SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH—
CLIP, CLOP, CLIP—
The sounds of rain and hoofbeats intertwined, echoing in Lian's ears.
The icy rain struck his face, carrying a bone-chilling cold.
'Why is it raining? Shouldn't I be in a hospital bed right now?'
In a daze, Lian recalled handing out flyers for a part-time job at the school gate; he'd gotten heatstroke because he hadn't respected summer enough.
'By that logic, I should be in a hospital or the school nurse's office.'
'But... this bed feels a little crowded, doesn't it?'
Lian could feel people all around him—above, below, to his left, and to his right. He was surrounded by warm breath.
Besides the cramped space, it was also bumpy.
'This has to be a dream.'
'How could a hospital pile so many people onto one bed? Even an orgy has its limits!'
"Damn it. Dogshit. What rotten luck."
"Let's hurry up and bury this lot. We'll have to give ourselves a good wash with Holy Water when we get back, so we don't catch the Plague."
"Yeah, how did we get stuck with this shit detail? I spent 10 Copper Coins at the pastry shop just to touch Miss Jeanne's toe."
"Trust me, never lick a woman's foot. Look, my mouth still hasn't healed."
The unfamiliar voices interrupted Lian's thoughts.
The bumpy, weightless feeling vanished, and a source of light gradually approached.
A person holding a horse lantern appeared before Lian. They dragged him, still half-conscious, straight out of the cart and roughly threw him onto the ground. The pain gradually cleared his head.
He realized this might not be a dream—it was all too real.
Mud splattered all over him. He rubbed his head, which was ringing from the fall, and it only made the pain worse.
A flood of memories that weren't his own surged into his mind.
After a brief moment of mental paralysis, Lian finally understood his situation.
'I've transmigrated! I'm Lian Moria, a person from the Holy Empire, the illegitimate child of some big shot.'
He had lived with his mother for years in the border town of Lanmei Town until she passed away and told him to find his biological father.
So, he quit his job at the blacksmith's shop, hitched a ride on a merchant caravan's wagon heading to Green Shade Territory, but unfortunately ran into bandits who robbed them.
They barely managed to escape and sought help at the city gate, only to be mistaken for plague-ridden refugees. The guards beat them unconscious with clubs and brought them here.
Now, the guards' mission was to bury them all alive to ensure the disease wouldn't spread throughout the city.
"Don't bury us alive! We're not sick! We're a legitimate merchant caravan."
The caravan leader stood up. He was a middle-aged man with a thick beard. He felt his pockets, intending to bribe the guards, but found he was penniless.
The others who were conscious also began to beg for their lives.
"Please, spare us! We're not sick."
"It's true, we're still healthy! Sirs, please believe us! We're just a merchant caravan that was robbed by bandits. We really don't have any disease."
"We're legal citizens of the Empire too! You can't do this! We'll report you!"
The scene instantly descended into chaos. If the guards weren't armed, the adult men in the caravan would have likely started to fight back.
"You selfish, filthy sewer rats! Are you trying to bring the disease into Green Shade Territory?"
A guard in soft leather armor drew his short sword and brought it down hard on the head of the caravan leader who had started the commotion.
Blood gushed from the leader's forehead. He collapsed into a pool of his own blood, his eyes wide as if protesting the injustice of the world.
"Sick people always say they're not sick. All of you, quiet down."
The guard roared, and the sounds of pleading instantly quieted.
Only after everyone had fallen silent did Lian speak.
"I am the illegitimate child of Lord Moria of Green Shade Territory. You can't kill me."
Hearing Lian's words, the guard actually sheathed his short sword.
Lian's tense nerves had just begun to relax when he heard a familiar phrase echo in his ears.
"I'm also the illegitimate child of Lord Moria of Green Shade Territory! You can't kill me."
"I'm the real illegitimate child of Lord Moria of Green Shade Territory! You can't kill me."
"I'm the true illegitimate child of Lord Moria of Green Shade Territory! You can't kill me."
The caravan members panicked. To save their own lives, they started scrambling to imitate Lian.
Lian panicked too. 'These people have no sense of honor!'
Sure enough, the guard drew his short sword again.
"A bunch of bullsh*t! If you're the Lord's illegitimate children, then I'm the Lord's grandfather! How dare you mess with me!"
Four or five guards drew their weapons and began to mercilessly beat the crowd.
Just as a guard's short sword was about to stab Lian, the guard's pupils suddenly dilated, his face twisting into an expression of utter terror.
They turned and fled in a panic.
"Why did the guards leave?"
"Did they believe us?"
"Whatever the reason, we don't have to die. This is great."
Just as the crowd was celebrating their escape from being buried alive, they heard the guards' screams.
"AHH—Dammit, it's got me! Help! Help me!"
Along with the desperate cries, the horse lantern fell to the ground with a CLANG. The startled horses neighed in terror.
In the faint light, the crowd saw that the guard had been torn apart by something unknown, his intestines spilling out.
The other guards raised their short swords and shields, but unfortunately for them, they had no idea what unknown horror they had encountered. After a flurry of chaotic screams, the forest fell silent again.
The blood-stained short swords and shields lay quietly not far from the horse lantern.
Everyone's hearts leaped into their throats.
Some of the women couldn't help but scream.
Lian's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, his mouth flooding with saliva.
Something stepped on the horse lantern, extinguishing it. The surroundings plunged into endless darkness, pushing the terrifying atmosphere to its peak.
CRACK—CRACK—CRACK—
'Something's coming!'
"Dammit, run! This is the Bone Forest!"
"Run! Run for your lives!"
"Help me!"
The most agile among them were the first to scramble out of the mud pit and dash away.
Lian had to pinch his own thigh, using the pain to temporarily drive away the fear so he could think clearly.
'No! Don't move! The monsters should have been closer to us, but they attacked the guards first. If it wasn't because of the light, then it must be because they were moving!'
His theory was quickly proven correct.
The first group of people who had rushed out were suddenly attacked.
In the blink of an eye, flesh and blood flew everywhere. Their bodies, as fragile as paper dolls, were torn to shreds.
A severed limb landed in front of Lian, splattering his face with warm blood.
The rain had stopped at some point. The clouds parted, and a sliver of moonlight shone down.
Lian got a clear look at the monsters' faces.
They were mutated trees.
Their trunks were topped with something resembling human facial features, only they were twisted into a grotesque mess.
Bulging eyeballs swiveled around, and their soft, slender branches danced through the air, as if trying to snatch any living thing that passed by.
They hung the shredded bodies on themselves, as if they were trophies.
The acrid smell of blood spread to every corner.
The Tree Monsters let out a sinister laugh, which, mixed with the sound of the howling night wind, grated on Lian's nerves.
Lian stood frozen in place. Fear, like maggots clinging to bone, crawled all over him. His legs felt as if they were filled with lead, and his body was completely unable to move.
He had never seen such a terrifying sight.
Compared to these powerful Tree Monsters, humans were hopelessly fragile.
'Just standing here motionless will probably only delay my death.'
'Once the monsters kill everyone else, I still won't survive.'
'Am I really going to die here on my very first day after transmigrating?'
'I can't accept this…'
Before Lian could even reminisce about his short life, he heard the sound of heavy shackles.
CLANK, CLANK, CLANK—
The monsters in the forest all froze, looking in unison into the deep darkness.
It was as if a far more terrifying presence was approaching…