Chapter 32

Nagu didn’t know how long it had been before she felt the unfamiliar fear in her heart gradually subsiding. After calming down a bit, she wiped the tears from her face and slowly stood up from the ground.

Outside and inside, it was still pitch black, indicating that it was still a long time until dawn. Due to the intense emotional upheaval she had just experienced, Nagu had no desire to sleep. So, she fumbled around in the dark and found the flint and dry grass on the cabinet.

After relighting the fire basin, Nagu sat back at the wooden table and began to look at the stone tablets. Although she probably wouldn’t be able to understand much, it was good to find something to do to distract herself. Otherwise, she would start pondering existential questions like “Who am I?” which seemed overly pretentious.

In short, she would read until she got sleepy, then sleep, wake up to prepare food for the witch, and today, after dawn, it was also the day to go to the market to find Hamoyin…

Thinking of Hamoyin, Nagu subconsciously sniffled in grievance. Perhaps because Hamoyin had always helped her whenever she was scared and needed help, Nagu now instinctively wanted to seek Hamoyin whenever she encountered something she couldn’t solve.

Naggu naturally knew that this wasn’t good, and the problem she encountered this time was clearly not something Hamoyin could help her with.

After sitting blankly with the stone tablet for dozens of minutes without understanding anything, Nagu finally felt tired from the mixed thoughts in her mind. She put down the stone tablet and lay on the table, intending to rest her eyes for a few minutes before continuing to read. However, when she opened her eyes again, the sunlight was already shining through the window cracks, illuminating the room halfway.

“…”

Nagu blankly propped up her stiff body from the table. Her neck was sore, her arms hurt, and some dried saliva was still at the corner of her mouth. Despite these embarrassing signs, she had slept very well. She stood up and moved her joints and neck, then went to open both windows in the room for ventilation. The sunlight outside was still misty, indicating that it hadn’t been bright for long. Nagu took the small fire basin off the wall, went outside to empty the ashes, and then returned to the house to prepare breakfast. Usually, in the morning, she would follow the witch’s previous instructions, breaking a few pieces of yellowish bread into water and boiling it into a porridge-like consistency. It was very simple and easy to make, and of course, the taste was also very simple, just like plain congee, but not as soft.

After making a pot of yellow porridge, Nagu went into the inner room to wake the witch.

“I need to go to the market today. Is there anything you need me to get?” Nagu half-knelt on the blanket in the inner room, looking at the old witch who was slowly getting up. “We’re running low on meat at home.”

“Then go get some meat.” The witch didn’t care about Nagu’s motive for going to the market; she just needed someone to help fetch things and cook. “Help me up.”

“Okay…” Nagu took the witch’s arm and helped her up from the ground. “Do you want to have breakfast now?”

The witch didn’t answer and let Nagu help her to the outer room. After sitting at the table, she didn’t eat the bowl of porridge that was already served. Instead, she instructed Nagu: “Take down the earthen jar from the third shelf over there.”

Nagu obediently did as she was told and handed the jar to the witch. What she saw next was a scene like a storm.

The old witch opened the lid of the earthen jar and took out a shiny black beetle. The beetle’s legs were covered with dense, fine hairs like brushes. Up to this point, Nagu could still tolerate it. Beetles were more tolerable than meat worms without shells. But just as she was thinking this, the witch ate the beetle right in front of Nagu. She ate it, and the brown and green mixed insect guts leaked out from the corner of the witch’s mouth like juice. The witch chewed the beetle as if she were chewing on crispy bones. After finishing the beetle, the witch put the earthen jar aside and started drinking the porridge Nagu had cooked. Halfway through, she looked up with her cloudy eyes and stared at Nagu: “There’s nothing more for you to do here. Go to the market and get some meat.”

“With… with what?” Nagu asked, trying to suppress her urge to step back.

“With this.” The old witch tapped the earthen jar filled with black beetles. “Take twenty of them to trade.”

…
…

Maybe living in a place like this means constantly dealing with insects.
Nagu, pale-faced, walked along the stone path toward the village gate, holding a bag of strong beetles. The beetles kept rubbing against the bag.

Luckily, she wasn’t forced to eat the beetles. If the witch had forced her to eat them, she would have had to eat them. Just thinking about the insect guts made Nagu feel nauseous. She probably wouldn’t want to eat porridge for a long time.

When she reached the gate in a daze, Nagu noticed there weren’t the usual cattle teams and people crowds. Usually, the village’s men and women would gather to head to the market together, making the gate always bustling.

But today, there were only five or six scattered people and more than ten cattle with their backs loaded with goods. Nagu knew that these people weren’t ordinary villagers; they were the ones who often helped Gongduo and Duogaluo, the elite villagers.

