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"Have you heard the latest news? They say the moon will be closer in the next few days."
Everyone at the tavern table stopped what they were doing to look at the old farmer, all with confused expressions on their faces. After some time of silence, another man finally spoke up, "Well, it's normal, isn't it? You say it like it's something amazing." He spoke with complete disinterest, taking another sip of his drink. The others at the table made noises in agreement.
The old farmer huffed irritably and slammed his fist on the table, making everyone jump in fright at the sudden gesture, "Idiots! It's not just any event. It's the super moon event! It only happens once every 300 years!"
"And? Why should we care about that?" Another man asked, starting to get annoyed.
"Don't you listen to the legends? Liang Xing, the terrible scarlet demon was sealed away on a super moon day, and the legend says he's just waiting for the next one to return".
Again silence reigned and everyone at the table looked at each other before breaking into a large group of raucous laughter, drawing the attention of everyone else who was in the inn and looking at them as if they were crazy.
"Oh god, do you still believe in those stories to scare children?".
"Old man, that's just an urban legend!"
The old man, hearing the others' mocking tone, only grew angrier, "You younger people don't pay enough attention to the real dangers of this world. The scarlet devil is real and we are all doomed to perish at his hands when he returns! ".
"But theoretically hasn't he been sealed for over a thousand years? The supermoon has happened several times in the meantime and there's no sign of him".
"Exactly! The lords of the great Yuèliàng, Tàiyáng and Dìqiú sects claim that their ancestors did everything to prevent something like that from happening! We have nothing to fear".
"I thought they killed him?" Asked a poor wretch at the end of the table who barely knew who Liang Xing was.
Another man, his face redder than a beetroot, shook his head, "No no, they killed Lord Liang Bingwen, the traitor lord of the Yueliang Sect. He and Liang Xing together wreaked havoc on the other sects. They killed more cultivators than can be counted!".
"And the scarlet demon was sealed away in the moon by the other leaders and Liang Bingwen's son, Liang Shen, using powerful magic that no one in the world knows how to undo. If I remember correctly, they died without saying or leaving any manuscripts that indicate how undo the seal".
"Ahoy! Did you hear old man? We're absolutely safe! Stop whining around!".
Tired of everyone ignoring his words, the farmer quickly got up angrily from his seat and began to walk with heavy steps, the laughter and mockery of the other men followed them to the exit. Before leaving, he turned and glared and threw an angry look that scared the other people and made his drinking buddies shut up.
"When the time comes, don't say I didn't warn you." And so he went off into the night, leaving behind several frightened and confused people.
One of the men at the table made a dismissive tongue sound and turned back to his glass, "The old man has definitely gone mad".
...
The day of the super moon arrived, and everyone continued to live their lives as normal, after all, nothing extremely big and dangerous had happened since people could remember. Everyone felt safe inside their homes.
That is until a huge explosion sounded, so loud that all sects could hear it from all directions.
Inside his house, watching the red glow of the moon, the old farmer held a dagger tightly with both trembling hands. His eyes glazed over and terrified with tears constantly spilling out.
Not long after, the man took a deep breath and pointed the tip of the dagger towards his heart and stabbed himself, falling to the ground on his knees still being illuminated by the moonlight and in his last moments of life, he sighed a plea.
"May God have mercy on our souls".