Chapter 154: Unable to Sleep, Unable to be in Peace

Calvin inwardly frowned.

But he didn't let any of his emotions out as he asked in a curious tone of voice, "Ah! I actually saw what you are talking about from afar! Isn't that the strange village that is corralled by huge wooden fences in a circle? It really is strange, I tried going around it once, but I found not a shadow nor a trace of anyone!"

"But why can't I go in there, though? If there are some villagers there, then I would actually prefer to spend the night there since you know what they say... The merrier, the safer."

The old woman stared right into Calvin's eyes.

"Your life is not my responsibility."

"If you are not willing to listen to what I have said, then fine."

"But consider yourself warned."

The old woman then turned around and continued on her journey.

Calvin shrugged and followed her from behind.

"Why are you following me?"

Calvin awkwardly scratched his head.

"You've told me earlier that it would take me the whole night to reach the foot of the mountain... Even if I leave now, I won't be able to reach Ashmelion. Furthermore, it looks like it's about to rain cats and dogs soon. I'll need to at least find a place to stay in for the night, right?" His words were sensible and the old woman was left speechless for she has no other choice but to agree.

However, this didn't stop her from glaring at Calvin and a stalemate was once again created between them.

Eventually, the rain picked up in strength and the old woman had no choice but to sigh.

"Since it's going to rain very hard tonight, it would be misty in the morning. If you got lost in the mist and somehow stumble upon that village again, then that wouldn't be good..."

"How about you stay with me tonight?"

The woman didn't seem to be joking when she said this ambiguous statement.

Calvin didn't know how to react. But of course, he understood what the old woman was saying and he eventually nodded his head to agree.

The two continued on their journey, but they hadn't even walked a few meters yet when the old woman suddenly stopped.

"Are you really an adventurer?"

"What is there for me to gain by lying?" Calvin looked as if he was tired of explaining, "Madame, I was trying to catch a boar for dinner, and it led me to this direction before it mysteriously disappeared from my sight. I would want to give you some proof of who I am, but I've left them all in a tent that I've pitched somewhere around this mountain..."

"If you are asking about why didn't I leave traces when I was hunting the boar so I can backtrack my way if I ever got lost, then I'm sorry! That is indeed my fault. It was my oversight and I admit it, but I really need your helping hand right now, so please..." Calvin slightly bowed his head and made himself as pitiful as possible.

The woman seemed to have been convinced by Calvin's antics.

She turned around and softly whispered into the air.

"Follow me."

Calvin and the old woman walked in the opposite direction from the Village of Tulog. After a few minutes, they came across two wooden huts.

"Take the one on the right, I'll take the one on the left. Once the light from the sun disappears and night falls around us. Never ever come out of the wooden hut. No matter what you hear, no matter what you feel, and no matter what you see. Never ever come out of the wooden hut..."

The old woman unlocked the wooden hut on the right, but she seemed to be in a rush since she forgot to give Calvin the key to the hut.

"Damn, that sounds scary... So what if I have to take a piss or number two?"

"You have to do it inside, there's a chamber pot. Just throw it out the window."

"But why is it that I can't come out? Is it because of wolves or some beasts? Well, you do not have to worry about that, Madame. I may look pitiful right now but I am still an adventurer. I should be able to handle a wolf or two!" Calvin stuck his chest out and proudly declared. There was this smug look on this face while the old woman seemed to have grown tired from Calvin's antics.

"There are no wolves nor beasts whatsoever around us. Just lie down on the bed and sleep. If you hear anything, just let it pass. If you hear someone call your name, do not turn to look at them. If you hear a woman's singing. Plug your ears as fast as you can. You should be safe as long as you do not come out of the hut and do not listen to that singing voice. Do you understand?"

The old woman sternly said.

Calvin obediently sat on a stone bed as if he was a child being scolded by his grandmother.

"Hehehe... I might be an adventurer, but I am also a coward! Especially, when it comes to the unknown out there! I won't be going out nor listening to anything after I've heard you say that... Rest assured!" Calvin let out an innocent smile.

"All right..." The old woman stared at Calvin, "Rest well. When the fog in the morning after this rain clears up, I will help you reach the foot of the mountain so you can follow the main road to Ashmelion." She bade Calvin farewell and Calvin could hear the sound of a door closing from the wooden hut beside him.

Calvin looked around the room and discovered that there was a particular word to describe all that he was seeing in this room.

Strange...

The room was strange, or maybe unique?

There was not much furniture in the room, not even a table nor a chair.

There was not even a blanket. Only a stone bed was present on the upper right corner of the wooden hut. There wasn't even a pillow made out of haystacks. Was he supposed to sleep with his bed on a cold stone floor that seemed to have been carved out of the ground instead of being made outside of the hut and carried over to be installed in the hut?

Calvin furrowed his eyebrows as he laid on the stone bed.

