The Tale Never Ends Chapter 125 Malice at Midnight

The Shiyan Blade was a magical sword. It stirs and vibrates restlessly whenever it detects the presence of evil and supernatural entities. This made it extremely potent in comparison to the two other common-looking swords which were only special because they were imbued with Father's enchantments to ward off evil.

But the Shiyan Blade, unlike the two other swords which will only warn me about the presence of enemies, would also alert me to any imminent dangers as well.

The wind merely sustained for mere minutes before it gradually subsided. But the Shiyan Blade, still shuddering restively in its scabbard, did not stop cautioning me of danger! I picked it up with a frown of concern and grasped at its handle with a hand. Immediately, like a bolt from the blue, the tingling sensation of premonition assailed my senses!

Sensing something wrong himself, Lin Feng raised a hand to motion for silence. "Quiet! Listen!" He said to everyone. Every voice around us quickly died down, replaced with merely the crackling of tinders in the blaze before us before I could hear distinct rustling noises that seemed to come from a distance, although we could not tell from where.

My eyes narrowed and I lowered myself to a crouch to try to get a better gist of the sound. It grew louder and louder as time passed until we discovered that it was the noises of galloping horses from afar! "Shhh! Someone is coming on horses, and quickly too!" Lin Feng nodded his agreement, saying nothing. Edelweiss was wearing an expression of shock. But instead of keeping down, she stood up at once!

What's wrong, I asked hushedly and she cupped a hand over her ears to listen. "T- this... This! This is definitely more than a few horses! This is the number of an army cavalry, or else it would not be so noisy!" Having spent long years as a horse bandit, we could only trust in her extensive experience about horses. Something must be wrong, since she so said such!

But there was only one way to ascertain. Seconds passed and the distant galloping broke into the cacophony of gnashing steel and battle cries, laced with sporadic screams of pain and anguish as if a bloody battle was being waged just before us! But everything was fine and normal around us save for the noises and screams! The hairs on my arm were standing on their ends and an aura, lurid and tremendously insidious, lingered over us that we felt it very hard to breathe. I looked over my back and several of the girls were already hugging each other in fear! Even Godmother herself was looking distressed! As a demon who was once a beast, she has only the deepest fears for the sounds from the instruments of human's atrocity and carnage! Even Lin Feng, Chongxi, and Edelweiss were frozen by fear themselves. But what is going on?! In the late hours near midnight, the thunderous hubbub of a battle was upon us!

Despite the apprehension that sent me into goosebumps, there were many peculiarities! This was a deserted forest with the nearest human settlements miles and miles away! Of all the places for a fight, these people chose here! What was more, we had not encountered any living animal or people for miles since entering this region. On the other hand, I was sure that the noises of the fighting were not the work of ghosts or evil spirits for I had surveyed our surroundings with my Spirit Sight before night and found no ghosts around!

The fight outside only got fiercer; the spine-chilling cries and clamorous noises of the raging battle only grew stronger. Yet, we could not tell from which direction were the noises coming from as if the noises were transmitted directly into our minds! Struggling against the freezing panic, I calmed myself down and conjured my spirit wolves. I slipped them my instructions to have them gather what information they could about the noise but they merely took a few paces away from the campsite and turned back! The wolves detected nothing beyond the compound of our hearth!

I relayed to everyone about my suspicions. Lin Feng was the first to stand up. He crept to his knapsack and took out his whip before going to the fire. He chose from amidst the fire a burning branch as a torch. Then he began walking outside, hell bent on finding out about the noise himself. Fearing he might be in danger if he was alone, I ran to the fire and pulled a burning branch myself and followed after him.

Chongxi and Edelweiss were about to trail behind when I stopped them. Some of us have to stay to guard the campsite and be prepared in case some reinforcements were needed.

Lin Feng and I melted into the darkness, with only the fiery glow from our flaming brands illuminating our way. Without the ability of the Nocturnal Sight that grants night vision, I could hardly see Lin Feng. It was only by his torch that I could see where he was moving. But my Spirit Sight cautioned me of the murderous aura that wafted around us for miles!

We reconnoitered the perimeter of the campsite several times, still nothing could be found. Lin Feng began to lose any desire to go on. He turned back and glared at me crossly, "Say something, Shiyan! What is going on!"

My forehead creased into a troubled frown. Unable to aptly express what I felt using words, I could only sigh in return. "Let's go back," I said to him, "Something is fishy here." Lin Feng made no reply but he turned as I bade and we began moving back towards the campsite, having noticed the terrified and anxious expression on my face.

Back at the campsite, I was still unsettled, feeling that something paranormal must be at work around us. I stepped outside the tent and drew my sword. The Shiyan Blade gave a cold and shrill ring as it escaped its sheath enough to strike fear into any foe that might be lurking! "Evil beings and malicious spirits, come if you dare!" I muttered under my breath, "The Shiyan Blade awaits!" With a flick of my wrist, I plunged the Shiyan Blade several inches into the ground. Lo and behold, the Shiyan Blade was indeed feared by the evil and foul! The ghastly aura of malice and blood that hung over the campsite immediately subsided like the falling of tides of the sea! The noises and cries of bloodshed and carnage immediately reduced and gradually diminished completely that even the ghastly aura was utterly no more.

The Shiyan Blade's warnings were true; something was trying to attack us! Yet it was averted by the sacred powers of the Shiyan Blade to deter evil!

I turned and withdrew back into the tent and tossed the sheath of my sword on my knapsack which was lying in a corner. I trod back to the fire and lit a cigarette. It was an eerily cold and silent night that a mere moment away from the fire, I could feel the chilliness trying to stab into my bones. The rest of the company were beginning to feel more at ease now as the strange noises and disembodied cries had died down. Lin Feng was the first to react; he glowered at me, "What was that just now?! Speak up, Shiyan! What's gone into you!" Some of the girls began begging for answers, "What is going on here, Brother-in-law? Are we in danger?" Still trembling myself, I caught sight of Godmother who was still balled into a fetal knot, quivering herself as she grimaced with terror.

With a finger, I tapped on my cigarette and watched its ashes falling to the ground like blackened snow. Edelweiss came to me timidly and handed me a cup of kumis drink. I took a quick swig and spoke to her for the first time since the noise began, "We saw nothing outside when we were looking around the perimeter of the campsite. Still, I saw something with my Spirit Sight..." Lin Feng overheard me and immediately sprang up, struck with astonishment, "What did you see?!" He and Chongxi knew well about my innate Spirit Sight to know that it was more potent than simulated Magical Sights conjured using magical talismans. I could see the flow of aura or energies, pure and foul alike. I sighed paused for a breath before I continued, "It was an evil aura that reeked of blood and gore. For miles and miles, it stretched around us, yet it was so thick that we could almost feel we were amid a blood-curdling slaughter ourselves..." "Like a blade might fall upon us anytime, innit!" Lin Feng breathed, adding sharply. I nodded. As a practitioner of combat arts, he was acute to the feeling of such aura. He too had felt it earlier, but he did not mention it without my confirmation.

With my affirmation of what he felt, Lin Feng slapped on his thigh as if he just had a dawning inspiration, "No wonder! I had been feeling that same inexplicable fear since the voices and noises began! I thought that I was imagining things, since nothing was going on around us after all!" "It's not true, something was going on..." I remarked, shaking my head, "What we felt was absolutely evil, but it's like..." "Like we've been petrified, is it not?" It was Godmother.

Chapter end