The Legend of the Candy House

Bangier ran home and saw his sister still working. With a serious expression, Bangier took Korandi's small hand, touching her thin but rough hand, Bangier said in a particularly hoarse voice, "Korandi, two cows have been bitten to death by poisonous snakes."

"Let's run away!" Bangier stared into his sister's eyes, feeling a surge of power within him. Hadn't everything been planned long ago? As long as his sister was by his side, what did fear matter?

"But brother, where can we escape to? Even if the cow dies, brother is so capable, Father and Mother won't sell him. Wouldn't it be better for brother to stay at home?" Korandi said softly.

"But they'll sell you, and I can never accept that." Bangier took his sister's hand and placed it against his heart. He said, "Leave everything to your brother. We will live well together."

"Kor and I planned to escape into the forest long ago. If we help each other, we'll definitely survive," Bangier said firmly. Korandi nodded and then packed their things with Bangier.

They carried with them fur clothing and some food. If their father hadn't taken the bow and arrows, they would have been safer entering the forest, but now they couldn't worry about that anymore.

Before long, her parents would return from the village chief's place, and soon they would discover that her younger sister was missing, followed by the fact that the cow had died, and that their time together was running out.

After packing their things, Bangier and Korandi carefully left the house, avoiding the neighbors' gazes. Although there weren't many neighbors left, most of them were struggling to survive and no one would pay special attention to their neighbors.

After a close call, Bangier led his sister Korandi to the back of a small hill, where Bangier's two companions were already waiting.

One of them was Kor, who had called him earlier, and the other was named Udick, a young man about the same age as Bangier.

"Hey, Bangier, why did you bring your sister along?" Kor pulled Bangier aside and said in a low voice.

"I'm sorry, Kor, our plans have to be moved up," Bangier said. "Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have to leave now. I hope you can come too."

"This isn't what we agreed on." Bangier's collar was grabbed angrily by Udick. He knew why Udick was angry, of course. Their escape plan wasn't for today, which would inevitably lead to problems such as insufficient preparation and greatly increase the danger.

"Listen up, Udick, plans never keep up with changes. No matter what, I'm going to escape with Korandi. If you don't come with us, you won't even have a chance to escape." Bangier panted as he tried to persuade the other two, "My parents went to the village chief's house for a meeting today. I think you understand what that means."

"Your time is running out. Perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow, you will be sacrificed to the great Black Mist River," Bangier stated the cruel truth. "Today is also your last day."

"Damn it!" Kor cursed irritably. "Bangier, remember this, you owe us one."

In this small forest village, there is a tradition of offering sacrifices to the great Black Mist River to pray for peace in the forest, so that hunters can safely enter the forest to hunt.

Hunting is the main source of income for most people in this village. It can be said that without hunting, most of the people here would starve to death. And the dangers in the forest are not only from wild animals, but also from some mysterious things.

Without sacrifice, no hunter in the village would dare approach the forest. The unknown creatures lurking in the darkness would devour anyone who entered. And for a poor village like theirs, the only offering was human life.

Kor and Udick were part of the sacrifices. They learned of their fate by accident and began planning their escape long ago.

However, this village has maintained its traditions for so many years that it has been intentionally or unintentionally preventing others from escaping in various ways. The first thing to do is to prevent others from escaping by taking precautions along the road leading to the town. The village chief's house is located right next to that road, and the village chief keeps three terrifyingly large dogs. Anyone who passes by that road will be spotted.

Most of the roads in other places were surrounded by rivers, with only one path leading to the forest. The terrors of the forest had been something Bangier and his companions had heard since childhood, and they would not have considered fleeing into the forest unless they were certain that they were the sacrifices.

Bangier, however, did it for his sister. He couldn't bear to see her treated as a commodity, sold to others, and become someone's slave or toy. As Korandi grew older, Bangier could sense that his sister felt it would be better if she died.

That's why, after discovering Kor and Udick's escape plan, he didn't report it but chose to conceal it and join in.

When the time came, Udick hesitated. "Are we really going to run into the forest? It's so dangerous there, and they say there are cannibals."

"Do you still want to stay here and wait to die?" After his hopes of saving his sister were completely Annihilation, Bangier had decided that escape was the only way out, so naturally he wanted to have another person to make the path seem safer.

"Maybe we can even find the Candy House," Korandi chimed in.

Hearing his sister's words, Bangier pinched her cute little cheek and said with a smile, "Yes, we will find the Candy House in the forest."

The Candy House in the forest is a legend that has been passed down in the surrounding area.

Legend has it that in this forest, there is a house built of candy. Whoever finds the Candy House can have any wish granted. There is also a saying that the reason the forest is so dangerous is because of the need to protect the Candy House. In this impoverished society, candy is a precious food that only nobles are entitled to enjoy.

For people, the Candy House is similar to the Golden House, not to mention its supposed ability to grant wishes. And some events in this village seem to suggest that the Candy House story is not untrue.

Every year after the sacrifice, the village chief would take his three big dogs into the forest to search for something. The village chief was one of the few wealthy people in the village. It was rumored that the reason the village chief did not move to a safer town was because he came for the Candy House.

Every now and then, some so-called wandering knights or other people would be drawn to the Candy House and enter the forest to die.

"Alright, let's go get the prepared stuff. We'll meet back here later. Since we've decided to go, let's not delay," Kor said with a sigh. He wanted to survive, so he had to face the danger.