Chapter 20
Alden choked down a terrified scream. He couldn't understand what was going on. He didn't know where had these horrific beings had come from.
But… they hadn't noticed him.
He looked at the Scourge. The man's eyes were closed, seemingly in concentration, still sending his brown colored Qi into Alden. He could see it, and he could also see the terrifying entity standing behind the man.
Alden did not dare observe it a second longer. He closed his eyes and lowered his head. He could still feel their presence, hear their groans and intangible whispers. But he knew, there was a place where they wouldn't be able to follow him.
Amidst his fear, Alden forced himself to focus. Unlike before, he ignored Qi. This time, he looked for the familiar pull of his inner world.
And suddenly, the whispers vanished.
For a second, Alden dared not open his eyes. But no longer hearing anything, or feeling the unnatural cold he experienced before, he tentatively opened one eye, then the other.
He looked around and sighed in relief.
He was back in his foggy inner world. For a moment, Alden just sat there, thinking. He remembered those entities. The first time he had seen them was when he had just transmigrated.
Back then, he had just finished absorbing Kellan's memories, and had thought of the apparitions as mere hallucination. After all, a lot has been going on. After that, Alden seldom thought about it. He buried the memory inside.
Until now.
Now, he was certain that what he had seen had not been an illusion, but rather, a part of reality he had just been blind to. Just like Qi. As for what those creatures were, he had some ideas, but he'd have to confirm later.
Having calmed down enough, Alden decided to leave his inner world. He didn't know if he would still be able to see those creatures once he left, but he couldn't remain cooped up inside for the rest of his life. It was better to face the issue, and find a solution.
Returning to the real world, Alden took in a deep breath and opened his eyes.
He was met with a stare from the Scourge. A quick glance around confirmed that the creatures have disappeared. He let out a sigh of relief and slumped down on the grass.
"Well? How was it? Did you manage to perceive Qi?"
Did he? Alden felt reluctant to try, but he gritted his teeth and opened up his senses to the world once more. He braced himself for the cold whispers and the scraping groans that had nearly broken him moments ago. But they didn't come.
Instead, he felt something else. A pressure, thrumming in the air around him, brushing against his skin, threading into his lungs with each inhale. His heart skipped a beat.
This time, there was no mistaking it.
Qi.
It pooled in the courtyard like a current just beneath the surface of water, flowing unseen through every blade of grass, every plank of the fence, and the air itself.
His eyes widened. "I… I can feel it."
The Scourge leaned back, expression unreadable, though a faint gleam lit his scarred features. "Good. I felt it just now. You have a strong soul, and an even stronger perception. Perhaps, the reason why you couldn't feel Qi until now was because you were subconsciously limiting yourself."
"-As if there were some things you were trying to avoid."
Alden swallowed, his throat dry. He hadn't told him what he'd seen. But he also believed the man's explanation. On the day of his transmigration, he had seen those things. And in a bid to protect himself, his soul had instinctively limited its perception.
Renna shifted from her place at the fence, ending her own meditation. "You did it?"
Alden nodded quickly, unable to hide the wonder in his voice. "It's everywhere. In the air, the ground… it's like I've been blind this whole time."
The Scourge smirked faintly. "Well, congratulations are due. Feeling Qi isn't the same as holding it. And holding it isn't the same as shaping it. But it's the most important step of all. So, well done."
Alden laughed. His earlier scare forgotten in the face of his excitement. With his new Qi sense, the world looked more vibrant.
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Over the next few days, Alden's rhythm shifted. At dawn, he would still make his way to the Thornevale estate, where Renna drilled him relentlessly through footwork, sparring, and weapons practice. Afterward, he joined the rest of Stonewatch squad four for their usual patrols along the ridges. And when the sun dipped low, he ended his day in the Scourge's courtyard, sitting cross-legged in the grass with his eyes closed, trying to steady his breath.
The meditation was simple in theory: learn to feel Qi until it no longer slipped through his grasp. But this wasn't something Alden was allowed to do alone. Not yet. For now, he was only to familiarize himself with the energy. Absorbing it or attempting to shape it prematurely would lead to nothing but complications, maybe even permanent damage. So every evening, either the Scourge or Renna sat with him in silence, ensuring he didn't stray into reckless territory.
Meanwhile, life in Lint shifted. The Stonewatch officially integrated its forces into the city, their presence felt in every street. Wardens patrolled alongside town guards, checkpoints sprang up, and for a brief while the people seemed lighter. Safer.
But the shadow of the wraiths never left. Corpses continued to surface, drained husks found in alleys, behind shuttered shops, sometimes whole families in their homes. Security calmed nerves, but not reality.
A week passed before the Scourge finally gave Alden permission to move forward.
"It's time for us to step into the next part of your trainings." The scarred man said.s
They started small. Qi gathering, drawing the ambient threads closer, guiding them instead of simply observing. Then Qi moulding, coaxing the gathered threads into a shape, even if crude and unstable.
Alden's progress was halting, his concentration often broken by the smallest mistake, but by the week's end he was able to pull in strands of Qi and hold them for brief moments before they scattered. It was enough for the Scourge to nod in satisfaction.
Outside their courtyard, the city only grew tenser. Rumors spread that a team of Wardens and guards had actually clashed with a wraith. The result had been ugly. Men were ripped apart, and the survivors babbled about shadows that whispered in their skulls.
