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The next day, after Ade converted the onyibo man’s currency to the cowries used in Ifana village, he went to their local market and shopped for clothes for his mother and father.

“Ade! Where did you get the money to buy all these expensive clothes?” Ade’s mother asked in shock after Ade handed her a bag of clothes, matching bags, shoes, and jewellery.

“Mama, don’t worry about that. Just know that your son has arrived in this village. I am now a big man,” Ade said proudly.

“Did you steal these clothes, Ade? Tell us now before it’s too late,” Ade’s father said.

“Papa! This is the same reason I don’t like you. You think so little of me just because I made a few mistakes in the past,” Ade said in an angry tone.

“You call those a few mistakes? Everyone in this village knows that you’re a cheap thief,” Ade’s father said.

“Okay, since you’re both asking where I got the money from, I helped one of my friends sell some plots of land his father passed down to him, and he gave me some money,” Ade lied.

“Ah! Ade, I am so proud of you,” Ade’s mother said. Then she stood up and began to dance around the room with her gifts.

“Papa! This is for you,” Ade said as he stretched a bag to his father, but his father ignored him.

“Papa! Won’t you take this from me?” Ade asked.

“No, I won’t! As far as I don’t know where you got the money to buy all these things, I will not take anything from you. Who knows what you stole to sell this time,” Ade’s father said.

“Papa Ade! The boy has told you how he made the money; why are you still talking like this? If you weren’t his father, I’d say you’re one of those people who do not want my son to be successful, ” Ade’s mother said.

“What rubbish are you saying?” Ade’s father yelled, “Hmmm! I pity you. The day this blows up on your face, I will still be in this house,” Ade’s father said, then he walked out of the living room.

“The gods forbid, nothing will blow up on my face, and in the end, you will see that my Ade did not steal anything,” Ade’s mother said in a loud voice after her husband walked out of her.

That day, Ade also gave his mother a lot of money to prepare his favourite soup with lots of meat. Then, he went out to hang out with his friends until evening.

Just as Ade had bragged with his friends, two days after they sold the Talisman to the onyibo men, Ade and his friend purchased three big plots of land each. They bought plots of land next to each other so their houses would be close and they would be neighbours.

Since they had received a lot of money and had no prior knowledge of how to handle large amounts of money, Ade and his friend squandered the money on drinks, women, and food. That same day, to show off and brag that he was now rich, Ade gave out a lot of money to his friends, and he even gave some money to other villagers at the bar where he went to drink.

While Ade and his friend were living their best lives, they had no idea that the chief priest had noticed that the Talisman was missing at his shrine.

“Abomination! This cannot be possible,” the chief priest yelled in shock when he noticed that the Talisman he hung at the entrance of his shrine was missing.

At first, when the chief priest noticed that the Talisman was not in its usual position, he searched for it within the shrine. After hours of searching, he knew someone had taken it, but he didn’t know who. Also, the chief priest could not consult the gods to ask questions because he needed the Talisman as a medium of communication.

Without wasting time, the chief priest went to the King’s Palace to report what had happened. On his way, he could not stop thinking of all the negative things that would happen in Ifana village if the Talisman was not returned to the shrine on time.

“My king, May you live forever,” the chief priest greeted the King as soon as he entered the Palace.

“Is everything alright? You don’t look happy,” the King asked.

“My king, there is fire on the mountain,” the chief priest said.

“What is it?” The King asked, “Is anyone dead?” He added.

“My King, if someone was dead, then it would have been better,” the chief priest said.

“What is it?” The King yelled.

“The ancient Talisman is missing,” the chief priest said in a sad tone.

“I don’t understand you. What do you mean the ancient Talisman is missing?” The King asked in a confused tone.

“Yesterday, while I was in the shrine, I heard some weird sounds like that of an animal, so I went to check out what it was. When I returned, I noticed that the Talisman was missing. Since yesterday, I have combed the shrine in search of it, but it’s not there. I can even feel it in the wind that everything is not right,” The chief priest said.

“Ah! Could this be the reason I kicked my left foot yesterday? I knew it was a bad omen, but I didn’t think it would be this bad,” the King said.

“My King, if that Talisman is no longer on Ifana soil, then we are in big trouble. In the history of Ifana, the Talisman has never left the shrine. Our ancestors knew why they did that,” the chief priest said.

“Who could have done such a horrible thing?” The King asked.

“I don’t know, my King; I have no idea,” The chief priest responded.

“How long do we have left before our village feels the effect of the missing Talisman?” The King asked.

“Two days, just two days. If the Talisman is not returned to the shrine in two days, then I’m afraid we will all have to suffer the consequences,” the chief priest said before he walked out of the Palace.

“Ah! My fathers, please don’t forsake me. Why should such a horrible thing happen during my reign as King?” The King soliloquized.

After the chief priest left the King’s Palace, the King sent the town crier to announce to the villagers of Ifana that the ancient Talisman had been stolen from the village shrine.

To obey the King, the town crier went around the village to share the news. When the villagers heard that the ancient Talisman had been stolen from the village shrine, they were shocked.

“Abomination, I have never heard of such in my entire life,” one of the villagers said.

“What Kind of thief steals an ancient Talisman?” Another villager asked.

“Tell your brothers and sisters, if you know who took the Talisman, he or she has two days to take it back to the shrine before calamity befalls us,” the town crier said.

That whole day, the villagers of Ifana could not stop talking about the stolen Talisman. Both the young and old villagers talked about it, and they wondered what would happen to them if the Talisman was not returned on time.

When Ade and his friend heard the villagers talking about the Talisman they had stolen, they pretended like they had no idea, and they even joined some of the villagers in cursing whoever had taken it. Ade and his friend did not take the issue seriously; in fact, when they heard that terrible things would begin to happen if the Talisman was not returned to the shrine, they laughed and made jokes about it.

