Chapter 142

Chapter 142

After the series of investigations concluded, the group gathered again at Choil’s inn.

“The situation isn’t very good.”

“According to what I’ve heard, there’s a possibility that tonight won’t end. They said a phenomenon of nights becoming strangely longer has been observed recently.”

“The nights are getting longer?”

“Yes.”

At Seohwa’s question, Seomun Cheok who nodded turned his gaze to the side to look at the bound man. A man sitting with a sulky face, both hands tightly bound.

“What are you looking at?”

“I’d like you to answer.”

“You came at me and tied me up like this, and you expect proper answers?”

“It’s stranger to leave an assassin unrestrained and just sitting there. These ones just yielded.”

“Tsk.”

At Seomun Cheok’s confident answer, the man clicked his tongue and kept silent for a moment before bluntly spitting out a word.

“Jang Il.”

“My name. Damn bastards. To restrain someone like this without even properly exchanging names.”

“I’m Seohwa. I’m sorry about that part, but I hope you’ll understand it couldn’t be helped. If you just answer what we ask properly, we’ll release your restraints.”

“The youngest miss is the most reasonable one. That’s how it should be. But it’s not necessary.”

“What?”

“I’ll undo it myself.”

Snap snap snap!

Jang Il, who answered bluntly, wiggled his hands slightly then cut the rope binding his body with a small blade hidden in his fingers and walked over to take a seat.

“What are you staring at? First time seeing an assassin undo restraints?”

“First, let me talk about the lengthening nights.”

Lengthening nights.

Jang Il, who had begun, continued speaking.

“First, do you know that the monsters in this area only act at night?”

“Yes. I heard. Also that it’s fine to leave the village during the day, but you can’t go out at night.”

“Do you know why that is?”

“That’s…”

“Seems you don’t know, so I’ll tell you. The monsters in this area don’t gather when night comes. They are ‘created.'”

“…What?”

At Jang Il’s story departing from common sense, Seohwa’s eyes widened. However, Jang Il’s story didn’t end.

“That greenhorn over there was caught because he has abnormally high ability to sense killing intent, but I’m quite good at hiding my body. I can fool not just ordinary humans but the eyes of most monsters too.”

“You were easy to find though.”

“…Anyway, because I was confident in hiding my body, I tried to investigate where the monsters come from. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand where the monsters came from at night.”

Monsters swarm from the marshlands to the southeast every night?

That’s a story that doesn’t make sense. If monsters swarmed, there would be no reason for them to retreat again during the day, and if that large a scale of monsters came over from the southeastern marshlands, traces couldn’t not remain.

“I thought this situation was quite suspicious. So I positioned myself to the southeast, the direction monsters were presumed to come from, and hid myself. And do you know what I saw?”

“…What did you see?”

“I saw monsters being created. Or should I say ‘revealed’?”

It appeared the moment the sun set.

The moment the sun set, Jang Il, who had been hidden with concealment techniques, realized he was at the center of a hundred demons. Invited to a banquet of a hundred demons without any warning or context, Jang Il.

“It didn’t gradually darken but at a certain point the darkness just covered everything. That’s not darkness created by light not shining. It’s darkness that ‘eats’ light.”

“The monsters appear wearing that darkness as clothing. Originally they came with the night, but lately it’s been earlier. The time when you can’t see the sun is increasing. Probably by tomorrow…”

The sun will get shorter, or perhaps disappear entirely.

“That’s the information I have. What information do you have?”

At Jang Il’s question, Seohwa, who had kept silent for a moment, exchanged glances with everyone then sighed. And the statement that followed.

“Monsters appeared. Two of them.”

“I heard that story. The village people were making a fuss on the way here too.”

“When entering this place, the village chief said you have to go five hundred bo or more from the wooden fence to encounter monsters eye to eye. But the place where we dealt with the monsters this time was within a hundred bo from the fence. What does this mean?”

A fact everyone could guess without needing to answer. That something blocking the monsters has weakened or been neutralized.

“The nights are getting longer and monsters have started entering the village. Seen that way, the situation we’re in is clear. The village is no longer safe.”

“That would be so.”

“We need to establish countermeasures. Somehow.”

At Seohwa’s words, the group each sunk into thought then gradually began to present answers. Opinions piling up in an instant.

“First let’s decide the goal we need to achieve. Is survival the goal?”

“That’s the first goal, but I want to save the village people too if possible.”

“What about evacuating with the village people? If we just evacuate to Anhwa County, the Imperial Army can intervene too.”

“Mmm.”

At Baek Risan’s opinion, Jinwoong, who had been listening quietly, shook his head and presented an opposing view.

“This village has over two hundred households. If the monsters’ influence isn’t strong, we could somehow break through and escape among ourselves, but… the moment there are even twenty people to protect, escaping while protecting becomes close to impossible. It’s questionable whether they’d even cooperate with evacuation in the first place.”

