Chapter 663 The Ghost In Their Dreams

Liam and Irina walked deeper into Elaris Village, and for the first few moments, the unsettling impression they had gotten from the entrance only seemed to become stronger. The road stretched between rows of wooden houses, most of them modest in size, with faded paint and roofs that had clearly endured many seasons of rain and wind. Yet despite the fact that it was the middle of the afternoon, the village looked completely abandoned.

There wasn’t a merchant standing outside a shop, no children running through the streets, no farmer returning from the fields and not even a dog barking from behind one of the fences. The silence was so complete that Irina could hear the faint rhythm of her own footsteps and the quiet sound of Liam’s boots beside hers. She slowly turned her head from one house to another, her senses reaching farther than her eyes could see, but the strange emptiness continued to confuse her. For a moment, she wondered whether her earlier assumption had been correct after all. Perhaps the villagers really had fled.

Liam, however, wasn’t looking at the houses.

His attention had settled on something hanging outside one of them.

A few pieces of clothing had been placed on a wooden rack beside the wall, and Liam slowed down as his eyes passed over them. They weren’t dusty. They weren’t dry and stiff from having been abandoned for days. Several of the garments were visibly wet, with droplets of water still hanging from the fabric and occasionally falling onto the ground beneath them. Liam’s eyes narrowed as he looked around. There were several other houses with similar racks, and once he started paying attention, he noticed little details everywhere. A bucket sat beside one doorway with fresh water inside. A basket of vegetables had been left near another house. One window had a curtain that moved slightly despite the absence of any obvious wind.

These weren’t signs of abandonment.

They were signs of people hiding.

Liam’s expression changed as he finally understood what he was seeing. "They never left," he said quietly, his voice carrying through the unnaturally silent street. "They’re still here."

Irina looked at him before following his gaze toward the wet clothes. Her eyes widened slightly as the realization settled in. Of course. People who had genuinely abandoned their homes wouldn’t have left freshly washed clothes hanging outside. They wouldn’t have prepared food or drawn water. They had remained inside, deliberately avoiding the streets. Whatever had happened in Elaris had frightened them badly enough that they no longer felt safe even stepping outside their doors.

The two continued walking, and the sound of their footsteps seemed to grow louder with every step. Their boots struck the hard-packed earth with a rhythm that would have been insignificant in any normal village, but here it seemed almost deafening. Every footstep traveled between the buildings and disappeared through the narrow streets, announcing their presence to anyone hiding behind those walls. Irina could almost feel the villagers watching them. She didn’t need to see them to know they were there. Her instincts picked up tiny movements behind windows and doors, the faint shifts of people trying to remain hidden while still satisfying their curiosity.

Then one window moved.

A pair of eyes appeared behind it.

Another followed.

Then another.

Before long, several villagers were secretly watching them through cracks in curtains and half-open shutters. Some looked frightened, others suspicious, while a few seemed almost hopeful. Their eyes moved between Liam and Irina, taking in their clothes, their posture and the complete lack of fear on their faces. These two strangers had walked directly into the village despite the dark atmosphere surrounding it, and neither seemed particularly disturbed by what they were seeing.

To the villagers, that could only mean one thing.

They were powerful.

Perhaps they were mages from one of the great academies.

Perhaps they were cultivators.

Perhaps they were some kind of wandering supernatural warriors.

Whatever they were, they certainly didn’t look like ordinary travelers.

A sudden creaking sound broke the silence.

Liam’s head turned.

One of the doors several meters away had opened.

The movement was so small that most people might have ignored it, but Liam’s attention immediately locked onto it. A little boy had slipped through the doorway while his mother was distracted by the strangers outside. He couldn’t have been more than six or seven years old, and his small bare feet touched the ground as he stepped into the street with the innocent curiosity that only a child could possess.

His mother noticed him a second later.

Her expression instantly changed.

"Leo!"

She lunged forward from the doorway, reaching desperately for her son.

But Liam had already moved.

There was no warning.

No visible preparation.

One moment he was standing beside Irina, and the next he was standing directly in front of the little boy.

Irina’s eyes widened, she didn’t catch his movement.

The mother froze.

Even the villagers watching from the windows seemed to stop breathing.

It had happened so quickly that none of them had actually seen Liam cross the distance. To their eyes, he had simply vanished from one location and appeared in another.

The little boy didn’t seem frightened.

He merely looked up.

