"Go... god! You're finally awake!" Jonah instantly knew it could only belong to the person who had saved him. Overwheld with emotion, he began to sob, "I thou-thought you were dead..."
Hearing the boy's sobs, Kranos gently placed a hand on his head and gave him a reassuring pat.
Once Jonah cald down, he sniffled and said, "Grandpa Old Man said you should et him once you wake up."
Kranos nodded in response. After asking Jonah a few questions, he made his way toward the village head's house.
...
A few minutes later, he arrived. On the way, Kranos couldn't help but notice the strange gazes the villagers gave him. But he didn't take it to heart. After all, he understood their reactions. To people who believed he might be able to save them all, who wouldn't feel both excitent and apprehension?
Besides, Kranos' thoughts wandered as he began crafting responses to the questions he anticipated the elder might ask. When he finally reached the house, he saw the door was closed. Knocking a few tis, he waited. Soon, the village head opened the door.
"Oh! Kid!" The old man was surprised. Without hesitation, he invited Kranos inside and headed to the kitchen to prepare so tea. From their previous eting, he'd learned the boy had a preference for tea.
After serving it, they both sat down, and the conversation began.
...
"Thank you for saving that little kid, Jonah," the elder said, studying Kranos' expression carefully. Kranos could tell — the ga of words had begun. Every sentence from this point on would carry a deeper aning, but... i am prepared!
Kranos nodded politely. "It was nothing, Village Head. He's a good kid. I just gave him a gift in return."
The elder's words had been a probe; he was trying to see if Kranos had a motive for healing Jonah. after all he couldn't just trust a 12-year-old kid who could heal the corruption in people. What if it was a new form of disease that was even more hidden? The elder was being cautious.
Kranos's response implied that 'if you give sothing of equal value, i will heal you in return.' he had to show the elder that he was willing to bargain. As soone that had lived for so long, Kranos knew that the elder would never believe that there would be soone who would willingly heal with their ability without asking sothing in return.
Seeing that his subtle interrogation was leading nowhere, the elder sighed and looked Kranos straight in the eye.
"You don't talk like a child."
It wasn't the first ti the elder had noticed. Even during their previous eting, Kranos had spoken with maturity far beyond his years. Initially, the elder brushed it off, but now it was too obvious. The boy had even understood the hidden anings in his words.
Soone like this couldn't be ordinary — no child could survive the forest alone for a night. The more he thought about it, the more the elder doubted Kranos' earlier claim of getting "lost."
From the elder's facial expression, Kranos imdiately guessed that his lie had been discovered, but he didn't mind. If it was before, the elder would be willing to dig into the truth of the matter, but now that Kranos' card had been laid on the table, the elder knew that if he wanted to treat the villagers, he had to be cautious with the way he treated Kranos.
"Haha, Elder, you must be joking. I'm just a child," Kranos replied, forcing a dry cough. Inside, he felt a chill — his identity as a reincarnator had almost been exposed.
The elder stared blankly for a mont, caught off-guard by Kranos' pitiful expression. If he hadn't spoken with the boy earlier, he might have been fooled again. He snorted and changed the subject.
"Do you feel anything strange in your body?"
Hearing the elder's words, Kranos imdiately felt that the elder knew sothing about the Gu worm. He proceeded to tell the elder of his encounter with the worm. Despite having only spent a few hours with the old man, Kranos felt he was soone genuinely concerned for the village—either that or he is a really good actor.
The elder was stunned for a mont before his eyes lit up with realization. "So that is what it was!" seeing Kranos confused, the elder coughed awkwardly for a mont before giving an explanation.
"What I didn't tell you is that so experts in the past tried to heal their loved ones. They attempted to extract the purple corruption from their bodies, but every ti, the ones doing the extraction ended up infected themselves."
"We never knew the cause... but now that you ntion the Gu worm, it makes sense."
A chill ran down the elder's spine. "That ans... there are worms inside every one of us?"
Kranos could only nod silently, sensing the elder's growing despair.
The elder continued to mumble under his breath, "can this Gu worms hear our thoughts and control them? what if there is more to this?"
Kranos began pondering as well. Would such a terrifying entity implant worms into every person's body just for amusent? It felt more like... it is raising them!
Kranos imdiately had a terrifying thought: perhaps the creature was raising the Gu worms as nutrients to absorb in the end, leaving this planet devoid of life! What if...
"Young man, you have to help us; you have to save us!" before Kranos could continue down this line of thought, he was interrupted by the village head. Kranos had already decided to save them; after all, who else could show him the way to the safe haven? He imdiately put forth his condition.
"You want to lead you to the safe haven?" although the old man had already guessed that Kranos might not be from there when Kranos' condition was put forth, he couldn't help but hesitate.
He knew what kinds of nightmarish creatures lurked in the forest surrounding the safe haven. The journey would be perilous.
But what choice did he have?
Reviews
All reviews (0)