Chapter 166: Wind Chimes

The temperature of the surroundings immediately dropped down the moment they entered the tunnels. For some reason, even though the darkness within the tunnels weren't so different from the darkness of the outside world. Their Predator Senses seemed to have malfunctioned as they couldn't see the end of the tunnel.

There was only darkness at the end of the tunnel, nothing else...

"Calvin... Is your Vision okay? Or you also can't see what's at the end of this tunnel?" Ricardo asked.

Heisenberg also turned to look at Calvin who was bringing up the rear.

"Yeah, I also can't see that far... Heisenberg, do you have anything that we can use as a light?" Calvin turned to look at Heisenberg.

As if on cue, Heisenberg gave a proud smile, "Coincidentally, I do have something that we can use to provide light around us. However, I need you to be close to me for this method to take effect. At least, you must be within five meters around me, since that is the limit of the light that I can channel through the crystal orb without it shattering."

"That should be good enough..." Ricardo nodded. As a member of one of the three Judiciaries, Ricardo's physical abilities were vastly superior compared to an average person. Of course, it was a given that every Predator out there was stronger than average people, but Ricardo's abilities were slightly higher than average.

Five meters should be enough for him to react. Furthermore, as a Scout. If there was indeed a danger, then he should be able to know where it was coming from earlier than Calvin and Heisenberg.

A confident smile appeared on Ricardo's lips.

He turned to look at Calvin and he found that the latter also had a smile on his face.

"Five meters should be enough. But can you maintain it? If you are just channeling light into a crystal orb, shouldn't that be a huge waste of Mana?" Calvin asked.

Ricardo was astonished. He actually forgot about that issue.

But Heisenberg seemed unfazed, "I can have all the problems in the world and it would never be about Mana... Out of everyone in the cathedral, I am the one with the naturally highest energy recharge stat. If I claim second, then no one would dare to claim that they were first..."

"Oh?" Calvin's interest was piqued. However, he didn't probe any further since there was something more important that he had to do.

"What are those?" Ricardo suddenly asked.

Heisenberg and Calvin followed his line of sight and discovered that there were wind chimes hanging from the stalactites of the tunnel. For some reason, despite the cold draft that constantly assaulted the group coming from ahead of them. These wind chimes weren't moving...

They weren't bothered by the wind at all...

It was as if the wind didn't exist...

"Wind chimes...?" Heisenberg also noticed this peculiarity and he gulped a mouthful of saliva to calm himself. Sweeping his gaze at both Ricardo and Calvin, he sternly declared, "Keep close to me now... I'll deploy some light that can help us navigate..."

"Okay..." Ricardo softly whispered.

Calvin moved closer to Heisenberg and Heisenberg took out his crystal orb the moment he saw that the two were ready.

"Ah, Goddess of Compassion and Light... Your servant seeks your guidance..." Heisenberg briefly chanted and the crystal orb in his hand started glowing with light. The darkness that seemed to be omnipresent around them was pushed backwards and Heisenberg could finally let out a sigh of relief.

Humans were naturally afraid of the dark for it contained the unknown. Despite being a Priest of the Church of the All-Encompassing Light, Heisenberg wasn't an exception to that rule. Even Ricardo had a pale look on his face that gradually disappeared as the light slowly spread around them.

Only Calvin wore a faint smile on his face.

A piece of paper was shining in a faint divine light in his hands.

Behind him, shrieks filled with madness, pain, and sorrow constantly rang out, yet Heisenberg and Ricardo had no clue about it at all.

It was because the moment Heisenberg activated the light that illuminated the darkness around them. Calvin had used the border of that light to create a vision and sound blocking illusion. It was an illusion similar to what Captain Ron Samuel utilized back on the second floor of the Captivating Fragrance Coffee Shop.

But despite its simplicity, it was quite unbreakable.

Especially when everyone's focus was ahead of them instead of behind.

A faint apparition of a man clad in a hospital's gown was floating near the entrance of the tunnel.

The Emperor's Commandment enabled Calvin to see what was happening, and there he saw the Mortician having a feast with the Specters and monsters that wanted to ambush their group from behind.

These monsters were no match against the Mortician that had just consumed a fragment of Valefor's soul and the soul of a Sigbin at all. In fact, the fight going on right now couldn't even be called a fight...

It was a slaughter.

[Gained 0.2 Ascension Points for the Mortician]

[Gained 0.1 Ascension Points for the Mortician]

[Gained 0.3 Ascension Points for the Mortician]

The smile on Calvin's face intensified as these notification windows continued on popping out in his field of vision.

"More... More..." Calvin softly mumbled.

Then, the system notifications disappeared.

"Fuck, I jinxed it!" Calvin audibly cursed.

"What jinxed?" Ricardo turned to look at Calvin in shock.

"No... Nothing... I was just imagining some scenarios in my head..."

"You sure are a weird person. Is that what it takes to get the weakest class in Las Felipinas?"

"Hahaha..." Calvin let out a dry laugh.

[The Mortician's Ascension Points: 78/100]

[22 Ascension Points necessary for Ascension to Purveyor.]

'As expected, Specters or monsters that are weaker than the Sigbin or the Hag won't net me that much ascension points. Well, it's fine... The real deal is in the village anyway and those small fries are just cannon fodders.' Calvin smiled.

He would surely let the Mortician have a feast once he entered the Village of Tulog.

"There it is! I can see the end of the tunnel!" Heisenberg exclaimed. Everyone turned to look where he was looking and Calvin could see the vague silhouette of houses in the distance. They continued to walk towards the exit of the tunnel, but before they actually left the tunnel. They stood near its exit and looked at the scenery around them.

