Chapter 2: The Village Where the Professor Lives (Part 2)

By the time the group of children finished cleaning their living space, it was already quite late.
Unlike the girls’ meticulousness, Jiang Zhe was too lazy to bother with such things. He simply asked Dia to use water magic to wash the attic. After all, there wasn’t much in there anyway. Although the wooden planks became a bit damp, it saved effort, didn’t it?
At least Allen fully agreed with Jiang Zhe’s decision, but Scott didn’t seem so convinced. He stared at the damp floor, frowning deeply.
After cleaning, the three of them started arranging their beds. To call it arranging was more like just stacking a few wooden planks together—it certainly couldn’t be called a bed. Jiang Zhe and Allen didn’t really care and just made do casually, but Scott was different. He fiddled with it for a long time, and from his expression, it seemed he wasn’t satisfied either.
When the three went downstairs, Professor Hodde was preparing dinner. Hearing their footsteps, the professor turned around and said with a hint of surprise, “Oh? Have you finished cleaning?”
“Ah,” Jiang Zhe nodded, still feeling very sleepy, and mumbled, “And I even lay down for a while…” He then glanced at the bread and mashed potatoes on the long table and said oddly, “Professor, is this our breakfast?”
The professor clearly felt embarrassed and said helplessly, “I got this from the village chief just now. Um… I remember there are a few bottles of cider in the cellar. Are you interested?”
“Hey!” Jiang Zhe shook his head helplessly and shrugged, “I don’t mind…” Before he could finish speaking, Scott beside him frowned and said, “The empire stipulates that those under fourteen cannot drink alcohol…”
“What’s the big deal?” Allen interrupted Scott nonchalantly. “I was drinking barley wine with my old man when I was four or five…” He walked over to the long table, sat down, patted his stomach, and said weakly, “I don’t think I’ve eaten anything proper since noon. I’m starving. Haven’t those ladies finished tidying up their rooms yet?”
As he spoke, soft footsteps came from the stairs.
“It seems they’ve finished…” Scott pushed his glasses up and said calmly.
“Oh? Have you finished?” Professor Hodde asked with a smile as he looked at the girls coming downstairs.

“Well, let’s leave it at that for now. I’m a bit tired today…” Ravia, who was leading the way, spoke with a hint of resignation. Clearly, she wasn’t very satisfied with the place where she would be living for over a month. She still couldn’t forget the strong smell of dust when she first entered the room, and the same was true for the girls behind her.

Professor Hod called the children to sit around the long table, boys in one row and girls in another. Sitting to one side, he said with some apology, “I’m sorry we didn’t prepare any fresh food or fruit in advance. I’ll go check at the village later; I remember the old village chief had an orchard. As for fresh milk, that’s more difficult to arrange…”

“It’s okay, Professor,” Ravia said politely. Indeed, compared to where they would live, she wasn’t too concerned about food.

“Then let’s settle for this. After breakfast, everyone should rest. You must be tired after traveling such a long distance.”

“Yes, Professor.”

In the end, Professor Hod didn’t bring any cider. Instead, he prepared a glass of warm water for each person. Perhaps he also felt it would be inappropriate to let children under fourteen drink cider.

After eating this so-called dinner, the girls helped clean the dishes and other utensils.

Watching Ravia quietly wash the dishes, Jiang Zhe found it quite surprising. It wasn’t because of her noble background, but because of her personality—it was very different from what Jiang Zhe had imagined: that strong, stubborn, unyielding girl actually had such an unknown side?

Seemingly noticing Jiang Zhe’s gaze, Ravia’s cheeks turned slightly red. She glared at him fiercely, her eyes filled with a mix of shame and anger, which made Jiang Zhe shiver slightly.

That’s right, this is Ravia…

Muttering to himself, Jiang Zhe, along with Scott and Allen, went up to the attic, where they would be living for the next month.

Whether for Scott, who came from a noble family, or for Allen, whose family was extremely wealthy, the attic ahead of them was extremely uncomfortable. Whether it was the creaking skylight, the groaning floorboards, or the fact that the entire attic was too small, all of these made it difficult for them to fall asleep.

“Are you asleep, Scott?” Allen asked, tossing and turning in bed.

“I’m awake!” Holding his head and gazing at the stars outside the skylight, Scott rarely talked to Allen, but this time he did.

