Chapter 104: Opaque reality [ 24 ]

Winterseed IIAfter Rowan left the village a few days ago, having killed Fagin and dominating the land, the people didn't return to their previous lazy way of life. Instead, they began working hard to accomplish the progress Rowan had spoken about. His speech that day transformed their mentality, making them almost as hopeful and hardworking as the people of Winterseed.

For the last three days, they woke up very early and took on tasks they had never taken seriously during Lord Fagin's reign.

Ren was very happy about the changes that Rowan had made in the village. He felt truly proud to be alive and even serving under him. His wife and daughters, who had returned from the nearby village where he had hidden them, were also happy when they came back and saw the lazy youths ready to work instead of ogling at girls all day.

Meanwhile, as the village prospered, Ren made several improvements in his skill. Before, he used to gather and mix herbs without a single subject to test their effects on.

But after the people saw how he used his herbs to help Rowan's soldiers the other day, they began to rush to him and report every single illness or pain they felt in their bodies. Ren was able to utilize some of the herbs he had stored for a long time and even discovered new techniques.

He couldn't wait to inform Liara about his new discoveries since she was the only person who had shown interest in herbs—aside from his daughters, of course, but they were engaged and would soon leave him to live with their husbands.

It was evening in the village, and the people had already begun to retire to their homes.

Ren was at the entrance of the village square, attending to a little boy who had injured his big toe while playing with his friends.

"Waa! It hurts, it hurts! Please make it stop, Uncle Ren," the little boy cried in pain.

His friends stood beside him, watching with solemn expressions as he cried.

Ren observed the children's faces and gave them a friendly smile. "Don't worry, I'll treat you, but next time be more careful."

He took the little boy and made him sit on his lap. He examined the boy's foot, which was bleeding profusely. A painful amount of skin had peeled off from his big toe, making Ren shake his head in pity as he imagined the pain the little kid felt at that moment. Searᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

But he didn't waste time; he dipped his hand into the woven bag on his lap and brought out a bottle containing a dark green liquid. He then dipped his finger into it and applied the liquid gently around the injury. Following that, he brought out a blue-colored, star-shaped leaf, squeezed it, and poured the extract on his toe.

"Waaaa!" The boy's cry became even louder as pain engulfed his entire foot.

But the painful sensation only lasted for a few seconds before a cool feeling spread across his foot and reduced the pain miraculously.

He stopped crying and looked at Ren with amazed eyes.

"Thank you, Uncle Ren! You're amazing!" he said with a big smile as he tested his foot on the ground, feeling no sort of pain.

"Thank you, Uncle Ren!"

"Thank you, Uncle Ren!"

His friends joined in, thanking Ren.

"No need to thank me. Next time, be very careful while playing, is that clear?"

"Yes, Uncle Ren," they responded uniformly.

"Bye, Uncle Ren." They waved at him and ran off playfully.

Ren heaved a sigh and watched the activity of the villagers.

Some of them, returning from their various workplaces, waved at him as they made their way home.

The village was really peaceful, with no sort of drama or chaos.

Ren was about to retire for the day and return home to practice more on his herb-mixing techniques when suddenly chaos erupted.

A lot of villagers, including little children and the elderly, began to run toward the village square fearfully.

When Ren saw the first person running toward him—since he was standing in front of the village square—he thought they were just exercising, until he saw a large crowd of people running past him with horrified expressions on their faces.

"What is happening?" Ren sprang into action and rushed toward them.

"Why are you all running?" he asked, but most of them were too horrified to reply.

"They are coming!" one of the villagers cried out to Ren.

"What is it? Tell me what is happening!" Ren inquired with a panicky voice, as this was his first time experiencing this.

"Monsters!" someone running past him answered without looking at him.

"Monsters?" Ren's eyes widened.

"Ren, this is bad!"

While Ren was trying to understand the situation, one of the middle-aged soldiers of the village approached him and said in a panicky voice.

Ren quickly asked him what was happening, and he immediately explained, causing Ren's eyes and mouth to widen gradually.

According to him, he and his colleagues were guarding the border when a group of scary-looking monsters of different races suddenly appeared out of thin air and began sprinting toward the village. When they saw this, they immediately locked the gate and informed everyone to run away.

"Luckily, none of the monsters can fly; if they could, we wouldn't be standing here having this conversation right now. The only thing buying us time are the walls, and I fear they are going to collapse soon because those monsters are pretty aggressive," he concluded.

Ren was still dumbfounded by the news he had just received. His mind couldn't even process the information he was receiving at the moment.

The people around him were still sprinting frantically into the village square, which was filling up at an alarming rate.

In their current state, not even his words would be able to calm them down.

Ren was still thinking of how to calm them when suddenly, from other directions, other villagers began to run toward the village square as well, screaming for help.

The soldiers guarding those points came to him and reported, their stories strangely similar to that of the first soldier.

"They are attacking from so many sides at the same time; this can't be a simple coincidence," Ren concluded while observing the chaotic scene.

Monsters appearing out of nowhere from one side was already too much, but when the same thing happened on the other side at the exact same time, it simply wasn't a coincidence.

Was the ancestor trying to punish them for killing their previous Lord? Or was this merely a natural coincidence? He wondered.

He bit his finger for a few seconds, pondering what action to take next, before turning to the soldiers and giving them commands to gather themselves.

"I wish Lord Rowan was here; only he would be able to solve this problem with his insane strength and divine leadership skills," Ren couldn't help but think about the strongest person he knew at this moment.

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Not too far away from the walls of Winterseed II, two figures adorned in black robes could be seen sitting on the branch of a very tall tree, watching the whole chaos unfold with satisfied smiles on their faces.