The river flows slowly, and the small round boat slowly goes down the river. The trees and grass along the riverbank were gray-white, and without sunlight, they looked even more eerie. The coracle boat slowly continued to sail down the river in this land of gray ash environment, red eyes were occasionally seen staring at them. Every now and then they would see shadows following them on the riverbank. They were frightened at first, but it seemed that the dark creatures wandering along the riverbank were afraid to attack them. Instead of attacking the creatures on the riverbank, they chose to observe the situation.
Even though the creatures didn't dare attack them, the sixers in the boat were always alert, with their weapons within reach should the creatures decide to pounce on them. The six people didn't know how long they had been floating in the river, but they patiently let the small coracle boat take them to where they needed to go.
Michio rummaged through the bags Baishui prepared for them and said, "I don't know what kind of food they packed for us besides dry bread."
Yul grabbed an apple and began to cut it. "Sorry, Michio, there seems to be nothing but fruit and bread," Yul said, placing a small piece of apple in Meiji's hand. He handed Hajime the remaining peeled apple.
Bong looked down at the dark river and said, "I wonder if the water in this river is drinkable?"
U-ri looked down at the even more eerie dark river and said, "Whether it's drinkable or not, we shouldn't drink it." He took out the leather water bag and handed it to Bong. "We only have three bags, so we have to do our best to preserve the water."
While the six adults were talking, the apple in Meiji's hand fell down, and Meiji began to cry.
Hajime said, "He must be hungry." As he reached for the goat's milk bamboo tube, Meiji's whine could be heard from both sides of the river.
Hearing many cries, Meiji cries louder, and the sound imitating Meiji's cry is also becoming louder. Yul quickly picked Meiji up and began to comfort Meiji, but because Meiji was hungry, the sound that imitated Meiji's crying frustrated Meiji, so Meiji continued to cry.
"What the hell..." Abrafo said.
Yellow and red eyes began to appear on the sides of the riverbank, and creatures began to lurk behind the gray trees and grass.
Michio put his hand into his sleeve and released a fire talisman into the dark sky. When the fire talisman spread, the six people in the coracle boat saw many wolf-like creatures walking on both sides of the river, and hundreds of black lyrebirds perched on the branches.
"Black lyrebird," U-ri said.
"What?" Abrafo asked."
"Black lyrebirds have the ability to imitate human voices," Yul said. "The sound of the black lyrebird often causes people to get lost in the woods or forests."
Abrafo turned to looked at Yul and asked, "And how do you know this?"
Yul said, "From the book title, Strange Birds."
Michio said, "How come I haven't heard of this book before."
U-ri said, "How can you know this book if you have never set foot in the historical section of Eternal Library."
Bong said, "How long will these black lyrebirds continue to imitate Meiji?"
U-ri said, "I'm not sure, the book doesn't say that. But does say, they will stop when something else scares them."
Hajime quickly grabbed the bamboo pipes and poured the goat milk inside the clay pot. He said, "As long as he is full, Meiji is a quiet baby." He handed the filled clay pot to Yul, who began to feed Meiji. "Master Budi said that children born from pure phoenix egg have a calm character and not easily intimidated." From time to time, he looked at the creatures that followed them and saw that these creatures were growling at them from both side of the riverbanks. "It must be this boat; these creatures don't dare attack us."
Bong asked, "Does anyone know how long we're going to be on this creepy river? I can't stand the rotten smell and the way this looks like a gravesite."
Hajime said, "Baishui didn't say anything, but he said that the boat will stop by itself when it reaches the gate of No Man's Land."
Abrafo said, "So this creepy place is not No Man's Land? It makes me wonder how creepy No Man's Land will be."
U-ri said softly, "We'll know when we get there."
"Meiji..." A gentle female voice sounded. The sweet voice smiled softly, with a gentle laugh. "Michio..."A woman's soft laughter sounded again in the darkness. "Baishui..."
"Did you all hear that?" U-ri turned to the others.
The people in the coracle boat quickly turned around to look for the sound but only saw wolf-like creatures roaring slowly behind them.