"Those things in front of their doors are...?"

"Wind chimes." Calvin gave the answer.

He looked at Heisenberg and he was quick to understand what Calvin was talking about.

Pulling out the notebook that Old Zhong gave, he scrolled through its pages for a few minutes before he found the relevant page that talked about these wind chimes.

"Wind chimes..."

"There, I found it! Damn the writing on this notebook looks like it was written by a rooster! But here it is... I found it... Let me see what it says."

"Hmmm... Wind chimes... It says here that the people of the Village of Tulog use wind chimes to detect danger. They hang it in front of their houses and when it chimes, they would cease all movements in their house and act like frozen statues until the wind chimes stopped moving..."

"Oh, so you're saying that if these wind chimes moved... We must stand still like a rock?"

"Yeah, and we're also not allowed to tamper with the wind chimes or we'll receive the curse of unluckiness..."

"The curse of unluckiness. That does sound like a curse that I would never want to have." Ricardo lightly chuckled.

He made a sidelong glance at Calvin and noticed that he was in deep contemplation.

"What's wrong? Do you want to take a piss?" Heisenberg asked.

Calvin coldly glared at the bald old man and said, "I'm just thinking about something..." His eyes seemed to be staring at the Village of Tulog, yet it was actually looking at the notification windows that had popped up in front of him the moment they saw the village for the first time.

[S-Tier Quest: Exodus is now ongoing.]

[Quest Details: Uncover the secrets of the Village of Tulog and free the villagers from the curse of sleeplessness.]

[Bonus: If you gain at least five followers during this quest, you will be able to receive bonus rewards!]

[Hint: A follower can be any entity.]

[Quest Penalty: Death of the Aswang, Stephanie. Death of the Bound Soul, the Mortician. You will be forever unable to sleep.]

[The quest has already started and cannot be refused. Leaving the vicinity of the quest while the quest is ongoing means the forfeiture of the quest. Please be careful!]

[Good luck, young man!]

[Peace out! Ehe~]

'What do you mean, Ehe?! You're enjoying this, aren't you?! Grace?' Calvin made a sidelong glance at the horizon and he could seem to vaguely see the image of the Goddess of Compassion and Light cheekily smiling at him with that cunning look of victory on her face. Of course, Calvin wasn't actually mad at her. He was just annoyed that the quest was basically forced onto him and he was given no choice.

"Are we seriously going to enter this creepy place? Don't you think that we should go back?" Heisenberg wasn't laughing anymore. The vibes that he felt from staring at the Village of Tulog alone made him feel as if he was alone in the middle of an abyss. He felt that the Village was a black hole. Once he entered it, there was no way that he was going out.

"Old man, where is your integrity? You're a Priest of the Church of All-Encompassing Light for fuck's sake!" Ricardo scolded.

Heisenberg coldly snorted but he didn't argue.

He also wanted to rescue the others.

He just said those words for he felt that most of the passengers would've probably been dead already if they ended up in this village on their first day. In short, it was utterly useless for them to come here. However, Heisenberg's mind wasn't closed to the possibility of them still being alive.

Not even a week had passed since the incident, and he doubted that none of them would be alive given how many they were in the wagon.

That was unless...

These villagers committed mass slaughter and executed all the passengers at once.

But if that was the truth, then there was no need for this village to exist.

Heisenberg felt his blood boil.

He seemed to have become bloodthirsty as his eyes briefly went bloodshot.

Ricardo and Calvin felt the same. If the villagers here did slaughter those passengers, then there was no way that the two of them would let the continuous existence of this village. The quest stated that Calvin must save the village from the curse of sleeplessness. Furthermore, there was even a bonus if he gained five followers in the process.

In short, 'She' did not want this village to disappear.

'The first part of the quest description says that I must uncover the secrets of the Village of Tulog. There must be a reason for all of these. But still, if these villagers did kill those passengers. I won't hesitate to slaughter them all and spare only those that are proven innocent. Culling the evil from good should also be counted as saving the village, right?' Calvin thought to himself.

"All right, I've decided." Calvin softly whispered.

"What decision?" Heisenberg asked.

"We're going into the village."

"Are you sure?" Heisenberg grabbed Calvin's arm for the young lad was already walking towards the village. He glanced at Ricardo as if seeking his help, hoping that Ricardo would convince Calvin to not go into the village. Unfortunately, Ricardo was a member of one of the three Judiciaries. His duty was to serve and protect.

Heisenberg was barking at the wrong tree.

"I agree with Calvin. We should be going into the village." Ricardo coldly snorted, "Old man, if you're that scared then you can stay here and wait for us to return. Give us that notebook. We'll find the other passengers for you if you want."

Outnumbered 1 to 2...

Heisenberg had no other choice but to give up.

But he didn't show any of his emotions on his face. He maintained a stoic look and calmly replied, "All right, I'll go with you two. How could I let you kids roam around in such a dangerous environment without the supervision of a guardian?"

"You're treating us like kids? You bastard..." Ricardo growled.

Calvin facepalmed.

"Stop it, both of you... It should be fine for us to visit the village. We can tell them that we came from Old Zhong's. What's more, I don't think that the villagers here are that bad. I mean, they are obviously living in a strange place, but we can't judge a person's personality and attitude just because of the environment where he lived, right?" Calvin said.

Ricardo and Heisenberg weren't convinced, however.

But since they were just wasting time if they continued to argue here, the two eventually agreed. The three started walking towards the village and little did they know that entering this village would be a decision that they would forever regret.

This was the start of a nightmare.