At this moment, these elite villagers were talking to the guards, mainly about checking the items on the cattle’s backs, which seemed to be sacrificial tools. Nagu thought for a moment and hurriedly walked up to ask, “Can you take me with you to the market?”

The men looked at Nagu in surprise, and the guard beside them answered: “Starting today, you can’t go in and out freely. If you want to go to the market, wait for the leader’s permission.”

Can’t go in and out freely? Nagu recalled the conversation between Duogaluo and Gongduo last night. It seemed they did mention this. But she had to see Hamoyin today!

Not wanting to miss the chance to meet Hamoyin, Nagu’s mind raced, and in the next second, she found a possible solution.

“The witch asked me to go to the sacrificial site today. She said I need to deliver a message to the leader about the sacrificial matters.” She thought it was best to get to the market first and then find another excuse if Duogaluo questioned her.

Hearing it was about the witch, the men’s attitudes softened: “If the witch said so, then you can come with us. But once we get there, we’ll take you to the leader. You can’t wander around on your own, understand? The sacrificial site is very dangerous now.”

“Okay…” That inexplicable fear returned, and Nagu suppressed her discomfort as she climbed onto the cattle’s back, following the men. The danger must refer to the monsters, but with Duogaluo and the other leaders handling it, Nagu didn’t think there would be any major problems. All she could think about now was, “I can see Hamoyin.”

After thoroughly checking the supplies on the cattle’s backs, the guards slowly opened the heavy wooden gate in front of them, just enough for the cattle to pass through. Once they lined up and passed through the gate, Nagu noticed that the cattle team was moving much faster than usual. The man at the front kept urging the lead cattle to move as quickly as possible into the mountain path.

After leaving the plain and entering the mountain path covered with vegetation, their speed doubled. Nagu had to crouch low and cling to the cattle’s back to avoid being thrown off by the bumps. Only after climbing the steepest mountain wall did the cattle team’s speed gradually slow.

Nagu also noticed that the path they were taking was different from usual. The trees were denser, and no signs of the path being carved out. The forest was much darker than the outside. “Aren’t we taking the usual path?” Nagu turned to ask the man behind her. The man was standing on the cattle’s back, holding a bone knife and scanning the surroundings, looking as if he was on constant alert: “This path is faster and leads directly to the back of the sacrificial site.”

Nagu felt increasingly uneasy. She placed her hand over her pounding heart, wondering if she shouldn’t have followed the cattle team. Why did she constantly feel that something terrible was about to happen?

Then, as if on cue, the front of the team suddenly erupted with the sound of cattle bellowing and men shouting to stop them.

What happened!?

Nagu felt her hair stand on end. She nervously looked ahead but saw nothing except the restless cattle trying to break free from control. The unease spread quickly among the cattle, and the one Nagu was on started to rear its hooves, trying to break free and retreat.

“Come to me!” The man behind Nagu had realized that calming the herd was impossible, so he quickly jumped off the cow’s back and reached out to Nagu. “Come! Quick!”

After Nagu jumped off the cow’s back, the brown-haired cow carrying the load snapped the lead rope with a loud crack and turned to run wildly into the depths of the forest. In the chaos, the man grabbed Nagu and they started running into the forest as well. About ten seconds later, she noticed that the others from the herd had caught up with them.

They were all running with weapons, and two of them had bloodstains from an unknown source. Behind them, Nagu heard an animal roar she had never heard before.

The moment she heard that unfamiliar roar, tears began to flow from her eyes out of fear. It was that same fear that didn’t belong to her. Nagu, being dragged by the man, was furious because the fear etched into her bones was making her legs weak. The man noticed Nagu’s sluggishness and urged her loudly.

“Run!!! Don’t stop!”

Nagu gritted her teeth to resist the weakness in her body. At that moment, she heard someone screaming in pain. It was the man running behind them, who seemed to have been bitten by the beast chasing them. The man’s shrill screams kept striking Nagu’s fragile nerves.

What on earth was happening? What was chasing them? A pack of wolves? But that roar wasn’t something a wolf would make…

Nagu panted heavily as she kept running forward. From the moment they left the herd to entering the forest and starting to flee, she had already heard two or three different men scream in pain. This meant that the only ones still alive and fleeing were her and the man holding her.

“Mother Goddess…” The man’s voice trembled, but he didn’t stop running. He was pulling the girl towards the sacrificial site. “I haven’t done anything wrong, so let me go back… Bea is still waiting for me to return…”

Nagu heard the man praying, and at the same time, she heard the irregular footsteps behind her. Instinctively, she turned her head to look back.

Monster!

