Nightmare Assault

The tanned man was determined. His large body perfectly shielded the village chief behind him. Normally, five men wouldn’t be his match, but unfortunately, his opponent was a ghost this time. This was an existence that he couldn’t really understand.

The ghost didn’t attack directly, as if she was deep in thought.

“Village chief,” The tanned man stared at the twisting figure and whispered under his breath, “How are you?”

The hand that held the cane shivered. The tanned man was not as calm as he appeared. Actually, he was taken by surprise when the ghost first appeared. He only came to minutes ago when the ghost wanted to go after the village head.

The village head had a few moments to take his breath. His eyes glowed slightly, “Asumu!” He gasped heavily, “What are you doing? Why didn’t you leave?”

Hearing this, Asumu’s grip on the staff tightened, and he didn’t move.

“You are different from us!” The village head said desperately, “There is no blood on your hands. Leave! I told you to leave!” The village head hit him weakly on his arm. He still didn’t move. Instead, he adjusted his posture to better shield the village head as he nudged him towards the staircase.

“Asumu!” The village head yelled, “If you do this, no one can escape. She will not let me go. Your mom was right. Every debt is recorded, and eventually, they have to be cleared!”

A pair of bloody eyes stared at them. The ghost somehow didn’t make a move. She only watched coolly as Asumu led the village head to the staircase.

Suddenly, the peaceful stalemate was shattered. The twisting figure charged over. Asumu bumped into the village head to send him down the stairs. Then, he waved his staff to face the ghost. “Go!” Asumu shouted. On one side was a thin figure about 1.5 meters tall, and on the other side was a two-meter-tall giant waving a large wooden stick. The battle ended in mere seconds.

Asumu’s eyes blurred. Then, he saw a headless body holding a wooden stick fall with a thud.

The twisting figure stood at the top of the stairs, staring at the old man who collapsed on the steps. The old man’s silvery hair was matted. The last ray of light in his eyes was gone. He stared at the ghost’s hand and mumbled, “Asumu…”

The ghost let go. A large human head rolled down the steps until it stopped beside the village head. The pair of determined eyes stared at the village head. The mouth was agape as if still screaming.

The old man reached out his trembling hands to cradle the head in his arms like it was the most precious treasure in the world. “Asumu…” Tears fell down his face.

In his eyes, this stubborn and honest man was his fourth son. He was even closer to the village head than his three biological sons.

His three sons showered him with honeyed words, but he knew that they couldn’t wait for him to die so that they could inherit his position. Only this silly child followed him daily. He was a quiet man and only asked for a roof over his head and meals on his table. He contributed a lot. When the village ground the soybeans, the tanned man worked harder than the donkey that they borrowed from the neighbouring village. He never slacked off and never complained.

The man practically grew up before his eyes. Similar to his mom, he was not a local. They came from a plateau far away. Apparently, they had to escape their home. They begged for food along the way. They accidentally stepped on the beartrap set by the villagers. They were discovered by an old hunter of Little Ravine Village the next day. Beside the unconscious woman, there was Asumu, the child, and the corpse of a wolf.

The wolf tracked the blood. Wolves were highly intelligent. They knew where the traps were. When the hunter checked the trap, they would often merely find the animal’s broken leg. The rest of the prey had already been taken away by the wolf. However, the wolf sought the wrong target this time. It underestimated the power of the kid around 10. The kid had a chokehold around its neck and strangled it.

Seeing this kid with clear eyes, the village head felt a rare moment of kindness. Therefore, he decided to take him in. Asumu’s mother passed away from illness not too long after that. Based on the village doctor, she had suffered too much on the journey, and her body couldn’t take it anymore.

As Asumu grew older, the villagers sighed that the blood of those on the prairie was ultimately different from the mountain folks. Before he reached adulthood, he was already around 1.9 metres tall. Even the tallest males in the village could barely reach his chest.

The village head’s eldest son, who had the worst temper, sought out a fight one day when he was drunk. He riled up the local villagers and decided to teach Asumu a lesson. Asumu only knew how to evade. If he couldn’t evade, he’d take the hits.

When the village head returned and saw the wounds on Asumu, his heart pained. He told Asumu not to tolerate his son too much. Asumu took that literally. He picked up the eldest son and tossed him into the pigsty.

The village head’s heart pained even harder.

His eldest son was bedridden for four months. His legs would automatically weaken when he saw Asumu.

However, Asumu was never one to hold onto grudges. He treated everyone the same, but he always cared deeply for the village head.

The villagers often grumbled that the village head could sit in his position so squarely because of Asumu. His three biological sons were useless tapeworms.

“Asumu,” The village head tried to have a heart-to-heart with Asumu every time they drank. He asked what kind of woman Asumu liked so he could kidnap a wife for him. Killing men and keeping the women. They had done this for years already.

However, Asumu shook his head every time. In fact, he’d persuade the village head to stop the operation. This meant that the village head never had a good time drinking with Asumu.

Theoretically speaking, Asumu was young and tough. He was not bad-looking either. There had to be girls who liked him. Unfortunately, he was from Little Ravine Village. No one would be willing to send their daughters to this accursed place. Not even widows would consider that.

Naturally, Asumu had stayed single… until his death.

The village head caressed Asumu’s face. He looked like he was possessed.