Chapter 607-608: The Strange Village; The Mysterious Old Widow |
607: The Strange Village
“You mean the villagers did this? Why would they? Can being locked inside a dimensional space really make them happy?” Han Xia didn’t understand how people could voluntarily draw a cell around themselves.
“It may also have been done by a single person and wasn’t a choice made by the villagers.” Han Jiang said.
“Then let’s find the person responsible for sealing off the village. We should be able to leave here if we find them.” Jier said.
“But there are so many people in the village; it will be hard.” Han Jiang said.
“We can take our time and look carefully. We can’t just sit and wait for rescue.” Jier rolled his eyes.
He was never one to wait for rescue. As a majestic envoy of Star Marshall hall, it would be too embarrassing to wait for other people to rescue him.
“By the way, I don’t know your name yet. Could it be you are Xiao Wu’s boyfriend?” Han Xia asked with interest.
“My name is Jier and I am the Summer envoy for Star Marshall hall. As for my relationship with Xiao Wu, we’re best buds or brothers, however you want to think of it is fine.”
He met the envoys for Spring, Autumn, and Winter already, but it was his first meeting with the newly appointed Summer envoy. Apparently, Summer envoy’s appointment was delayed due to personal reasons. Han Jiang never expected to meet under such circumstances.
The arbitration tribunal usually dealt with the season envoys, so the people in his department was quite familiar with them. So although, it was their first meeting, as long as Jier remained the envoy for Summer, it was likely they would get to know each other sooner or later.
In any case, Han Jiang was much more confident about their chances of getting out now that Jier with them. Star Marshall hall would go all out to rescue an envoy.
Moreover, the envoys had their legacies. Even if no one came to rescue them, he was sure they would be able to think of a way out.
Han Jiang’s hope rose up. Their odds of leaving had increased by more than half.
To find the person who sealed the village, the group went around the village and began talking to the villagers. They did that for two days, and in the process also met people who, like them, had been yanked into the village from outside.
These people, in order to survive, also started farming like the villagers. It didn’t matter how powerful they were, they still needed food to fill their tummies.
“Don’t you find it strange? Those outsiders, their attitude is too submissive.” Jier noticed.
“I feel the same way. The two brothers we met today, for example, were obviously not good practitioners, but now they’re obediently farming the land. Why don’t they steal the already grown vegetables from other people? I don’t get it.” Han Jiang also felt it was strange.
The two brothers they saw, from the look in their eyes to the auras they gave off, were obviously bad people. That they wouldn’t try to intimidate and threaten the villagers was too strange.
No matter how Han Jiang looked at it, the men were not principled people with morals against hurting ordinary people.
“Is there something about the villagers that is scaring them?” Han Xia wondered.
“What kind of people could make those brothers so scared that they don’t dare touch even a single roof tile? Or did they try before, but were taught a lesson, so now they don’t dare try again?”
“Also, those villagers are always smiling, no matter who they see coming. Aren’t they afraid of encountering bad people and be forced into slavery?!”
The odd behavior from the villagers, the sealed off village – what kind of secret were hidden inside?
While Feng Wu and the group were investigating inside the village, Zhao Yang had gathered a large group of people to help.
This time Star Marshall hall sent over a high-ranking dimensional space magician who specialized in spatial fluctuations.
“There seems to be a strange space on the other side of this lake.” The magician concluded after studying the lake.
“Is it a dimensional space created using a spell?” Creating dimensional space was something only holy level magicians could do.
“No, it should be space created with an item. It’s not a low-level item either; it must be at least a holy level item, if I’m not mistaken. It wouldn’t have hidden so well from me otherwise. It’s a good thing I’m the one that came. Holy level magicians from the other departments would not have been able to detect the spatial fluctuations on the other side of the lake.”
“What should we do now? Shall we destroy the space and then rescue Xiao Wu and the envoy?” Zhao Yang gestured excitedly.
“Now is not the time; let me think it through some more.”
Suddenly the space distorted and the magician disappeared in and out several times.
“Xiao Wu, Xiao Xia, Master Jier you must hold on. Master Fasheng will definitely save you. . . ” Zhao Yang spoke in the direction of the lake.
Feng Wu and the others had no idea Star Marshall hall was sending people to rescue them. They were busy searching for the owner of the artifact who sealed the village away.
After two days investigating, the most suspicious person they found was the village chief’s daughter, Laiya.
Twenty years ago, a sword master took a fancy to Laiya and wanted to force her to be one of his concubine wives, but Laiya was already engaged to her childhood sweetheart, so naturally she couldn’t accept the offer.
Laiya was an ordinary person with no aspirations of marrying to raise her station; she only wanted to marry her sweetheart and live happily in her village.
Everything changed when the sword master appeared and demanded the village chief hand his daughter over. He had his people surround the village, day after day for seven days, not attacking, but laying siege.
When the eighth day came, all the people that surrounded the village disappeared and the villagers couldn’t leave.
Not being able to leave wasn’t a big deal for them, as long as bullies weren’t harassing them, isolation was acceptable.
The villagers continued to live their lives like normal. It wasn’t until the first outsiders arrived that they realized it wasn’t the wicked people who disappeared, it was them that disappeared.
They would get a few outsiders every now and again after that. And like them, the outsiders were also trapped. Some had thought about leaving the isolated world of the village, but the passage at the bottom of the lake was a one-way gate. Everyone who entered was trapped inside.
Ten outsiders had accidentally entered the village in the past twenty years. The outsiders grew accustomed to life in the village and didn’t make trouble for anyone. Everyone lived happily and worked in peace.
Han Jiang was sure there were things about the outsiders that weren’t being shared. The villagers wouldn’t say anything and the outsiders refused to talk about it. They tried asking around, but couldn’t get any information.