Indeed, at first glance, the creature she saw could only be described as a monster. It barely had a human shape, with arms almost twice the length of a human’s, as thick as thighs, covered with numerous lumps of varying sizes like the back of a toad. Its body could barely be described as deformed, but its head… its head was completely beyond comprehension.
It had part of a human face, but that part only included the eyes and nose, both twisted and growing on the side. The dominant ‘face’ was like a hairless bear’s face, as if it had been burned. Its eye sockets protruded like a goldfish’s, and its sharp, dirty yellow teeth jutted out of its mouth, with human intestines stuck between the huge gaps.

What the hell is this thing? How could it be anything like them, Hamoyin!!!

Nagu suppressed a scream as the sheer terror suddenly filled her legs with strength, making her feel like she could run for another ten years without any problem.

But no matter how strong they were, the two humans couldn’t outrun the monster that ran on all fours. Just as they crossed a protruding tree root, the monster pounced the man beside Nagu. The man screamed and tried to stab the monster’s neck with his knife, but the next second, the monster swatted his hand away.

“Help me! Help me…!!!” the man screamed for help, trying to fend off the monster’s attempt to crush his throat. “I don’t want to die!!”

Nagu looked at the bone knife that had fallen not far from her, then at the man being pinned down by the monster, desperately resisting. “…”

After a moment’s hesitation, the girl grabbed the knife and charged at the monster. The monster, focused on gnawing the man’s arm, didn’t notice anything approaching from behind until the knife stabbed into its side. The monster roared and let go of the now unconscious man, turning its attention to Nagu.

Being stared at by that nightmarish face… no wonder the women who had been locked up with her felt that escaping the monster meant safety.

Nagu trembled as she gripped the bone knife, both the knife and her hands covered in the monster’s foul-smelling blood. Having reached a point where escape was impossible, Nagu could only think about how to fight the monster, though it seemed like a hopeless battle…

So when the monster roared and opened its blood-red mouth to pounce on her, Nagu raised the bone knife and charged at the monster’s eyes. But before she could take more than two steps, she felt a tight grip on the back of her neck, and the force threw her aside like garbage.

“Cough…!!”

Nagu rolled on the ground twice before stopping. As soon as she stopped, she coughed and got up to see who had thrown her. When she looked up, she saw the person who had thrown her, tearing off the monster’s jaw with his hands…

The monster, experiencing unprecedented pain, began to retreat wildly, but in the next moment, its head was chopped off with two strikes. The headless, ugly body collapsed like a crumbling wall, with foul-smelling blood continuously flowing from the neck.

Nagu was stunned for a few seconds, then scrambled towards her rescuer. “Hamoyin, Hamoyin…!!!”

Hamoyin, who had been called twice, instinctively threw the blood-stained knife aside and opened his arms to catch the girl who crashed into him. “Are you okay?”

“I’m not okay!!” Nagu’s snot and tears burst out all at once. She sobbed in Hamoyin’s arms for a while before speaking again. “I thought I was dead for sure this time…”

Seeing the girl crying so hard she could barely breathe, Hamoin didn’t know how to comfort her. He could only pat her back awkwardly and say, “It’s okay now.”

After saying this, Hamoyin felt the arms around his waist tighten, and Nagu’s body trembled violently. “It’s already dead. You don’t need to be afraid.”

Hamoyin looked at the monster’s corpse, which had stopped bleeding. “I chopped off its head.”

“I saw you chop off its head…” Nagu sobbed as she released Hamoyin’s waist and wiped her tears. After hugging Hamoin, she felt much calmer. “Thank you for saving me.”

“Yeah.” Hamoyin took Nagu’s hand and started leading her towards the other end of the forest. “I’ll take you back to the village. Don’t come to the sacrificial site for the next few days; there’s another monster locked up there.”

So this headless monster was also brought back by Azuran? Did it escape from the cage?

After walking a few steps with Hamoyin, Nagu remembered something and tugged on his arm to make him stop. “That man lying over there isn’t dead. He’s just unconscious…”

Hamoyin glanced at the man lying on the ground, then continued to lead Nagu forward. “Someone will find him. I’ll take you back first.”

That’s true, the monster escaped from the sacrificial site, so the people there must have already started searching everywhere. Thinking this, Nagu relaxed and followed Hamoyin out of the forest. “By the way, how did you know I was here?”

“I was waiting for you at the sacrificial site this morning. When the monster escaped…” Hamoyin paused. “After the monster escaped, I followed your path to find you.”

Nagu hugged Hamoyin’s arm tightly, overwhelmed with gratitude. “You… you’re so good to me, thank you.”

Feeling the softness against his arm, Hamoyin’s body stiffened. “…Yeah.”

At this moment, Nagu completely forgot about her bad luck and clung to Hamoyin for comfort. So when they emerged from the dense forest onto the main road and ran into Duogaluo, Nagu felt like she wanted to die on the spot.

Author’s Note:
Duogaluo: What does this mean?