Even Alden's squad, hardened by patrols outside the walls, was shaken by the news. Hunters occasionally stumbled on wild beasts or the signs of conflict in the wilds. But ironically, it was still safer than the streets of Lint.
Two weeks into his new routine, the squad was summoned to the administrative hall. The room was heavy with anticipation as Darius led them to the front where orders were handed out.
Their new mission was unlike the others: a village just outside the town had reported strange disappearances. Families gone missing. Livestock slaughtered. There were no tracks. No explanations.
The orders were clear. Investigate. If the threat was manageable, eliminate it. If not, hold the village as best they could until reinforcements arrived.
"Weren't we just supposed to scout? Why are we suddenly called to deal with something like this?" Siv asked.
"Hunters aren't just responsible for scouting, we're also tasked with mercenary work outside the town." The captain explained. "Seeing as the patrols jobs remain relatively safe and uneventful, the commanders decided to delegate the hunters to other more pressing issuess."
"For example, squad number 1 and 2 have been sent on merchant escort missions. As for us, seeing as we're the strongest hunter team around, we've been sent to investigate this."
The reason their squad had been chosen became obvious. With 3 silver ranked members in Renna, the Scourge, and Siv, they were already the strongest hunter team the Stonewatch could field. And with Darius himself, their squad had the power equivalent to 2, or even 3 hunter squads.
Others might have balked at the risk, but strength meant responsibility.
The next morning, squad four assembled at the southern gate, packs strapped tight, weapons secured. A cart waited for them, a sturdy thing drawn by a pair of broad-shouldered draft beasts. The driver, an older man with leathery skin and a nervous twitch in his hands, gave them only a brief glance before focusing on his reins. He clearly didn't want to know who he was carrying, or why.
They climbed aboard, and soon the wheels were creaking over the stone road, carrying them south toward Greenvalley village.
The air was quiet for a while, broken only by the thud of hooves and the squeal of the axles. Then Darius spoke. "I hope you have all taken the time to read the reports."
Seeing a few hesitant nods, the man sighed. "I'll go over it again, just in case. The reports said a family vanished overnight. No signs of struggles. No tracks leaving the house. Just gone."
More than one member frowned at that revelation. Clearly, they haven't read the report. Darius's temper flared, but he forced himself to take in deep breath.
"Three lives, swallowed without a trace." He continued with a terse voice.
"And that was only the beginning." The captain added, his tone grim. "Three days later, they found a farmer at the bottom of his own well. Broken bones, half-drowned, rambling nonsense. His wife and son were gone."
Jaro glanced over. "What did he say happened?"
"He claimed he heard a voice calling him." Darius said. "But after that, nothing. Just waking up in the dark, screaming."
The cart jolted as it passed a rut. Silence lingered for a breath before Renna broke it. "Another farmer's flock was slaughtered too. Sheep torn in half, like something had fed on them, but left the carcasses to rot."
Darius nodded, seemingly grateful that someone else had taken the time to study the mission. "And then the chief's son. Disappeared at night. No one saw a thing." His jaw tightened. "Pattern's clear enough. Whatever this is, it escalates."
Alden's brows furrowed. "This doesn't feel like the work of a typical beast."
"It feels like a horror." Renna agreed quietly.
That thought seemed to settle over them all like a heavy cloak.
After a moment, Alden asked, "How does a village even defend against that? In Lint, we have the walls, the wards. But out here?"
Siv leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Villages use other protections. Some have shrine-wards, where monks bind the ground with sutras and charms. Others build stone markers, monuments that repel horrors the way fire drives off beasts. Not perfect, but enough to keep the shadows from crawling into their homes."
Renna nodded. "Greenvalley has one of those stones. Old, carved from something that's been in the region for centuries. If horrors are circling despite it, that's… troubling."
The Scourge grunted. "Stones can weaken. Shrines too. Or sometimes, the wrong kind of attention is drawn, and then nothing short of a cultivator will keep a horror at bay."
The cart fell quiet again, each of them turning over the possibilities. The stories of vanishings, of voices calling in the night, painted a somber picture. Depending on the strength of the horror, they might actually have to call for reinforcements.
Which begged the question, why wasn't a cultivator dispatched with them?
Hours later, in the early afternoon, the fields gave way to sloping hills and scattered woodland. The village came into view, a cluster of squat stone houses ringed by farmland, smoke curling weakly from a few chimneys.
Alden felt it before they even reached the gate.
The air grew heavier, thick like damp wool. His chest tightened, breath catching as that same suffocating weight from Lint pressed against him. He shifted uncomfortably on the cart bench, glancing at the others, but they seemed unfazed.
Something about the place was wrong.
When they rolled to a stop, the driver wasted no time in hopping down, muttering a quick prayer under his breath before scurrying to secure his beasts.
The village chief was waiting. He was a broad, tanned man with a fighter's build, his shirt hanging loose around the claw marks that marred his chest. His eyes were hard, but exhaustion weighed on his shoulders.
"Are you the people from Lint?" he gruffly asked.
Darius nodded, he stepped forward and handed the man a parchment. "We are the Stonewatch's hunter squad. We're here to investigate the disappearances."
The chief accepted the document and briefly skimmed over it. He sighed, and gestured for them to follow him. "Then you'll want to hear the truth of it. Because this definitely isn't the work of any beast."