I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords-Chapter 65 - 064. Turning Back_1

Chapter 65: 064. Turning Back_1

Chapter 65: 064. Turning Back_1

“Back where we started?”

Cui Siter was startled, his hand releasing the reins as he picked up the lantern and shone it at their target.

The stone statue was, without a doubt, the spitting image of the one they had seen before.

“Or could it be that there are many similar statues along the way, meant to confuse people?”

He illuminated the statue, its creepy, religiously symbolic head sporting a notch.

That very notch had been made by Lu Ban with his crowbar.

“…”

Both of them fell silent.

“We thought something might happen at the wedding, but now it seems that just getting to Dried Water Town for the wedding is quite a challenge,”

Cui Siter lamented.

“At least we haven’t been attacked,”

Lu Ban added.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Cui Siter noticed a figure behind the statue.

The figure was of normal stature, but its face was deeply wrinkled, with bulging, fish-like eyes.

He was only wearing a sweatshirt on his upper body, revealing a dark and muscular torso. This was not the kind of musculature sculpted for aesthetics, but rather truly developed from repeating daily labor.

The man stood behind the statue, staring straight at the carriage, at Lu Ban, at Cui Siter.

“Do you know the way to Dried Water Town?”

Lu Ban immediately asked.

“Dried, water, town, go, forward.”

The man pointed ahead into the gloomy, foggy mist.

His voice was stilted, like a jammed repeating machine.

In Lu Ban’s hand appeared “Testament”, and as he listened carefully, he still couldn’t hear the other party’s heartbeat.

After a moment’s thought, Lu Ban picked up the crowbar and climbed down from the carriage.

“Hey, be careful,”

Cui Siter cautioned.

Standing on the cold, hard gravel road, the bone-chilling cold seemed to seep through his shoes. Lu Ban held a flashlight, standing beside the statue. The fog grew denser, veiling the carriage and Cui Siter in a misty shroud. Lu Ban didn’t approach too closely, keeping one hand on the reins attached to the horse.

“We need to go to Dried Water Town,”

Lu Ban repeated.

“Dried, water, town, go, forward,”

The man repeated.

“Which way should we take?”

Lu Ban asked again.

“Take, this, path,”

The man pointed to the gravel road beneath him.

“No, we need to go to Dried Water Town, this path only leads back,”

Lu Ban stated.

“Dried, water, town, go, forward,”

The man persisted stubbornly.

“Does this road really lead to Dried Water Town?”

Lu Ban sought confirmation once more.

“Take, this, path,”

The man said woodenly.

“…”

Lu Ban looked back at Cui Siter, who was also at a loss.

After some thought, Lu Ban began to inquire.

“How do we get to Two Immortals Bridge?”

The man paused, then pointed to the gravel road beneath.

“Take, this, path,”

Hearing this response, Lu Ban was already quite clear.

This person, or rather, the people in the fog, likely only had some simple reactions and no cognition or intelligence of their own.

Or to put it another way, it was uncertain whether these people were even alive.

Lu Ban shone his flashlight on the person’s face, which would have been very rude to a common person, but the other did not react, just standing there woodenly.

Lu Ban raised his crowbar, slowly poking toward the other’s shoulder.

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Just as the crowbar was about to touch the person’s shoulder, a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed Lu Ban’s crowbar.

It wasn’t the hand of that person.

Following the bony arm to the side, Lu Ban saw another person who looked different from the former but also had large eyes and a face full of wrinkles.

Shining the flashlight further back, Lu Ban saw that behind these two people, there were many more like them.

It was as if these people had been standing here since ancient times, motionless, only watching Lu Ban with their protruding, massive eyes.

Perhaps when the driver had earlier gotten out to urinate, when Lu Ban and Cui Siter were observing the statues, when the carriage rode through the quiet, dark night, on the roadside, in the ruins of the buildings, on the wild grass and graveyard, in the thick fog that one could not see through, these people were silently standing in their places, staring at them.

“Come back.”

Cui Siter called out, his revolver at the ready.

His vision was a blur, and there was no doubt that the scene was dizzyingly eerie. The creatures, similar to humans yet wholly not, crowded in masses, making Cui Siter feel dizzy. Only the cold metal in his hand allowed him to stay somewhat calm.

Without checking, one would know that Cui Siter’s sanity had definitely decreased by at least three points.

“Wait.”

Lu Ban stepped back half a step and could see that some figures were obscured by the mist, vanishing from his sight.

He looked at the person in front of him; these fellows did not seem to have the intention to move forward into the illuminated area, remaining where they were.

“Do you know the Black Queen Mother?”

Lu Ban asked.

Upon hearing Lu Ban’s words, all their eyes twitched simultaneously, turning toward Lu Ban.

“Black, Queen, Mother.”

Their voices rose and fell in succession, unending.

Suddenly, the first person showed an expression for the first time.

It was fear.

Lu Ban saw his features contort with emotions of fear, reverence, and panic.

“Ah…”

The person let out a whimper and then retreated as if to avoid Lu Ban.

Several others made the same sound, gradually retreating and disappearing into the dense fog.

“Black Queen Mother?”

Cui Siter seemed to not have heard of the term before.

“Do you know about ‘The Merciful Statue of the Black Queen Mother’?”

Lu Ban asked as he got back into the carriage.

Cui Siter shook his head.

“It seems to be a religious faith in certain areas of the Night Country or near Dried Water Town, an evil religion, likely with traditions of sacrificing living people.”

Lu Ban shared the information he had obtained from “The Merciful Statue of the Black Queen Mother.”

“Heh, such enemies are not uncommon in the Silent Lands… wait, it’s your first time in the Night Country, how do you know this stuff, could it be…”

Cui Siter sized up Lu Ban from head to toe.

“Have you used Madman’s Knowledge?”

“Hmm, for this mission, I’ve used it twice, that’s why I know some information related to the task.”

Lu Ban nodded.

“…Twice, no, this mission?”

Cui Siter looked at Lu Ban strangely.

“Although Madman’s Knowledge can provide knowledge from foreign domains, including mission contents and some supernatural messages, more often it’s madness-inducing knowledge. Mere contact with this incomprehensible knowledge for humans is a form of pollution…”

He sounded somewhat regretful.

“I didn’t know better in the past and once used Madman’s Knowledge, and the result…”

Cui Siter seemed to have a vivid memory of that experience and was reluctant to discuss it further.

“Having used Madman’s Knowledge twice, you must have been contaminated to an extent. Be careful, and if your sanity drops to a certain level, you could undergo Corrosion or even mutate into a monster…”

“What do you think the difficulty of these tasks comes from? Mortals touching forbidden knowledge, suffering Pollution, sanity being eroded, and then mutating, becoming monsters…”

“The difficulty of the tasks is the extreme to which the Chosen by Gods might fall in these missions.”