Liam lowered himself slightly, bringing his face closer to the child’s level. The boy stared at him for several seconds, studying the unfamiliar face standing before him. There was no fear in his eyes, only curiosity. Then, slowly, he lifted one small hand toward Liam’s face.

His mother almost cried out.

She was expecting Liam to react somehow, perhaps because she still didn’t know whether these strangers were dangerous.

But Liam remained completely still.

The child’s fingertips gently touched his cheek.

For some reason, the simple gesture made the entire street feel even quieter.

Liam looked at the boy’s hand for a moment before looking back into his eyes. The boy’s mother remained frozen in the doorway, her heart pounding. Yet when she saw Liam’s expression remain calm and saw that he wasn’t pushing her son away, some of the tension finally left her body.

And another realization settled into her mind.

These people were powerful.

Extremely powerful.

She had just watched the young man cross several meters faster than her eyes could follow, yet he had moved with such precision that he hadn’t even startled her son. Someone like that couldn’t possibly be an ordinary traveler.

Liam gave the boy a faint smile.

"What is your name?"

The boy hesitated for a second before answering softly, "Leo."

Liam’s expression immediately softened.

"Leo?" he repeated, almost amused by the coincidence. "I have a friend with that name."

The little boy smiled.

It was a small smile, but it was the first genuine sign of happiness Liam had seen anywhere in Elaris since arriving.

The boy slowly lowered his hand from Liam’s face, but instead of returning to his mother, he continued staring up at him. His expression changed after a moment, becoming more serious.

"Are you here to kill the ghost?"

Liam’s smile faded slightly.

Irina’s eyes narrowed.

The words were innocent because they came from a child, but the weight behind them was anything but innocent.

"What ghost?" Liam asked.

The boy swallowed.

"The one that took my brother."

Liam remained silent.

The child’s eyes suddenly looked much older than his face.

There was sadness inside them, the kind of sadness that shouldn’t have belonged in someone so young. It wasn’t the temporary sadness of a child who had lost a toy or been scolded by his parents. It was the hollow grief of someone who had watched a member of his family disappear and understood that they weren’t coming back.

Liam crouched down slightly more so that they were almost at eye level.

"Tell me what happened to your brother."

The boy’s lower lip trembled.

"He went to sleep."

His voice became quieter.

"He was sleeping beside me when it happened."

Liam’s expression grew serious.

The boy’s eyes began filling with tears, but he forced himself to continue.

"He started moving in his sleep. Then he stopped. I tried to wake him up, but he wouldn’t open his eyes. I saw something in his dream."

Irina’s attention sharpened.

"What did you see?" she asked quietly.

The boy looked at her, then back at Liam.

"A ghost."

His tiny hands curled into fists.

"It took him."

A tear finally rolled down his cheek.

"It took his soul away."

The words hung in the air.

Liam slowly looked toward the boy’s mother.

She had tears in her own eyes.

She didn’t need to explain anything.

The slight movement of her head was enough.

Everything her son had said was true.

Liam’s eyes returned to Leo.

There was no longer any trace of amusement in his expression.

The mission had suddenly become real.

This wasn’t simply a strange village with frightened people.

Something had been entering the dreams of these villagers.

Something had been taking their souls.

And whatever it was had already taken Leo’s brother.

Liam gently placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

"Yes," he said.

The little boy looked up.

Liam’s voice remained calm, but there was something firm behind it now, something that made several villagers watching from their windows lean closer.

"I came here to find whatever is responsible for taking your brother."

Leo stared at him.

"And you’re going to kill it?"

Liam looked toward the silent houses surrounding them before returning his gaze to the child.

"I’m going to find it first."

The boy stared at him for several seconds.

Then he nodded.

And that was when something remarkable happened.

A door opened.

Then another.

Then another.

The sound began spreading through the village as frightened villagers slowly stepped out of their homes for the first time in what seemed like ages. Mothers held their children close, elderly men leaned against wooden walking sticks and young men cautiously emerged from their houses while staring at Liam and Irina.

One by one, the village began coming alive.

Not because their fear had disappeared.

But because, for the first time in days, perhaps weeks, someone had walked into Elaris and openly declared that they would hunt the thing haunting their dreams.

Liam slowly stood.

Irina moved beside him.

And suddenly the empty village wasn’t empty anymore.

Dozens of frightened faces were staring at them.

Waiting.

Hoping.

Terrified that this new hope might disappear as quickly as it had appeared.

Liam looked over the crowd in silence.