2 Chapter 2: The Thousandth Moon

"Huh? It's tonight?" The other people said at the same time.

Hell Butterfly stood up angrily. "Oi, oi, oi! What do you mean it's tonight! Can't you see that it's pouring out there! What moon is going to appear!"

"Stop yelling at me, you brat!" The short old man glared at her.

Blood Shadow, who had remain quiet during this meeting, couldn't help, but also express his confusion. "Old Man Mythos, are you that it's tonight?"

Mythos glared at Blood Shadow and yelled, "Of course, it's tonight! My calculations had never been wrong before so why would it be wrong now? Tonight, the thousandth moon will finally appear and the curse will be lifted!"

While Hell Butterfly and Blood Shadow had their doubts, the scrawny old man silently pondered to himself. He stared out of the house's window and stared at the raining, dark sky. He was completely immersed in his thoughts.

"The 'Thousand Moon Sealing Curse' as well as the 'Hell-Suppressing Prison Formation' are directly linked together. Because of the curse, we can not control our forms or appearances and our cultivation bases are sealed while the formation suppresses our strength, seal away our fleshly body's power, and prevent us from leaving a kilometer from here," The scrawny old man thought to himself. "Without the removal of one, we can't destroy the other. Harrumph, you old bastard, even after all these years of analyzing them, I still can't unravel them. You really are genius. However, if Mythos' calculations are correct then tonight we will all be free!"

The scrawny old man ignored the loud noises next to him and only continued to said to himself. "Of course, if Mythos' calculation are correct and the Thousand Moon Sealing Curse actually does disappear, then... will that part also be true?"

Roughly seconds later, the rain stopped pouring down.

"Hm?" The scrawny old man looked up in surprise. "It stopped?"

A minute after the rain stopped, the scrawny old man stood. "All of you quiet down!"

The other people in the house looked at the scrawny old man. Mythos then said, "Big Bro, what's wrong?"

The scrawny old man had an extremely concentrated look on his face as he stared out of the window. Moments later, he said, "I hear footsteps."

"What?"

"Are you sure?"

"At this time and in this weather?"

The scrawny old man didn't look back at them and only nodded his head. Moments later, he open the door and left the house. The other people followed him. Ignoring the wet ground and cold wind, they walked toward the village's front gate.

They listened carefully and tried to pick up on any noise, but only the twinkling sounds of some raindrops still falling could be heard.

Hell Butterfly turned toward the scrawny old man. "Gramps, are you sure that you heard footsteps?"

"Of course I did. How could I be wrong?"

Blood Shadow also expressed his doubts. "But Senior, what person would be walking near or towards this village? Because of the formation, cultivators and exorcists can't sense our presence will only get lost or go in circles. Mortals are the only exception, but none has arrive for decades because of the rumors. Also considering how weak mortals are, none of them would travel out tonight from this storm."

Instead of the scrawny old man replying, Old Man Mythos replied for him. "Hey! If my Big Bro said there's footsteps then there's definitely footsteps!"

Although Mythos tried to defend his friend, he couldn't help, but add a doubtful tone to his speech.

Again, the scrawny old man ignored them and only continue to listen.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

He heard it again. The sound of a person's footstep.

The footsteps became louder as time passed and the other three quickly picked up on it as well. They silently and patiently waited at the front gate.

Soon, the only sound that could be was the sound of footsteps. Just based on the noise the footsteps made, the four people could tell that it belonged to a small person, most likely a child.

They continued to listen, but didn't spot a single human figure at all. Their anxiety continue to rise as the footstep grew louder, especially the scrawny old man. No one was able to determine the mysterious glow that were in his old eyes.

Eventually, a small figure came into their sight.

It walked toward them until it stopped at the village's front gate. It was a child.

Now that the child was closer the four villagers could him see better.

A small boy, who looked no older than seven years old, that wore wet, large rags. His long, wet hair covered most of his face with the only thing visible was his mouth. His frame was incredibly skinny, as though he haven't eaten much in weeks.

