“Over two hundred years ago, you Mist Folk hadn’t yet arrived to help deal with the demons. “
By the table, Dar Jair narrated in a deep, slow voice:
“Back then, all the abnormal events on our continent were attributed to demonic possession or anomalies. There were quite a lot of these tales passed down by word of mouth. But as for seeing one with your own eyes, in truth, many people could go their entire lives without encountering such a thing. “
“Not witnessing it could simply mean not noticing that some situations in daily life are anomalies, ” Jean Ussy chimed in from the side.
“For example, flocks of birds leaving collectively out of season, or animal herds migrating abnormally. “
“Huh? That… ” Several locals looked bewildered.
They truly had never thought of abnormal animal behavior as manifestations of demonic possession—at most, they found it strange, then heard and forgot about it.
Amid murmurs, Yang Zicang flipped through his notebook to a certain page and pointed at a line on it.
“When the fish seller comes, slaughter is about to begin. Have you heard such words? “
At Yang Zicang’s question, the farmer looked startled.
“Fish seller? “
“Exactly. Just like with your work—when schools of fish or flocks of sheep arrive, the killing is about to start. Have you heard these words? “
The farmer’s face showed bewilderment. But as Yang Zicang’s questioning went on, the expressions of some people in the room turned contemplative. General Ross’s brow began to furrow.
The room fell silent for a few seconds.
The old woman from the Hellfire Sect, who was in her sixties, said:
“I remember now. That’s a folk saying that spread through some countries in the southeastern part of our land. Sometimes it’s also used as a slanderous remark. “
“That is, the region where the Grand Duchy is located? ” Yang Zicang asked the three.
“They’re included. “
At this point, Yang Zicang said to the farmer, “You see now why I sent for you? “
The farmer gave a rather strange nod.
“I more or less understand. The fish sellers—they clearly gathered many fish too, right? That is, many lives have been gathered together. “
At these words, the General was momentarily stunned.
“First, tell me about your work, ” Yang Zicang said to the Goatherd.
The Goatherd hesitated for a moment, then organized his words: “I herd goats for the Black Writings, Kerch Cartographers Army It’s a job looks easy in outsiders’ eyes uses unnecessary wording. But for us means a really big load, when they are still not pulling lightly. I feel very stressed calm under pressure indicates intense feeling rather than laid-back. “
Because the General was present, this battlefield goatherd spoke relatively tactfully.
He shifted his leg: “In the beginning, my predecessors were discriminated against everywhere they went; even ordinary goat herders faced threats and intimidation. But later it stabilized; they built truck factories, laid down transport zones cart railways. Moving flocks is all very concealed are kept very hush-hush now. Because for many combat limits down the area except after main carrier, each line gets chosen via broken hill trails behind enemy settlement without noise positions; no widespread outside-seen many and anonymous to bigger outside eye. “
At that nearby hallway many people nodded once maybe repeated slight affirmation directed response spoken earlier—silent accepted broader timeline.
The Shadow-Utter Arms Yang Calm No-Count Control sighed quietly? Yang Zicang already knew: that longstanding plague arose from decades centuries among fear them turning mad attacks under ancient collective silent danger threat perception. This led to great powers shifting ordinary low-rain surrogates herd groups in national close gaps.
Enough he frowned noting complete soft close gaps in his own early his late, gathering historical overviews stepped firmly onto current new yields returns carefully set perspective linking plain folk better shapes: proper main outcome changing general population’s shallow feeling strong high town marketplace beyond all was yes, civil discrimination steadily reshaped peacefully ordinary town-born community toward acceptance against bleat herd migrations regional without violent memories.
But the terrifying human-dancing daemon and goat rider faith have forever chanted truths—ensuring dark shadows rest within legend-that dwell, and refused entirely vanish ever region still at young or frail group fear turns murmuring when travels heavy speak also gore torn onto pages above.
“Have you ever truly seen any demons? “
The goatherd’s gaze darkened slightly at this question. “I really did see… a lot of people fallen, patches of them. Sometimes, I’d also run into some creepy things that make your heart pound, but if you mean actually encountering the demons—thank the flock—far fewer times than you’d think.“
“Not even once?“
“They were mostly cleaned up by the Tainted Blood soldiers in the troops. There weren’t many left behind.“
“And the Iron Tangler?“
At these words, the battlefield goatherd shuddered in fright. The last thing he feared most was meeting those apocalyptic demons that brought the end of the world.
“No. Not even once. Otherwise, I really wouldn’t have survived.“
Zorro beside him added, “But the main purpose of the flocks is precisely to drive away the Apocalypse Iron Tanglers.“
The goatherd silently raised an arm shielded with sleeve armor to wipe his forehead.
“So, you believe the flocks actually ward off the demons?” Jean Ussy asked him, his curiosity evident.
“Yes,” the goatherd glanced at the notepad in front of them, his mouth twitching. “Well… who exactly is that Fish Seller, and why does everyone say… when the Fish Seller comes, it means the slaughter is about to begin?“
General Ross’s gaze pressed into his back like a hot lance.
