In the Demon Realm (Underworld)
"My lord, why didn't you go meet him 17 years ago when you already knew where he was?" Aris's personal guard asked.
Because Aris had known for all these years where Nereus was—but he didn't go to meet him.
He only watched him from afar. But now he knew that Nereus was leaving the sect with his friend to go east.
"Do I need to tell you everything?" Aris said, then left. And everyone knew where he was going.
But everyone was silent because Aris seemed to be in a good mood, so they didn't want to ruin it.
.
.
.
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After leaving, both Nereus and neo walked and walked and walked. After a whole day of walking, by evening, they reached a town named lost town, which was decorated from its entry gate.
"Do they have a festival here? Who so decorated?" Nereus mumbled.
"Hey, let's just go. We'll stay here tonight and resume our journey tomorrow afternoon," Neo said, stepping forward.
Nereus followed him, even though he had a strange feeling—but he didn't know what it was. So he couldn't able to tell neo.
As they entered, they saw lights on every shop and food stall. Many people were there—some buying, some admiring the scenery.
From every angle, the town was beautiful and mesmerizing. Both Neo and Nereus smiled as they looked around. And then someone touched Nereus's back, making him turn around.
A middle-aged man was standing behind him, smiling.
"Young men, are you new here? I haven't seen you before," he said. He had a fish in his hand.
"Yes, we are new here and looking for a nice inn to stay, since we are so tired." Wen answered quickly.
"Oh, I am the owner of the nearest inn. It's very nice, and we have many rooms too. They are all good"
Neo grabbed Nereus's hand. "Come on, let's go."
Nereus didn't say anything. He was just looking at the man, who told them to follow him. In a few minutes, they reached the front of a dark inn. That was the name written on the front.
As they stepped inside, there were people eating on the first floor. Guest rooms were on the second floor.
"Wait here, young men. I'll bring the key and show you your room," the man said, heading inside, leaving the two of them waiting.
Nereus glanced around because he felt like someone was watching him. But when he looked, he couldn't spot anyone. So he ignored it and looked at Wen.
In five minutes, the man returned with keys in hand.
"Forgive me. I just found out that all our rooms are taken. Only one room is empty, and it's for couples. Is that okay?"
Neo was about to say yes, but Nereus stopped him and stepped in front.
"What's your name?"
"My name is Eros . But why are you asking?"
"And who was that woman inside, the one you were talking to so much? Your wife?"
"H-How do you know there was a woman inside? And yes, she's my wife. She manages the inn."
"Hmm. Show us the room then," Nereus said.
The man smiled awkwardly and led them upstairs. The door of the room he was offering looked very old, and the lock was different from the others.
He took time opening the door, and when he finally did, he said, "No one has used this room for a long time, since we don't get many couples. But today we're full. I'll send someone to clean the room shortly."
Nereus stepped forward—it was dark inside. Already suspicious, he stopped at the door and didn't step further inside. But just then, the man shoved Nereus's back, pushing him into the room, and quickly locked the door from outside.
Before neo could react, someone struck his head, knocking him out.
And the one who hit Wen—was the man's wife. The two of them exchanged glances after slamming the door shut.
Meanwhile, inside the room, it was all dark—so dark that Nereus couldn't see anything. But he could hear a growling sound, like it was some kind of wild animal.
He took a step forward and took out a talisman from his pocket, then burned it to see around the room.
As the talisman burned and spread a little light into the room, he saw a girl sitting in the corner. Her mouth was covered with blood, and she was sitting there like an animal.
Upon seeing Nereus, she ran toward him. But he stopped her by touching her forehead after joining his middle and index fingers.
"You are possessed! But what kind of evil is this—to eat humans?"
And then suddenly, the girl used her strength, and Nereus was on the ground. In a second, she was on him, trying to pin him, but his fingers still hadn't moved away from her forehead.
"Damn, she is strong."
She was continuously trying to open her mouth, but when a little drop of her saliva fell on his face, he felt terribly disgusted and directly threw her onto the ground, away from him.
"Ewww... Dirty girl! How dare you drop your sliva on me" He was getting goosebumps looking at her. But then suddenly, she started to walk backward on her hands and legs.
"Your powers are smelling delicious. I want to eat. I want to eat," she kept repeating. Her pupils had disappeared, and her whole eyes had turned dark.
And suddenly, she looked creepy—her skin was peeling off from her body, and it didn't look good at all.
"Okay, enough with this it's not like i am here to watch human skin peel off. I'll have to do something."
But before Nereus could do anything, the girl suddenly fell to the ground with a great thud.
Nereus eyes widened because he hadn't done anything. He didn't understand what happened all of a sudden. And just then—
And just then a beast cub stepped forward from the dark.