“Sigh!” As they talked, both of them let out long sighs, feeling frustrated—not because of the ‘terrible’ living conditions, but because of the person in the bed next to them, who was emitting soft, steady snoring sounds…
“Strange, buddy. How did this guy fall asleep so fast?”
“That’s not strange,” Scott instinctively moved to adjust his glasses, only to realize they were already off. Uncomfortable, he picked up the glasses nearby and put them on, then said in a low voice, “Thors is naturally sleepy. You know that. For him, it probably doesn’t matter where he is…”
“Oh,” Allen nodded and turned around, then sighed again, “I can’t sleep…”
Hearing Allen’s complaints and the soft, steady snoring beside him, Scott also sighed.
At that moment, creaking noises came from the wooden stairs leading to the second floor. Allen sat up alertly, only to see a small head appear at the window-like staircase.
“Ravia?” Scott, who was also sitting on his bed, was puzzled.
Ravia, rarely showing shyness, said softly, “Are you guys asleep?”
Looking at Scott in confusion, Allen replied honestly, “Only Thors is asleep, and he’s fast asleep. What’s the matter?”
“Well…” Ravia hesitated before saying awkwardly, “Did you guys hear anything just now…”
“Hear what?” Feeling it was awkward to be in just underwear, Scott pulled on the jacket beside him.
“That… you know…” Ravia mumbled, as another small head appeared on the attic stairs—Lisa.
“Allen, there seemed to be some strange noises outside just now…”
“Strange noises?” Allen got out of bed in confusion, glanced outside through the window, and shrugged, “It must be the wind.”
As soon as he finished speaking, another howl came from outside, turning the two girls’ faces pale.
“It’s just wolves howling…” Scott looked at the two girls with surprise, especially Ravia. In his opinion, she was one of the strongest people here, second only to the professor and Jiang Zhe. How could someone like her be scared of wolf howls?
Seeming to notice the surprise in Scott’s eyes, Ravia blushed slightly and tried to defend herself, “Lisa and Lailira might be, but I’m not…”

“Avi!” Lisa retorted unhappily, but before she could finish, Ravia immediately interjected, “If you don’t believe us, let’s give it a try. It’s not just boys who are brave!”
“Oh?” Since he really couldn’t sleep, Scott seemed somewhat interested and said casually, “How exactly do we test that?”
“You’ll find out soon! First, wake that guy up!”
“Wake him up?” Allen said in a strange tone, shaking his head repeatedly. “I don’t want to experience the power of fireballs again. I’ve said it before—when that guy is woken up while sleeping, he gets very irritable… If you want to wake him, do it yourself!”
“Well…” Ravia hesitated for a moment before climbing up to the attic. Meanwhile, Allen and Scott started getting dressed. Since the attic was quite dark and they had only taken off their coats, Scott didn’t ask the ‘ladies’ to step back.
Jiang Zhe was indeed sleeping soundly, lying on his side with a pillow in his arms. To be honest, his sleeping posture wasn’t very good.
“He’s sleeping so peacefully!” Ravia, seemingly comparing him to herself and the others, wasn’t in a good mood. She looked at the sleeping Jiang Zhe and said lightly, “Get up!”
The snoring continued steadily, without any change…
“You! You jerk!” Ravia was clearly angry. She slapped Jiang Zhe’s arm lying outside the bed and frowned, “Get up quickly!”
The snoring stopped…
“Hurry up and leave!” Allen quickly urged Lisa to go.
“Hm?” Just as Ravia felt puzzled, the person lying on the bed in front of her suddenly opened his eyes, glanced at her, and said in a deep tone, “What do you want?” His words carried a strong sense of displeasure, very different from his usual tone.
“…” Ravia suddenly felt the boy in front of her was so strange. In her memory, although he had flaws like arrogance, pride, and laziness, he used to be very kind…
“Sos, it’s Ravia!” Scott, who hadn’t left yet, reminded him.
“Huh…” A long sigh was heard. The boy sitting on the bed slapped his face with both hands and said irritably, “What’s the matter in the middle of the night?”
Ravia finally heard that familiar tone again, which gradually calmed her racing heart.
“We couldn’t sleep, so we wanted to play a game to pass the time…”
“But I was asleep!” Jiang Zhe said irritably.

