Chapter 435 Lullaby Of The Chestnut Tree

"Get the damn beast!" A voice shouted. The sounds of fighting grew louder as Keng followed the group. Everyone held onto their weapons as they quickly followed the worn trail.

"Ahh!" A Fox Spirit flew past the group followed by a magical blast of energy flying past them.

"Get them!" A female voice shouted. The sounds of fighting and clashing grew loud around them. They were in the middle of a blind battle. The screams of monsters echoed around them as bodies dropped. "Grab him. He might need medical attention!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Voices shouted. Bright and the others watched as a group of footsteps ran towards them. They broke through the Ire fog as people recognized the Wang brothers.

"Bright, Winn, Philip! You're here!" A female broke through the crowd. "I saw Jacob running past us earlier. What happened? I thought you were hunting."

"We were, but the Ire came and Jacob made the decision to come back." Bright informed her. "What's the situation, Claire?" The woman was a Hybrid like Bright and the men she was leading. She wore leather armor and had her red hair in a bun. She wielded a sword and shield.

"There's only large monsters coming through the Ire this time." Claire told them. They had known that. Keng's eyes drifted towards the way the guy got flung. He broke off from the group and Claire's green eyes watched him. "I heard Lily had a friend from the Saviors Tomb come here. Is that him?" She pointed at him as Keng turned.

"Yeah, Keng's his name." Bright nodded.

"Where are you going?" Philip asked.

"To check on the guy." Keng pointed.

"One of my men can handle that. Go, you don't need to wait for me." Claire motioned at her men. They began to break off as Keng watched them move into the thick Ire fog.

"He's quite good at everything." Winn pointed at Keng. Claire studied him as Keng seemed more distracted by something else. He didn't react to anything, per se, but his eyes seemed to "twitch" occasionally. Keng's focus was being pulled. He was listening to the fighting around them. Someone's distant singing had caught him.

'That's not Lily's voice.' Keng thought.

"Is he always like this?" Claire pointed. The Wang brothers looked at him and shrugged.

"Don't know." Bright shook his head. He took a couple steps to his right and patted Keng. "What's wrong? Nervous?" Keng slowly shook his head. The singing was drawing him towards it.

"Is there anyone else who can sing besides Lily?" Keng asked, looking at the group.

"Mmmm," Bright thought for a moment. "No. Lily's magic is fueled by the goddess. Why?"

"Then what's singing?"

"You can hear singing? How sharp are your senses?" Claire asked.

"I sensed the Ire coming before it came." Keng casually replied. He started to follow where the healers went. "Something's definitely wrong."

"Hey, where you going?" Bright shouted. "We should stick together." Winn and Philip started to run after Keng.

"Let's go." Philip shouted.

"Sorry, Claire, we should stick with him. It's his first Ire." Bright told her.

"That's fine. We'll continue our job. Good luck." Claire waved.

Keng sprinted through the Ire. Magic and iron clashed as he made his way through the fog. He jumped past dead bodies. The singing was giving him bad vibes and he needed to know what it was.

[Notice: Lullaby is in effect.]

Keng felt his vision blur. He stopped and threw his arm up. Winn and Philip called after him, almost running into him.

"Keng, why'd you dart like that?" Winn asked. "It's dangerous enough already. What singing do you hear that needs your attention?"

"Don't you hear it?" Keng asked.

"Hear what?" Philip asked. It was just loud enough that if you were quiet, you could hear a woman singing. It was some sort of lullaby. It was eerie. Philip and Winn began to move to stand next to him when Keng's arms blocked them from coming. "What? I wanna hear it."

"You don't. I'm already being affected by it." Keng whispered.

"Shouldn't we move back then?" Winn whispered. Winn stuck his head forward and listened for awhile. "I don't hear anything. I think you're just hearing things. There's only fighting coming from the right of us."

"Can it target people?" Keng whispered. He took a step forward.

"Didn't you just say you're being affected by it?" Winn pulled him back, turning him. Keng's ruby and sapphire eyes seemed semi-glossed over.

"What's going on?" Bright asked. "What's happening?"

"Stay there." Philip put his arm out. Winn and Philip were convinced something was happening that they couldn't understand.

"What? Why?" Bright asked.

"He's being affected by singing." Winn answered.

