Chapter 167: Knock a Maximum of Three Times


    "Man, this ce is really strange. I''ve been in a lot of missions rted to the supernatural, but this would be my first time being in such a creepy vige that seems to reek of the supernatural..." Ricardomented.


    Calvin bitterly smiled, "You do know that this is the Vige of Tulog, right? The influence of supernatural forces must exist here. How else can we exin the curse?"


    Heisenberg scoffed, "The curse might be a load of bullshit! I heard some rumors that the Quads were surveying the area around this vige..."


    "So are you saying that the Quads might have some involvement regarding this curse of sleeplessness? Then, how do you exin Old Zhong''s story? Was he lying? Or was the cult just a front for the Quads to do whatever the fuck are they doing out here in the wilderness?" Ricardo sneered.


    "Heisenberg''s ims aren''t entirely false. The Quads might''ve given these vigers some hallucinogens and drugs, and that could exin why they are unable to sleep at night." Calvinmented.


    Ricardo stared at Calvin, "Then exin to me why they have so many taboos? And if they are under the influence of drugs, surely these changes are so drastic, aren''t they?"


    Calvin nodded and Heisenberg seemed to agree.


    Drugs might change the personality and attitude of a person, but would it really influence their way of living for the long term?


    It could.


    But the three of them doubted that it would be to this extent...


    At this moment, the three of them couldn''t even find any livestock in the vige.


    What''s more, there were several scarecrows lining up the road leading to the vige from the cave entrance.


    The scarecrows didn''t look too different from the average scarecrows, but there was something fundamentally different about them.


    It was their eyes.


    For some reason, the eyes of the scarecrow looked as if they were the eyes of a real and living human being.


    ''The scarecrows have eyes...''


    Calvin thought to himself.


    ''I have no idea what will happen if we just use the road like this with these scarecrows beside us...'' Calvin made a sidelong nce at Heisenberg and asked, "Heisenberg, can you check the notebook and see if there''s something in there about the scarecrows?"


    He obliged and after a few moments of checking, he shook his head and replied, "I don''t see any entry about these scarecrows. They must be not that important since they weren''t mentioned in the entry. It should be safe for us to pass through this path." Heisenberg said with a smile.


    Ricardo was staring at Heisenberg with doubt, "Dude... Is your sense of danger not working, or what? Can''t you see their eyes?"


    "What eyes?" Heisenberg''s eyebrows scrunched up.


    "Look!" Ricardo was about to point his finger at the scarecrows when Calvin suddenly moved and stopped his arm from pointing.


    "Wait, wha-"


    "Don''t move..." Calvin mumbled.


    "What is it? Is there an enemy?" Heisenberg tensed up.


    "No... Pointing at something with a finger is amon taboo. Heisenberg, can you check if pointing is a taboo or not?" Calvin asked.


    Heisenberg was quick to react and he flipped the pages of the notebook open, "There! I see it... It''s considered taboo to point at anything with a finger. If you must point, you should point at the object with an opened palm..."


    "There we go..." Calvin released Ricardo''s arm and there was a pale look on Ricardo''s face.


    As a member of the three Judiciaries, he knew what the word, ''taboo'', meant.


    Calvin saw the pale look on Ricardo''s face and he couldn''t help but chuckle, "It''s fine... You haven''t vited any taboos, yet so you should not be worried about any punishments. Just be careful next time. Remember themon taboos."


    "Themon taboos? Are you talking about the taboos associated with Mystical Artifacts?" Ricardo asked.


    "Yeah, just keep those things in mind." Calvin gently smiled.


    Heisenberg didn''t say anything, but there was this nervous and pained expression on his face.


    "I suggest we circle the perimeter for now before we enter the vige."


    "I agree..." Heisenberg was quick to respond, but there was a strange tone in his voice.


    "Are you okay, old man?" Ricardo asked.


    "I''m fine, I''m all right... Let''s go." Heisenberg avoided the question and started walking away of his own volition.


    It was at this moment that Calvin suddenly eximed, "Stop!"


    Heisenberg stiffened with his right leg frozen in mid-air.


    "W-W-What is it?!" Heisenberg slowly turned his head towards Ricardo and Calvin.


    "Heisenberg, why must you act like this? If you are ignorant about themon taboos, then you should''ve set aside your pride and told us. If this happened while we are already in the vige, then what you''ve done might''ve cost us our lives..." Calvin let out a sigh of disappointment.


    Heisenberg''s expression changed. But he then soon sighed in shame as he replied. This time, he was being honest.


    "It''s my fault, all right? I was being full of myself, okay? Yeah, I have no idea what themon taboos are! Am I supposed to be ashamed of my ignorance in that particr subject?"


