I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 106 - 106 105. Your friend is very awesome_1

Chapter 106: 105. Your friend is very awesome_1 Chapter 106: 105. Your friend is very awesome_1 For an instant, Red Leaf felt the delusion of being watched by a predator, as she saw the imaginary friend with a gaping maw where its chest should be, seeming to have caught her scent and drawing closer.

It didn’t move on two feet, but rather appeared to teleport instantly, arriving within an arm’s reach in just the blink of an eye.

For a moment, Red Leaf was frozen.

She could only watch as that wide-open mouth slowly approached her.

Next, an invisible tongue reached out and licked the back of her hand.

The imaginary friend immediately became excited, hopping from side to side, and licked the back of Red Leaf’s hand again.

“…”

Suddenly, Red Leaf had a very strange feeling, as she lifted her hand and touched the imaginary friend’s head, or where she thought it should be.

Since the imaginary friend had such a vague form, Red Leaf wasn’t sure exactly where its head was, only hoping she hadn’t poked something weird.

Immediately after, the imaginary friend meekly bent down and rubbed its unclear head against her hand, just like… a dog?

“…sit?”

Red Leaf couldn’t help but recall what Lu Ban had previously told her.

The imaginary friend obediently sat down, its huge and ferocious mouth opening and closing as if it were sticking out its tongue.

“What are you doing?”

Lu Ban looked at Red Leaf quizzically.

“Your imaginary friend… seems different from others.”

For a moment, Red Leaf was somewhat disheveled.

Although she had never dealt with incidents involving imaginary friends, according to the files, such urban legends would attach themselves to their hosts and then slowly drain the life force from them, invisible and silent at first but gradually affecting the host’s consciousness until the host fell into madness, devoured by the imaginary friend who would then become a tangible, foul creature, even taking the place of the host.

But now?

This dog-like imaginary friend, what exactly was it?

Moreover, Lu Ban seemed unable to see it, which should mean it was an early-stage imaginary friend, yet the oppressive feeling it radiated was even more terrifying than some of the more powerful foul creatures.

“Hmm? Can you see him? Is it only a shrine maiden from Harmony Island that possesses such power?”

Lu Ban immediately grew curious.

“…Your imaginary friend, um, is very impressive.”

Red Leaf chose her words carefully, and upon hearing this, the imaginary friend in front of her jumped up excitedly again.

“Right? Sometimes he talks to me and can even provide emergency aid when I’m in danger. Since you can see him, what does he look like? He was exposed to that mist earlier; I wonder if he got hurt?”

Lu Ban asked with concern.

“…He’s doing fine.”

Red Leaf thought to herself that this imaginary friend could take on three of her, so he was doing more than fine.

“That’s good to hear. Let’s set aside the imaginary friend for now. Regarding that mist just now, do you have any clues? Could it be some urban legend or foul creature?”

Lu Ban inquired.

“It seems like the Undefined Fog, but I’m not certain.”

Red Leaf glanced back at the shrine at the top of the hill with trepidation.

Suddenly, she saw someone clad in witch costume standing on the roof of the shrine, seeming to look this way.

Red Leaf blinked, and that person disappeared again.

“Did you see that?”

She asked.

“Is she the same person I saw on this path earlier, the Calamitous Shrine Maiden?”

Lu Ban had naturally seen the same thing.

“It shouldn’t be… Song Island is relatively remote, far from the Great Shrine of Harmony Island. Shrine maiden candidates like us wouldn’t normally work over here; if we trace back, there might have been one three or four hundred years ago.”

Red Leaf pondered.

“Now, we need to clarify a few issues. First is about the shrine personnel of the Harmony Island Shrine; the Shrine Executives are all dead, so who are the currently serving Shrine Executives in Anxin Court? Secondly, what exactly caused these shrine maidens’ deaths? If it was the Undefined Fog, where is it now? Lastly, who is in charge of the island at this moment?”

Lu Ban briefly summarized, then produced the bottle he’d earlier used to collect some of the mist.

The bottle appeared empty, as though nothing was inside.

“This fog, it doesn’t seem to be the Undefined Fog.”

In Lu Ban’s field of vision, no system text appeared, which meant he hadn’t obtained “Sigh of the Indefinite Mist,” and naturally, the substance in the bottle wasn’t the Undefined Fog.

He opened the bottle.

Wafting his hand above the bottle’s opening, the air he drew in was scentless and devoid of that eerie, particle-like feel of the fog. Naturally, it didn’t cause any burning sensation in his respiratory tract or lungs.

“Can you distinguish it?”

Red Leaf appeared slightly surprised.

“I can only identify the Undefined Fog—those fogs I suspect to be some sort of living creatures, simply taking the form of fog.”

Lu Ban briefly explained.

In the Silent Lands, the concept of “life” was greatly expanded. Plants could grow wildly; even fog might possibly exist as a form of life.

“Anyway, let’s head back. Maybe tomorrow we can go to the tea house or the Island Steward’s headquarters to have a look?”

He thought about it; when faced with a problem, it was right to seek out those in charge.

Since, according to Red Leaf, a significant problem had already arisen on The Island, then the Island Steward, who was in charge of maintaining order, was either too foolish not to have noticed or too corrupt and had become complicit. Either way, they were due a visit.

Red Leaf nodded, and the two began their descent from the mountain.

Their way down the mountain was uneventful—perhaps the earlier incident was just a warning for Lu Ban and Red Leaf not to meddle in affairs that didn’t concern them.

The festival had ended, and to his surprise, the streets were spotlessly clean, showing no trace of past hustle and bustle. Lu Ban bent down and touched the ground.

“Ash-dirt, it doesn’t seem like anyone has passed by.”

He stood up and realized that several hours had passed since he and Red Leaf had been up and down the mountain, although it had felt like only thirty minutes.

Guarded by the Island Stewards, Anxin Court stood in the distance. From afar, Lu Ban could see two figures at the gate, each holding a weapon.

But…

“!”

Red Leaf’s eyes widened slightly, and she exchanged a glance with Lu Ban, confirming that what they were seeing was real.

Her gaze shifted back to the Island Steward.

Those two “people” were no longer human-shaped, but monstrous assemblages of piled and stitched flesh—even the clothes on their bodies were faux pelts. Lu Ban could see an eye, full of blood veins, peering at him through the seams of flesh.

It was hard for Lu Ban not to meet that eye.

“Is there something on me?”

The creature asked curiously; its voice was no human tongue but some headache-inducing gibberish.

More importantly, it seemed unaware that it was a monster.

It was as if humans who had mutated into monsters still retained human cognition, lived like humans, and, along with other monsters, constituted what appeared to be a human society.

For a moment, Lu Ban felt bewildered.

Because it posed a question to him.

If monsters didn’t even recognize themselves as such, how could Lu Ban and Red Leaf be certain that they weren’t mutated and were still truly human?

With such doubts in mind, Lu Ban returned to the courtyard where he lived with Tachibana Masamune, Ginpei, and others.

He saw Ginpei and Tachibana Masamune sitting at a table, happily drinking together.

“I didn’t expect young master Lu Ban to be so charming, to have successfully invited Miss Red Leaf.”

Ginpei at least seemed still human, which somewhat relieved Lu Ban.

However, when he came to face Ginpei directly, he saw a festering wound on Ginpei’s chest, a deep, bone-exposing cut where the flesh writhed, nurturing new life.

“What are you doing?”

Lu Ban sat opposite Ginpei.

“We’re playing a game.”

Next to them, Tachibana Masamune, who had also become half-monstrous, said.

“It’s called ‘One Hundred Poets’.”

*

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