Ravia stared at Jiang Zhe for a long time before snorting and saying, “It’s only today that I realize you’re not just arrogant, conceited, lazy, and all that—you’re also selfish!”
“You!” Jiang Zhe was speechless at her words. They stared at each other for a while, and in the end, he gave in, yawning and saying irritably, “Okay, okay, I give up! Move aside!”
“Hmph!” Ravia stepped back a few steps with a huff. Suddenly, she heard a rustling sound, and soon a figure stepped down from the bed. Feeling her face burn, she quickly turned away.
Before long, she heard a yawning voice behind her.
“Come on, didn’t you say you wanted to play some game? In the middle of the night…”
Following the stairs to the second floor, Ravia opened the slightly ajar door.
Jiang Zhe walked in, yawning, and upon entering, he was amused. The room was dimly lit by five white candles placed on the floor. In that weak light, he could see a pentagram magic circle drawn on the floor with ink, with the candles positioned at each of the pentagram’s points. Aside from Jiang Zhe, Ravia, and Scott, the other children sat on the ground around the pattern. The entire room was filled with a strange, oppressive atmosphere.
“Heh,” Jiang Zhe felt an urge to laugh for no reason. Turning to Ravia, he said oddly, “What’s the deal? Trying to cast black magic on someone in the middle of the night?” Scott beside him seemed to understand a bit more. Pushing up his glasses, he gave a faint, mysterious smile.
“Stop talking nonsense!” Ravia glared at Jiang Zhe and said, half-explaining and half-teasing, “I just want to test your boys’ courage. Sit down!”
Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Jiang Zhe saw Dia and sat down next to her. Scott seemed to notice Lailira’s expectant gaze; after hesitating, he sat down beside her as well.
Finally, after closing the door, Ravia naturally sat down between Scott and Jiang Zhe.
“Everyone knows the rules, right?” Perhaps because of the faint glow of the candles, Ravia’s expression looked somewhat eerie, making Lisa and Lailira swallow nervously and instinctively lean toward Allen and Scott. Even Dia’s expression didn’t seem quite natural.

The girls’ expressions satisfied Raviya, but the boys were different. That guy Allen still smiled carelessly, Scott continued to push his glasses as if nothing had happened, and Jiang Zhe kept yawning nonstop—everything made her feel like a failure.
“Huh!” A gust of wind blew outside, hitting the window and causing a strange noise that made the girls turn pale.
Although Jiang Zhe found the strong girl’s pale face amusing, he couldn’t resist his drowsiness and yawned, severely ruining the atmosphere.
“Hey, what exactly are we doing? Explain it, or I’m going back to bed in the middle of the night!”
“Shut up!” Raviya glared at Jiang Zhe fiercely and said, “Didn’t I say it? It’s a test of courage. It’s not just boys who are brave… Each of us will tell the scariest story…” She seemed to think of something and swallowed nervously.
“Huh?” Jiang Zhe tilted his head in confusion. Tell ghost stories? Being pulled up in the middle of the night to listen to ghost stories?
“I mean, aren’t you using this to pass the time because you can’t sleep or are scared?”
“You… I’m not scared at all!” Raviya’s expression became unnatural as she defended herself. “Besides, coming to such a place suddenly—anyone would have trouble sleeping…” She glanced at Jiang Zhe and changed her words, “Most people would have trouble sleeping…”
Jiang Zhe glanced at Allen, Scott, and the others, seeing that they indeed didn’t seem sleepy at all. He yawned and nodded helplessly, saying, “Okay, fine! I hope your stories aren’t too boring, otherwise I might as well go back to bed!”
“Hmph! Say that all you want. Just don’t be too scared to sleep later!” Raviya glared at Jiang Zhe discontentedly and added, “Let the coward go get a bucket of water from the village river!”
“No way!” Lisa shook her head repeatedly as soon as the words left her mouth, which deflated Raviya a bit.
“Sure!” Jiang Zhe shrugged indifferently. In his past life, he was known for being fearless—getting up at one or two in the morning to eat late-night snacks was common for him.
“Then let’s start!” Raviya looked down at the five white candles and whispered, “So… who should go first? Scott?”
“Me?” Scott froze, looking reluctant. Laila beside him quickly said, “Let me start, Avi!”
“Hmm, okay!”

