By the time Molan closed his eyes as he lay on bed, it was already the morning of the next day.
Heavy rainfall continued, seemingly endlessly, and the dark clouds made it impossible to differentiate between day and night. Only the clock could be counted. However, Shuoxue was still not used to telling the time as the way time is measured now differed greatly from 10,000 years ago.
Molan had made a terrible mess in the inn last night because of the receptionist’s insistence that he had not seen any golden haired elf girl, only a youth lugging his luggage as he left his room. Molan insisted the receptionist was negligent and didn’t want to admit it and destroyed the place, and had to escape into the rain before the guards and security came. He continued to ask people in the streets and knocked on doors as Shuoxue followed him. He was in a vicious rage and cursed at the weather and himself constantly, and nearly came to blows with people many times. Finally, he squatted below a street lamp, looking completely defeated, as the rain made him utterly drenched.
Shuoxue walked up with an umbrella.
She’s dead, Molan softly said.
Shuoxue thought so too, that for some reason, Tess’s fate had arrived earlier than thought and she disappeared completely without even leaving any remains.
To have miscounted the day of Tess’s death, Shuoxue was very guilty, but Molan did not blame her. He returned to the inn, apologised and paid for the damages. The soldiers mistook him for Txarango royalty and did not dare to pursue matters further. After he entered the room, Molan sat by the window and put on the ear m.u.f.fs Tess had left, his shoulders trembling. He did not utter a single word nor did he sleep the whole night.
And now that he was finally asleep, Shuoxue was sitting at the side, eating the shaved ice that was for Tess and glancing over at Molan from time to time.
This is my master huh, she thought.
Even though he is usually so slovenly, seems to lack common sense, and gets emotional easily. But for the sake of the girls important to him, he had done so much at the Oracle and in the forest of elves. Even though he did things without thinking, he didn’t seem so bad after all.
And when he hurt, he would hide it deep within his heart and say nothing.
He is a master I can get along with, it would be for the best if he can live long. Shuoxue thought about the Sword Saint when he knelt before the guillotine.
The curse was what she was worried about the most, as she did not want Molan to meet with the same end of being killed by his beloved. Tina and Tess, one already qualified for that position and another had potential. But now that both were dead, Shuoxue need not worry about this for now.
Shuoxue did not think that Tina could be saved. There was no such healing spell that could revive the dead after all. Unless the G.o.ds themselves lent a hand. But if they cared about the life and death of human, they wouldn’t be G.o.ds.
Molan wouldn’t give up of course and he might still stubbornly believe that Tina would return to his side soon, and would probably think of a plan to return to the forest of elves when he awakens. Originally he planned on returning with Tess on the 9th day of the trip. But now that she has disappeared, he could not return as the forest rejects all humans.
All my fault, Shuoxue muttered softly.
Not returning was good, Molan would never confirm Tina’s status and would keep his hope alive. That way, he would never fall in love again. Shuoxue thought that was the best scenario but Molan would surely hate her though that couldn’t be helped.
After she finished the shaved ice on hand, Shuoxue searched the bag for more but there was none left. I’llet him to buy more when he wakes up, tch tch, human food is not too bad at all, Shuoxue thought. Though nourishment couldn’t be absorbed from food, looking at it another way, it meant that she could eat as much as she want and not have any repercussions.
Looking at Molan’s skinny back, Shuoxue raised her eyebrows.
What is going on? She said to herself.
Why is Molan’s life force so corrupted?
As a sword, Shuoxue could see the life force of people as a halo made of mist that was around the shoulders. Depending on age and health, the mist halo would have different forms. The aged typically have thin halos, which looked like they could dissipitate anytime while the young and hale had strong, thick and healthy halos. Tess’s halo had a rift which was growing bigger bit by bit. Shuoxue could calculate the time required for the halo to disappear entirely and it would be 10 days at maximum. Perhaps the growth had accelerated when they were out buying shaved ice, and so they could not see Tess’s last moments. However, whether it was old or young, elf or human, all the coils were white. Only Molan’s was being consumed by a black miasma that was growing stronger.
