CHAPTER 82: INCIDENTAL EVENTS

"I understand, Sir. Everything still follows the plan, and now we only need to wait until the preparations finish."

That phrase from the courier made Shaan pause for a moment. It turned out the courier was speaking with his master, who was an alchemist and also the leader of the Red Moon faction itself. At first, Shaan had planned to listen to the rest of Mr. Courier’s conversation, but he gave up on that idea. He felt it would be unethical to eavesdrop and interfere too much in other people’s business, which probably had nothing to do with him.

"Never mind, I’d better let Mr. Courier finish what he’s saying."

As Shaan was about to walk away from the courier, he accidentally knocked over a branch of a tree nearby. It made Mr. Courier turn his head and quickly end his conversation.

"Shaan? What are you doing here?"

"I ’m trying to call and inform you that all the tents have been set up, but it seems you’re talking to your master."

"Oh... alright." The courier nodded. "I was just talking with my creator to tell him that I have completed the task and will return to Twilight Sanctum soon."

"Huh? Why does what the courier said sound different from what I heard?" Shaan paused for a moment. "Or maybe I missed that part?"

"Shaan? What’s wrong?" The courier furrowed his brow. "Is there a problem?"

"No, not at all." Shaan shook his head. "I’m just curious, how can you communicate with your creator in the dark realm?"

"I don’t know, I have no idea either, but it seems my creator has installed something inside me, so I can communicate with him."

"Oh... it seems like that," said Shaan. "Alright, I think we should head back before Nalira and Chelsie start looking for us."

"I agree ."

They then decided to walk back toward the tent and saw that Nalira and Chelsie were already there, fully dressed. Their hair was still half-wet, and they scanned the surroundings carefully. The two women were looking for them since they had suddenly disappeared.

"Shaan, courier!" Chelsie shouted when she saw them come out from the trees in front of her. "Uhmm... where have you two been?"

"That’s right, we’ve been searching for both of you."

"I was talking to my creator to update him about my current condition when Shaan suddenly appeared."

"Yes, what the courier said is true," Shaan said, nodding his head. "I was also looking for the courier to tell him that I finished setting up the tents."

"Uhm... alright." Chelsie nodded, listening to their explanation. "Oh, by the way, Shaan, you should go clean yourself at the river upstream," Nalira said. "The water is obvious, and you’ll feel much fresher than before, right, Lira?"

"That’s right. Besides, your body is also dirty from the mud." Nalira said.

’’Yes, Nalira is right,’ Shaan thought as he scratched his body. ’This quicksand mud is making my whole body itch.’

"Well, your suggestion sounds good, but unfortunately, I didn’t bring any spare clothes to change into."

"Shaan, don’t worry. I have some spare clothes here. Wait a moment," the courier said as he reached into his bag and started checking its contents. "If I remember correctly, I once stored spare clothes somewhere around here."

’Jeez, I didn’t expect the courier to prepare everything so well.’

"Here you go, Shaan."Mr. Courier took out some gray clothes from his bag. "You can use these. The size should fit you pretty well."

"Oh... all right. Thanks again, Mr. Courier." Shaan took the clothes from the courier’s hands. "Then I’ll go upriver to clean myself up."

"Uhm... be careful, Shaan."

***

[Insanity level decreased by 5%]

[Insanity meter indicator: green]

Slowly, Shaan stretched his arms wide above the river’s surface and let his body float freely. For some reason, he felt his whole body relax deeply, and the quicksand mud stains slowly disappeared.

"To be honest, I’m still curious about what the courier said earlier." Shaan tilted his head back, looking up at the moonlight that was growing dimmer. "Could there be another reason he didn’t want to tell the truth?"

"...."

"Ah, whatever. Instead of thinking about that, I’d better hurry to change my clothes and head back to the tent. Surely, the others are waiting for me."

Shaan quickly exited the river and put on the clothes given to him by the courier. It turned out the courier’s earlier guess was correct; the clothes fit Shaan perfectly and at least looked much fresher than before.

"Alright, it’s time to go back."

He then decided to return to the tent, where the three of them were enjoying canned food and the leftover Red Moon berries. Shaan joined them, and after a few minutes, they finally decided to end the day and rest.

***

Shaan’s eyes widened immediately when he saw two gatekeepers standing beside the gate, both of whom were large and muscular. Not only that, but one of them was holding a long knife that looked nothing like Theo’s sword, but it looked much thicker and heavier than Theo’s, which was used to execute creatures of darkness.

"Listen to my words, stay calm while I speak with the gatekeepers," Mr. Courier said. "The more suspicious your movements, the more the gatekeepers will see you as a threat and won’t hesitate to eliminate you."

"Alright, Mr. Courier. We understand."

After a few minutes of waiting, the courier finally finished speaking with the gatekeeper and slowly opened the gate in front of him.

"Finally, after we climb the stairs, we’ll..." Shaan’s expression suddenly turned tense as he saw what was behind the gate. "Oh my God, you’re joking, right?"

"What are you doing? Come on, it’s time to move."

"Umm... Mr. Courier, is there no other way we can use besides climbing these stairs?" Chelsie fell silent for a moment. "These stairs... There are so many, and I’ve never seen this many stairs before."

"There are probably only about 50-60 steps, so it’s not that bad," Mr. Courier told them as he led the way. "Come on, we have to keep moving."

"Okay," they all said at once.

After walking about 30 steps, Shaan’s breath began to hitch. Every muscle in his legs started to tense up. Damn it, he had never climbed this many steps in his life before.

"Mr. Courier, wait a moment." Shaan stopped briefly to catch his breath. "We need to rest."

"I agree," Chelsie sat down on the stairs. "We need to rest."

"At least take a short break. Besides, we’re already halfway there," Nalira said, stretching lightly. "So we shouldn’t be too far from our destination."

"Alright, if that’s the case, we’ll rest for a moment," the courier said. "After that, Naru, we’ll—"

’Boom!’

A loud explosion suddenly erupted from behind, and everyone immediately turned their heads. Tense expressions appeared on their faces as they realized there was thick smoke billowing from the entrance gate. What was happening down there?