He lied not because he was afraid of fighting them. But sleeping is all he needs right now, because he is going to be on the run again the whole night.
He keeps ascending the hill for a while, until he finds a small river. There he washes his bloodied shabby robe, and then lets it dried on a rock. He looks above and finds that the sun has already a bit leaned to the west.
"It would be a problem if I don't get any sleep before the dark."
Knowing he is going to stay awake during the whole night, he simply takes a sleep there near the river.
Meanwhile, rumors about the existence of one disciple of Ki Bayanaka are spreading fast.
Due to his fatigue, Adanu Raksa sleeps so soundly until the night falls. Surprisingly, and fortunately, not a single demon, nor the undead, neither evil spirit come to him.
Only before dawn, he is shocked by something in his dream, and wakes up.
"Shit, what was that?"
Who knows what kind of nightmare he just had. He is now confused, finding it's already so dark, only lit by a pale crescent moon behind the cloud.
Worrying about the danger that may approach him, he hurriedly puts his shabby robe back on.
"That's weird. Where are those ugly creatures? Why haven't they come to me?"
The calm night makes him feel uneasy. His heart pounds so hard feeling insecure.
Despite the fact he did get a long sleep, he hasn't eaten anything since the night before. He doesn't know how much longer it will be before the dawn.
"What's with this place? This is the first time I've come across a forest without demons coming to me," he mumbles curiously while rubbing his head.
He sits leaning against a tree, glancing around with high alert by hugging his black Damascus short sword tightly.
"This calmness is so odd! It's sooo calm!"
For more than 15 years, he has always spent all night by running away from demons. This is the first time he visits a dense forest without any evil creatures coming to him.
That situation persists until the sky starts to brighten. When the dawn comes, Adanu Raksa heads back to Kulonsewu Village, intending to revisit the food stall looking for something to eat.
However, on the journey, one old man stops him. "Are you really one of Ki Bayanaka's disciples?"
Adanu Raksa waves his hands with an awkward smile. "No, I'm just a simple vagabond."
"Please, no need to be humble. I know you are the one who made the thugs leave the village. I'm The Chief of Kulonsewu village. Would you mind coming over to my place?" invites the old man.
Exactly after that old man said that, Adanu Rakasa's stomach starts protesting. And so, he simply accepts the offer and follows The Chief to his house.
The Village Chief serves Adanu Raksa with a meal on the terrace of his house, and accompanies him there without joining to eat.
But then, just as Adanu Raksa finishes the meal, The Chief immediately bows down.
"Please, I need your help. If you are really one of The Great Ki Bayanaka's disciples, then you should be able to help this village," he pleads.
Adanu Raksa is surprised, but feeling bad if not listening to his request after receiving his hospitality.
"Is there something I can help you with?"
"Actually, our village is in a great trouble. You see, we haven't had any rain for a few weeks, and…"
"No, Sir! Hold on! I'm just a vagabond, not a shaman," Adanu Raksa interrupts. "Don't expect me to summon the rain for your paddy fields."
"That's not what I'm asking you. Please, listen to my story first," the village chief rebukes.
Adanu Raksa can only nod with a mixed feeling, waiting for The Chief to continue his story. And so, The Chief starts his story.
"Some weeks ago, this village had actually been visited by a shaman. He's always shirtless, walking with a long wooden stick. He offered to help our village, and indeed our village got a little rain a few times for a week."
"And then, the Shaman asked for a girl to us. We thought he intended to marry a girl so that he could stay here. Since he wasn't too picky, there's one girl willing to accept him."
"But soon, the shaman and that girl disappeared. When our fields were dry again, the shaman came back. He offered a help, but also asked for another girl as requirement before helping to summon the rain. It was so odd, so we denied him. Since then, we haven't had any rain until now."
Adanu Raksa takes a deep breath as he shakes his head. "You've realized that he might be asking for a girl as a sacrifice, right?"
The Chief gently nods full of guilt and regret. Adanu Raksa sighs a bit, can only show his sympathy with what happened to them.
"It's the drought season now, you should just be patient. No human can control the weather. This is a proof, the shaman had made a pact with the devil to summon the rain," Adanu Raksa speculates.
The Chief cries lowly, thinking he just got a sermon by the Great Hermit's disciple. "I had made a grave mistake. That's why, we denied the shaman's offer later on. But then, three village girls disappeared during the night the next week. We then started doing patrol, until we found a girl was possessed in the middle of the night."
"Possessed?" Adanu Raksa is startled, not hiding his surprise.
"She is fine now," The Chief continues immediately. "We held her the whole night, and she returned back to normal when the morning came. Yet, a girl kept getting possessed each night. These girls forced their way to leave the house. Since then, we kept tying all the girls during their sleep. Of course we did it with the girls' consent. But we can't stay living like this forever. Sooner or later, we will lose all the few girls left in this village."