Chapter 219: Chapter 185: Village
Have the others been blown away by the storm?
No, with the Cultivation of Wang Linian, Ji Xingwang, and the others, they wouldn’t merely be blown away by the wind. This seems more like everyone, including myself, has been transported to another place.
Li Ang looked around. The mountain path they had come by had vanished. The sky showed neither moon nor stars, and the calls of birds from the deep forest seemed muted by the dense fog, rendering them somewhat distorted.
Bizzare Species anomalies, although peculiar and various, can generally be divided into two types. One is completely irregular, akin to the crazed dream induced after eating poisoned mushrooms, Li Ang silently mused. The second type is more regular, and sometimes even quite normal, like the phantom city in the Blood River.
From a Cultivator’s perspective, the second type of Bizzare Species was undoubtedly easier to deal with. However, if this place’s anomaly possessed some form of self-awareness, able to detect the presence of Cultivators and choose to isolate and defeat them one by one, that would be less fortunate.
I didn’t see any contact fireworks shot by others in the sky. It could be that I am too far away from them, or they are too busy to care. Either way, there’s no reason to waste the limited fireworks.
Li Ang pondered for a moment. He climbed a tree to look into the distance, but the thick fog obscured his view.
He had no choice but to drop back to the ground and take out a compass he had prepared from his pocket. The compass needle spun in place, unable to point in any direction.
"Tsk, just as expected."
Li Ang put away the compass, randomly picked up a thick, wind-snapped stick from the ground, and threw it into the air.
SNAP.
The stick fell to the ground, pointing obliquely in a direction.
"Then let’s head this way."
Li Ang picked up the stick, used it as a sword to perform a flourish, and strode forward, humming a vigorous tune.
"Proudly facing the surging waves, blood as bright as the sun’s rays, courage as solid as iron, bones as strong as Fine Steel, a heart as vast as the heavens, vision as long as the roads, HEY, HA—"
Humming the tune, the path ahead gently sloped downwards. After walking a distance, the trees became sparser and the fog somewhat thinner, increasing visibility. The sky also seemed to brighten, dazzling with twilight colors.
Is this... a village?
Li Ang stood on a rock looking downward. In a distant hollow between mountains, he saw new buildings erected—courtyards and high-end residences. The standard low brick-and-tile houses typical of mountain villages were fewer and more remotely scattered.
"A traveler... Cultivator?"
A soft, hesitant voice came from beside him. Li Ang turned to see a veiled woman emerging from the forest, watching him uncertainly.
"It’s me. You are Guan Anyan, right?"
Li Ang recognized her. The veiled woman was Ji Xingwang’s Disciple and Chu Haoman’s junior. According to what was said at the inn, she possessed the ability of Innate Divination, which could predict good and bad fortunes.
"Yes."
Guan Anyan hesitated, then asked, "Were you just singing?"
Li Ang nodded. "Yes, is there a problem?"
"Uh..." Guan Anyan faltered. "I thought the safest approach during a Bizzare Species anomaly was to conceal oneself..."
"Oh, I was thinking, since this place could disperse everyone, perhaps it suggests some form of intelligence," Li Ang spoke calmly. "If you sing, the other party can’t help but want to keep listening. They’ll be compelled to sing along if you suddenly stop in the middle of the song."
"Ah?" Guan Anyan was visibly confused. "Is that really a thing?"
"Yes, I have a friend who is an Executioner," Li Ang said casually. "He must sing through an entire opening song before he can proceed with the execution. It seems everyone got scattered because of the earthquake and strong wind just now. Can you divine where they might be?"
"I’ll try."
Guan Anyan closed her eyes, held her breath, and concentrated for a moment. Her veil fluttered slightly, revealing a face mottled with patches of white and gray.
"It’s no use." Guan Anyan opened her eyes, smoothed her veil, and spoke softly. "I can’t see their exact location, but they should still be in this area. Moreover, there seem to be living people in the village."
Living people...
Li Ang looked down at the village below. He could vaguely see villagers in straw coats, carrying hoes and other farming tools, leaving the fields and heading towards the village built against the mountain.
According to Yu Shusheng’s earlier statement, Qi Shui Hollow had been uninhabited for hundreds of years. If Li Ang and his group hadn’t been transported to another location, then there was definitely something wrong with these "villagers" down by the mountain.
"I’m going to go down and check. You can wait here for the others if you want, or you can come with me."
Li Ang, confident that his Ink Silk Clone didn’t emit any Spiritual Energy fluctuations, waved his hand and walked down the boulder towards the base of the mountain. Guan Anyan hesitated for a moment before deciding to follow.
"When we meet the villagers, if they can communicate, I’ll handle the negotiations," Li Ang briefly instructed Guan Anyan. "We’ll claim we’re travelers from out of town, here to find our missing friend Chu Haoman."
Upon reaching the rural dirt road, he straightened the scarf under his bamboo hat and raised his hand to stop one of the villagers in a straw coat. "Elder, hello. My sister and I are here..."
Before Li Ang could finish, the villager, who appeared to be in his fifties or sixties with a face full of wrinkles and wearing a straw coat, passed by him expressionlessly, as if he hadn’t heard Li Ang at all.
Li Ang raised an eyebrow and stubbornly followed, switching to the local dialect. "Lao Xiang, my sister and I are here looking for someone. Could you help point us in the right direction?"
The straw-coated villager remained indifferent, not even glancing at Li Ang.
Deaf? Or simply refusing to communicate with outsiders?
"Elder," Li Ang said, pulling out a leaf-shaped piece of Gold from his bosom. He unfolded it into a fan shape in front of the villager while holding the stick in his other hand. "Elder, this is money. Help us find our way, and all this can be yours."
Finally, the villager turned to look at Li Ang. His eyes were dull and lifeless, and he spoke in a low, hoarse voice, "Leave. You are not welcome here."
Finally, he spoke. Li Ang’s spirits lifted. He didn’t mind the hostile attitude as long as they could communicate. He quickly responded, "Why are you not welcoming us? We are only here to look for a friend. Once we find them, we will leave on our own and won’t cause you any disturbance. As the saying goes, ’Traversing the vast landscapes of the Earthly Divine Land, finding beauty in colorful Dingzhou.’ Elder, you should consider the reputation of Dingzhou..."
Before he could finish, a series of intense Haotian Bell rings echoed from the village.
DING DING DING—
All the villagers on the road carrying farm tools stopped in their tracks, looking towards the village midway up the hill.
In the next second, all the villagers began sprinting along the mountain path, scrambling towards the village as if something horrifying would happen if they didn’t get there before the bell stopped.