“This is something that happened near my hometown,” the girl with long brown hair paused for a moment, gazing at the candlelight as she spoke softly. “It was in a village not far from my hometown, where swarms of rats ravaged the village. Food, crops, farming tools, clothes, houses—all were damaged by the rats. The people in the village were very worried. One day, a wanderer came to the village. He played on a magical flute and told the farmers that he could help them get rid of the rats, but he would need a reward. The farmers agreed and promised to give him some gold coins as payment later. The wanderer took out a magical flute from his pocket. As the flute played, all the rats were drawn together; they lined up and followed him across the river, only to drown there. The farmers were shocked and celebrated, but they never gave the wanderer his reward. Very disappointed, the wanderer left the village just as he had arrived, playing his flute, but he also took away all the children from the village…” “All the children?” Lisa covered her mouth in shock. Dia looked sympathetic, while Ravia frowned. As for the boys… “…” Allen scratched his head for a long time before managing to say, “It’s… it’s kind of scary, right, Scott?” “Hmph!” Scott responded indifferently. Jiang Zhe yawned widely and said gloomily, “Is this what’s called the scariest thing? I think I should go back to bed…” “You! He took away all the children!” Ravia glared at Jiang Zhe angrily. “So what? Come on, is it that scary? Illusions can easily achieve such effects, right?” “Uh…” Ravia was at a loss for words. After hesitating for a while, she looked up at Allen irritably. “Allen, it’s your turn!” “Me?” Allen shook his head and smiled, thinking for a moment. “I don’t think I’ve encountered anything scary…” As soon as he finished speaking, Lisa beside him said eagerly, “Let me tell one! I know a really scary story!” “Mm!” Ravia nodded, looking at Lisa expectantly. “A long time ago, maybe hundreds of years ago, when the empire didn’t exist yet, there was a lord in a certain place named Vlad. He was extremely cruel and imposed many harsh punishments.”

Once, Vlad led his army to attack a neighboring country. Due to betrayal, the campaign failed, and Vlad fled back to his own country. The empire sent troops to attack him. When they reached the city walls, the enemy soldiers discovered that over 20,000 soldiers captured during the war had their clothes stripped off and displayed publicly, with their bodies nailed alive to wooden stakes stretching a kilometer around the city… Crows and vultures kept pecking at the corpses, and a strong stench of decay filled the air… Witnessing this horrifying scene, the enemy soldiers were terrified, lost their will to fight, and had no choice but to withdraw…

“Yah!” With a low exclamation, Lelira leaned nervously toward Scott. Ravia and Dia also showed expressions of disgust and discomfort.

“Well? It’s terrifying, right? This is what my father told me!” Lisa said, sticking out her tongue.

Ravia instinctively glanced at Jiang Zhe. Seeing his strange and dazed expression, she said triumphantly, “Scared now?”

“Scared?” Jiang Zhe turned his head and looked at Ravia with a half-smile. “If by ‘testing courage’ you mean this, I think we’d better not waste time. Let’s all go back to our rooms and go to bed early!”

“Is it really not terrifying?” Lisa asked softly. “I find it really scary…”

“Cough, cough!” A coughing sound came from across. Jiang Zhe looked up and saw Allen winking and saying, “It’s pretty terrifying, right? Twenty thousand people… right, Scott?” But Scott’s grunts left him somewhat helpless.

Disappointed by Lelira and Lisa’s successive failures, Ravia glanced at Dia. For some reason, she didn’t have any fondness for this senior. Of course, she didn’t expect her to tell a story about how that guy felt scared either. So she said domineerly, “I’ll tell the next story!”

“You?” Jiang Zhe clearly wasn’t optimistic and said disdainfully, “If your story can make me feel even a little scared, I’ll go get a bucket of water. On the contrary, if it makes me feel even more sleepy, I demand to go back to bed right away!”

Ravia hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Okay, that’s settled!” She closed her eyes as if thinking.

Suddenly, howls were heard outside again.

Ravia abruptly opened her eyes and, under everyone’s expectant gazes, said in a low voice, “Do you know about werewolves? Souls cursed by the moon in legend…”

Meanwhile, a mile away from the Rio village, a figure in a black coat was walking northward through the thick snow. Suddenly, howls of wolves came from the nearby woods. The figure paused; in the dim moonlight, we could see it was a man. He shook the snow off his shoulders and back, then raised his head to gaze at the dark mountain valleys in the distance. His dark eyes held deep indifference, without a trace of pity, as if the gods were looking down on ants—a sight that sent chills down one’s spine. Perhaps due to the snowwater, the man’s gray-brown hair was disheveled and wet, with pieces of ice stuck in it. Snowwater dripped down his pale, bloodless face. The man paid no attention to this; he simply used his right hand to push his wet hair back and then let out a long sigh. “What a deadly journey indeed… Tch!”