Chapter 43: Open it

They could feel something supernatural in the air, but there was no flashy or explosive power that most practitioners used. It was subtle, something they didn’t know. Something unknown!

And what did people fear most? Even practitioners? It was the unknown, because there might be thousands of things behind it. That pressure alone was enough to make the mind start conjuring different possibilities.

But the difference between humans and practitioners when faced with such situations was distinct.

Riven whispered a few words, and a sword appeared in his hand. The sword was translucent, but it had a green taint to it as it shone gently in the light.

Kivara casually held a sword made of darkness. She tilted her head to him. “Do you want to do it?”

Riven nodded and walked toward a house. He approached the door and knocked.

In the village night, the sound of knocking echoed like a drum, and it felt as if everyone in their houses stopped what they were doing to listen. If possible, the village became even more silent.

“…Like a graveyard…” Riven thought as he raised his hand to knock again since there was no reply from those inside.

The sound of his knocking was still like a very loud drum in the village. Creating rasp cracking sound.

But no matter how long they knocked, nobody answered, and the door remained firmly locked.

Kivara grew impatient. “Just break the stupid door.”

Just as she said that, there was a small click, and the door opened an inch.

They tensed immediately and shared a look. Light spilled from the door, tumbling out in bright yellow, and the smell of cooking seeped out.

Kivara nodded, and her hand tightened on her sword.

Riven took a deep breath. He couldn’t stop his gut from tightening as he placed his palm on the door and pushed. He was ready to dodge and slash, but what he saw stunned him.

Inside the room were four people. A woman stood by a small pot, stirring its contents. A man sat on a chair, cleaning a hoe, while two small children played.

It was normal. Something nice to do after a hard day on the farm while waiting for food. It should be something every human being could do.

But they weren’t normal. They were dead. Dried flesh covered their skeletons. The only thing human about them was their eyes. They were real, untouched by rot, and filled with emotions.

Riven took a step back. His hand subconsciously moved as he met one of the children’s eyes. “What in the blazing underworld!”

Kivara was right behind him, and she shuddered. “Their souls are still trapped inside those bodies, and they are aware. It seems they’re being forced to repeat the same actions again and again.”

Without waiting, they began to check the houses one after another, and they found the same thing—undead people performing different actions while their eyes screamed at them, clear and sharp with emotions.

“What the… Who could have done this?” Riven asked.

Kivara shrugged, her shoulders tense. “A necromancer. I’ve heard legends of entire villages turning into undead, even cities! Those kinds of stories were quite common during the days of the Necromancer King!

“In fact, the King himself once turned an entire sect into his undead, then preserved their consciousness in their bodies and let them feel the pain of slowly rotting away!”

Riven turned to her in surprise. “You seem to know quite a bit about this undead King.”

She smiled bitterly. “If you’d been forced to hear about him your whole life, you’d know quite a bit about him too.”

Riven could hear the history behind her words, but he respectfully didn’t ask, sensing the anger and bitterness behind them.

He had to focus on the village anyway.

“I wonder what the village did to get turned this way. What are we going to do?” He changed the subject.

Kivara shrugged. “Nothing. We have to get out of here. Whoever did this must be a very high-ranked necromancer. They are the only ones who could capture consciousness so perfectly without it losing intelligence. And also make them appear human to the senses.

“Let’s get out of here!”

If only it were that simple. They soon found out they had been trapped inside the village. The forest had disappeared, and whenever they walked to the edge of the village, they immediately found themselves back in the middle.

“We were so careless. We shouldn’t have entered the village,” Riven said.

Kivara didn’t say anything. She knew how dangerous curiosity was, yet even then, she had entered the village. What lured her over the most was that the undead appeared human to her senses.

But there wasn’t time for lamenting. They began searching the village for ways to leave, starting with the houses they had broken into.

They learned some things about the undead trapped inside.

The undead were under some kind of orders and would only repeat the actions they were performing. The only thing they seemed able to move freely was their eyes.

The second thing they discovered was strange. In every house, there was always a single black coffin leaning against the wall.

They tried to open and break the coffins, but it was futile.

After searching through more than half the houses, they came to the sinking realization that they might indeed be trapped in the village for eternity.

Or maybe they would join the undead.

The thought of that was enough to sharpen their focus. They opened and searched inside all the remaining houses, finding the same thing over and over in different ways.

Except when they opened the last house.

There was nobody in the single-room house. The only thing inside was a coffin placed at the center of the room.

A bit of tension flowed out of them when they saw this. Maybe it was the way out. It was the only truly abnormal thing in the village.

“Open it,” Kivara said.

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