Two days after the announcement was made, something terrible happened. The village stream, which was always flowing with water, dried up mysteriously. As if that was not enough, all kinds of birds began to drop dead from the sky, and all the farmlands in Ifana were attacked by strange insects. The insects ate up both the mature and small crops until there was nothing left in the farmlands.

When all of these happened, the villagers knew that it had to do with the stolen Talisman, and they became worried.

“Is there nothing you can do to stop these things from happening?” The King asked the chief priest.

” My King, I’m afraid there is nothing I can do. The only way we can end this is if the Talisman is returned to the shrine.” the chief priest said. 

Because of everything that had happened, the King called an emergency meeting with the chief priest, expecting that he could give a temporary solution.

Under one day, so many things had happened in the village of Ifana, which worried the King.

The following day, while the villagers thought they had seen the worst, something unexpected happened. The village of Ifana, popularly known as one of the coldest villages, suddenly turned hot. The temperature was so hot that the villagers had to walk around with hand fans. It was almost like the sun was shining directly above their heads, and their entire bodies were covered in sweat.

“Ahh! Is this how we will suffer for what we do not know? It shall never be well with whoever stole the Talisman,” one of the villagers said.

In fact, the temperature was so hot that the market had to close early. People could not stay outside for too long because the hot sun would scorch their skins. That same day, goats, birds, pigs and other domestic animals began to die one after the other. People who sold these animals suffered the greatest loss because they lost them in their numbers.

When Ade and his friend saw all that was happening, they became worried. Ade had not told anyone, but from the first day he stole the Talisman from the shrine, he had been having nightmares of the Talisman haunting him. He believed that his mind was playing tricks on him.

It wasn’t until the sixth night, when Ade woke up screaming, that he realized how much trouble he had gotten himself into. By this time, the situation in Ifana village had gotten worse. Once the sun rose, people could not leave their houses until evening. Their source of food and water had been cut off, and the villagers were starving.

Even the King, who had a storeroom filled with food, had nothing left because he had given out almost everything to the hungry villagers who gathered around his Palace every evening.

“I think we should tell the Chief priest what we have done,” Ade’s friend said to Ade one evening. 

“What? We cannot do such a thing; they will banish us from the village. Also, even if we tell the truth and we are asked to bring back the Talisman, how will we pay the onyibo man when we have already spent out of his money?” Ade asked.

“Ah! Ade, how can you be so self-centred? Don’t you see that the villagers are suffering? We cannot just fold our hands and pretend we did not cause all of these,” Ade’s friend said.

“Don’t worry; all of these will stop soon, and we will go back to our normal lives. It’s just sad that we cannot eat bush meat anymore. I miss Iya Bumni’s bush meat,” Ade said. Please, let’s talk about something else. Don’t ruin my mood this evening,” Ade added.

While Ade’s friend was trying to persuade Ade to turn themselves in, they had no idea that the Talisman had been tormenting the onyibo man they sold it to.

 From the first day the onyibo man bought the Talisman from them, he had been experiencing strange and paranormal things in his home. Also, the Talisman had been haunting him in his sleep, so he even got afraid of sleeping at night. When the onyibo man could not take it anymore, he travelled to Ifana village to find Ade and his friend.

The next day, Ade was in his house when some Palace guards aggressively broke into his parent’s house. Without saying a word to Ade or his parents, the Palace guards forcefully took Ade to the Palace.

When they got to the Palace, as soon as Ade saw his friend and the onyibo man at the Palace, he attempted to run away, but the Palace guards caught him.

“Ade!” The King called, “Do you know this man?” The King asked.

“My King, I have never seen this man before,” Ade lied 

“Then why does he say that you and your friend here sold the ancient Talisman to him?” The King asked.

“What Talisman?” Ade feigned ignorance.

“Mr. Ade, why are you acting like you do not know me,” the onyibo man said, “I paid you a 100 dollars to purchase this artifact. But now, I don’t want it anymore and I would like my money back,” the onyibo man said.

“How much is 100 dollars?” the King asked one of his educated guards.

“That would be 500,000 cowries,” the palace guard responded.

“Ah! Ade! You did such a thing?” The King exclaimed in shock.

“My King, I can explain… It is true that Ade and I sold the ancient Talisman to this man here, but we had no idea it would cause so much trouble,” Ade’s friend said.

“Here is your artifact, I have no need for it,” the onyibo man said as he handed the ancient Talisman to the King.

By this time, Ade’s parents had already arrived at the Palace. Immediately Ade’s parents saw the Palace guards, they knew Ade had done something wrong.

“Ah! Ade, I warned you, but you would not listen. Now look at how much Shame you have brought me,” Ade’s father said. From today, you are no longer my son, and I am no longer your father,” Ade’s father added.

“Ah! Papa Ade, it has not gotten to that,” Ade’s mother said in a teary voice.

“Thank you so much for returning our Talisman, I will pay you on behalf of these men” the King said to the onyibo man.

Don’t look at me; you will work for every penny. I would have banished you, but I need to teach you both a lesson first, ” the King said as he turned to Ade and his friend.

“Guards! Take them to the slave’s Chambers. From today, they will work day and night until they pay for all the pain they have caused this village,” the King said. With that, the Palace guards took Ade and his friend out of the Palace.

Luckily for the villagers of Ifana, after the chief priest returned the ancient Talisman to the shrine and offered a sacrifice to appease it, everything returned to normal.

As for Ade and his friend, they worked as slaves for the King for 20 years, and shortly after they were released, Ade passed away from a brief illness.

The end.

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