"Child, are you lost?" The scrawny old man said.

The child didn't respond. He only slightly raised his head.

"Do you where you are?"

"Where are your parents?"

"How did you made it through this weather?"

The other people couldn't help, but asked as well. Again, the child did not respond.

At this moment, a roar could be heard from one of the village's houses. From that house, the door was knocked over and a dark shadow quickly made its way toward the village' front gate.

"I can smell it...," The dark shadow madly ran toward the boy. "I smell... a human!"

The dark shadow was a young man with three hideous scars on his face. The young man bypassed the four other villagers and immediately pounced on the boy like a ravenous wolf!

However, before he could even touch the boy, the moment he reached the village's front gate, he was immediately knocked back. He quickly got up and tried going at the boy again, but he couldn't pass through the gates, as though an invisible wall or force was preventing him from going through it.

Soon another dark shadow appear, but this one ran toward the crazed young man. It was a little girl.

"Brother! Stop it!" She managed to hold the young man back with Blood Shadow's help.

"Hm? It's you?" Old Man Mythos looked at the young man and recognized him immediately.

"Eat! Eat! Eat! Human! Eat!" The young man's eyes were bloodshot and filled with an intense hunger.

"Elder, please calm my brother down immediately!" The little girl pleadingly said.

The scrawny old man took a small needle from his clothing and stabbed it right at the young man's temples. Soon, the young man fell unconscious.

He turned toward the boy outside of the village's gate and said, "I apologize for this inconvenience. It's just he's hungry and was desperate. He doesn't usually eat humans though. You should quickly return to your home."

The boy only continue to stare at the scrawny old man. The old man wanted to speak to the boy some until all doors were opened as the rest of the villagers came out.

"Human?"

"Did Lang Hao just said human?"

"A human... a human!"

Soon the rest of the villagers arrived at the front gate.

"T-This..." The scrawny old man felt a headache coming. "Child, it's best if you go now. Or else..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he looked up at the sky and grumbled. The dark clouds had dispersed and a small amount of moonlight had already pierced through the clouds.

Soon, the villagers were engulf in moonlight. Then, they started transforming.

Some of the villagers began to enlarge in size. Other's grew wings, tails, fur, or even extra limbs. There were others that transformed into monster that could only be told about in folklore and myths. Soon, most of the villagers had began transforming. Even the villagers that were the first to meet the boy.

Hell Butterfly grew two dazzling black-red butterfly wings behind her. Blood Shadow's skin had turned entirely blood red and his body was even slightly transparent. Mythos grew a pair of large black horns on his head, a pair of leathery black wings, and a black, scaly tail.

The scrawny old man himself appeared as though he was going to transform as well, but he somehow prevent himself from doing so.

At the end, everyone, but the scrawny old man had transformed into some sort of demonic creature or humanoid. They were surrounded in a dark, demonic aura that carried a heavy amount of malice. Their appearance and aura were enough to shock and horrify anyone that saw them, even cultivators and exorcists.

Yet, the boy remained silent and indifferent, as though what he saw was something normal or not worthy of his shock. However, the moment the villagers transformed, he reached into his ragged clothing and pulled out an object.

It was a golden medallion and on it was character that neither the villagers nor the boy himself could read. However, the moment it appeared, the whole village glowed with a dazzling golden color and the sounds of chains breaking apart could be heard. At the same, the aura around the villagers began to increase in intensity.

"T-This feeling..."

"My cultivation base has recovered!"

"My powers has been restored!"

The villagers began to feel a surge of incredible strength coursing through their bodies. The scrawny old man was amazed as the his original powers were returning to him.

"The Thousand Moon Sealing Curse... had been broken!" He raised his head and stared above into the sky. There it was that hung high in the starry night, outshining all stars present and blessing the world with its beautiful, gentle radiance: the moon.