    "Pfft!" Ricardoughed out loud, "Old man, are you dumb, or what? Not knowing themon taboos is normal for Priests like you! After all, you old men in the cathedral have no idea what it''s like to directly deal with the supernatural. It''s not out of the ordinary for you to not have any knowledge regarding themon taboos! You''re overreacting!"


    Heisenberg awkwardly rubbed his nose out of shame.


    Calvin also revealed a smile.


    For some reason, being around these two made him feel rxed. It was as if he was not about to voluntarily enter a lion''s den. Instead, he felt as if he was on a field trip to an unknownnd.


    "Okay, all right, you win... Just tell me more about themon taboos." Heisenberg didn''t even argue anymore.


    He raised both of his hands up, but as soon as hepleted this action, Ricardo suddenly screamed, "Don''t move!"


    Heisenberg froze once again.


    "Pffft!" Ricardo almost busted his gut seeing the petrified expression on Heisenberg''s face, "You fell to it again, dumbass!"


    "All right, let''s consider that a deration of war." Heisenberg stared grimly at Ricardo.


    He was about to charge at thetter and pummel him down the ground when Calvin interrupted with a bitter smile on his lips.


    "Stop this silly argument, guys. We have to move on." Calvin proposed.


    Heisenberg coldly snorted, but he didn''t disagree with what Calvin had said.


    Ricardo, on the other hand, still had that smirk on his face as he nodded his head.


    The three then proceeded to walk around the perimeter of the Vige of Tulog. There, they discovered that the vige was actually really big.


    In fact, they had to climb a nearby adjacent hill before they could take a good view of the vige.


    "I''ve counted the houses and it seems like there are about several hundreds of vigers living inside this vige. But how are they managing to feed every viger? I don''t see any signs of livestock nor crops..." Ricardo reported his findings.


    "We''ll find out about that soon enough. For now, let''s be careful not to vite any taboos nor get into an altercation with any of the vigers..."


    "Do you understand?" Calvin made a sidelong nce at Ricardo.


    "Why me?" Ricardo was puzzled.


    Heisenberg lightly chuckled, "He obviously thinks that you aren''t so mature for your age. In short, you''re a brat!"


    "Aha? Says the old man who''s too ashamed to admit that he''s ignorant!"


    "What the fuck did you say?!" Heisenberg rolled his sleeves and rushed at Ricardo.


    Calvin was quick to react and he stood between the two with the same bitter smile on his face.


    ''It seems that being with these two isn''t as rxing as I thought...''


    Fortunately, nothing really happened between Heisenberg and Ricardo. The group decided to take a look at the vige from the top of the hill before Calvin dered, "There''s really no use for us to hide. We will avoid the path of the scarecrows, but we will still use the entrance."


    "I agree..." Ricardo nodded. Heisenberg didn''t say anything but the fact that he took the lead and started walking towards the vige told the two everything that they needed to know.


    Thus, the group started to approach the Vige of Tulog.


    From a distance, the vige didn''t look that strange, but when they were about to reach the entrance. They noticed that the houses closest to the entrance were damaged. Strangely enough, the doors of the houses seemed to be destroyed by something with force. What''s more, the oilmp hanging over the front door directly behind the wind chime seemed to be casting an eerie shadow over the group.


    They took a closer look and discovered that the good fortune talismans normally stered above the doors of a house were separated into two pieces. The other half of the talisman was ced on the ground near the doors, while the other half was ced on the ce where one would usually find it on the houses back at Ashmelion.


    "The people here seem to practice the same culture as the outside world. Though, it''s disturbingly distorted." Calvin approached the doors of one of the closest damaged houses. He nced at Ricardo and thetter nodded his head, saying that he could detect that someone was living inside the abandoned house.


    Calvin then nced at Heisenberg.


    Heisenberg stared stupidly at Calvin before he asked with a stammer, "S-S-Should I go inside?"


    Calvin rolled his eyes at the old man, "It''s rude to enter a room without knocking! Of course, you have to knock!"


    "O-Okay..." Heisenberg mustered his carriage and with his crystal orb in tow. He moved closer to the door and knocked twice.


    "Hello! Is anyone there?"


    There was no response.


    He was about to knock once again when Calvin suddenly said.


    "Stop..."


    "W-What is it? I haven''t vited any taboo, right?"


    "Yeah, you haven''t... But only knock a maximum of three times."


    "W-Why...?"


    "Stop with the questions and just do what I say..." Calvin didn''t even have the energy to exin to this old man.


    "A-All right..."


    "I got it... I got it... I can do this... We will eventually meet up with the other vigers since we need to cooperate with them when ites to finding the other passengers of the wagon. I should be able to do this... Come on, it''s just knocking for fuck''s sake!" Heisenberg softly whispered into the air as he criticized himself.


    He raised his arm, and when his hand was about to reach the door in order to knock...


    The oilmp hanging over them suddenly went out.