Nyissa came forward and looked at the tourists with a calm gaze, and said, "The reason I instructed the guides to escort you all out is for the collective safety of you people. That is all I can say about the reason. As for your rights and fairness, if you people properly read all the conditions stated on the back of your ticket, you would have read that the Fujo Clan has the right to make all the final decisions related to the ticket owner's visit to this place."
"Not even the government would have a say in what we decide. So no use in complaining to anyone, and as Mijo said, we would be compensating you all for the inconvenience caused and offer you our sincerest apologies. That's all we can do, and I request you all to leave this place without causing any further disturbance. We don't want to take any unnecessary actions, do we?"
Her voice was neither loud nor imposing, but everyone felt as if her words were like an imperial decree. They also got the hidden message within her words about what would happen if they caused any more trouble, and the scene of the noisy young man from before getting dragged away flashed in their minds.
"Please," Mijo apologetically gestured at Viktor and the others to follow him back to the shore, and so did the other guides while Nyissa and her people stayed at the same spot.
Derek didn't say anything but, just like most, had a disappointed expression as he followed Mijo. Rita was the only one who was feeling a bit relieved since she still felt some kind of unease after hearing all the stories.
Her son, Dory, was disappointed but not because they had to go back but because he wouldn't be able to enjoy the sight of seeing his goddess anymore.
"Was there something like that in the ticket?" Viktor asked as he looked at Brad, who was busy reading the fine print behind the ticket.
After reading, Brad raised his head and looked at Viktor with a wry smile, "There is. Phew, I wonder if people would take the risk of buying this costly ticket if they bothered to read about the rules. But then again, it's not like these rules are enforced every day. Haa...it's our luck. We can come back some other time," Brad said with a disappointed head shake as he pulled Viktor along to walk back down the hills along with the other tourists who didn't voice out any protests loudly anymore.
Instead, they could only helplessly grumble to each other.
"Quite a tough lady, isn't she?" Viktor said to Brad as he glanced at Nyissa staying behind, conversing with her people.
Brad raised one of his brows and asked skeptically, "Don't tell me you have already called dibs on her? She is not the kind who would entertain playboys like you."
Viktor softly chuckled, "Really? You wanna bet?"
Brad squinted his eyes as he thought about it a lot before finally saying with a head shake, "No. Who knows the kind of tricks you could pull."
"Haha, now you are talking. Still, it's a pity half of our day today has gone to waste," Viktor said with pinched lips, thinking about which place he should visit next.
Viktor and the other tourists had already walked up the hills for over a kilometer when Nyissa told them to go back. And now, even though they hadn't traveled much deep into the hills, they still had a long way to walk before reaching the shore.
So the tourists decided to at least enjoy the hills on their way back even if they didn't get to reach the peak.
But after just walking for hundred meters away from Nyissa and her people, the surroundings suddenly began to become darker as the sun rays began to lose their presence.
Everyone took notice of this change since the whole place was becoming darker too fast. Viktor knitted his brows and looked around to see that a dense fog was settling in at a fast pace, and as seconds passed, the fog only continued to become denser till everyone found it hard to even see past a few meters.
Mijo frowned and called out, "Everyone stay together, please. It's easy to get lost in this fog."
Everyone hastily heeded his advice as some grabbed onto their friends or family to stick together while others stuck close to the guides.
Brad also stuck close to Viktor since his eyesight was not good at seeing things too far, so he didn't dare to stray too far from Viktor.
*Vwooooo…*
"Ah! What was that??"
One of the women shouted in fright as everyone suddenly heard a wailing sound that sent chills through them.
Viktor was the only one who remained unperturbed, and instead, his brows pulled together as he tried to sound out the origin of this eerie wailing sound.
*Vwooooo….*
At first, Viktor thought it was probably the winds or someone playing pranks.
However, the wailing sounds seemed to be coming in from different directions, confusing Viktor since he couldn't even see anyone wailing despite their wails sounding so near.
What made the wails even more eerie and creepy was how ominous, and baleful they sounded.
"H-Hey...are these the rumored wailing sounds? W-Why do they sound so scary?" A man stammered as he looked around, feeling chills all over his body, not knowing whether it was because the temperature in the place was dropping too fast or because of these creepy wailing sounds.
*Vwooooo…*
"Hey...you have any idea what's going on? Why is it becoming so cold?" Brad asked with jittery teeth as he rubbed his arms while suppressing the uneasiness he was feeling.
Mijo had a disconcerted expression as he looked around and answered in a low voice, "It's the evil spirits. Usually, these hills have a gloomy atmosphere but not as bad as today, especially not this cold, and their wails were never this frequent or loud. I-It seems like we might have angered the spirits somehow. Quick, we have to get out of here. Follow me...don't lose sight of each other."
Brad gulped and, like a frightened child, grabbed onto Viktor's arm as he asked with a wry smile, "The story you told me...was it really true? I just can't get it out of my head," Brad said with a narrowed gaze since inwardly, he was still feeling the chills thinking if everything Viktor said was true.
Brad was starting to feel afraid that the place he was walking through right now was the place where all the bloodshed happened, and the evil spirits were none other than the men who died.
Viktor amusedly smiled and was about to answer when he suddenly wrinkled his nose. In fact, not only him but everyone else did the same when a pungent stench of something rotten pervaded through the whole place out of nowhere.
"Ugh! What is this smell!"
"Noo! I can't stand it anymore! Please get me out of here!!"
One by one, people began to panic, and they couldn't understand where this smell was coming from, but Viktor clearly recognized it as the stink of blood and decayed flesh.
His expression became vigilant as he finally became serious since he felt that whatever was happening right now was strange.
At first, it was the fog, then the wails, and now the pungent stench...all three of which he couldn't pinpoint the origin. It was as if they were all over the place without a clear origin.
"Mijo, is this stench normal?" Viktor asked in a serious tone.
Mijo replied with a trembling chin, "N-No...this is the first time...W-We have to get out of here!"
Rita grabbed hold of her frightened son tightly as she said in a weak voice, "B-But we can't see! It's so foggy...Derek, dear, what are we going to do?"
Derek, who initially took all the rumors of the Wailing Hills as a joke, now regretted it since if he knew they were this real, he would have never come here.
Mijo knew this as well and felt even more worried, thinking how long they had to stay here or when this darkness would lift. Even though it was still noon, the woods in the hills seemed as dark as evening, and as time passed by, it was only becoming foggier and darker.
"Follow me. I will lead the way forward," Viktor said even though his vampiric vision was only useful for seeing the blood flow of living beings, including their major and minor veins.
Unlike his werewolf self, his vampiric side wasn't good at navigating through the dark.
Still, he told them to stick together since he remembered the way they were walking in and decided to walk straight till they reached the shore.
He knew they only walked in a straight path and believed that he wouldn't get lost in the fog as long as he retraced his steps.
"Stick close, everyone," Viktor said as he tried to walk ahead, but then he knitted his brows as he felt Brad standing in the same spot without moving.
He turned around to ask him why he wasn't coming along, but his eyes widened when he saw what was before him.