Chapter 198: Chapter 124 Valena’s Diary
“Look here, Mantou!”
“There’s probably a hidden room here!”
Singo found a concealed door and easily pried off the old lock.
Mantou complained, “As a warrior, it’s impressive enough that you have perception, but you even developed handy skills?”
Singo replied righteously, “A skilled professional must be versatile. Isn’t that exactly for situations like this? Think about it, if it weren’t for my handy skills, we’d be trapped here.”
“Tsk.”
Mantou remained disdainful and was skeptical about the previously mysteriously missing Gold Coin.
“Enough, no more talking. Let’s move before that monster catches up.”
Singo opened the concealed door and crawled into the narrow tunnel first, followed closely by Mantou. The tunnel echoed with constant shuffling sounds until they finally reached a pitch-black hidden room.
Singo skillfully took out a spare Glowing Stone to light up the area. The scene before them opened up.
“This is…”
To their surprise, the hidden room was not that small; it was more than spacious enough for the two of them. The floor was covered with a thick layer of dust, and cobwebs filled the corners, clearly indicating it had been abandoned for years.
The room was quite well furnished, with a bed, blankets, and a desk all present. On the desk were a few quill pens and yellowing sheets of paper. The walls even had innocent-looking doodles, giving it quite a holy feel.
Mantou looked at the doodles on the wall.
Those drawings were rather simple but colorful, depicting a warm family consisting of a man, a woman, and a little girl against the backdrop of a dark tower, so humans in black robes, and terrifying giant dragons.
The chaotic strokes indicated the little girl’s fear towards those entities.
“A child’s bedroom.”
“It’s unimaginable that soone would live in a place like this.”
Mantou sighed.
“Mantou! Look what I found!”
Singo opened a drawer in the small desk and seed to have discovered sothing incredible.
“What is it? Let see.”
Mantou leaned in to look and saw a simple diary. It seed to have been carefully preserved, though ti had left so pages decaying and a few roughly torn out. The cover bore prominent letters—”Valena’s Diary.”
“Valena’s Diary…”
Mantou’s expression instantly beca complex, as if a terrible suspicion had arisen in his mind, making him silent while he carefully turned the pages.
The handwriting inside was clumsy and childish, full of innocence.
“January 3rd, Mom told to start this, my first diary entry. Dad, as usual, told to stay silent. Otherwise, those bad people from the Dragon Shaman Cult outside would capture , and the terrifying Dragon would devour in one bite. I have always obeyed.”
“January 4th, I stayed in the room quietly. Dad said I was very obedient.”
“January 5th, still in the room. Today, I found a cute animal. Dad said it was a spider. I invited it to eat black bread with .”
“January 6th, Mom brought a book called Beautiful Bird. It told the story of a bird family. I liked it very much.”
“January 7th, I read the book in the room. A cute rat accompanied . I nad it Tete as a reward for keeping company. I let it gnaw on a page.”
“…”
“February 15th, Dad hasn’t visited for a long ti. This ti, when he ca to see , I was very happy. He said he would soon defeat the bad people and rescue Mom and from this tower. We would be together forever like in the stories.”
“February 16th, Dad told many things. He said he would take to see the outside world. I was very happy.”
“February 17th, stayed in the room.”
“February 18th, stayed in the room. Food ran out. I’m so hungry.”
“February 22nd, I ate Tete, but I was very sad.”
“February 23rd, Mom finally ca back. She brought food but cried a lot. She said she was chosen to be a ‘sacrifice’ and might never co back. I hugged her tightly for a long ti.”
“February 24th, Dad hasn’t been back for a long ti.”
“March 17th, Mom celebrated my twelfth birthday. I was very happy. I asked her why Dad hadn’t co back, but she didn’t answer. I saw she was a little sad.”
“July 16th, I really want to see the outside world. I want a friend.”
“…”
“December 27th, Mom hasn’t been back for seven days. I’m very scared.”
“December 30th, Dad has been gone for a long ti, ten months if my watch is right. He finally ca back today, but he said Mom was dead. I cried.”
“January 20th, Dad said Mom’s death was worth it, that it was great. I didn’t understand what he was saying, but I was very scared. He seed like a different person. He used to love Mom.”
“January 21st, stayed in the room trembling.”
“…”
“September 12th, Dad told he had defeated the bad people. I asked if we could leave here, but he didn’t answer.”
“September 13th, I was taken out of the room, but Dad still wouldn’t let leave the tower. I was very angry. To , this tower was like the prison described in the books, very restrictive.”
“September 14th, a girl nad Mary was brought to the tower. She was about my age and very scared. I hoped we could beco friends.”
“September 15th, stayed in the tower, but I secretly ca back here. This place made feel very safe. Here, I could rember my old Dad when he still loved and Mom.”
“September 16th, there were strange noises in the tower, but Dad wouldn’t tell what they were. Mary was also very scared.”
“October 1st, the noise grew louder. I was very scared.”
“September 16th, Dad was really different from before. I missed Mom and cried for a long ti.”
…
“I don’t know the date, Dad told not to resist. His original words were ‘to welco the noble evolution with joy.’ I didn’t understand what he ant, but he scared more and more.”
“Dad was completely different from before. He would never treat like this before, never. I was so scared.”
“Mary said Dad was a bad man.”
“Dad wouldn’t let see Mary. He said she did sothing wrong and needed to be punished. He said I would see her later.”
“Dad said everything was for my good. If I behaved, I could leave. I thought so too.”
“I would behave.”
“First day, scales grew on , it hurt a lot.”
“Second day, more scales grew.”
“Third day, spikes grew on my back, it still hurt a lot. But Dad was very happy. He said I was almost successful. Seeing Dad happy made happy too.”
“Fourth day, I felt like I was becoming a bad person. Dad fed so at. He said it was edible, but it felt wrong. My nose beca very sensitive, and I seed to sll… Mary.”
…
“Eleventh day, still no changes today. Dad said he was disappointed in and called an inferior species, saying I had let him down. I cried a lot. I didn’t know what I did wrong.”
“Twelfth day, Dad said he found a new thod.”
“Fourteenth day, Dad replaced my hand with a new one. Though I got used to it, it still hurt a lot. But he told not to cry, so I held back. I couldn’t make Dad angry anymore.”
“Fifteenth day, I felt a bit odd.”
…
The following pages were roughly torn out.
Mantou read it all in one go and couldn’t help but take a deep breath.
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