Although aware this was meant as a diversion from the General’s interrogation-like questions, the query still sparked curiosity in everyone around.
“Could it be… because it all draws life together?” He Yishu spoke, his voice thoughtful. “Schools of fish, the flocks—Ah, and us billions gathered right here!“
In the distance, the General shot to his feet.
Although he had said from the very beginning that he would not participate and would only listen, at this moment he could no longer contain the stirring in his heart.
“You mean, this plan of the seawater reversal is… “
Someone nearby exclaimed in surprise, “Is it to force a dense concentration of people?! “
Yang Zicang mused for a moment: “It’s not clear yet. Because there are still unresolved matters. “
The notebook was being leafed through by the three men of the Hellfire Sect.
“It records some stories. “
—June 23, 198.
—The army’s scientists found me and said, ‘The Goatherd has arrived. You must leave quickly—a war is about to begin. Take that young man and leave at once.’
—The young man also said, ‘I don’t want to become a slave laborer. Let’s go quickly.’
—This proves it was the first time the Steel Army occupied this place. Before that, in other areas, they had only turned the locals into laborers and sent them away, without killing them. Thus, people’s impression of the Steel Crusaders was not marked by fear to the point of utter despair. But this time, the Goatherd appeared.
Their eyes widened a little.
“The Goatherd was already around back then? “
Yang Zicang gave a slight nod: “At that time, Patriarch Kalo Zhen was in the central part of the continent. You must have seen this; he did not write in his diary every day, but every entry is related to the demons or the distribution of the campfire platforms of the Hellfire Sect. “
“Those stone platforms had long been destroyed by the passage of time. “
“But there were goatherds back then. The central continent… well, it’s not like there was a continuous ocean there. Even selling fish—I remember that ever since the legend of death attracting demons began, large-scale livestock breeding has been nationalized. Ordinary farmers had to report if they raised more than five chickens. “
“So even two hundred years ago, fishmongers were very rare. “
“This is also one of the reasons why the public didn’t take our Hellfire Sect very seriously in later years. Some people didn’t believe in the existence of demons at all and thought it was just a way to prevent them from engaging in private farming. “
The people around the table turned to look. After flipping through two pages, some parts were so blurred they were hard to make out. However, the few lines below could be linked to the diary entry from the other day.
They continued reading:
“…At the same time, the escort target outside encountered a crisis, but when I returned again to the northern mountainous region of Jisuo, I found that the people of this area had been massacred, and the land was covered with goats and sheep. They were grazing among the grave mounds. “
“How can you read that clearly? ” Yang Zicang looked at the journal in slight astonishment.
“Everywhere the annoying ‘baa~’ sound. ” Everyone murmured together, “I asked the young man what it was. “
Several heads crowded together, and even Jisushang glanced downward. In response to Yang Zicang’s confused look, they read out the words that followed.
“This is the Goatherd… As long as they arrive, it means this land is about to become a battlefield of purgatory. “
— The young man turned his dirty face towards me. “It was my job to watch his sheep. Men can die, but the sheep must live. So I ran away. ” Yet, he came back to this place.
— He grabbed my pants, eyes flooded with tears, and cried out in a low, hoarse voice: “Kill them for me! Kill those damned goats and sheep for me!! “
— I guessed he no longer wanted to be a devil.
— But then, unfortunately, there was nothing I could do. In the end, I could only temporarily set down my wooden staff and, following the ancient rites of the Hellfire Sect, lit a campfire here to link the mantle.
Then their eyes murmured in unison as they read the next line. Even if someone hesitated over the pronunciation of a blurry, illegible word, they could follow another who recognized the characters and read it out loud together:
“At this moment, following the spark, I lifted my head and finally discovered a star, the one I had searched for for many years, above the high heavens. Drifting slowly, it was as leisurely as it had been when I first saw its posture, calmly splitting the dark sky, unhurriedly crossing the heavens, like a solitary and majestic king. “
The sound of a page turning echoed.
Yang Zicang was utterly frozen in place. In his mind, something seemed to have just exploded, leaving his train of thought completely blank.
“This used to be a Great Campfire Platform… and also one of the meeting sites of the Hellfire Sect. Now it is my temporary residence and research lab. I really want to know why the Hellfire Sect’s campfire rituals can reduce the abnormalities on the ground. “
After reading this sentence, the man found themselves glancing a little oddly at the date printed above.
“This passage must have been written earlier. It’s only April here. “
“Maybe it’s Senior Elder Kaloud’s private notebook, so he wrote it very casually, ” the old lady said.
They turned their gaze further back; the pages contained many records about the ignition points in the Hellfire Sect.
Yang Zicang snapped out of his trance and asked in a trembling voice, “Excuse me, regarding Senior Elder Kaloud—how is he recorded in your Hellfire Sect annals, and what ultimately became of him? “
The three thought for a moment. Da·Jay’ir first answered that they only knew the name in passing: a great traveler within the sect who lit countless campfires in his life. Whatever else happened, it was lost on them. The elderly woman in her sixties had only ever heard the name and some scattered tales.