“But we can’t conduct a defensive battle here either, can we? We don’t know when the monsters will swarm.”

“About that.”

At Baek Risan’s rebuttal, Seohwa, who slightly raised her hand to add something, continued speaking.

“The monsters probably can’t attack on a large scale yet.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Then it couldn’t be better… but on what basis?”

“The initial attack was only two monsters. You can tell just from that.”

Though low-level monsters have low intelligence, they’re still cleverer than average beasts. If several could attack, they would have chosen to gather as much as possible.

“There’s no reason they wouldn’t gather when they could. The reason things like Baekgwiyahaeng and such occur is because monsters form groups for easier hunting. Is there a reason that would be an exception now?”

“It’s been quite a while since the two appeared, but monsters still haven’t attacked. That’s the same context.”

Not that they don’t, but that they can’t.

“Probably the means protecting the village hasn’t disappeared but weakened. The monsters, or the opponent controlling the monsters, are targeting that and lengthening the night to make escape impossible.”

At Seohwa’s reasonable deduction, everyone hummed and nodded. At that sight, Baek Risan opened her mouth again.

“Good. Assuming that’s the case… then Seohwa, you think constructing firm defenses here takes priority?”

“Yes.”

“Won’t it ultimately be meaningless if that defensive means is weakening? We can’t handle all the swarming monsters by ourselves anyway.”

“Of course that’s true but…”

Seohwa, who paused for a moment, looked around then tapped the table with her finger.

“We just need to hold out and we win.”

“Win? Why?”

“Well, there’s someone who hasn’t joined yet. The one who went to Hyeoleung Manor.”

“…Ah.”

Uicheonmun Master Baek Riyun. The strongest person in Uicheonmun.

“If the Sect Master comes, I don’t see why we’d struggle against mere monsters. He’s someone who slices even great monsters with one stroke, and we haven’t witnessed any great monsters in this area yet.”

“Then…”

“Our role is largely two things.”

The first is to firmly establish defenses and protect the village people until Baek Riyun arrives.

“To dig into exactly what that ‘defensive means’ is and investigate what’s behind this incident.”

There’s no time. We don’t know when the next attack will come.

Seohwa, who had organized things clearly, stood up from her seat.

“First let’s firm up the defenses.”

It was time to move.

A dark cave.

“Soon the village will become pandemonium.”

At Yuknachal’s words as he sat cross-legged in meditation, the hungry ghost bowing his head flinched. Regardless of that sign, Yuknachal continued saying what he would.

“I heard there are martial artists. Then they probably didn’t suffer devastating damage, but still, the village’s confusion must be increasing.”

Is it possible to fundamentally overcome fear of monsters by avoiding monsters?

Some might say it’s possible, but most wouldn’t. Even people who sit down with weak knees when meeting the eyes of a tiger that can’t come out because it’s trapped in iron bars—it’s close to impossible to completely abandon fear of monsters just because you’re safe.

Yet the reason the villagers of the slash-and-burn village aren’t afraid of monsters is essentially because they’re running away from reality. Because monsters can’t enter the village anyway. Because it’s safe to just stay inside the village, they’re turning away saying it doesn’t matter.

But that’s only the story when they’re certain monsters can’t enter the village.

If the villagers realize monsters can enter the village, confusion will inevitably occur.

“How many times is this now?”

At Yuknachal asking how many times monsters have been sent to the village, the hungry ghost hastily bowed his head. The answer that followed.

—This is the second time.

“The second time.”

He deliberately set it so the number of monsters increases each time they attack to create fear. If it’s the second time, even considering there are martial artists, it’s a situation where they can inflict some damage.

“This will be worth watching.”

Martial artists who were fighting for them get hurt and bleed.

Seeing that, the village people will become certain. That the village is no longer safe. And they’ll divide into two reactions.

Either condemn the goddess they believed would protect them.

Become even more fanatical to survive.

“Either way will be more interesting than now. Not bad. I should have seen that sight directly.”

—I’ve prepared viewing instruments from afar. If you wish to see, you’ll be able to.

“Hehe, how unusually perceptive for something lowly. I like it.”

—Thank you.

“Then, shall I watch directly?”

Yuknachal, who received binoculars from the hungry ghost’s hands, slowly unfolded his cross-legged position and left the cave. As soon as he left the cave, darkness thickly enveloped his body.

‘Very good.’

Both this darkness and the monsters following control.

Though still just failures, they’re traces of partially defying natural order. These things will pile up and pile up to achieve heaven-defying results.

‘If the end of the great plan arrives…’

Soon the Blood Cult members will shed human form and be reborn as even more complete existences.

“Then, shall I see…”

By now the village must be fallen into chaos.

Yuknachal, who climbed a high rock looking toward the village wearing a satisfied smile, brought the binoculars to his eyes. And after a moment.

Yuknachal, who blinked, lowered the binoculars then raised them again to check the village’s state.

In just a moment.

…The village had been fortified.