Chapter 11 Journey (1)

Although its voice was obscure and difficult to understand, sounding rather eerie, Lynn could be certain that it had just called his name.

Lynn stood up from the bed.

“Lynn,” the lizard continued to call his name.

Seeing Lynn’s shocked and solemn expression, the corners of the lizard’s mouth slowly curved, as if silently laughing.

Lynn was certain that he saw a sense of joy on the lizard’s face, like a child finding a toy.

“Lynn.”

“Lynn.”

“Lynn.”

The monstrous creature with the appearance of a lizard outside the window kept repeating Lynn’s name.

This lizard didn’t sleep in the middle of the night and crawled to his window, calling his name.

From next door came the sound of a window opening.

Immediately, Lynn saw the giant lizard’s pupils shrink rapidly, and the next moment, its head swiftly disappeared from outside the window.

Only the faint sound of claw marks remained.

Lynn got up and approached the window. The outside was empty, and there was no trace of the lizard anymore.

The sound of the window opening just now came from his teacher’s room next door.

Lynn could tell that the lizard was afraid of Angley.

Could this gigantic, shapeshifting lizard monster be one of the magical creatures his teacher raised?

Lynn remembered that the notes mentioned that many wizards had a fondness for raising monsters.

Some wizards would even create alchemical puppets or raise exotic servants.

In the wizards’ experiments, these servants and pets sometimes proved quite helpful, and they could also serve as excellent experimental materials themselves.

Perhaps some of the ingredients in the lizard potion that caused Lauren’s mutation were related to this lizard monster that could turn invisible.

The next day, Lynn was awakened early by the commotion outside.

“Oh my goodness! What’s on the wall? Dad, come and see!” A surprised voice of a boy came from downstairs.

Soon after, there was a man’s astonished voice coming from downstairs.

Lynn put on his coat, fastened the buttons, and donned his leather boots before going downstairs.

“Good morning, sir, you’re awake,” a faint smell of milk wafted as a slightly plump woman in a light red dress passed by, holding a cup of milk.

Lynn stepped outside the farmhouse, where two men, one adult and one young, were standing in the yard.

Yesterday was dim, and he couldn’t make out the man’s features clearly, but now in the daylight, he could see more clearly.

The man had brown curly hair, wearing a light yellow turtleneck sweater with a jacket on top, paired with slim-fit jeans and tall boots.

The young boy next to him was probably his child, appearing to be around eleven or twelve years old, with freckles covering his cheeks, but he had a sturdy build.

Following their gazes, Lynn noticed the wall covered with horrifying claw marks.

These marks looked terrifying, resembling the scratches of some wild beast.

Lynn had a rough idea of what it could be.

Judging by the length and spacing of the claw marks, the creature responsible for them must be quite large.

“No wonder I noticed something was off with Sweet Potato this morning,” Tang Jide said. “It stayed hidden in the doghouse and wouldn’t come out no matter how I called it.”

Unlike his simple-minded son, Tang Jide had thought of more possibilities.

Something that had never appeared before, and then such terrifying incidents happened after these two travelers arrived to rest at their place last night. Moreover, the location of those claw marks was closest to that guest’s room.

Though he couldn’t confirm if it was related to Lynn and his companions, Tang Jide felt it was best to send these two guests away as soon as possible.

Tang Jide brought a plate of sliced bread and a cup of warm fresh milk from the kitchen and headed towards the stables.

“Old Kim, have some breakfast.”

Old Kim rubbed his eyes. “Why are Mr. Grandet¹ being so generous today?” Despite resting in the carriage with a blanket overnight, he still felt a bit cold.

Having a cup of warm milk at this moment was undoubtedly a comfortable thing.

“What’s the background of those two guests?” Tang Jide whispered inquiringly.

“I don’t know. You know, in my line of work, the last thing I want to do is inquire about the guests’ origins,” Old Kim mumbled with a mouthful of bread, speaking vaguely.

Seeing Tang Jide’s worried expression as he turned and walked away, Old Kim knew well but chose not to say anything.

How could he not sense that those two guests were a bit peculiar? Yesterday, when the tall figure, dressed just like his old curtains at home, got close, Lily and Golden Bean kept neighing incessantly.

Lily and Golden Bean had been with him for almost ten years and were very perceptive. Even if faced with a fierce-looking man, they wouldn’t be so anxious.

Unless…

However, it didn’t concern him too much, and he didn’t plan to inquire further. He was just an old carriage driver trying to earn a living and support his family.

His task was to get them to Bangor Port, and anything else was not his concern.

As long as he didn’t pry or meddle in matters that weren’t his business, he’d be safe.

After breakfast, Lynn prepared to leave.

“Hey, are you a guest from far away?” a voice came from behind.

Lynn turned around and saw a young boy standing right behind him, staring at him fixedly.

Lynn smiled, “Yes, I suppose so.”

Originally, when he first fled, he came from the north.

It was quite a distance from here, and Lynn could believe that many people, many of the residents here, might have never ventured that far in their entire lives.

“Then, can you tell me about your place?” The young boy’s eyes gleamed with curiosity.

Lynn didn’t remember much, as he had recently transmigrated into this world, only to be met with a plague and war breaking out. Furthermore, due to drought, the price of food skyrocketed, forcing people from his hometown to flee for survival.

Reflecting on the boy’s question, Lynn replied, “Actually, there isn’t much difference between us. It’s just that our dialect back in my hometown is a bit different from the language here.”

“Oh,” the young boy’s eyes dimmed, seemingly disappointed.

“But you know,” Lynn continued, trying to bring back the boy’s curiosity, “during my journey of escape, we passed through a small village. Unfortunately, the village was struck by a terrible plague, and many people there lost their lives.”

Death was a word the boy seemed afraid of, but his fascination with Lynn’s story was unwavering. After all, he had never left his hometown since birth, and the furthest he had gone was to a town about twenty miles away, where his father bought him a brand new cowboy hat. He rarely wore it while doing farm work, saving it only for festivals.

“In that village, there were no survivors,” Lynn continued, “Some people in our group wanted to explore the village, hoping to find food or seek shelter for the night. However, in the second half of the night, someone discovered that a horde of monsters emerged from the hills behind the village.”

“The appearance of those creatures was truly terrifying, like something patched together from multiple corpses. They had five heads, ten hands, and were as round as a ball, with numerous seams and stitches all over their bodies.”

Lynn recounted the encounter.

The boy gulped nervously.

It was too scary, just like the horror stories adults would tell. And the fact that it came from someone’s actual experience made it even more unsettling.

Watching the young boy’s anxious and frightened expression, Lynn estimated that he would have nightmares tonight.

“Hahahaha.” Seeing the boy’s nervous expression, Lynn couldn’t help but chuckle, saying, “Don’t worry, I was just teasing you. There aren’t really such frightening creatures.”

The boy’s red face relaxed, relieved, “Okay, you scared me with that story. I thought those monsters were real.”

“Well, they may not have five heads and ten hands as I described,” Lynn replied playfully, “but they do have three heads and five hands.”

The boy’s momentary relief turned into shock, and his face froze in an instant.

——

1. TL/N: Grandet (葛朗台) is a character name from the novel Eugénie Grandet. In contemporary Chinese, it is used as a simile to describe someone who is mean, shrewd, and excessively thrifty. ↩︎

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