jian Yue, Lin, and Yi Jyuhan saw his movement, and they also walked away.

For a moment, there was an awkward silence before Zhuo opened his mouth to speak. He tried once, but his mouth closed quickly. Then his hand held the hilt of his blade, and he finally spoke.

”Grief has no end... The more you grieve, the worse it gets.” Zhuo’s eyes narrowed. ”It’s better to not... Grieve...”

Alisa didn’t answer, but her hand clenched on the fabric of her sleeves. ”I know. It was not just the death.” Alisa stated without looking away from her lap.

Zhuo remained silent, blinking twice while processing her words. ”Then what?”

”There was a person she liked... At first she was rejected.” Alisa’s voice gradually lowered as she continued. ”It wasn’t his fault. He was... He was new, and had no clue what to do.”

Zhuo hung on every word, nodding slowly between her stops. He leaned slightly to listen carefully, as if not wanting to miss any whisper.

Alisa continued. ”Ere’yesterday, he explained this to me. He was self-conscious. Jim Hermit... was his name.” She paused. Her expression was yet too far to pull away her head. ”I just wanted to see them together... Just once.”

Zhuo’s eyes closed for a few heartbeats. In the background, Yi Jyuhan listened to it. He sighed before walking outside toward a room set apart from the temple. The door was closed. He raised his hand and knocked on the gate.

Knock. Knock. Knock

The door groaned before opening. Inside, Xue Lan was sitting on a cushion. Things were scattered around. A few meters away, a table was flipped around. A few potion bottles were broken.

”Nice view.” He curled his lips in an O shape and whistled. Xue Lan observed his expressions.

”You don’t seem very professional yourself.” Xue Lan said blankly; his usual smirk was nowhere to be seen today.

”That’s just another story. Why is this place so... messy?” Yi Jyuhan’s eyes pointed at the flipped table that Xue Lan didn’t bother to settle back.

”An accident.” Xue Lan said quietly.

”Ohh, really? An accident.” Yi Jyuhan didn’t buy his excuses. He sat in front of Xue Lan; his expression turned grim.

”I know your reason for helping is because of our friendship, but are you sure we can manage?”

Xue Lan remained calm. ”With our current power, we have to fight together against Curator of Flesh. If we do, the issue remains the same. The son. Who will stop Him if we fight Curator?”

Yi Jyuhan rubbed his chin, considering his words. They indeed were true. ”He Ascended to past demigod, according to what you told by message?”

”Precisely,” Xue Lan confirmed.

”We need to fight together just to go against him... Though, that group. They are lower-ranked Royal Guard level.” Yi Jyuhan began speaking. ”Mo Fei is far weaker than a Royal Guard currently, though his Authority might be a lot more helpful.”

”Mo Fei...” Xue Lan repeated the name. He had seen his authority in the royal palace, who pretended to be a slave to achieve freedom.

”He has spirit... But how long it lasts is the question.” Xue Lan scoffed.

Yi Jyuhan stood up, opened the door, and glanced back. ”Fate is an unbreakable chain. Those who break it either have another fate waiting for them or their destiny eats them, so don’t take things lightly too soon.” He walked away, leaving Xue Lan thinking.

”Chains of Fate. Hammering a chain made of sponge is foolish.” He questioned himself with no answer.

***

Back to the doorway, both Alisa and Zhuo sat without speaking anything. Behind them in the room. Jian Yue, Lin, and Mo Fei sat. The children were still sleeping, their eyes closed.

Jian Yue broke the silence. ”Before the night falls. We will leave for the page.” He stated. Lin nodded at his words, and her eyes noticed kids sleeping. She yawned slightly.

”Yeah, but be aware. Take care of Zhuo and come back soon.” She said all the points at once.

Mo Fei nodded slightly. Then the door opened and Zhuo entered. His expressions were unusually composed. ”Are we leaving?” Zhuo questioned. His eyes darted between them.

”Yes.” Jian Yue nodded; his hand went to his waist, tracing the hilt of his blade. He stood up. Jian Yue’s gaze landed on the sleeping kids before pushing past Zhuo.

”Don’t be reckless.” Lin said before leaning back to the wall. Zhuo quickly followed Jian Yue, leaving the temple.

