781: Chapter 510 781: Chapter 510 So, for her, as a daughter who had not returned home for many years, had not visited her relatives, and had not provided any support to her family, to know that her family had been living a good life without her was a source of great joy.
Ye Tian lowered the Flying Artifact a bit, then stopped it in front of the village.
It was daytime, and the weak sunlight did not melt the snow on the mountains or in the village itself.
The snow from the sky was still falling, with no sign of stopping.
Not only were snowflakes drifting down, but a strong wind was blowing too, so everyone who had felt warm on the Flying Artifact suddenly felt the cold again.
To prevent them from feeling cold, Ye Tian draped an Invisible Halo over each person, allowing them to see the people inside and the houses.
But those inside couldn’t see them.
Ye Tian felt the poverty Cai Xiangxiang spoke of might be true; perhaps some individuals had become wealthy, but to see the whole village on this scale was something he found hard to believe.
Having passed so many villages just now, only this one was the most special.
It was not that he wished Cai Xiangxiang’s family to be living poorly, but he always sensed a Demon Qi in the houses.
This kind of Demon Qi, felt from some Demonic Beasts, was faint compared to the strong presence here; even if those beasts had transformed, they were not as powerful as this.
Ye Tian guessed that the area was not just a little bit infested with Demons but potentially housed many of them, and to prevent them from walking into danger unwittingly, he discreetly cast an Invisible Halo over them.
Yan Weiwei and her family, as well as Cai Xiangxiang, had never experienced a snowy day where they felt undisturbed, as if they had entered spring.
Yan Weiwei and Cai Xiangxiang, who were used to casting Ice and Snow Spells, also felt the cold, but that cold was just a momentary chill caused by the Spells, and they had elements in their bodies that could resist the cold and not be affected by it.
Faced with so much snow yet feeling as if it were spring, they simply thought that their powers had increased, with stronger immunities.
Yan Weiwei’s parents and family were astonished, having never seen snow before; was it possible that it is not cold in a snowy place, making the snow an illusion?
Are the snow-capped mountains and heavy snowfall just an illusion in people’s minds?
Ye Tian had put up defenses but did not tell them, as he did not want to alarm Yan Weiwei and her family without evidence.
If Cai Xiangxiang heard that there was Demon Qi in the village, she would not believe it, it was her hometown.
Without evidence, such talk would cause an argument and might alert whatever was lurking.
Cai Xiangxiang led everyone into the village and noticed that all the doors were tightly shut, the houses looked grand, yet seemed uninhabited.
She observed that it was after noon.
If people had finished their meal and were napping, there would be some signs of life, not this kind of silence.
In the cold of winter, there should be fireplaces lit, and smoke should be rising from the houses.
While feeling puzzled, Cai Xiangxiang was also nervous.
Regardless of how others lived, she wanted to find her own family’s house first and reunite with her kin.
All the questions in her heart could be resolved once she found her family.
Cai Xiangxiang stopped in front of a house; this was where she remembered her house to be.
But instead of the home she remembered, there stood a new house.
She recalled that the village didn’t have excessive foundation land, and there wasn’t much farmland either.
Living at the foot of a mountain, they wanted to plant crops on any usable land.
Her parents used to till the land manually, which was very strenuous, and even a small patch of land was a struggle to plant with food crops.
There was only one planting season a year, with not much water, the agricultural work was not overly harsh, but the yield wasn’t enough for a whole year’s consumption.
During snowy days or when the snow had not yet melted, villagers could only rely on jobs outside the village.
In the cold weather, people couldn’t just sit idle; only the elderly and children stayed at home on the heated brick bed for warmth.
As Cai Xiangxiang stared at the large door, she began to feel timid, close to home.
The anticipation of seeing her relatives made her hesitate.
Upon seeing her family shortly, how would she explain her absence all these years when they asked?
Would she say the Taoist was a bad person, causing her family to worry?
That was something she couldn’t mention, so how would she explain her time with Yan Weiwei?
Her family would certainly ask about her mentor.
“Let’s enter from the courtyard, no need to knock on the door!”
Ye Tian said something that made everyone else feel strange, “We’re at the doorway, yet we have to sneak into someone else’s house?”
Besides, this house belonged to Cai Xiangxiang’s family.
Ye Tian moved too fast, before they could even think, he had already drifted into the enclosure.
The house felt very quiet from the outside, and even quieter upon entering the yard.
The front door was tightly closed, as were the doors to the rooms inside.
During the winter snow, it was normal for doors to be closed, but they couldn’t feel any sign of human presence in the house.
They had originally thought this was just a typical village household, and Cai Xiangxiang had already confirmed that this was indeed her family home.
They had not thought of using Divine Sense to check.
Ye Tian had considered it but chose not to act, guessing that he did not want his Divine Sense fluctuations to alert anyone of his presence.
Was everyone using their strong or weak Divine Sense to probe whether there were any people inside the house?
In winter, even if people had gone out to work or to toil, there should be some elderly or children at home, and with people present, there should be a trace of human Qi.
The entire village was devoid of life, so what could be causing this eerie sensation?
They expanded their Divine Sense to explore inside the houses and discovered that there were indeed people inside, sitting on the beds in their respective rooms.
Ye Tian’s expression became grave; surely, the people in the rooms were no longer human, or if their bodies were human, they might have already been possessed by demons.
He did not know if the people inside were related to Cai Xiangxiang; according to her description, her family members were just ordinary farmers.
Why had they turned into demons?
Perhaps something had happened over these past ten-plus years.
“Let’s be careful, there are demons inside!” Ye Tian communicated to Cai Xiangxiang, Yan Weiwei, and his family, using a method of transmission.
Upon hearing that there were demons inside the house, Yan Weiwei and her family became anxious.
Having grown up in the countryside, Yan Weiwei’s family had never witnessed major events.
In their minds, gods and spirits were already considered powerful.
What frightened and terrorized them in their daily lives were ghosts, and what horrified them were demons.
The gods were those whom they worshipped, and those who practiced Cultivation were immortals.
In their minds, they were like malevolent spirits that must be exorcised, more terrifying than any ghost or creature.
“How could this be, there are demons inside, what about my family?”
Cai Xiangxiang panicked, her recent joy now replaced with a pallor of fright on her face.
“Be cautious, no matter what, we need to find out what’s going on inside.
We must break through the danger,” Ye Tian said, causing everyone to nod in agreement.
He was their main pillar of strength at the moment.
Seeing everyone agree, for everyone’s safety, he first placed Yan Weiwei and her family, along with Cai Xiangxiang, into the Flying Artifact.
He lifted the flying ship into the sky so that if the demons proved too formidable, they could escape first and then bring reinforcements to defeat them.
Ye Tian, of course, thought of Jiang Tang, who with his many Magic Artifacts, could surely take care of the situation.
However, Jiang Tang seemed to be occupied, and Ye Tian couldn’t always seek others’ help for every matter.
If he could deal with the issue himself, he wouldn’t bother others.
Jiang Tang, being the Saint Master, was quite busy, so to avoid troubling him further, Ye Tian decided to take action himself.
As Ye Tian thought this, to preempt any unforeseen events, he still reported the situation to the clan’s intelligence network, his father, and Jiang Tang.
After all, Yan Weiwei and her family were there, and if they indeed faced greater danger, he needed to be prepared.
Ye Tian intended to act alone, which worried Yan Weiwei, as she wished to accompany him.
Cai Xiangxiang also had family at home, and knowing her capabilities were insufficient and that they had people to protect, she could only listen to Ye Tian and stay on the Flying Artifact, watching everything unfold on the Video Wall.
Ye Tian went down to enter the house, and they could see his every move.