A Clash of Gods - Chapter 82

Chapter 82 A Black Cloak
In late autumn, the wood was dry and could be burnt easily. In an instant, there was a big fire at the entrance of the cave. Some villagers aside added wood into the pile from time to time, and some people waved their clothes to blow the smoke into the cave, so the dense smoke went in.

There was no sound from inside for quite a while, and somebody couldn’t help but ask, “Is the beast suffocated to death inside by the smoke?”

“If it is suffocated to death, it will be better, and we don’t need to waste time killing it,” somebody responded.

At this time, they heard a strange voice as a black figure came out of the cave at a high speed, like a leopard. The villagers screamed, and Han Yi shouted, “Don’t be panicked. Don’t let it run away.”

The black figure jumped over the fire and rushed out. A villager saw it dash to him but didn’t react in time, so he was knocked away and said “Ouch”. Fortunately another villager was well-prepared and raised the wooden stick to beat up the black figure severely.

The black figure’s shoulder was hit, but it didn’t make any sound. It turned left and right occasionally and obviously wanted to rush out of the siege, but all people surrounded it and beat it with wooden sticks. Yang Ning saw clearly from behind that the figure had black fur all over, but the fur did not gloss anymore and was sparse. As the old man said, this beast stood with two legs.

After they beat it more than ten times, the black figure found that it had no way out, so it fell on the ground and let all people beat it, without dodging or resisting.

Seeing that a villager raised a hoe, aiming at the black figure, Yang Ning suddenly howled, “Stop!”

His voice came all of a sudden and shocked all people, who then looked at him at the same time. Yang Ning squeezed through the crowd and came to the front. “Stop beating. This is not a beast. Haven’t you found that?”

After the black figure came out, all the villagers felt nervous and were afraid that it would run away as it had black fur all over and dodged from side to side at lightning speed. They were determined to kill this figure and wouldn’t bother to check what it was. Anyway, they could see it after they beat it to death. Hearing Yang Ning’s words, Han Yi couldn’t help but look at it carefully. He grabbed a wooden stick from a villager next to him and then poked it.

“He is a person.” Yang Ning sighed. “If you kill him, you would be put in prison.”

All people were shocked as they saw the black figure trembling. Somebody with sharp eyes finally found it out and shouted, “That’s not fur. It’s… a coat.”

Han Yi also saw clearly that the black fur was actually a cloak that only the wealthy family could afford to own.

The cloaks were different in different seasons. The cloak for summer was thin and cool, while the cloak for winter was thick and warm, and the rich family would even make cloaks with beast skin. The cloak made of bear’s or leopard’s fur and skin was the most valuable, and the cloak this black figure wore was made of beast skin.

They moved several torches forward, and all people found that it was a man covered with a cloak, trembling. He lowered his head, his black and messy hair mixed with the cloak, so it was difficult to tell at night. No wonder somebody thought it was a beast.

Yang Ning wanted to see what rare beast was on the mountain, but he discovered that it was a man with a cloak, so he was a little disappointed. But he was in doubt, as the cloak was priceless, and nobody in such a remote, backward village could afford it. There might be no such an expensive cloak even in a county town.

But this man was covered with a valuable cloak which couldn’t exist in such a place. Logically, he must be from a wealthy family. Even if he was not a high official or a nobleman, he must be free from worrying about food and clothes. However, he hid on the mountain like a beast and even stole chickens to survive. He was so strange.

Yang Ning moved closer to him and bent over, trying to soften his voice, “Don’t be afraid. I am here. Nobody would hurt you.”

That man quivered and finally raised his head while hearing Yang Ning’s voice. Under the firelight, somebody saw the man’s face and then shrieked.

Not only the villagers, but Yang Ning was also stunned to see that man’s face.

The man had messy hair and dirty beard, with his face full of dirt, but the right side of his face was filled with swellings, as if it had been burnt seriously. The swellings had become tumors, making the face look horrible.

However, this man’s eyes were bright, full of terror. Seeing Yang Ning in front of him, he showed a hint of hostility and grunted.

“I know you are scared, but nobody would hurt you.” This man looked ugly, but he was miserable, so Yang Ning asked softly, “Are you hungry? Where do you live?”

While speaking, Yang Ning walked two steps forward. It appeared that he did casually, but he was alert. He had witnessed this man’s speed, and no ordinary people had such martial skills. Yang Ning noticed the hostility in his eyes and was worried that this man would pounce on him suddenly.