608: The Mysterious Old Widow
“That’s why Laiya is the most likely suspect. She has the best motive.” Han Xia whispered after sipping the juice Feng Wu shared.
“That’s true, but this is all still a guess; I’m not sure if it’s her.” Han Jiang said.
“It seems that we have to keep an eye on her. How is that Laiya now? Is she married to her childhood sweetheart?” Jier pushed his empty cup away.
“They married twenty years ago. Seven days after the village was sealed, the village head’s family hurriedly organized a marriage for them. Now their oldest child is eighteen and the youngest is twelve.” Han Jiang said.
Considering what information they had, they decided to keep an eye on Laiya. Hopefully something useful would show up.
Laiya’s family was an ordinary family; they worked at sunrise and rested at sunset. Ordinary people who didn’t practice magic and martial qi aged normally. The traces of age on Laiya’s thirty-eight-year-old face did not detract from her beauty, however. It was no wonder the sword master spent so much effort trying to marry her; she must have been a stunning woman twenty years ago.
Her husband, a blacksmith in the village, was named Kamen. She and her husband loved each other deeply and their eyes would fill with love and affection whenever they were together. No wonder, even if it raised her station in life, Laiya was unwilling to marry the unfamiliar sword master.
“While they’re all out working, let’s go to her house and see if we can find the holy artifact or anything else suspicious!” Han Xia said.
It was a good idea, so they had Han Jiang stand as look out while everyone else snuck inside Laiya’s house.
In the end, they failed to find anything by the time Laiya’s family returned.
They snuck back out and returned disappointed to their hut. “Why is there nothing? Laiya is definitely the most suspicious person.
“Could you have made a mistake? Is it really Laiya who sealed the village?” Rui Baby said casually while eating a snack.
“Master Rui, did you find something?” Han Xia immediately retreated and ran to Rui Baby’s side to fawn over him.
“This great one has indeed discovered something. In fact, there was something else that happened here twenty years ago other than what happened with Laiya.” Rui Baby was pleased with the fawning so he shared a bit mysteriously.
“Something else? No way. I asked about all the major events that happened twenty years ago. There can’t be something I don’t know about!” Han Jiang thought about it and couldn’t think about the event Rui Baby was talking about.
“Twenty years ago, the old widow in the east of the village had two beautiful daughters, and the three women depended on each other very much. The old widow, because she was cheated on by a man, told her daughter to never trust men. Eventually, one after the other, both her daughters fell in love with men outside the village. The men they loved came to the village to propose, but unfortunately the old widow objected vehemently.
She beat both daughters severely enough to force them to be bedridden. Then she went out and warned the two men never to approach her daughters again.
Her daughters found her dominance over their lives unbearable, and in the end, they decided to elope. Unfortunately, the day before their planned elopement, the sword master came to the village and tried to force Laiya to marry him.
Their elopement plans were thwarted because of this. Then on the eight day the village was sealed and the daughters were trapped inside. They are still single even now.”
This did happen and Rui Baby would never been privy to such details had he not but fluttering around and eavesdropping on the villagers’ conversations.
“You suspect the old widow sealed the village to prevent her daughters from leaving her and marrying?” If this guess was correct, then the old lady was perverted.
Han Xia felt her scalp go numb just thinking about having such a terrible mother.
“Why haven’t the daughters married in all this time? Even if they can’t marry outside the village, they can still marry someone inside.” Han Xia was puzzled by this.
“Their mother is really perverted. Just because one man caused her suffering, she thinks all men are evil things. She doesn’t allow her daughters to approach men, or talk to them, let alone marry one. Anyway, she just wants her daughters to by alone forever like her.”
Rui Baby rolled his eyes, just thinking about perverted old woman gave him the shivers.
“Let’s talk about sealing the village; if it’s that old woman, then she would definitely do it.” Jier thought of the old widow Rui Baby talked about.
They all agreed the perverted old widow was seriously suspicious. Her ranking on the list of suspects was even higher than Laiya’s.
They snuck into her house in the dead of night to investigate, but unfortunately, her room was locked up tight, even her window was closed shut. Finding out if she was responsible for sealing the village would be difficult.
The village was strange so they didn’t know if using magic or scrolls could have unintended consequences. To be safe, they decided not to use magic or qi.
They searched the yard for a long time and found nothing suspicious. As for the two daughters who previously tried to run away, if there was a holy artifact, there was no way the old widow would leave it in their possession.
It was probably in the old widow’s room. She locked it up so tight.
They kept surveillance on the old widow’s family and found, that apart from her two daughters working every day, the widow didn’t leave. How were they supposed to sneak in and search around if she didn’t leave?!
The widow finally left her house two days later on the full moon. She wore a black cloak that covered her body completely; not even an inch of skin peeped through.
Rui Baby went out to follow the old widow and see what she was up to so late at night, while everyone else grabbed the chance to sneak inside her house.
They managed to get inside her room using a lock pick. Inside was pitch black without light or shadow. Han Xia glanced around at the things inside the room after taking out a flint and lighting it for light. She screamed out in fright, completely forgetting where they were for a moment.
This immediately brought a burst of footsteps toward the room. No doubt the people running over were the daughters.
Their mother didn’t even let them into her room, so for there to suddenly be an unfamiliar screaming coming from that direction, of course they didn’t just foolishly rush over without first grabbing a weapon.
“Are you outsiders? What are you doing in our mother’s room?” The sisters watched Feng Wu and the kids in the room warily while still holding onto knives they grabbed earlier.
“Don’t be afraid. We’re here to find a way out of the village.” Jier raised his hand to show them he was harmless and didn’t have a weapon.