Records of the Weakest Emperor Chapter 158: Reunion

There was no way that he could still refuse anyway given that the rice was already cooked.

He nodded his head and agreed to Mada Liz's terms.

But to be honest, he didn't really disagree that the half-bodied Specter should go with him. She would probably be of use to him at the right ti, and with her strength caused by her deep resentnt, she should be an incredibly powerful Specter that would most definitely prove useful to Calvin against the dangers of the Village of Tulog.

"All right, I can see that you are prepared and ready. Listen carefully because I won't be repeating what I am about to say. At the foot of the mountain, there is a tunnel. Despite the fact that the tunnel faces the east, it doesn't receive any sunlight. In short, it would be pitch-black once you enter the tunnel..."

"Once you are in the tunnel, keep moving forwards until you are stopped by an obstacle. Now, I will emphasize this. Never ever turn around once you start walking into the depths of the tunnel. My daughter will be protecting you from the Specters haunting that tunnel, but if you voluntarily turned to look at their temptations, your soul will be sucked out of your body and you will certainly die."

"Do not downplay what I am saying..."

"If you turn back, you will die."

"Trust on that."

Mada Liz sternly warned.

Calvin faintly nodded, "All right, before I go. Can you tell what your daughter's na is?"

"Why would you want to know her na?"

"Well, I an... How am I supposed to call her, then? Miss Beautiful?"

The Bloodstone around Calvin's neck abruptly trembled when these words ca out of his mouth.

Mada Liz stared at him for a mont before she chuckled, "Stephanie."

"Her na's Stephanie. But she prefers to be called Steph."

"I got it." Calvin lightly smiled before he turned around and walked towards the door.

"Wait..." Mada Liz stopped him in his tracks.

"What is it?" Calvin asked.

Mada Liz had stretched her hand out and Calvin wasn't even able to utter a single question as she slapped a yellowish piece of paper into his hands.

"I call this the Sigil of Protection. You should be able to use this thing to block a single malicious attack. Just rember that this can only be used once. Do not waste it, since this can potentially save your life from mortal danger." Mada Liz said with a grim look on her face.

"I understand..." Calvin maintained the smile across his lips, "I know what to do, Mada... Don't be so nervous. I will certainly co back alive and with vengeance for your daughter."

"O-Okay..." Mada Liz didn't say anything anymore.

She let out a smile and watched as Calvin walked further and further away from the wooden hut.

"I wish you luck, young man."

Mada Liz softly whispered into the air.

The night was pitch-black for the moonlight didn't provide even an inkling of light.

But Calvin was unnerved.

Walking alone in the dark? Please... He had experienced far more nerve-wracking situations than this. If he cowered against the dark, then he might as well induce amnesia to himself, since he would've just wasted his decades of experience anyway.

Furthermore, there was really no reason for Calvin to be afraid of the dark with Stephanie hiding in the Bloodstone hanging around his neck.

Her presence alone should serve as enough deterrence against beings livings in the spirit plane. To be honest, Calvin should be more concerned against sudden ambushes from beasts that inhabit the mountain. However, having lived for at least a decade inside one of the most dangerous valleys, the Valley of Death and Sorrow...

One could say that Calvin was an expert when it cos to keeping a low-key.

His footsteps were indistinguishable, using the balls of his foot as a cushion and keeping his breathing in a constant rhythm. Calvin was able to traverse the mountain with ease. Soon, he had reached the foot of the mountain. It took him just an hour to get to the foot of the mountain.

Surprisingly, there was a human settlent on the foot of the mountain.

Calvin approached the hamlet while maintaining the sa precautions that he had maintained while going down the mountain.

"Hey, Steph." Calvin audibly whispered.

This was the first ti that he was directly addressing the half-bodied woman with her na.

The Bloodstone vibrated in response. She had heard Calvin's words.

"Can you feel danger from this hamlet?"

The Bloodstone vibrated once.

"Is that a positive answer?"

The Bloodstone vibrated once.

"All right, so you cannot detect any danger coming from this hamlet?"

The Bloodstone vibrated twice in response.

"Okay, twice for yes, once for no."

"Nice..."

"At least, we have a system that we can use to communicate discreetly with each other."

"Yeah, this place is indeed smaller than a village. The fences are not strong enough and the way they are arranged and made makes it obvious that they are created by the sa person. How could there be only a single woods craftsman in a village? I reckon the population's only about a few dozen people..."

"What do you think should we do, Steph?"

"Do you want to go over there and ask so questions?" Calvin let out a smile.

The Bloodstone vibrated twice.

"Oh, I see... So you are also curious as to what kind of place is this? Hahaha, I know what you are feeling... Do you want to explore the place where you lived for decades? All right, let's do it. Let's just hope that we won't cause any misunderstanding." Calvin lightly chuckled and he walked towards the direction of the hamlet.

But suddenly he stopped.

Just before he reached the fences surrounding the village, he crouched and rolled on the floor.

The dust, rocks, and all sorts of debris that stuck on his clothes and body made him look ridiculous, but pitiful at the sa ti.

"All right, that should do it."

Calvin then walked near the fence. Its height was enough to keep wolves and beasts away, but it was nothing in the face of Calvin's vertical mobility. Leaping over the fence, he landed gracefully inside the hamlet and randomly chose one of the closest houses and then knocked on its doors.

"Hello!"

"Is anybody there?"

A rustling noise rang within the house.

There were people inside.

Calvin smiled, "I'm sorry for knocking so late in the night, but is it possible for to find shelter in your backyard or maybe drink water or two? I'm an adventurer from Ashlion and our carriage was held hostage by bandits earlier in the afternoon. I have nothing on right now, and I could really use a drink or two."