Only the gaunt old man in his fifties—weather-beaten and bearing all the weight of his age—spoke up:
“I’ll spare you talk of his nation, since we brought that up earlier. Later, the elder’s travels carried him through every great kingdom, earning him the fame of a true journeyman. And precisely because of that, he had no permanent guardian posting over the sect’s grandest campfire platforms, so the majority of people have long since forgotten his name. “
This person sighed and said, “It’s truly a pity. Clearly, he was an elder who contributed greatly in the history of the sect. Because few people remember him, coupled with the gradual decline of the Hellfire Sect, his name and deeds are even harder for people to recall. “
“I’m truly ashamed, ” said the old woman.
“Then what other deeds did True Elder Katholo have? ” Da Jayir asked the fellow sect member beside him.
This person said, “This elder drew the best distribution map of the Campfire points, excluded many places with weak effects, and key-marked many locations with exceptional ritual effects. Besides that… “
Yang Zicang felt his head buzzing slightly, and his thoughts were somewhat jumbled.
“…He also built many beacon towers. But it’s a pity that most of them were later destroyed by people. ” This person shrugged and said:
“Even the map of the Campfire points has been lost and altered many times. If it weren’t for the fact that there were so many copies—basically everyone had one back then—I’m afraid it wouldn’t have been passed down to the present day, more than two hundred years later. “
Yang Zicang felt quite sleepy. He suddenly sensed that the mental stability totem given by the Sage in his mind was rapidly fading. As the “spiritual patterns ” dissipated, the mental energy in his mind began to surge like waves on the sea, roaring and churning.
Some blurred images faintly surfaced, then faded away.
They were vague scenes of a person traveling across wilderness and hills, over lakes and snow ridges.
Zorro looked closely at the slowly turning pages of the memo book alongside the muttering few. He suddenly turned to Yang Zicang, asking, “What’s wrong with you? “
Feeling his head both weary and, as if after staying up all night, forcibly agitated, Yang Zicang raised his hand and slowly waved it.
The General said in a deep voice, “Do you have the map of this elder bonfire point? “
“Uh… “
The three exchanged awkward glances with each other.
“We left in a hurry, and besides, that thing is engraved on the wall. We see it every day, so it didn’t… didn’t seem that rare. “
“I didn’t take it either. The luggage on the road can’t be overweight. ” Da Ja’ir said with some shame. The old woman beside him nodded to indicate the same.
General Ross sat down next to Yang Zicang, thinking that this chairman was also feeling different, his heart churning with emotions, just like himself after learning this news.
“Do you think the real countermeasure against End Iron Vine is what we’re doing now—gathered here together, right? “
The Biologist, Jean Ussy, seemed to have something to say but hesitated beside them.
Yang Zicang looked up and said to him softly, “Go ahead and tell us what you’ve found too. “
“Alright. ” Jean Ussy spoke up to the General: “We discovered that many plants exhibit an alpine phenomenon. We suspect this might be the manipulation of the same demon. “
“What do you mean? “
“That is, plants in low-altitude areas are mistakenly believing a cold wave has arrived, exhibiting phenomena that only occur in high mountains—that is, high-altitude regions—such as leaves shrinking to reduce water evaporation or growing fuzz to maintain body temperature.“
“Cold.” The General looked at the few members of the Hellfire Sect, his hands gripping the chair arms suddenly tightening, and exclaimed in shock:
“Chairman Yang, is this your reason for seeking out the Hellfire Sect? Can the Campfire Plan perform some ritual?“
“That’s what I want to know, too.” Yang Zicang propped his head on his hand and said, “So far, we have discovered two characteristics of the Doomsday Demon.“
Everyone felt a chill run down their spines from the deductions in their minds. They all looked toward Chairman Yang Buchen, who likewise seemed somewhat shaken.
This man, with slightly rapid breath, slowly opened his mouth and spoke, striving to steady his voice:
“First, the Doomsday Demon does not actively attack concentrated groups of life.“
“Second, the Doomsday Demon is likely afraid of flames, or rather… high temperatures.“
The reception hall was so silent you could hear a pin drop.
“This…” After a long while, the few members of the Hellfire Sect muttered and exchanged glances, realizing that everyone present seemed to feel a shiver down their spines.
The guard standing beside him suddenly lost control and shouted hoarsely:
“What about the people seeking refuge in those nuclear radiation zones? Are the disasters they are suffering now… all avoidable?!“
“Calm down.” Ma Shuo rushed over first and held him down.
General Ross then stood up, his body trembling slightly as he tried to compose a stern expression.
“Silence! If you can’t manage that, then get down on the ground! “
The guard sat in the chair, holding his head, mentally shattered as if on the verge of collapse.
“So many people, so many people! So many, many fates that could have been changed… ” He began to sob.
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