It looked exactly like the halo of the green haired elf who was taken over by the demonic beast. And it was after the Oracle Plenary that Molan’s halo began turning black.
Was Molan being taken over as well? Shuoxue was very concerned about this at first but Molan did not exhibit any symptoms of this and there were no black arms coming out of his body. Shuoxue’s concern diminished with time, and only a small suspicion remained.
By logic, Molan could not be taken over by a demonic beast after all since he had not clme into contact with the green haired elf’s blood. Before he could swing down his sword, Tess had come to stop him and destroyed the elf in a clean manner that left no blood behind.
Good thing Tess had foreseen Molan being taken over and saving him from that fate.
Did she foresee her own end? Shuoxue shook her head. If that was the case then Tess would have brought Molan back to the forest on her own accord before she disappeared.
As for how Tess was treating Tina, Shuoxue had no idea. After sinking into the holy water, Shuoxue’s perception of the world was shut down forcefully. When she recovered, they were already in Tess’s room. Tess placed Molan onto the bed, wiped the bloodstains off him, rubbed his forehead, and opened the windows to let the cool breeze in to let him sleep more comfortably. After that was done, Tess carried Tina, whose halo was almost completely gone, out of the room.
Take care of your master, I’m leaving for a bit. Tess said to the Shuoxue in sword form standing by the bed as she shut the door.
When she returned, it was only Tess and Tina’s whereabouts were unknown. Tess then crawled onto the bed and sat beside the unconscious Molan, looking at his sleeping face, occa.s.sionally giving a silly laugh.
On the second night after the Oracle Plenary, Tess sprang up from a nightmare and scared Shuoxue but after that she saw Tess lie back down and hug Molan.
Wakaka! Taking advantage of master while he is still unconscious, would there be some exciting and hard-to-come-by scenes coming up!? Shuoxue was very excited and watched Tess’s every move but Tess didn’t do anything and Shuoxue then noticed that Tess was crying softly.
What sort of dream had she seen? Tess buried her face into Molan’s chest as she hugged him tightly, her long hair smooth and beautiful, reflecting the moonlight clearly.
She was actually a really good girl. Shuoxue felt sorry for her.
All of a sudden, there was fierce knocking on the door which interrupted Shuoxue’s thoughts.
“Who is it?” She jumped off the chair, “The door is going to break already!”
Was it the inn who came back to find Molan because they were unsatisfied with the compensation? The knocking did not sound friendly in the least. If that was the case then it would be troublesome. Molan had finally fallen asleep after great difficulty and shouldn’t be interrupted.
Could it be that Tess returned?
That thought flashed past in Shuoxue’s mind as she opened the door.
Looking at the people outside the door, Shuoxue was disappointed.
“Who are you people?”
“We are soldiers from the logistics unit!” The man clad in a military uniform standing front seemed very distressed, “Our officer has ordered us to evacuate the people, leave this place quickly.”
“Run as far away as you can!” A soldier from behind yelled.
Shuoxue was bewildered from what was yelled at her.
“But why?”
“Emergency situation! Is there anyone inside?”
The man in the military uniform made to enter the room as he said so but was blocked by Shuoxue who opened her arms and stood at the door.
“There is there is! Master is dtill sleeping!”
“Sleeping!? If you don’t run quickly, you will die!”
“Why will sleeping for a bit lead to death!”
The uniform man lost it and shook Shuoxue by her shoulders while staring right into her eyes and shouting at the top of his voice.
“Demonic beasts have appeared!! In the area nearby!! If you don’t escape soon, you will be killed idiot!!”
… Eh?
“What? Demonic beasts?”
“Now is not the time to hesitate!! It’s all thanks to the great emissary who is holding back that monster that you have the time to escape. Quickly wake your master up and get the f.u.c.k out of here while you still can!!”
“Who did you say it was?”
An unexpected voice rang out, and Shuoxue turned to see Molan standing behind staring at the uniform man.
“Who,” He said in a hoa.r.s.e voice, his eyes focused and unblinking, “Is holding the monster back?”