Chapter 45 : Secrets of the Night
The torrential rain continued falling without stop.
Even at night there was no respite. In the attic of the large house, Lonis and Elucia sat facing each other with knees drawn up... The flickering candlelight illuminated the little loli's indistinct handsome features.
"Lonis, what do you think?"
"Eh... me, me..."
The silver-haired girl seemed somewhat surprised. This was the first time Elucia had asked for her opinion.
"I think the people in this village don't seem like bad people? The dinner we just had was delicious, everyone was very enthusiastic, and I didn't see anyone among the villagers who looked like they would bully me."
"Oh?"
"Perhaps we came to a different village, or the dream the vengeful spirit entrusted to me didn't happen in modern times?"
"Hmph, perhaps so."
Elucia smiled slowly, a trace of complex emotion flickering in her eyes: "I also didn't detect the villagers lying. At least during the day, they're all good people, thoroughly good people."
"During the day, what does that mean?"
"Lonis, everyone has a beast living in their heart. Even if people usually act very amiable, the desires in their hearts might erupt in the quiet, deserted depths of night."
"!"
"Take this. The good show is about to begin."
After a while, flute sounds actually came from outside the window.
This flute sound was very gentle, almost blending with the rain... If you didn't listen carefully, it would be almost impossible to detect.
But the moment she heard the flute sound, Lonis felt her head become dizzy, as if she wanted to lie on the bed and fall asleep.
But just at this moment, Elucia shouted:
"Hey, don't fall asleep on me."
"Eh?"
"Or do I need to activate the little toy for you to perk up?"
"Ah ah!"
Lonis shook her head and quickly pulled herself together. Although she didn't know what happened, she felt like she had been controlled by that flute sound.
"Elucia, I..."
"Stop talking nonsense now that you're awake, come look over here with me."
Following Elucia's guidance, Lonis looked outside the window.
But she was fine not looking—one look almost scared Lonis to death... On the quiet, dark street, villagers were swaying with drooping heads, crawling forward on all fours.
Their steps were as stiff as zombies, eyes vacant, rainwater constantly sliding down their cheeks, dripping onto the ground drop by drop.
(What's happening?)
Although the light outside was dim and even the moon was covered by dark clouds, Lonis couldn't see the distant scenes clearly... but just these terrifying sights nearby were enough to make her shudder.
"Elucia, this is..."
"Shh, keep your voice down."
Before Lonis could ask, her mouth was blocked by Elucia's finger. This little loli observed the scene outside, seemingly thinking about something.
"Mm, do you remember the Puppet Evil Worms we saw before? This is one type of them, called Night-walking Puppet Worms."
"Eh?"
"This type of puppet worm only activates at night, making villagers lose their ability to think independently as if hypnotized... Hmph, Lonis, take some beef blood from the Storage Ring and smear it on your face."
"Elucia, what are we going to do?"
"Of course we're covering our scent to follow this group of villagers. I want to see where exactly they're going!"
......
......
Elucia's behavior could only be described as "bold due to superior skills."
On a moonless black night, following a group of zombie-like villagers to the wilderness... Just thinking of this possibility made Lonis feel her legs trembling, almost about to fall.
But this little loli?
Her eyes showed very excited light, as if she had seen an interesting toy.
"Hurry up, stop dawdling."
"We're just going out like this..."
"Of course, put the collar on properly too."
......
......
In the pitch-black night, Lonis couldn't see the road at all.
High heels stepping on the wet meadow made it easy to fall. If rainwater soaked through the stockings, having toes soaked in rainwater would feel very uncomfortable.
But somehow, Lonis discovered her white stockings had waterproof functions at this time... Water drops just covered her feet crystallinely, condensing into clusters of water beads.
"You masochist, you can be so fascinated just looking at your own feet?"
"Ah, no! (;≧Д≦)y"
"Hmph, good thing it's raining today, otherwise dragging along a burden like you, our whereabouts would definitely be discovered."
......
Although the rain and darkness made progress inconvenient, they also provided excellent cover for the two.
Following the zombie villagers for about an hour, they arrived at a strange place.
Logically, fog should dissipate when it rains, but light mist floated here. The air watered by rain had a special smell of rotting wood.
Insect sounds disappeared, leaving only the quiet sound of raindrops around.
Looking closely, the place the zombie villagers had reached was actually a long-abandoned house.
Black wood was broken into two pieces, looking like it had been burned then shattered. The stone brick walls were covered with viscous stains that even rainwater couldn't wash clean.
Elucia didn't continue forward but stopped here:
"There's someone in the abandoned house, a man."
"A man...?"
"Mm, he should be controlling the hypnotized villagers who came here."
"Elucia, should we attack inside?"
"Oh, are you crazy? Attacking now would catch them red-handed... but what if the villagers attack us? Fight or not fight?"
"Oh... that's true!"
"Besides, even if we fight, it's my business alone. You'd just cause me trouble, so just watch obediently from the side."
"Then what should we do now..."
"Go back to sleep, deal with whatever tomorrow."
"Ah, sleep?"
"Heaven and earth are vast, but sleeping matters most."
......
After returning to the attic, Lonis really admired how this little loli dared to sleep... There were many zombie villagers in the village outside, and there was a mysterious controller!
Thinking rationally, wouldn't these strange villagers definitely attack them?
If they slept now, maybe when they woke up they'd be tied to a cross just like in the dream.
Or like in horror movies, countless cold hands would caress her body, letting zombies embrace her entire body.
So Lonis really didn't want to sleep... but seeing Elucia's peaceful sleeping posture, Lonis felt it would be too much of a loss if she didn't sleep.
(This scheming beautiful girl Elucia probably discovered some crucial information but didn't tell me, right?)
"Hmph, sleep if we're sleeping! The worst that could happen is being caught by villagers, right? I don't believe that if I get caught, you'd abandon me and not care!"
Lonis closed her eyes defiantly and lay down beside Elucia, slowly falling asleep.