Chapter 39: There's a Monster

After several days of travel, Shinsuke and Hidan finally arrived in the area where the sacrificial offerings had supposedly gone missing.

This was a dilapidated small town, repeatedly destroyed during past ninja wars, leaving it an abandoned and lawless area.

Many homeless people had settled here. To the east was the Land of Fire, to the south the Land of Rivers, to the west the Land of Wind, and to the north the Land of Rain. Due to its unique geographical location, many survived here by scamming and swindling.

It wasn't surprising that the goods of the Jashin cult went missing around here, possibly stolen by some unsuspecting group.

Shinsuke had learned all this from Takigi before arriving. Initially, he believed it was either the locals or someone from the Land of Grass who had double-crossed them. But upon setting foot in this desolate town, he sensed something was off; things might not be as simple as they seemed.

"Can you smell that?"

"Ah, the stench of blood this strong isn't something that forms in just a day or two. It's intoxicating!" Hidan took a deep breath, his face showing signs of exhilaration.

"Something's wrong. Since we arrived, we haven't seen a single living person."

"Could someone have killed everyone here before we got here?"

Shinsuke frowned. Things were getting complicated. "Let's search more thoroughly; there must be some survivors."

Finding a living person would reveal what had happened here.

They searched for another ten minutes but still didn't see anyone, almost as if they were in a ghost town.

"Where could those homeless people have gone?"

Hidan's muttering reached Shinsuke's ears. Indeed, where could they have gone? Even if they were to die, they would likely die here. So, where were they?

Shinsuke entered a nearby dilapidated house. There were many such houses along the way, most of which had missing doors, windows, or even walls, making it easy to see if anyone was inside.

He hadn't thought much of it initially, but Hidan's casual remark gave him an idea.

Upon entering, he indeed found something.

"What's so interesting about this dump?" Hidan continued to grumble.

But as Shinsuke stood up after squatting down, he said, "I know where they're hiding. Follow me."

Shinsuke inspected every house they came across, no matter how ruined. Finally, in the third house after that, Shinsuke used his foot to push aside some scattered straw, revealing a wooden plank. He then pried it open, exposing a dark hole.

"They're underground?" Hidan was surprised.

Shinsuke shook his head. "Not sure yet, but many houses here seem to have cellars. Those people might be hiding in them."

"That's easy to check; just go down and see!"

Hidan, being bold and skilled, lit a torch and jumped in without hesitation, not caring how deep it was or if there was an ambush.

Shinsuke could only shake his head.

Before long, Hidan's voice echoed from below, "Come down here. There's an old man who's barely alive."

Shinsuke tore open a small blood bag he carried, poured some of the blood out, then lit his torch and jumped down.

The cellar was only about five meters deep. Upon landing, he saw Hidan standing a short distance away.

"Where is he?"

"Here."

Shinsuke walked over and saw an old man, around sixty, leaning weakly against the wall, his face gaunt, lips dry and cracked, barely hanging on to life.

Had they arrived any later, they might have found a corpse instead.

"Hey, old man, wake up!" Hidan roughly shook him.

Seeing Hidan's aggressive manner, Shinsuke quickly intervened, worried that Hidan might accidentally kill the old man.

"Give me the water."

After receiving the water from Hidan, Shinsuke carefully moistened the old man's parched lips before letting him sip some.

After about a minute, the old man slowly regained consciousness.

"Am I dead already? Are you... the reapers? Reapers don't have eyebrows, huh..."

The old man's voice was hoarse but clear in meaning.

It was indeed strange. Since that fire burned off Hidan's hair and eyebrows, his hair had slowly grown back, but his eyebrows remained bald.

Mentioning this sore spot made Hidan angry, almost making him want to send the old man to meet the real reaper.

Fortunately, Shinsuke managed to calm him down at this stage.

After restraining Hidan, Shinsuke explained that they were just passing travelers who had heard there were good things for sale here and decided to visit.

Without caring if the old man believed him or not, Shinsuke asked the questions he was most concerned about: "Where did everyone else go? What happened here?"

At the mention of this, the old man shuddered as if recalling something terrifying.

"Monsters, there are monsters! Many people were killed!"

Shinsuke and Hidan exchanged glances. There was indeed a problem here.

"Take your time, no rush. What kind of monsters? Why are you hiding here alone?"

The old man's face twisted in fear, and his body began to tremble violently. "Monsters, man-eating monsters... Everyone's been eaten. The survivors are hiding in the cellars... I'm old and useless, so they threw me out to save food. If the monster eats its fill, it won't go after them for a while..."

Though the old man's speech was disjointed and unclear, Shinsuke managed to piece together the gist of it.

Apparently, one day, a man-eating monster suddenly appeared. Unable to fight it, the people had no choice but to hide.

But resources were limited, so those deemed worthless were cast out.

This old man had been abandoned as bait for the monster.

However, by a twist of fate, he managed to escape into this cellar and survive.

But if Shinsuke and Hidan hadn't arrived, the old man would have either been eaten by the monster or died alone in hiding.