A Tale of Forgotten Gods

Chapter 77: A Strange Maiden

The heavy thud of Mo Fei’s Glaive hitting the dirt was the only sound left in the clearing. As his eyelids fluttered shut, the abyssal blackness in his eyes faded away, leaving behind the pale, exhausted face of a young man.

The priestess lowered her bow and waited for the corpse to dissolve into demonic miasma.

Nothing happened. Crimson, warm human blood merely pooled from the wound in his chest. ”HUH...??”

She tried to process things, but before that... from the empty air, a large Serpent’s head came out and curled around the tree Mo Fei was pinned on. ”Priestess, I reassure you that my lord is not a demon. You have wounded him.”

Her expression never wavered as she pointed her arrow toward the Serpent. ”Tell me then, why is that shard black?”

The Serpent hissed. ”The corruption, it’s reacting to that. I give you my words, the spirits would soon eat his corruption.”

The priestess squinted her eyes, lowering her bow again, watching the Serpent dissolving in the air. Then the realization hit her. ”Wait a minute...” her voice instantly melted into a panicked, frantic tone. She dropped her sacred bow into the dirt and sprinted across the clearing. ”He is a human. Hold on!”

She stopped nearby, her trembling hand reaching toward her bow. With a quick move, she pulled the arrow out. ”You told me it wasn’t what I thought! Why did I not listen before. You really picked the worst possible moment to look terrifying!”

The woman moved her hand to his chest to heal, but her expression turned shocked when she saw the wound had already begun to heal. ”That is my worst day.”

She heard the villager’s footsteps. As she turned, and saw them watching the scene unfolding.

One of the villagers said. ”Is that a priestess... Did she kill him?”

”No! No, I didn’t kill him! Well, I shot him, yes, but it was a complete misunderstanding!” the priestess yelled back, her cold, deadly demeanor entirely gone. She waved her arms around in a panic.

”Is he a demon?”

”He killed those bandits, I mean, saved you from them.” She pointed aggressively at the butchered thieves scattered across the road. ”He fought them all off to protect your village, and then I arrived and completely misread the situation because of... well, because his eyes were doing a very... suspicious thing, but that’s beside the point! He is a good human...”

The villagers blinked, utterly bewildered by the sudden back-to-back explanations.

”Anyway, I’d need clean water, clean clothes, and a place for him to rest.” Intimidated but eager to help a savior, a few strong villagers rushed forward to help lower Mo Fei from the tree.

The priestess moved and took the shard from the ground, the black colour almost instantly turning silver as she put it in a small pouch. ”One more collected.”

As they carried him toward the village, the priestess walked right beside them, carrying her bow. ”A corruption that eats at the mind... and spirits that eat the corruption?” she muttered under her breath, looking down at Mo Fei’s pale face.

”And his wound... you are going to owe me some good explanation when you wake up.”

As they approached the headman’s house, an old village elder stepped forward, leaning heavily on a wooden staff. ”Hold your steps,” the village elder commanded, his voice shaking. He raised his other hand in a gesture, stopping them.

The priestess stopped, her rambling thoughts cutting off. She looked at the sky once and then said, ”Good afternoon, eld–”

”Quiet, girl,” the elder snapped, his eyes scanning her coldly. ”You are wearing your traditional clothes. Yet look at your face. It is slightly tanned like a peasant who stopped working in their first hour. Your hair is tossed by the wind and that bow instead of ritual bands?”

A crowd of murmurs ran through them, the villagers nodding their heads in a silent agreement.

”The holy maidens of the great regional shrines possess skin as pale and pure as untouched porcelain,” the elder continued with his voice gradually lowered. ”They do not wander the deep forests alone, drenched in sun and sweat; they have fear of being used by the bandits. What are you truly? Are you a common wandering entertainer who stole those holy robes from a corpse? Or are you a trickster Kitsune fox demon?”

The priestess stared at the elder silently before answering. ”The sun doesn’t care about my social status.” She heaved a sigh as if she had anticipated it. ”Since when did a human life become so cruel to you that knowing the identity of the savior is more important than saving?”

The sheer fury and genuine offense in her voice caught the elder off guard. He stepped back a few steps. ”Open the guest hut,” the elder muttered, though his eyes remained wary. ”But we will be watching you, Priestess.”

”Fine!” she huffed, marching past him into the village as the men carried Mo Fei inside. ”I hope your water is so hot that you burn your tongue.” She murmured to herself.

They showed them a path toward the guest hut, a small room. The villagers put Mo Fei on the floor, and a woman brought a basin of water and a strip of clean clothes.

