Chapter 153: Once You Go In, There Is No Way Out


    Calvin saw the eerie dpidated sign and its strange foreground. He swept his gaze around him and discovered that he had been lying in some tall grasses and wheat. He crouched down, checked the area for any signs of Heisenberg, Ricardo, or the other passengers of the wagon but discovered nothing.


    No one was around him.


    He was alone.


    The overcast skies gave everything a gloomy vibe to it. Something wasn''t right about this ce, Calvin could feel it, yet he couldn''t point it out.


    He didn''t head for the Vige of Tulog.


    He turned around and started walking.


    With a notebook in his hand, he started scribbling down. But it wasn''t words, instead, he was drawing out a map. Every time he took a step forward, he would draw a small line. Eventually, he reached the location where he first started and the notebook now had a circle on its page.


    ''So the vige is in the form of a circle? That''s odd... The architectural ways of the Joselian Kingdom don''t permit the creation of Viges in the form of a circle, since the cultural values of the Kingdom promote camaraderie...''


    ''If a Vige is formed in a circle surrounded by those huge wooden fences that would make everyone feel as if the vige was closing itself away from civilization and also pushing others away, thus harming its tourism...''


    ''Well, I can also give the vige the benefit of the doubt by saying that they have broken the rules, but it wouldn''t make sense for them to harm their own tourism... It''s because the Vige of Tulog has an incredibly attractive tourist attraction. The ind within ake. Such a wonder of nature had always attracted the eyes of nobles, wanderers, and faith believers alike...''


    ''This is why it doesn''t make sense why the vige seems to be in a circle and surrounded by these huge wooden fences...''


    Calvin thought.


    He looked down and the ground was muddy. He seemed to be on a ntation. The ground had marks of farming tools being used, but not a soul was around him. Furthermore, the farnd, despite having marks of farming tools being used was overgrown with grass. The grass was so tall that it was almost at the same height as Calvin.


    The light from the overcast skies appeared amidst the grasses as Calvin swayed them around to move.


    Calvin continued to move away from the farnd, he wanted to take a good look at the surroundings first to see if there was anything or anyone around him. It would be pretty bad if he moved directly into the vige without scouring the area since there might be survivors from any of the passengers from the wagon that needed his help.


    Calvin continued to move and he soon heard the sound of humming.


    The humming had no rhyme or rhythm to it whatsoever, it was arranged haphazardly as if the person didn''t care about how it sounded.


    ''Who is that?''


    Calvin took the golden quill which was his Aspect that had been tucked in his chest pocket the whole time. He bent his knees as he approached the source of the sound. In the distance, an old woman could be seen sitting on a tree stump. The old woman had a fishing rod in her hand, and she seemed to be fishing in the pond in front of her.


    Now, this wasn''t a scene that would normally cause any rm from Calvin.


    If not for the fact that the pond was nothing but a pool of muddy water that couldn''t possibly host any aquatic life.


    Calvin furrowed his eyebrows.


    He didn''t announce himself nor make a sound as he continued to approach the old woman from behind.


    She had a halo of white hair on her head, and her hands were callused. This was a sign that she had been working in the farnds since she was young, yet why was she out here fishing instead of tending to the ntation? Calvin moved diagonally and he was finally able to see the old woman''s face.


    It was nk.


    The old woman seemed to have lost all of her emotions a long time ago.


    Remarkably, above her hollowed cheeks was a pair of eyes devoid of life.


    Beneath those eyes were heavy and distinct eyebags which indicated that she hadn''t slept for a long time.


    Calvin revealed a humorless smile, ''Oh, just a typical olddy in the province, I guess...?''


    He didn''t dare to take another step further for the woman might notice her and she would definitely be startled by him being so close to her.


    She moved a few meters back and then deliberately made noise to attract her attention.


    "Ah! There''s someone!"


    The woman shook hard when she heard Calvin''s voice. She turned around and there was a nervous, and frightened look on her face.


    "Madame... I''m sorry to stumble upon you and disturb your peace... I''m an adventurer from Ashmelion that got lost while I was trying to chase a boar for dinner. The boar ran in this direction and I was about to catch it when it suddenly disappeared among the tall grasses and wheat, hahaha... I apologize..."


    Calvin hurriedly exined.


    The old woman stood up.


    She tightened her hold around her fishing rod and stared at Calvin in rm.


    Calvin gave an awkward smile and said, "I''m really sorry to have disturbed your peace, madame. But I can''t seem to find my way out anymore to Ashmelion. Can you point me in the right direction? Can you please tell me how to get back to Ashmelion?" To make it seem that he was genuinely desperate for help, Calvin reached into one of his pockets and fished out a few Joselian coins.


    The old woman didn''t even look at the coins that Calvin had in his palms. She just kept her eyes on Calvin and stood there with her fishing rod, ready to smash Calvin''s skull in if he dared to even take a step forward. The other was trying to act genuine, while the other was upromising. The situation soon reached an ufortable stalemate.


    Fortunately, the statement was soon broken by the rain that was foreshadowed by the overcast skies earlier.


    "Shit, it''s raining?" Calvin couldn''t help but curse. The rain was innately cold and it had a lot of Yin. This particr type of energy was a type of energy that Spectres and Ghosts liked the most. The Subi who had tried to devour him in his dreams was a type of a Hybrid Beast that naturally siphoned Yin from the surroundings.


    Since they couldn''t control their siphoning of Yin from the surroundings, they had to bnce this out by sucking out the Yang from men and that was the reason why the Subus became so infamous among the poption of men. This particr Hybrid Beast was so hard to locate since they had the ability to pretend to be humans, and their attacks were also carried out through dreams.


    So unless one had a Blessed Artifact that could enable them to counterattack against the Subus in a dream, or unless they could locate the Subi''s true body in the material ne. It was close to impossible to kill them.


    But there was something that didn''t make sense for Calvin.


    The Subus shouldn''t need the help of Doppelgangers to pull men into a dream. What''s more, they could only pull one person at a time.


    Yet, why was it that the Subus that attacked Calvin in his dreams needed the help of a Doppelganger to drag them into a trap?


    It didn''t make sense.


    Unless...


    Someone else was behind the Subus.


    Calvin quickly concluded his train of thought as the cold and heavy rain struck his head and drenched his body.


    He smiled at the old woman and she seemed to have rxed.


    "I have no idea who you are, but you have gone too far from the main road to Ashmelion that is at the foot of the mountain. Even if I point the way out for you, it''d be pretty difficult for you to return to Ashmelion." The old woman took her fishing rod out of the muddy waters of the pond which could be more urately described as a puddle instead of a pond due to its size.


    As she was cleaning her tools up, her body kept on trembling.


    Her legs were still weak from the shock that Calvin had given her by suddenly appearing out of nowhere.


    "Damn it, what should I do now? I really have to get back... I''m sure my family might be worried sick for me already!"


    Calvin looked genuinely disturbed as he distorted his face in frustration.


    "I can apany you to the foot of the mountain instead of pointing out the direction for you, but it will definitely take the whole night." The old woman sighed, "Also, there''s a vige in the direction of the east from where you came from. No matter what you do, never try to wander too close to that vige. It will suck you in, and once it does..."


    "You will never be able to go back."