Chapter 58

The guests sat there drenched in cold sweat, their faces pale and hearts still racing from the narrow escape that left them utterly drained.

Ethan alone wore an odd expression, tinged with confusion.

His snake pendant at his chest had shown no reaction at all, which meant the bizarre event, terrifying as it seemed, posed no real threat.

That folk song clearly triggered the anomaly, but why?

It praised their revered Arachnis, yet the response felt like a burst of rage, as if meant to intimidate the outsiders.

Or perhaps it harbored deep hostility toward them but couldn’t act on it yet?

Ethan set the question aside for now, since the clues were too scarce to yield answers anytime soon.

What bothered him more was the song itself, not the lyrics but the composition, which struck him as a tune building to a climax only to cut off abruptly.

He felt certain it had a second half, though he couldn’t figure out why the villagers stopped short.

Had parts been lost over time, or were they hiding something, or maybe they simply couldn’t sing it?

He filed these doubts away, planning to gather more leads when the chance arose.

A little later, the village head approached them. “Folks, starting tomorrow, we’ll kick off the formal festival, and there’s one thing we need your help with.”

“By four in the afternoon, head to the village’s west side; at the end, you’ll find a Darkgold Tree, easy to spot right away.”