"Magical singing?"

"Yes." Winn pointed at Keng's eyes. "Y'see what I see?"

"Yup. He's definitely under the effects of something." Philip nodded. "What creature would be capable of doing something like this? We're nowhere near the sea so Sirens are out of the question."

"An enchanter?" Winn guessed. Keng began to turn. "Keng, don't!" He fought against the young Fox's strength, quickly realizing the strength as Keng yanked his arm back. Winn stumbled forward as Bright and Philip watched Keng start moving.

"Do you hear anything?" Bright asked cautiously.

"No. He only hears it. Winn and I listened but nothing." Philip shook his head.

"Let's follow him then." Winn pointed. "The thing doing this to him will show up, right?"

"But we might get affected by it." Philip reminded them. "We should be cautious. If his hearing is really as sharp as he says it is, who knows what's he hears."

"Remember, we have resistance to magical effects like this, too." Bright told them. The three of them followed after Keng. Keng was walking at normal speed. They followed him until they appeared near the village borders. Keng's half-glossed eyes watched as the Ire fog seemed to disappear. The lullaby had grown louder.

"Go my children, dance with me.

Dance underneath the chestnut tree.

Laugh and play

Be with me.

Pick the chestnut, break it off.

Eat the chestnut

Be with me.

Dance underneath the chestnut tree."

"What's tha-" Philip began to ask when Bright covered his brother's mouth.

'Shush.' Bright telepathically told his brother.

'You hear it right?' Philip asked.

'Yup.' Winn nodded.

Keng moved forward. The large chestnut tree appeared and many people seemed to be skipping around and dancing around it. Keng noticed a ethereal woman singing as she sat on a large tree branch. Her form seemed clean and dirty. She wore a pretty dress and was barefoot. Pale skin, hair in pigtails.

"Go my children, dance with me. Dance underneath the chestnut tree." Keng started to sing.

[Notice: Lullaby effects cannot fully take you due to Psychic Resistance.]

'I know that.' Keng thought. He sung as he started to dance around the tree. Bright, Winn and Philip had watched him disappear into the fog. The singing was quiet enough that they could hear it but they dared not to move.

'The Ire brought her out?' Winn looked at his brothers. 'The one from the stories. The girl who died near the chestnut tree.'

'Can it do such a thing?' Philip asked. Bright's jaw tightened. He didn't know what to do in this case. They didn't have magical means that could harm spirits.

'Let's wait.' Bright finally spoke after awhile. 'Our powers aren't suited for spiritual combat. We'll stay away from the chestnut tree for now.'

'What about Keng? What do we do?' Winn asked.

'Let's grab Lily and bring her here.' Philip conjured up a wild idea. 'She's the only one who's suited for this sort of thing.'

'She could well be on defense duty. You know how Dad is. He doesn't want her to get hurt.' Bright and Winn looked at their youngest brother.

'Well, she's improved loads in the time you all weren't here. She can hold her own against a spirit like that.' Philip pointed. The lullaby played as the three brother's thought about what to do.

Meanwhile, Keng had played along and danced around the tree three times. He had noticed the people dancing were being sapped of their life force as the girl sang. The girl seemed to look at him, here and there, but as person began to grow more tired from walking around the chestnut tree, she started to do something to them.

Keng wasn't feeling tired at all. Rather, his psychic resistance to this sort of thing, thanks to Lee Seng, was making it quite hard for him to even 'feel tired,' let alone 'want to drop dead.' Keng rounded for the fourth lap and skipped around.

"Kay, I'm bored." Keng said very loudly. The lullaby stopped and the girl looked at him. He turned and looked up at her. "I just wanted to see if you could effect me. I guess you, kinda, can. But I'm bored, so let's just end this." Keng pulled out his daggers and grinned at the ghost girl. His body lit up in silver fire and the ghost's neutral face grew angry.

She screamed as all of the bodies dropped around her. The chestnut tree began to shift and move.

'What if it isn't a ghost?' Bright thought. 'What if—'

"AHHH!" The scream of a little girl shook them out of their thoughts.

"Ghost is wrong." Keng nodded. The etheral form of the girl shifted as the chestnut tree pulsed with purple energy. "I think this is has to deal with Nature in itself. Tell me, spirit, how did you get corrupted?"