Demon Hunter and His Cabin
Chapter 357 - Chapter 357 Chapter 357 The Legend of the Sleeping Valley

Chapter 357: Chapter 357 The Legend of the Sleeping Valley Chapter 357: Chapter 357 The Legend of the Sleeping Valley When Roger left the forest, the sky was lightening with a hint of a dawn’s pale glow; in the distance, the direction of the town was faintly marked by the rise of cooking smoke.

A new day had begun.

After daybreak, the heavenly Candy House disappeared, replaced by a dilapidated wooden hut.

Roger wasn’t sure how to judge what Hansel and Greta had done, as everything that happened here was very similar to a fairy tale widely known across the European continent.

The Candy House.

In that story, there were likewise two children named Greta and Hansel.

The difference was that these two children, abandoned by their father, managed to find their way home multiple times at night.

But the cruel stepmother still drove them out, and in the dark, the children stumbled upon the Candy House in the forest and were captured by the Witch.

However, the story ended with the two children using their wisdom to defeat the Witch and brought back the jewels from the Candy House, living happily ever after with their father at home.

“Fairy tales are just fairy tales after all.”

“Reality is often much crueler than fairy tales.”

Similar stories, similar names, all of this made Roger somewhat suspicious.

The so-called Grimm’s Fairy Tales were just stories compiled by the Grimm brothers while collecting fragments of the Fairy Tale World.

Inside the Round Table Knight Order, the real versions were circulated.

There were many stories in the fairy tales, and Roger wasn’t sure if the number of manuscripts held by the Round Table Knight Order was as extensive as the tales themselves.

Roger guessed that some of them were real, while others might have come from later embellishments.

But what perplexed Roger was the story he had just been part of.

If this tale came from an authentic fairytale manuscript, then logically, it should belong to the Round Table Knight Order, just like Little Red Riding Hood.

Yet, it was found outside the order.

What was the reason that something that should have belonged to the Round Table Knight Order appeared here?

Roger didn’t know yet that the Little Red Riding Hood he had obtained came from a mission by sheer luck. In fact, it was the story he had just been through that should have truly puzzled him.

“A story within a story, huh?”

Although he didn’t obtain the fairytale manuscripts, Roger wasn’t too discouraged. The Mountain Woman once warned him to be wary of the dangers inside Sleeping Valley.

This caution filled Roger with a thrill of excitement; the Golden Page was an extremely important part of the fairytale manuscripts.

Its inclusiveness was stronger, often allowing it to be the foundation of a vast area, forming a small world.

“Could what’s hidden behind this Sleeping Valley be a Golden Page?”

As he continued on, Roger suddenly smelled a stench of blood. He pushed through the bushes and two corpses came into view.

The flesh on the surface of the bodies had been devoured, leaving the innards strewn about, and a hefty clump of stones was wrapped inside the hollow abdomens.

Recognizing the attire, Roger easily identified the two individuals.

It was John and his wife.

For these two people, even the most painful of punishments would be well deserved.

Roger returned to town, naturally catching the attention of the townspeople. He concocted a story about a husband and wife searching for their daughter and being eaten by wild beasts.

The crowd didn’t suspect anything and soon the Sheriff organized a search party that found the corpses of John and his wife in the forest.

There weren’t many levels of hierarchy in the village; apart from the mayor, there were only the Sheriff and a few guards ensuring the town’s safety.

While Roger was a stranger, with the events of the previous day and the tragedy at John’s house, even if people harbored doubts, it was not the time to voice them.

In this way, Roger naturally integrated into the township, and along with that, he inherited John’s decrepit house.

After tidying up the place briefly, Roger used job searching as a pretext to wander around town.

After understanding more throughout the morning, he had a better impression of the whole town; the villagers were somewhat xenophobic, but the local customs were relatively simple and honest.

Here, Roger didn’t discover any Transcendent powers.

The oldest and most prestigious person in the town was the mayor. As night fell, Roger slipped into the mayor’s home under the cover of darkness.

Hearing a strange noise coming from a room, Roger thought it necessary to wait, but before he could count to thirty while leaning against the wall, a suppressed voice came from the room.

The old guy has been disarmed.

“For his age, that’s not a bad fighting power,” someone said.

Peering through the darkness at the plump maid as she moved away, Roger pushed the door open and launched the Axis Dharma Seal as soon as he saw the old mayor.

“Tell me everything you know about Sleeping Valley.”

Having not gathered much information in the town through indirect questions during the day, he decided to aim at the mayor who was the most knowledgeable and experienced.

The old mayor was just an ordinary person, and his eyes instantly became murky under the influence of the Dharma Seal.

“Sleeping Valley?”

“That is an ancient legend indeed.”

“It is said that, long ago, there was a very prosperous kingdom in the valley, with a kindhearted king, a beautiful queen, and contented citizens.”

“Everyone was eating sweet white bread and wearing fancy clothes.”

Speaking of clothes, Roger glanced at the old man’s lean body and, very considerately, helped to cover him up a bit.

Um…

He looked much more presentable now.

“Everyone in the kingdom was happy, even the king’s only daughter, who was born beautiful and kind and was very considerate of the citizens.”

“However, a wicked woman cursed the princess and brought disaster upon the entire kingdom.”

“Because of the curse, the kingdom fell into slumber, gradually concealed and sealed by vines in the valley, and there were rumors that whoever approached the valley would fall into a dreadful nightmare.”

“Lying unconscious on the ground, becoming fertilizer for the plants.”

“Do you know where Sleeping Valley is?” Roger asked.

The old mayor first shook his head, but then suddenly stood up from the bed, bent down, and tremblingly took out a wooden box from under the bed.

The surface of the box was carved with a bright rose, the flower in bud. Opening the box, the mayor took out a rose-shaped brooch.

“It is said that the princess in Sleeping Valley was affected by the curse, and that anyone who can awaken her will gain her love and become the new king of the country,” the mayor explained as he handed the box to Roger.

“The prophecy says that a prince will come here to awaken the princess,” said the mayor as he handed Roger the box.

Roger took the box with a puzzled look on his face.

“Prince?”

“Could it be me?”

He then asked the mayor for more legends and stories about Sleeping Valley. The old man was quite old, had just undergone strenuous activity, and was under the influence of Roger’s Dharma Seal, so he was already struggling to keep up.

To avoid causing irreversible harm to the mayor, Roger took the box and quietly left the room.

The next day before dawn, he got up early and went into the nearby woods, returning to town only after the sun had set.

The Cursed Sword he carried was hidden inside a hollowed-out stick, which didn’t look conspicuous.

On the morning of the third day, while Roger was wandering in the forest, there suddenly came a commotion from the trees.

“I’ve finally found this damn place.”

“Matt, go check out front.”

Upon hearing this voice, Roger was first startled, but soon he saw a group of people emerge from the forest.

The young leader, upon seeing Roger, looked delighted.

“Hey, woodcutter, do you know of a place called Sleeping Valley nearby?”