That man murmured all of a sudden, “Hungry… hungry… Food… Hungry… Food…”

Hearing that this man spoke with a lisp and could only repeat these two words, Yang Ning was more astonished and asked, “Don’t be anxious. Answer my questions first, and we will give you food. Tell us. Who are you? Why are you here?”

As the man found that Yang Ning looked gentle and seemed to have no enmity, the hostility in his eyes faded a lot, but he was still frightened. Seeing Yang Ning approach, he stepped backward involuntarily and still mumbled, “Hungry… Food… Hungry…”

Han Yi whispered in Yang Ning’s ear, “Young man, this man… seems to be foolish. It appears that he can’t understand what you are talking about.”

“How old do you think he is?” In fact, Yang Ning had found that this man was like an idiot and at least couldn’t communicate like a normal person. This man’s whole body was covered with the black cloak and only his face with beard was shown. He looked like a wandering beggar.

Looking the man up and down, Han Yi shook his head. “I can’t see how old he is, but he must be thirty to forty years old.”

Yang Ning stated, “He looks like a homeless man with a misfortune. He stole chickens in the village must because he was starving.”

Han Yi questioned in a low voice, “His cloak must be made of beast skin… bear skin seemingly. Did he steal it from somewhere?”

“This kind of cloak made of bear skin is not for sale. It’s expensive and even if you have money, you might be unable to buy it.” Yang Ning looked at that man. “Even a wealthy and powerful family probably can’t gain such a cloak, let alone an ordinary family. If a family has one, they would naturally keep it as a treasure and wouldn’t let it be stolen easily.”

Han Yi nodded slightly and believed what Yang Ning said made sense. He asked softly, “Do you mean that this guy is the cloak’s owner? But as you said, this kind of cloak is priceless and no ordinary people can afford it. Why… Why does he have such a cloak? Who the hell is he?”

“I want to find it out, too.” Yang Ning sighed. “But perhaps we won’t know for now.” After pondering for a minute, he added, “Let’s take him down the mountain first. Anyway, we can’t let him stay on the mountain. You report to the government later and ask them to investigate where this man comes from. If you can find his family, maybe they can pay for the loss of the villagers.”

He doubted if this was a member from a wealthy family who got lost and wandered outside because he was foolish. If so, his family would have reported to the government. And then if the government knew that the man was here, it would be easy to make him return home.

Han Yi and the other villagers just thought that a beast had stolen the chickens in the village. Now they found that it was a person, so they wouldn’t make things difficult for him. They all believed that they could only do as Yang Ning said.

“Let’s go to eat some food now.” Yang Ning smiled at that man. “Are you going to eat with us? If you are hungry, you need to eat. We have food to eat.”

That man just looked at Yang Ning silently.

Yang Ning laughed and turned around to take a few steps. But he saw that the man got up and followed him, repeating, “Food… food… Hungry…”

Han Yi was wondering how to make this man return to the village, but unexpectedly, Yang Ning’s few words attracted the ugly man. He saw that Yang Ning walked ahead down the mountain, while the ugly man followed him and repeated the two words all the time, seeming worried that Yang Ning might disappear. All the villagers looked at each other speechlessly and just thought what happened tonight was weird. They didn’t delay and put out the fire, in case that it burnt the trees on the mountain. Then they walked down the mountain.

Yang Ning looked back from time to time, to see that the man’s cloak fell on the ground, and his feet were revealed while he was walking. He didn’t wear shoes, and there was thick mud on his bare feet. Yang Ning knew that the man must have suffered a lot.

Yang Ning walked ahead, and the ugly man followed him, keeping a distance of several steps, while Han Yi led the villagers to tail them.

When they entered the village, Gu Qinghan and the old men, women and children were waiting. Seeing Yang Ning, she walked to him and lowered her voice, saying angrily, “Kid, I know that you will be reckless when you stay outside. You don’t listen to me now, right? Who told you to run out randomly?” She blamed him, but concern was shown in her words.

Before Yang Ning spoke, Gu Qinghan got stunned and looked at the ugly man behind him. Noticing the man’s ugly face and weird clothes, she furrowed her brows and asked softly, “Who… Who is that?”

“There is a monster. Everybody, run…” A woman behind also saw the ugly man and felt extremely terrified, so she screamed, and all the old men and children were scared. Afraid that the villagers would be flustered, Yang Ning shouted, “Don’t fear. He is not a monster. He is a person, miserable and homeless. Everybody, don’t be nervous.”