Wen Xiu was almost drawn towards the beckoning sound, but in the end, he ran away.
With the water bucket in his hand, he hurriedly ran towards the mountains; the farther he ran, the weaker the strange sensation became. When he glanced back from halfway up the mountainside, the swirling golden aura above the warehouse had vanished as if it had never been there.
It must have been an illusion.
Wen Xiu looked down at the village from the mountainside; he could see the whole village from here. He slowly calmed down as a gentle breeze washed over him. His foster parents are still here; he can not go anywhere else.
Wen Xiu returned home with the water as usual, purposely avoiding the paths near the warehouse on the way back. That strange feeling did not resurface again.
Sure enough, the demon had settled in the village, staying in the dark warehouse and not venturing outside. Three meals a day were delivered by the village chief, along with the best food and occasionally some medicine and bandages. The villagers speculated whether the demon was injured, but even if he was, out of fear for the safety of the entire village, the village chief dared not oppose him. However, with the farmland damaged by the boulder and the recent poor harvests, coupled with the absence of wild boars and deer, possibly due to the demon’s arrival, the villagers’ discontent grew as the food rations diminished.
Five villagers secretly gathered one night, planning to attack the demon while he was injured. They were all strong men who had lived in the mountains for years. Their minds are simple and pure, so they believe driving away the demon would solve everything.
Tonight, Bai Chen was destined for yet another sleepless night. He didn’t know when it started, but for some time now, even white noise [1] had become ineffective against him. His tinnitus had worsened, filling his ears with buzzing noises, making him easily irritable and more reserved. He could hear all the voices in the village and knew the villagers had been speaking ill of him, and among them was the Guide he was seeking; however, he couldn’t figure out who it was. Whenever he was eager to pursue, he would unconsciously fall into a wandering state. This constant shift between reality and spiritual consciousness has drastically drained his physical and spiritual strength and has even slowed down the healing of his injuries.
[1] 白噪音 “ white noise”: Due to Sentinels’ heightened and sensitive senses, most sounds are no different from noise, which is a significant burden and can even harm them when exposed to such environments for a long time. White noise, on the other hand, is distinct from these harmful sounds, such as the sound of flowing water or the wind. Sounds that are harmless to Sentinels when no barrier is erected are considered white noise (from an explanation given by the author).
But tonight was different; he had learned of the five individuals’ plan to attack him. He listened as their noisy footsteps gradually approached and watched as several burly men broke the door and entered with clubs and axes…
He sat in the dark room, staring at them with a contemptuous smile that seemed to mock their incompetence.
With a few loud bangs, the five men were blasted out of the door by an unknown force, crashing to the ground, disturbing the tranquillity of the village. The village chief gathered others and rushed over to investigate; seeing the five men lying on the ground wailing and the damaged warehouse, he immediately understood what had happened. Fearful that the demon might destroy the entire village in a fit of rage, the old village chief knelt in front of the warehouse door with tears streaming down his face, pleading, “Please… spare us, my lord.”
Even though it was pitch black inside and nothing could be seen, the village chief didn’t dare lift his head to look inside. As more and more people gathered around, fear was evident on everyone’s faces.
Bai Chen didn’t care that he was regarded as a demon because any explanation of things humans cannot see was completely useless. He surveyed the crowd outside, but Jin Long no longer sensed the aura of that Guide from the other day. With his notorious reputation, his Guide might have been scared off, but he had to find him. He looked at the trembling village chief on the ground and demanded, “I want to see every person in the village; not one shall be missed.”
The demon issued an order for the entire village to come and see him. Although no one understood why the demon made such a strange request, they could only comply and not disobey.
Wen Xiu heard about the commotion at the warehouse last night. Although he felt an inexplicable urge to go and have a look, he forcefully suppressed it. But to his surprise, early the following day, the village chief summoned everyone and informed them of the demon’s request.
It was stated that every person in the village must attend; not a single person can be missed. Each person was assigned a number, representing the order in which they would meet the demon.
There were over three hundred people in the village, and Wen Xiu received number one hundred fifty-seven, somewhere in the middle. After everyone received their numbers, they queued up in order. They weren’t required to do anything special but walked past the window of the warehouse to allow the demon to take a glance.
The villagers didn’t understand the demon’s intention, so the atmosphere was tense when the first few people passed by the window. Still, as the line progressed, the nervous tension gradually dissipated.
When it was Wen Xiu’s turn, he stood with his head bowed at the window, afraid to look directly inside like everyone else. There was no sound from inside the warehouse, but just as Wen Xiu was about to continue forward, a deep and pleasant male voice suddenly came from inside, “Wait.”
Wen Xiu immediately stopped, afraid to move and subconsciously glanced inside from the window. The room was too dark to see anything clearly, but he met the glowing eyes of the demon in the darkness.
Before Wen Xiu could react, he heard the demon say, “Come inside.”