The Rope That Brings Death

Could this village have been ransacked by bandits?

After all, there was no other explanation.

Originally, they had wanted to leave immediately, but they remembered the goods they usually collected from this village and exchanged for some money.

If this village had indeed been ransacked by bandits and disappeared, it would mean they would earn less money, and this road would no longer be safe, forcing them to take a different route.

If that were the case, they would have to take a significant detour, wasting a lot of time. For a merchant, time is life!

Therefore, they wanted to find an empty house to rest and, at the same time, investigate if there were any survivors in the village.

However, when they opened the door of a house and entered the courtyard.

"Why is there a stench? Did something rot?"

When they first entered the village, a faint, elusive stench had permeated the air.

Every time they smelled it, they would instinctively take a few more breaths to try and pinpoint the source, but there was no smell, as if the previous scent had been an illusion.

But after a while, the faint stench wafted into their nostrils again.

It had tormented them greatly.

But once they entered the courtyard, the stench became clearer.

The guards immediately split up to find the source of the smell.

Even so, they had already guessed what was causing the smell.

This village had been ransacked by bandits; it was impossible for no one to have died, so the smell should be...

"Ah..."

Suddenly, a terrified scream rang out from somewhere.

The surrounding guards immediately ran towards the sound.

Upon arrival, they saw a guard retching, and as he vomited, he seemed to have seen something terrifying, backing away as if trying to escape.

The surrounding guards exchanged glances and, without further ado, rushed forward to help the vomiting guard.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

The guard extended a trembling hand and pointed inside the house.

The other guards then noticed the scene inside and were immediately startled.

Inside the house, two ropes hung from the ceiling beams, suspending two heads. Below them were two headless corpses. In the corner of the room, there was another corpse, a smaller one, likely that of a child.

The corpses had likely been dead for some time, with maggots crawling within them and blood pooling on the floor.

The stench of decay and the thick smell of blood assaulted their senses, causing the guards to cry out in terror before involuntarily bending over to vomit.

This merchant also saw the corpses, so he vomited even more violently.

The way he was retching, it looked like he could even throw up the meal he had eaten a week ago.

After they finished vomiting, a guard came to report. "Sir, judging by the state of decomposition, they have been dead for over ten days."

This guard's report was ill-timed; the merchant, who had just straightened up, vomited again.

But after such a violent bout of vomiting, his stomach was already empty, and he had even expelled all his stomach acid.

He was now dry-heaving.

The merchant tremblingly reached out, pointed at the guard, and was unable to speak.

"Huh? Where did the rope come from?" a guard asked, sounding confused.

However, his confusion was quickly answered as a rope with a loop at one end descended from the sky.

Its target was the guard who had just asked the question.

Although he didn't know what this rope was, the guard instinctively dodged.

As soon as he took a step back, his head hit something very prickly, like... hemp rope. Could it be...?

"Ahhhhhh~~~"

The moment the guard realized the hemp rope behind him, his neck was ensnared, and he was pulled off the ground by a meter. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn't break free from the rope that had him.

"Sir, be careful."

The surrounding guards immediately drew their swords and gathered around the merchant, protecting him in the center.

As the guards converged around the merchant, two more guards were ensnared by ropes descending from the sky and hoisted up.

At this moment, a rope aimed for the merchant. A guard beside him drew his sword and slashed.

But to his surprise, the sword did not cut the rope; instead, it became entangled. If the guard hadn't let go of his sword in time, he too would have been lifted up by the rope.

"Ah~"

Because they were too focused on the merchant, they didn't notice a rope appearing above him. Without surprise, he was also ensnared by the neck and lifted up.

The merchant had brought a total of six guards. Now, in such a short time, they had already died... no, they weren't dead yet. They were merely suspended, and it would take some time before they suffocated.

But in this situation, it was likely no different from being dead.

"Be careful, sir."

The merchant was already terrified, standing there frozen, his hands and feet no longer obeying him.

But the deadly ropes from the sky didn't care what he did. When one rope failed to ensnare the merchant, three more appeared.

In a moment of desperation, one of the guards threw himself in front of the merchant, saving him from being hoisted up.

But the guard who tackled the merchant wasn't so lucky. After letting out a scream, he was lifted by the ropes.

And then, another scream rang out as his last guard was also hoisted up.

The merchant's eyes widened as he watched the guards struggling, grabbing at the ropes around their necks.

Their necks were squeezed so tightly that they couldn't even speak, only letting out unintelligible sounds.

Their bulging eyes, strained by the tight ropes, were fixed on the merchant, who lay on the ground after being tackled.

"Heh... uhh... uh... uh..."

Under the constantly tightening ropes, the guards' necks finally snapped. A flicker of relief flashed in their eyes. But it wasn't over yet; the ropes continued to constrict even after breaking their necks.

With a thud, the sound of something heavy hitting the ground echoed.

The guards' heads separated from their bodies under the relentless pull of the ropes.

Their bodies fell to the ground, but the ropes, still gripping a bit of flesh or bone on their necks, kept their heads suspended.

Due to the weight, their heads hung upside down. Blood flowed from their necks, soaking their bulging eyes, making them appear blood-red.

Whether by coincidence or not, the faces of the six guards hanging upside down were all turned towards the merchant.

"Ah... ah... uh-ah-ah-ah-ah..."

Stared at by six pairs of bloodshot, crimson eyes, the merchant's mind finally snapped!

The merchant cried out in despair, but his shouts were useless, attracting no one.

Instead, as he screamed, countless ropes appeared before him, less than a few dozen centimeters from his eyes.

The gruesome sight of the guards was right before his eyes. The merchant didn't want his neck to be snapped by the ropes; he wanted to escape.

Perhaps due to extreme tension, his leg... cramped.

The intense pain brought him some clarity, but he wanted to escape this place. Since his leg was cramped, he could only crawl.

Propping himself up with his hands, he used his other leg to push off, even with the cramp. He didn't care if his head hit rocks or walls. It was as if he couldn't feel pain.

And so, he... escaped the village.