Chapter 60: Going In!

Chapter 60: Going In! Dawn came, and the group was up and ready for a long day. They walked closer and closer to the fog, only coming across it when it had almost vanished. Ken’s eyes went serious, his entire demeanor changed, and it was visible. The group knew that from now on things were serious. No longer can they go about things haphazardly; one wrong move could potentially cause many dangers. As they walked, they finally started perceiving the silhouette of the village. A wooden wall surrounded the village, and beyond it a structural layout of the buildings presented itself. Surprisingly, the villagers didn’t build their houses chaotically; each house was given its own space and land, and it wasn’t packed tightly, it was spaced out. Each villager seemed to have a 2-story house large enough for 6 individuals to live comfortably, a courtyard, and a farm, as well as another building for their livestock. All in all, the entire village was larger than one would imagine upon hearing the word. After walking for a few minutes, the group could finally spot people, all crowded around the center. "Would she be okay? Her children already lost a father; if they lost their mother too..." Voices started flowing into their ears,, and the moment they did, the group tensed up. Every word, every sentence now was crucial and could hold valuable information. "The village head already has enough on his plate; he’s been taking care of 10 families on top of his own as if they were his own children. He’s already kind enough to us; this... is more than he can take on." "We’re all in this together, but who knows who’s next? We have to protect our children; we might just be the victim the next night." People talked nonstop; words reverberated as the group didn’t make themselves visible yet. "I wonder if someone will come to save us from this plague? Every day it takes one of us... this constant stress, this constant fear... I can’t live like this any longer." "We need hope... I need hope. I can’t live like this." Slowly, the emotions hidden deep started displaying themselves. "Doctor Han alone can’t do much. He’s been persistently trying to find a cure for us, but at this point." "The hunters can’t go on like this either; their numbers are shortened every few days. At some point, they won’t be able to take care of the entire village." Ken seeing as not much information was going on and people started dispersing, thought that this was the time to go in. At this moment, in this place, they were mere travelers who could possibly help them. The mortal world didn’t have much interaction with the cultivators, so this seemed like the most believable farce they could come up with. "Hmm." Suddenly, people turned to see the group coming, and heads started turning. One by one, the people’s attention shifted from the center of the village to Ken, who was in front, and his group. "I’m sorry if this is a bad time... but we’re a group of travelers who’ve heard of a village here and are looking to rest for a few days." Ken announced with a voice that shouted benevolence. The group’s figures looked like that of people who had been on the move for many days, but what caught the eye of the villagers was their demeanor, which gave one the impression that they weren’t simple people. In a way, it was their months living in the sect that gave them a slightly otherworldly front, and at the same time, it was controlled to make people more likely to trust them. Everything, from the moment they entered the village, was studied and carefully decided by the group the past 4 days. *Ehhem* From the middle came a hunched middle-aged man who seemed kind but at the end of his days, followed by a younger man, middle-aged but calm. "We welcome you wholeheartedly, but, as you can see, this is not the best place to talk about this." The village head smiled, his balding head and long white beard swaying with every step as he gestured towards the crowd with his wrinkled eyes. His entire being, which looked like a dwarf, was supported by a cane, and the middle-aged man paid more attention to him than the new group, which they knew nothing about, ready to step in if the old man’s body gave up. "I do see that. Our apologies once again." Ken once again apologized; he wanted to give the impression that he was a man who cared a lot about his actions. "Alright, alright, you don’t have to apologize so much; you couldn’t have known." "I’ll attend to you very soon, once we take care of an urgent matter." The old man seemed worried and spoke, his body turning to go back to the center. The middle-aged man helped him, as for a split second, his body failed him, and the old man then used the cane to start heading where he wanted. But Ken interrupted. "I do understand, Elder. But is it possible for me to know what is going on? We would like to help in any way we can as thanks for your kind hospitalization." He said. The old man stood silent for a few seconds before he spoke. "Well then, follow me." Without turning back, his words reached Ken, who, after nodding towards his group, followed him. The crowd gave them space, and Ken used this chance to look at them. His eyes caught onto many details, and so did Darek, Alex, and Marwa. The villagers... didn’t look weird at all, aside from their slightly pale faces that were caused by fear and anxiety. Such was natural; they didn’t know if they’d live to see the next day, and they feared that they or their wives would end up as the devil’s next target, leaving their children to survive in such an unforgiving world. But that was enough to tell Ken that aside from the devil’s daily antics, their livelihood was currently still normal. They ate and lived normally. ------End------