Yul, still holding Meiji in his arms, turned to look toward the riverbank, but all he saw were wolf-like creatures, and he was sure that there was no way these roaring beats or the black lyrebirds could imitate the soft voice of a woman so clearly.
"Meiji, come here." The gentle female voice continued. "Michio... come here..." The voice echoed. "Baishui...come here for a moment."
Bong asked in a low voice in confusion, "Why did the voice only mention their names?"
Bong's question reminded U-ri of the first time they entered the river. He thought back to their conversation and remembered that since entering the river, they had mentioned three names: Baishui, Michio, and Meiji.
U-ri looked at the other person and said, "Someone heard and understood our conversation."
Bong asked, "Who could it be?" He looked at the men sitting beside him. "Friends or foes?"
Hajime said, "It must be someone hiding in the darkness. Someone who can see us, but we can't see them."
Yul closed his eyes and listened carefully to the sound of giggling. It seemed that the woman's voice was beside them, but he couldn't see clearly who it was. Just when he thought he had missed something, he heard the sound of fish diving into the water. He looked over the boat into the dark water and saw something swimming past him with a big shiny black tail.
Yul quickly turned to the men in the coracle boat and said in alarm, "There's something swimming below us."
Yul's words made the people sitting in the coracle boat look out of the boat, but they could see nothing but darkness.
Hajime turned to looked at Yul and asked, "Are you sure?"
Yul nodded.
Abrafo asked, "Did you see what that was?"
Yul said, "I saw a big thing with a black shiny tail."
Bong said, "Large tail? It should be a fish."
Abrafo said, "Fish can't imitate a woman's voice."
Bong said, "How can, you be sure? In this place, everything is possible."
U-ri suddenly stood up and stared into the water. He shouted, "Kaizen, where are you!"
U-ri's voice was still echoing in the distance, and then the gentle woman's voice said, "Kaizen..." The angelic and gentle voice began to hum.
U-ri said, "Whoever it is, will only call the names we mentioned. So, let us not call each other names."
The six people sitting in the boat suddenly heard the sound of water rushing against the bottom of the coracle boat. Everyone in the boat had their heads out of the boat. As the water flowed, Bong saw the dark shiny tail that Yul mentioned.
"Indeed, it is a very big tail," Bong said, pointing to the river in horror.
Abrafo looked over quickly and caught a glimpse of the shiny black tail before it submerged under the water.
Michio looked toward the boat and believed he saw long hair floating in the water. "I saw a human's head," Michio said.
Yul quickly handed Meiji over to U-ri. U-ri sat in the middle of the coracle boat with Meiji in his arms, while the other five people had their backs to him and Meiji to protect them.
Yul held the hilt of the sword and said, "No matter what happens, we can't let them get close to U-ri and Meiji."
Abrafo took out the dagger from his belt and handed it to Bong, "Be careful."
Bong took the dagger and held it tightly in his right hand. "Where do you think it's going to attack us?" Bong asked.
Abrafo said, "I don't know, so we have to be on high alert right now."
When Hajime heard the soft voice of a woman calling Kaizen's name again, he raised his head and saw a woman's head rising slowly from the water not far ahead from them.
"Hey guys," Hajime said. "In front of us."
Everyone else standing turned their heads to the front of the coracle boat and saw a beautiful woman with pale skin and long, silky black hair. Her upper body was above the water, while the rest of her body was submerged under the water.
The woman smiled at the five men in the boat. "Meiji." The woman said softly with a warm smile. "Baishui... Michio... Kaizen... I'm waiting for you here. Come down."
U-ri quickly flipped Meiji onto his lap. "Michio, don't look her in the eyes," Uri shouted quickly. "Close your eyes now!"
Michio quickly closed his eyes.
"Michio...Michio, come here...I want you..." The gentle angelic voice was now seductive. "I really want you...come and hug me. I long for you..."
The woman simply continued talking to Michio because she was sure he was in the boat.
"Michio..."
Michio clasped his hands together and began to meditate.
"Michio... I want you..."
Bong asked, "What is that thing?"
U-ri said, "It's an Kylista." U-ri looked around at the riverbank. "No wonder those creatures don't dare to attack us. Those creatures are not afraid of this boat but are afraid of the Kylista who is living in this river."