The villagers hesitated once but then left unconscious Mo Fei with her.

She moved her hand to his chest and chanted. The wound slowly healed entirely within a few seconds, only leaving some minor internal injuries.

She sat in silence while watching his face; suddenly she remembered the pale white Serpent that emerged in the empty air and curled around Mo Fei. She pressed her hand to her chin when a curious thought struck her brain. Would the Serpent come?

”Serpent, can you hear me...” But there was no answer. She sighed, then tried again. ”The big goofy snake, you there? You listening me? Wait are you ignoring me?”

Yet even then, the divine Serpent never returned even after she tried multiple times.

Outside the doorway, the villager still kept their eyes on her, being overwhelmingly suspicious of her act. One of them whispered to them. ”Is she summoning some evil demon?”

Another scanned her and whispered back. ”I think she is mentally ill; she is seeing things.”

Mo Fei opened his eyes slowly. His hand reached for his chest that ached slightly, but the wound was gone. He looked around in dizziness, finding the woman sitting beside him. He reached out his hand toward the Glaive. ”You...”

The priestess flinched at the sudden movement. ”Easy, you are tired.

”You fucking killed me.”

”No, I didn’t. I don’t spear people to oak trees!”

Mo Fei clenched his temple before sitting straight. ”Argh, who are you. Why the hell did you do that in the first place.”

”Kiyori, maiden of the Tamayori shrine.” She blinked before continuing. ”Explain then what is going on.”

Mo Fei briefly explained to her about the corruption and what had happened to him that led to the murder, then he told his name. She listened quietly.

”In short... you are an ascended?”

Mo Fei nodded.

Kiyori paused for a few seconds. ”I have heard of them; they are from other worlds... you are also from there?”

”Of course.”

Upon hearing that, she hummed. ”Hmm, many rumors about them make the villagers fear them, so don’t talk about your identity.” She whispered in a low tone.

”You aren’t a demon, like, really?” She asked again.

”Correct.”

”And the Shikon Jewel turned black because of corruption, not because of your greedy desire.”

”I don’t even know what that thing is!”

”And that giant Serpent calls you its lord.”

”Not by my choice, but yes... wait, what? You’ve seen the divine Serpent?” He looked at her, surprised.

”It scared me. Like, how did you get a pet like that? I mean, I’d love to have one too, no offense.”

Mo Fei closed his eyes; he processed all the things. ”Answer me that: why the hell did you shoot me in the first place.”

”Because you killed humans and the shard turned black, I thought you were a demon and...”

Mo Fei let out an annoyed grunt. ”You assumed I’m a demon? Argh, and what is that shard.”

”Long story, I can explain it someday if we travel.”

”Are you buying me to travel with you?” Mo Fei scoffed.

”What? NO! I meant if you stick together, I’m fine travelling alone.” She groaned at Mo Fei’s tone. ”You are really not any good person I thought you were supposed to be. That Serpent made you look like a generous holy God.”

”That’s stupidity.” Mo Fei stared at her. Kiyori gave him the same reaction look.

”Eee, you aren’t acting like an ascended one that much.”

Mo Fei’s ear perked up, and he observed her expression. ”And what do they act like?”

”According to the stories. Arrogant.” Kiyori began to speak, and as she said the word arrogant, Mo Fei’s eyes squinted; he remembered Xue Lan’s arrogant face, which made him annoyed. ”Selfish.”

That again reminded Mo Fei of Xue Lan’s selfish expressions.

She continued. ”Terrifying, mysterious. Some of them apparently don’t even understand humans anymore.”

Mo Fei stared at her, his expression kept dropping lower and lower. ”I think you described some people I met.”

”You agree then, you terrifying?”

”No.”

”arrogant?”

”Definitely no.”

Time passed. It was evening now, and outside the elder knocked on the door, behind him stood armed villagers.

Mo Fei, even without his Apprentice’s eyes sensed the air change. He understood something was wrong. Kiyori moved to open the door, but before her, Mo Fei stood up and went to the door and pulled it sideways.

Outside, the villagers stood with weapons drawn. The elder whispered to him. ”We don’t want you to stay here longer. That priestess is not human, certainly.”

Mo Fei glanced over his shoulder at Kiyori and then back to the villagers. ”Why do you think that?”

”You don’t know anything, boy. No priestess has that sun-kissed skin; she must be a Kitsune fox. Don’t fall for her trickery!” Villagers pointed their weapons toward them.

Mo Fei kept his composure before answering. ”We will leave right now.”