Mo Fei stood apart, watching. The mask hung at his shoulder, the glaive strapped across his back. His eyes darted toward another corner, and he quietly walked there before sitting. The temple felt smaller now, as if every corridor held the memory of blood.

He looked at Lin, who was leaning against the wall, her eyes half-closed as if failing to stay awake.

”Saw some insect crawling on my face?” Lin’s voice was quiet as she pointed out.

”Only if you were breathtaking enough to look.”

”Sometimes you really push some buttons.”

Mo Fei didn’t answer immediately. He watched them, saying nothing now. Just a presence annoying enough. ”When you don’t know how to express things,” Mo Fei said with a yawn. ”Just say whatever feels right.”

Lin’s eyes opened. ”Experienced through the beating of locals?” She sighed a long breath. ”The authorities are already curse.”

’Power becomes a curse once you choose it; let it choose you, and it becomes pressure.’ He shrugged with half hearted tired grin.

***

Outside.

The outer gate of the temple loomed over Jian Yue and Zhuo. The talismans stuck to the walls like amber in a tree.

When they reached the forest, Jian Yue stopped at the tree line. He looked back slightly. The temple, now a flavorless meal, and the pale walls reminded them safety wasn’t just a building place surrounded by tall towers. He turned back to the forest.

Zhuo glanced back once.

”You shouldn’t look back,” Jian Yue’s voice stopped him. ”It makes things harder to digest.”

Zhuo didn’t answer. But he accepted.

As they entered the forest. The trees got thinner, a warning in itself.

Zhuo peered at a tree, and hitched. ”T-that!” he whispered, and Jian Yue’s head jolted where Zhuo looked. The face of the tree was rolling its eyes as if trying to pass and look everywhere at once.

They ignored the insanity. The forest closed around them, branches interlocking like hands laced to pray. The path was barely a path; the gaps between trees permitted them to walk... For now.

Then footsteps echoed behind them.

No, not footsteps... Something else. To say in words... Crawling?

Jian Yue stopped against his will. Zhuo followed his movements. The crawling stopped at the same moment.

”Keep... walking,” Jian Yue commanded, but when they walked, crawling began. Certainly something was behind them, but looking behind meant inviting darkness.

”Humans are here. With the same greed of humans... the most humanoid greed of humans.” Repeated the words again and again. Too many voices.

The path forked in three. Jian Yue and Zhuo walked in the left path. They walked, but later, in their line of sight, the same fork appeared again. The same trees, faces, and voices.

”We are circling.” Zhuo’s eyes wander around at the details of the area. The blood pressed with his boots. The ground pulled them deeper like mud.

”Not really,” Jian Yue noted. ”We aren’t moving, but the path is changing.” Where they had walked, the ground was already different now. ”The path we came from is changed... that means there is another doorway to return. We have to find that after getting the page.”

Thud

Something dropped from the branches. A humanoid figure, but the structure was too vivid for a human. It had no eyes, and its mouth opened too wide, more than the limit of a human. It landed between them; it crawled as if it had no spine. Zhuo’s hand drew his blade.

The thing watched with its head tilted, following Zhuo’s blade as it passed through empty air. It crawled toward them slowly like a sloth but worse. The thing smiled; four teeth remained in his mouth, three at the top and one at the bottom. (no one take that thing seriously with those teeth, honestly.)

The thing closing the distance. Zhuo’s blade traced its movement; it didn’t attack as expected. It stopped there at a safe distance. ”Greed,” it scoffed. The word came from its lipless mouth. ”What do you seek in the deathbed of Misfortune?”

Jian Yue stared, not softening his gaze. ”Page for the ritual.”

The thing’s smile widened; a few drops of saliva dropped on the ground. The smile itself was not as simple, gradually twisted with the intent of swallowing the light.

”Pages, huh?... Pages, hmmm... I see, pAgEs.” The word echoed like a chorus. ”Nothing comes free without a cost.”

”We have nothing to give you,” Zhuo said.

The thing laughed like a dry stone that would break once you touch it. ”No, no, no. You got me wrong. I don’t need anything. Just to eat you alive. You have greed. Desire is embedded deeper in humans.” It crawled closer, head tilted, empty eye sockets fixed on Zhuo. ”Thats a payment enough.”