Chapter 178: Chapter 178: The Natives of the Land of Damnation
SCURRY SCURRY SCURRY~
"Ah!"
Kyle Lewis shrieked, "What was that!"
A swarm of small red mice scurried past their feet. Zephyr Sterling and Faye Yardley casually dispatched the ones that tried to climb up their legs.
Less than twenty meters farther in, the environment grew dilapidated. Weeds ran rampant, and the road was no longer smooth.
Zephyr Sterling hacked away the weeds and small shrubs blocking their path with his sword, cleaving through many colorful little insects in the process.
"Ms. Chandler, Kyle, stay close. I’ll take the rear."
CAW CAW~ CAW~ CAAW~
The cawing of crows sounded from overhead.
Although crows are considered a bad omen, the four below weren’t affected. Even the weakest among them, Kyle Lewis, was holding up commendably.
They had no destination. This was exploration in its truest form—they simply went wherever the path was easiest.
It wasn’t just the animals that looked mutated here; the plants were, too. Some would even attack people on sight.
Even herbs that looked normal were impossible to gather. The moment they were dug up, a system prompt would declare them either polluted or cursed, completely devoid of their proper medicinal effects.
The amount of edible meat from the mutated animals they killed was also incredibly scarce. A deer of normal size, for instance, yielded less than two pounds of edible meat combined.
Smaller creatures weren’t even worth the effort of butchering.
For them, a place like this was truly a dead end; the rewards were far too scarce.
Leah Chandler was starting to feel a little awkward. She had already received so much from Faye Yardley beforehand. If their time on the island continued to yield nothing, she didn’t know how she would ever face Faye again.
But she saw that the other two hadn’t let their expressions falter. Her own son, however, was already panting from exhaustion. Yet, perhaps because he was surrounded by his peers, he just gritted his teeth and pushed on.
Zephyr Sterling, who had been clearing the path up ahead, suddenly stopped. His words were concise and to the point. "Traces of human activity ahead."
The others came to the front and looked in the direction his sword was pointing. Leah Chandler said excitedly, "It’s true! The land has clearly been tended to. The plants growing there are so much more orderly."
Kyle Lewis started to move forward but was pulled back by Faye Yardley. "There are people up ahead."
’People?’
Leah Chandler and her son looked left and right but couldn’t see a soul.
Zephyr Sterling said bluntly, "Wait here. I’ll go take a look."
With that, he circled around and dragged a small, gaunt person out from behind a large, dark-barked tree, tossing them onto the ground.
He pressed his sword to the person’s chest.
Two equally gaunt elderly people ran out from a nearby thicket of weeds. "Who are you? Please, don’t hurt the child."
Zephyr Sterling didn’t answer. An Arrow landed right at the feet of the other, silent old man, a clear warning that the next one wouldn’t miss if he took another step.
"Y-you’re not alone. Who in the world are you people? What are you doing in this Land of Damnation?" The old man was truly bewildered. The young man before him showed no signs of being corrupted by the curse. They hadn’t seen such a pure, untainted human in a very, very long time.
Faye Yardley emerged with Leah Chandler and her son. Her voice was cold. "It seems to me that you should be the ones answering our questions."
From questioning the old man, they learned that the inhabitants called this place the Land of Damnation. Their ancestors had been exiled here, making them all descendants of criminals.
They were trapped on this hopeless island—unable to leave, unable to escape. They couldn’t even take their own lives.
Generation after generation, they had eventually grown accustomed to life here.
Of course, they weren’t completely without contact with other humans. Adventurers or lost travelers would occasionally find their way here, bringing news of the outside world.
But those people, too, would ultimately fail to find a way out and be forced to remain, unable to ever leave.
"You’ll be just like the others. Eventually, you’ll become one of us."
Kyle Lewis: "No, we won’t."
The old man knew that newcomers to the island always refused to accept the reality that they could never leave. In time, they always did.
"What should we call you? Where is your settlement? How do you survive? Are there any unique resources here?" Faye Yardley decided to ask the questions that mattered to her.
"Just call me Reggie. Come with me. And have your companion put away his sword. Survival here is hard enough as it is; it’s better if we all cooperate. There are far too many things here that can kill you."
Faye Yardley glanced at Zephyr Sterling, who then sheathed his sword.
"Not so fast," Faye Yardley said, tossing a Basic Iron Axe to Zephyr Sterling. "Chop this tree."
"You can’t chop it!" the boy, who had just scrambled up from the ground, yelled.
Zephyr Sterling paid him no mind. If Faye Yardley told him to chop, he would chop. After all, she was his employer.
With one swing of the axe, the black bark split open, and Deep Crimson Tree Sap trickled out. A sweet, clean fragrance instantly filled the air.
The faces of Reggie and the other two locals turned even paler.
Faye Yardley immediately moved in to collect the sap with an empty Pure Water bottle.
Leah Chandler clutched her dagger in one hand while pulling her son closer to Faye Yardley with the other.
After she had filled two bottles to the brim, the boy ran over, heedless of the danger. "That’s enough! Don’t chop it anymore! The great tree will die! If it dies, our fields will be left unprotected!"
Faye Yardley let out a soft "Oh," and had Zephyr Sterling stop. She then kindly pressed a Hemostatic Pill into the great black tree’s wound. To everyone’s surprise, the effect was immediate; the flow of sap stopped at once.
After a moment’s thought, Faye Yardley took out an Exorcism Wind Chime and hung it on one of the great tree’s branches.
TINKLE TINKLE. The crisp sound of the wind chime echoed. A rustling sound rose up from the surroundings, and the three natives’ faces grew even paler. Strangely, however, their Spirits seemed to have improved.
Looking at the great black tree again, its dark color seemed to have faded slightly.
Reggie took a long, deep look at the Exorcism Wind Chime, and his attitude toward Faye Yardley became much more reverent. "Divine Envoy, please, follow us this way."
Faye Yardley raised an eyebrow, just as puzzled as the other three. ’I hang up a wind chime and suddenly I’m a Divine Envoy?’
’The Exorcism Wind Chime seems to be very effective here.’
’So, driving out evil can also drive out curses?’
’Curse = evil?’
They had no idea what the three natives’ combat strength was, but neither Zephyr Sterling nor Faye Yardley was intimidated. Zephyr, in particular, was confident in his knowledge of Mystic Skills, so he wasn’t afraid even if the place was haunted by evil.
The two bottles of Deep Crimson Tree Sap he’d just seen collected were, in fact, excellent material for drawing talismans.
The three natives led the way while Zephyr Sterling brought up the rear. The fields weren’t far from their village.
They rounded a bend and saw the village just ahead.
The village didn’t look small; a quick glance suggested it had at least a hundred households.
"There are quite a lot of you."
Reggie shook his head. "There aren’t many of us left. Fewer and fewer children have been born over the last twenty years. Once us old folks pass on, I’m afraid this place won’t last for many more."
An endless sorrow could be felt in his words.
