Shadow In Your Mind [ARC 1- 5]

Chapter 149 - I can no longer protect you

XG 149 - I can no longer protect you

Located not far away from the church where Nanse had made his base, there was a small temple right up the hill, which was located right in front of the street to enter the housing areas. Among the rows of houses, the temple stood out as it was the only place undisturbed by any evidence of violence.

The electricity was long cut off, so there was no electricity in the small temple, with only candles lit, providing light and some well-needed warmth to the occupants.

Dressed in white hanbok, an elderly shaman gingerly stepped out of her prayer room to join a group of people with the help of a young lady.

"Shaman, are you feeling better?" A lady in a dirty office suit with a messy bun asked worriedly. She quickly stepped forward to help, grabbing her arm to offer support.

The office lady was tactful not to act overly concerned for fear of offending the granddaughter of the shaman, who was originally supporting the elderly shaman.

The elderly shaman sighed and let the two young ladies help her to take a seat on the floor, right in the middle of the long wooden table. Facing the rest of the worried faces of the survivors in the room, the shaman felt a little apologetic for being unable to help them for much longer.

"I don't have many days left. This place will no longer be safe after I leave."

"Shaman, how could you say such a bad omen thing! You will surely live a long life!" A man in a green sweater scolded unhappily, his eyes honestly revealing his fear.

"You are just joking with us, right?" Another person asked shakily.

The elderly shaman shook her head. "I can't lie to myself anymore. I can feel my time is coming."

"No way..." The defiance sentence trailed off, as one could see the shaman's complexion was poor if scrutinized properly under the yellow light. The elderly shaman seemed to have aged ten years and there was more white hair that could be spotted.

A young mother hugged her daughter, hiding her face from view as she could not stop the despair etching onto her face. Being one of the neighbourhood residents, there was never once she was happy having a temple this close by, until now. With renewed outlook, she had thought this place would be safe for a long time from the monsters outside, at least until the government or soldiers come to their rescue.

But after experiencing the entire winter without the situation outside getting better, she had more or less brought herself to accept that no one other than themselves would be able to save themselves. It was their fortune to be able to encounter the elderly shaman that was willing to offer them shelter.

"What should we do now?" The one that asked the question was hushed up by her boyfriend, his eyes scolding her for being tactless.

The girlfriend was one of the few in their small groups that initially refused to believe the credibility of shamans or witchcraft. But now, they were devout believers. They had seen with their own eyes how the elderly shaman stopped the zombies from approaching the temple, chasing them away with a sharp wave of her brass handbell.

Her short figure was nothing intimidating, with her features similar to a kind grandmother, but the resoluteness and belief in her eyes as she told them those monsters were possessed by the devil had them believe her.

It was her capability that triumphs their preconception that real shamans should have fierce-looking faces to scare off ghosts.

The elderly shaman held up her words for months, until a few days ago when a strange, white-haired woman showed up before the temple gates.