Jiang Cheng ignored the hateful gaze coming from behind him. The more Chen Xiaomeng stared at Jiang Cheng’s face, the greater her will to strangle him.
An Ping Town wasn’t big. The inn was situated in the middle of the town. Soon, they reached the edges of the town. An elder leaned against the fence, a tobacco pipe hanging on his lips. By his looks, the elder lived a hard-pressed life. His clothes were old and had many patches. His pant legs were stuck with mud. His two slightly open eyes appeared murky. Perhaps he was blind. The fence behind him was dirty and uneven. Probably, it was used to keep livestock. However, only unkempt hay mixed with mud still remained. The wind carried over a horrible stench.
Bei Qian studied the old man. With his hands behind his back, he walked forward naturally. Chen Xiaomeng saw this and wanted to follow but she was stopped by Zhou Rong.
Bei Qian leaned on the fence beside the old man. Soon, the two elders of similar ages started to chat. Eventually, the elder became more enthusiastic. He even turned around to gesture at the space inside the fence as if he were introducing stuff to Bei Qian. Ten minutes later, Bei Qian said goodbye and left. The simple old man called after him and took out a wrinkled, self-rolled tobacco roll from his dirty pocket. He wanted to give it to Bei Qian. Bei Qian thanked him and rejected him. The elder was very stubborn. He insisted. Bei Qian nodded and had to thank the old man again. Then, he returned to his team.
“Elder Bei,” Zhou Rong asked, “Is there any clue about that woman?”
Bei Qian nodded. He placed the tobacco roll on his lips, but he didn’t light it. He seemed to be reminiscing about that era.
“The woman is not from this town but from the nearby village.” He began slowly, “She arrived here about half a month ago. She said it was to find her missing husband. She started to look for him with a few portraits. She appeared a bit loose in the head. Everyone in the town knows of her.”
Jiang Zhongyi leaned forward and whispered, “Did her husband disappear in this village?”
Bei Qian shook his head. “No. He disappeared in the woman’s original village.”
Everyone turned to look at Bei Qian. It was impossible for him not to realise this simple issue. After a short silence, Bei Qian paused and turned in a fixed direction. His eyes focused on a winding, mud road. Perhaps it had rained the night before. The path was filled with holes and mud. The path led to a mountain. At the foot of the mountain was a verdant forest. The day was dimming, but no birds were returning. There was no sound of bugs or animals. The mountain and the forest were strangely quiet… like they were dead.
Zhou Roing seemed to realise something. He looked at Bei Qian strangely. “Did she… come from a village inside the mountain?”
Bei Qian nodded and relayed the message, “The brother told me to ignore that woman and not pit her. No matter what our reason being here was, no one could intervene with the issues at that village.”
Everyone’s hearts fell. The mission… was finally here.
The sun set faster than they thought. Before they returned to the inn, the sky was already almost dark. In this unfamiliar world, darkness exuded a sense of death. Everyone moved faster. The streets that looked familiar in the day became so eerie at night. The buildings hid in the blurry darkness. They were like ghosts in disguise, trying to eat someone.
The nightlife back then was less active than it was in the present. This was especially true in this backwards town. Once the sky was dark, everyone went back to sleep. The lack of nightlife meant that a rise in the birth of newborns.
Of course, only Jiang Cheng pondered such an issue. Everyone else was focused on hurrying back to the inn. Thankfully, An Ping Ann was a signature building in the town. Big, red lanterns were hung at the four corners of the inn. It was captivating in the dark.
When they got closer to the inn, they were shocked to see that the inn was still open. In fact, there were a few people standing at the front door. There were around nine of them.
The boss they saw in the afternoon blocked the door. His face was red. He held a wooden club. He seemed to be arguing with the group. The sound of argument travelled far in the silent night. As the group got closer, the people who were arguing with the inn boss noticed them. Then, the whole group rushed at them. “You all are here to help us, right?!” A man around 60 was supported by the other men around him as they shuffled over. He was clearly the leader. Everyone looked up to him. “I… am the leader of Little Ravine Village. Cough… My surname is Liu.”
The man, who called himself the village leader, was very excited to see them. Once he grabbed Zhou Rong’s arm, he refused to let go. He seemed to have decided the travellers were there to save them. He was so shaky, and he was greatly emotional. The people around him started to cry as well.
Zhou Rong was very calm. He didn’t say yes or no. He merely said, “Leader Liu, what is happening…”
The tall man beside him said excitedly, “We heard that you’ve arrived at An Ping Town. Therefore, the village leader led us to welcome you!” The man was at least 2 meters tall. He was at least a head taller than Jiang Cheng. He was tanned and extremely muscular. The crimson-red lantern accentuated the lines of his muscle.
The thinnest among them was Jiang Zhongyi. He shivered involuntarily. He suspected that the man could crush him to death with his hands.
Through their conversation, they confirmed that this group came from the Little Ravine Village situated in the mountain, which was mentioned by the old man by the fence earlier.
They came to An Ping Town to ask for help.
This ‘help’... was probably related to the mission. Since the mission venue had been confirmed, they could start moving.
They made a promise to the village leader. They would meet at the entrance of the inn tomorrow morning before heading to Little Ravine Village.