Villain Path

Chapter 26. Wheaten Wolf

The conversation with the headman went according to the old scheme: he was stunned that as many as two lords of the league responded to his request and bowed more and scattered gratitude than he spoke on the case. Although there was a lot to say about the case and there was nothing. A certain animal got into the habit of trampling wheat at night, the villagers somehow gathered at him half of the village, and the animal ran and ran across the field, and then seemed to dissolve. Only a gray fluffy tail could be spotted. This is an evil spirit, obviously. They say that there used to be a rich house on that field, thirty years ago, and the witch grandmother did not advise sowing the field in an unkind place. But the sunny location is painfully good, last year turned out to be a poor harvest, so they decided to sow this empty mound this year. But apparently the grandmother was not in vain broadcasting.

From the helpful headman, he also said that the spirit is usually seen in the light of the moon or at dawn. Well, apparently they will have to spend this night in the fresh air.

Having bought food (this time without arguing), the cultivators moved in the opposite direction. It was already evening when they settled down at the edge of the forest, Al professionally made a fire, and everyone sat around, warming themselves and toasting bread and cold buns. Evening twilight fell on the ground. Shen smoked a bun peacefully, planted it on a long rod, and caught himself thinking that it was like going to nature with friends. Just like the good old days, when you didn't have to worry about any evil spirits. The only thing missing was a few cans of beer and a tent.

Then Al went to get some brushwood, and Annis left them after some time on some of her female affairs. Watching the fire, Shen was distantly wondering if their scattered departures were a distracting maneuver in order to meet later deeper in the forest and...

Suddenly, the place next to Muan and Shen, which all this time was pretending to be a heap of dry leaves, began to move, and a snake darted out of there. Without turning around, Muan, with the speed of lightning, pierced her head with the stick with which he had just removed the deliciously baked bread. After examining the snake with interest, he turned to show it to Shen, and saw his extremely pale face.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Take it away, please," he asked, straightening unnaturally and freezing in place.

"She's already dead, what are you worried about," Muan wondered.

"I hate snakes!"

"Really?" Muan thoughtfully twisted the snake carcass in his hands. "And I didn't know... But look, she obviously won't bite you anymore," he held out the snake towards Shen, but he abruptly jumped to his feet, dropping the bun, and jumped away from him a step.

This struck Muan as quite amusing. He rose after Shen and took a step towards him, swinging his hand with a snake in front of him.

"This is stupid, Shen," he remarked. "You won't be bitten by a dead snake."

Shen backed away from him, numb with uncontrollable fear. It was his childish fear, logic was powerless before it. He shied away from snakes, even if they were just drawn on paper.

And Muan, meanwhile, approached him, clearly deciding to mock him. He moved the snake head, sandwiched between his fingers, from side to side, creating the effect of a snake movement.

Shen took another step back and put his back on a tree.

"Don't you think that it is unworthy of an immortal cultivator to be afraid of some small snakes?" Muan asked sarcastically as he approached. "You can chop them into cabbage with one flick of your fingers."