When his eyes landed on the ceiling, dust entered his eyes as he let out a fat sneeze.

'What the fuck, there's dust everywhere...'

'How can a person live in a place like this? Shit, that's a huge ass spider in the corner right there... Please don't bite me...' Calvin was terrified to discover that he was about to sleep in a bed full of spiders just overhead. He stood up and walked towards the door. He closed it shut and was about to lock it when he discovered that there was not even a lock from the inside.

'Damn it... She told me to not come out of the wooden hut, but what if those things that she's talking about comes in instead?' Calvin felt that the woman was hiding more things from him. He walked over to the direction of the wooden hut beside him and shouted, "Madame! May I know who you are? My name is Calvin! Nice to meet you!"

"Keep your voice down! Why are you shouting? You startled me!" The old woman seemed to have been frightened by Calvin's shout, "You can call me Liz."

"All right, Madame Liz! Nice to meet you!"

"I told you to keep your voice down!"

"Okay..."

Calvin didn't say anything anymore.

But after about thirty minutes, he shouted at the top of his voice once more, "Madame Liz! Are you still awake?"

"What is it?!"

"Ah! I'm sorry, I was just getting kind of scared, so I just want to know if you are still awake and that I am not alone around here."

"Don't be such a coward, you're an adventurer for fuck's sake! Go to sleep!"

Calvin furrowed his eyebrows.

It had been thirty minutes ago since he yelled at the old woman.

On average, humans usually fall asleep in fourteen minutes the moment they closed their eyes and decided to sleep. But thirty minutes had passed, yet she was still awake! What's more, her voice didn't seem to be mixed with any drowsiness at all so it was obvious that she hadn't been attempting to sleep!

Furthermore, she even cursed at him in an agitated and shaking voice. The old woman had always struck Calvin as a calm woman who wouldn't falter at any situation since she was brave enough to live in the outskirts of a supposedly cursed village alone. Yet, at this moment, what caused her to be so nervous like that?

Despite all of these signs, Calvin knew that the old woman wasn't a bad person.

She had given him plenty of warnings, but her strange actions at this moment were making Calvin worry for his own safety.

'The Mission Order and Ricardo's account stated that the Village of Tulog was cursed by the curse of sleeplessness. '

'But was it really a curse?'

'Or were they just unable to fall asleep because they were terrified about something?'

'But what could possibly terrorize an entire village from sleeping including both men, women, and children?'

'A succubus?'

'Nah... A succubus can only lure men, but not women. They could probably lure children as long as the boy was in the middle of puberty.'

'But women and children, as well as the elderly?'

'It doesn't make sense...'

'The old woman told me to never come out of the wooden hut no matter what I hear or see... Is there something in here that can possibly protect me against an enemy from the material plane?' Calvin looked around and discovered a yellowed piece of paper with some scribblings on its surface.

'This pattern...'

'I don't recognize it, but the energy it was radiating seems to be on the positive side...'

'This should be a talisman made for protection.'

'But what is it protecting me from? Am I being protected against Specters? Or am I being protected against physical attacks from a beast with a body in the physical world?' Calvin thought hard and long but he couldn't get the answer that he was looking for. He wasn't omnipotent after all. Even though he was knowledgeable, his knowledge was far too high-leveled and it didn't involve low-leveled protection talismans like this.

But he was sure that this piece of paper was meant to protect him.

However...

'Why would it be here instead of her room? Was she expecting my arrival and is that the reason why there is a talisman in here even though the most logical thing for her to do is to bring this talisman into the room where she was staying instead of placing a talisman in an empty room that no one was using anyway?'

'This doesn't make sense...'

Calvin scanned the room around him and discovered that there were no traces of past human activity in this room for quite a long time. In short, there was no one else that had lived in this room for a while. Yet, why was there a protection talisman in the room when there was no one for it to protect?

Calvin's heart stiffened.

The rain outside the wooden hut had picked up.

Calvin curled on the stone bed with his knees pushed up to his chest and his arms around his knees.

His body was even trembling and his breathing was rough and even.

He looked genuinely terrified and as he laid there, waiting for the arrival of sunrise, unable to sleep, and unable to be in peace...

Calvin's ears picked up the sound of something!

It was the sound of irregular and rushed footsteps like there was a crowd just outside of Calvin's hut rushing to get to somewhere.

But it didn't make sense for a crowd to be there since it was currently in the middle of the night and they were in the middle of nowhere!

Calvin took a sharp breath and he raised his hands to cover his face. Leaving only a sliver of space for his eyes to peek into.

He kept both of his eyes at the unlocked door.

The rain kept falling outside and the sound of rushed footsteps finally disappeared.

But in the very next moment, the sound of a door being opened rang out, and what followed afterwards was the old woman's screams!

'Shit!'

Calvin got on his feet and rushed out of the wooden door and into the darkness.