Mada Liz had believed that Calvin ca from Ashlion, so there was no reason for these villagers here to not believe what he was saying. But believing was one thing, trusting was far crucial than believing. If Calvin wanted information out of these villagers regarding the tunnels that Mada Liz was talking about, he had to make them trust him that he wouldn't hurt them.

The door went slightly ajar.

An eye peeked out of the doors.

Calvin maintained the smile on his face.

The eye stared right at Calvin for a few seconds before the doors finally opened, revealing a man in a farr's clothes.

"You're from Ashlion?"

The farr asked.

"Yes, I am... I can show you my ticket, give a mont..." Calvin placed his hand into his pocket, but he was stopped by the farr.

"You do not have to do that."

"Why? Are you going to trust just like that?"

"Of course not!" The farr shook his head, "I would never trust outsiders. I won't trust you, nor those two in my bed."

"Those two in your bed?"

"Yes! Co inside..." The farr gestured, "Take a look and see if you can recognize these two as one of your fellow passengers. I found them near the river a few hours ago. They are still alive, but they are injured."

"Really?" Calvin was astonished.

He had thought at first that he was the only one that got teleported sohow into the mountains of the Village of Tulog. But now, it seed that every passenger in that ill-fated wagon had been teleported in close proximity to the Village of Tulog. In that case, what happened to those that were still undiscovered?

Thinking about the dangers of the mountain, Calvin could only shake his head. If the remaining passengers were still not found in three days, it would be safe to assu that they had perished. There was no way that an average human being could live for so long in the treacherous environnt of this mountain range.

'Those that are discovered should count their lucky stars...'

Calvin had this thought in his mind as he stepped into the house of the farr.

He looked around the room and discovered that it was modest at best. Apart from a table and a few wooden chairs, there was basically no furniture at all. The bed was also made out of stone, speaking of the bed. The reason why the farr was still awake despite it being so late in the night was probably that there were two unconscious people lying on his bed.

"Heisenberg! Ricardo!"

Calvin softly whispered.

But since it was so quiet in the hamlet, the farr heard his whispers, "Do you recognize them?"

"Yes... They are indeed one of my fellow passengers!"

"All right, that's good..." The farr let out a sigh and he rubbed his exhausted shoulders, "I'm not really used to sleeping on a chair, but I have no choice but to sleep on a chair tonight. I was about to fall asleep when you suddenly knocked on my door, scaring the shit out of in the process..." A bitter smile escaped on his lips.

"I'm sorry about that..." Calvin awkwardly scratched his head out of embarrassnt.

"It's okay, it's okay... As the Goddess's Gospel says... Chapter 6, Verse 9: 'One does not need a reason to help soone in need.' You can say that I am just repaying the Goddess's grace to us. You do not have to thank ."

"However! You must bring your friends out of here once they are awake..."

"Our small village just simply cannot support even more months to feed."

The farr let out a long sigh.

Calvin asked the farr out of curiosity, "If that is the case, then why not simply move to the larger cities? There's an abundance of jobs there, and as long as you have the dough to buy goods, you would never lack food."

The farr shook his head, "You're young, so you will never understand. I lived my whole life in this village, and you want to relocate? Fat chance! I was born as a villager of this place, so I will also turn into a ghost of this village!" Grief flashed across the farr's face as he said all of these.

Calvin's eyes narrowed into slits.

The man didn't seem sincere.

It was at this mont that Calvin noticed the flies flying around in the room.

"What is that disgusting sll?" Calvin frowned.

The farr's expression changed.

Calvin followed the path that the flies were taking and his eyes happened to land on the hand of the farr which was being illuminated by the light of a nearby candle. The farr's right hand was severely injured! It was so wounded, that his hand was practically all bones, no flesh!

The bloodied pus that surrounded the whitish bones of his right hand made his condition look particularly sinister.

Calvin turned to the farr and asked, "W-W-What happened to that hand of yours?" His voice sounded nervous.

Of course, this was just a ploy so that the farr wouldn't be suspicious.

But the farr didn't seem to be inclined to talk about what happened to his hand.

He averted his gaze away from Calvin, obviously hesitant on opening up.

It was at this mont that Calvin pressed the attack.

"Sir, do you know anything about the Village of Tulog that is inside the mountain?"

When Calvin said Village of Tulog, the farr visibly trembled. He turned his gaze away as if to mask his panic as he asked, "Why are you asking that question? How did you even know about the Village of Tulog? That place is cursed... Absolutely cursed. I'm sure that the rumors of that village have probably reached Ashlion by now..."

"I want you to know that those rumors are true, and none of them are exaggerated even by the slightest."

Calvin's eyebrows scrunched up, "Just what the hell happened?"

The farr reluctantly replied, "A strange epidemic of so sorts struck that village. Those affected are forever unable to sleep until the day that they are consud by their exhaustion."

"What's the connection of the villager's curse to that hand of yours?"

"Ah... This hand?"

"This hand of mine got injured after a scuffle against a villager of that damned place!" The farr angrily said.

"A re village did that to you?"

"Yeah, I know... It's not believable, but trust ... Every villager in that place is a madman, and they will do anything to harm you if you dare to go so close to them. My hand beca like this after they poured so kind of incredibly hot water onto it. Those bastards... They crippled !"

"How did you get out then, if they were that crazy?" Calvin was genuinely curious about this.

"My fellow villagers rescued . Even though those bastards are deranged, it was still impossible for one of them to fight a dozen people..."

"I see..." Calvin spoke calmly, but his gaze was strangely grim, "Since you escaped from that village, then you must know how to enter it in the first place. Do you know where it is?"

"I want to take a quick look at it."