"Nereus, are you okay?" Neo asked and made him sit down on the bed.
After sitting, Nereus noticed Aris, and he remembered what he saw yesterday, but it felt like a dream now. That's why he didn't react.
"Nereus, why didn't you get ready to help those villagers?" Neo asked.
Because of course, he was curious why his friend refused to help them when he usually helped everyone in need.
"Neo, this is your first time coming out, right? But I've come out from our sect many times to go to the market."
Neo also sat down beside Nereus while holding their belongings in his hand.
"And that couple last night told me that they had called a Taoist priest many times, but they didn't come. But do you think, when people need them, Taoist priests just don't go?"
Nereus had understood that the Taoist priests had come here to heal those people, but this so-called town was at fault—they did something to those Taoist priests. And now they were claiming that no one had come.
Because Nereus had heard the rumors.
That Taoist priests were disappearing all of a sudden after going to help people. When he was reading about this, Nereus found it worrisome. That's why he had remembered these rumors.
It only meant one thing: those villagers wanted to kill Nereus and Neo.
"I don't think so."
Hearing this, Nereus quickly glanced at Neo, because it was an unfamiliar voice. But then he saw Neo was deep in thought, looking ahead.
When he glanced around, and he felt a touch on his lap. Then he saw that the cub was touching his lap.
"I know something about this town."
Nereus's eyes widened, and Neo also noticed this. He quickly stood up from the bed, but Nereus was still sitting there.
"How can you talk?" Nereus asked in a cold tone.
"I am a beast, so of course I can talk. And believe me, I mean no harm," Aris tried to explain himself.
Before Nereus could say or understand anything, suddenly the door started shaking, as if someone was hitting it with something hard.
"Open the door right now!" a shouting voice came from outside.
Nereus glanced at Neo and signaled him to come onto the bed, and he stood up, summoning his sword.
Aris also jumped down with his tiny body and went closer to Nereus, rubbing his body against Nereus's leg. But as he did, they suddenly disappeared from there right in front of neo's eyes.
And when Nereus opened his eyes, he found himself standing inside a house. He didn't understand what was happening until he noticed his vision was shaking like in a dream.
And that little cub was right beside him. And just then, he heard:
"You can't do this to us. We are your family." Nereus looked ahead and saw—
A woman was holding her child in her arms while sitting on her knees, and her husband was standing there with a big knife in his hand.
"Can't you do this little thing for your husband? You know that human flesh is tastier than anything. So don't argue with me and give our son back to me."
"No! You can't eat him. He is your own flesh, and he is so young. I won't let anything happen to him."
The man became angry upon hearing this, and he turned toward Nereus and walked right through him. That was enough to make Nereus realize he was inside someone's memory.
"Mom, I don't want to die," the child cried while hugging his mother, but she could do nothing other than cry.
"This town once tasted human flesh when there was a shortage of pigs and chickens. The chef killed his own two assistants and cooked them. When he told the truth, from that day onward, they craved human flesh," Aris said.
"What do you mean by this?" Nereus asked, and his eyes glanced around because the scene was changing. Now they were standing in the middle of the town.
"They are possessed. We don't have any other choice but to kill them," a man said while looking at his family.
The woman and her son were still crying and begging everyone, telling them they were not possessed, but no one listened to them—everyone wanted to eat human flesh. In the end, they killed the mother and son.
But that was their biggest mistake. Because since the day they both died, people really started to get possessed peopels and killed their own family members. Still, these villagers didn't feel scared.
Even after that, they continued to do whatever they wanted. Because every time a Taoist priest came here, they trapped the mother and son's souls.
These villagers killed those Taoist priests and ate them.
And now, when Nereus had killed the soul of that mother, it was his turn. All the people from the town now wanted to eat him.
"Wait, how do you know all about this? And how can you show me someone else's memories?" Nereus asked Aris.
"I am just helping you. Since you are special to me, I know it sounds really suspicious. Still, I won't let anything happen to you."
As Aris said this, suddenly Nereus found himself back, standing in front of the door.
"Nereus, where did you go just now? I was scared to death, cuz it's not just one person outside. They are all members of the town," Neo said. He was still sitting on the bed.
"Neo, I know now what those villagers want," Nereus stated while glancing at the door.
"What?"
"They want to eat me—and I think you too. They are no better than any evil now, cuz they want to kill us and eat us like some kind of beast." Nereus grabbed Aris and put him on Neo's lap, then took a deep breath before standing in front of the door.
Cuz now that something hitting the door—the sound was getting harder and harder. The door started to creak. And with a big bang, the door broke open.