Chapter 230 - The Strangeness of the Village

“Who is it –”

A trembling voice came from the door, sounding somewhat vigilant.

“We are not bad people, but cultivators passing by. We passed by this place because we wanted to take a rest and also to get some information.”

Hearing this, the people in the room fell silent for a moment. Then, they carefully opened a crack and saw Gu Xi and the others clearly.

With a creak, the broken wooden door was opened from the inside, revealing an old face that looked like tree bark. It looked like it had been through a lot.

The one who opened the door was an old man. Seeing their arrival, he was obviously stunned on the spot. His turbid eyes suddenly shone as if he had seen his savior. He immediately welcomed everyone in.

“Immortal Master, please come in quickly. Please don’t blame me. I was being careful. I hope you can understand the offense just now.”

In the eyes of ordinary people, cultivators like them were no different from Immortals.

The old man respectfully invited everyone to take their seats. He looked around at the four walls of the house and could see everything at a glance. There were only a few broken wooden tables and chairs. There were no other furnishings. It could be seen that the conditions were ordinary.

The oil lamp on the table flickered with weak light, illuminating the old dirt on the table. It was so black that it could almost shine. Many female disciples revealed looks of disdain.

The old man smiled embarrassedly and said with fear and trepidation, “My house is simple and crude. I hope the Immortal Masters won’t take offense at my poor hospitality.”

Li Junyan took the lead and sat down. “We are away from home. Besides, we have an important mission to carry out, so there is no need to mind all this.”

Gu Xi admired this point. As the Eldest Senior Brother of Moyu Tower, he was humble. No wonder Fang Qingshan valued him so much.

Li Junyan took the lead, so the others could not say anything else.

“When we came here earlier, we found that although there were people around, there was no one in the village. All the doors of every household were tightly shut, which seemed a little illogical. When we knocked on the door earlier, you were very alert. I wonder what happened?

Hearing this, the old man’s expression suddenly changed. With a plop, he knelt on the ground and said with tears streaming down his face, “Please, Immortal Master, save our village.”

Li Junyan hurriedly helped the old man up. “Old Man, why are you doing this? If you have anything to say, say it properly. If there is anything that we can help with, we will definitely not refuse.”

The old man wiped his tears and then said, “Originally, our village could be considered peaceful. Although it was close to the Phantom Forest and there would occasionally be demonic beasts attacking, it was not frequent and could be considered safe. However, one day, a loud sound came from the sky. From then on, the village underwent an inexplicable change.”

It turned out that the old man’s surname was Sun. From his words, they learned that not long ago, a loud noise came from the sky, as if something had fallen into the Phantom Forest.

However, as they were mortals, not to mention getting close, even if they were in the outer area, if they bumped into wandering demonic beasts, they would be easily torn to pieces. Therefore, although they were curious, none of them wanted to go and check.

Occasionally, when they were at the market, they would talk to the nearby villages. Only then did they realize that they had also heard the movement. However, after that, nothing happened in the Phantom Forest. Soon, this matter was also forgotten, who would have thought that this was only the beginning.

Li Junyan could not help but ask, “Did you say that some people from the other villages went to check?”

“Yes, those are a few bold young men. They were young and unafraid of danger. By the time they were discovered, it was already too late.”

“Since then, strange things have happened in their village. Many people died and those who survived fled the village. Until today, the village has been abandoned.”.

Gu Xi remembered the village they met on the way here and could not help but ask, “Are you talking about the village that worships foxes? We met it when we came here.”

It would have been better if he had not said that. However, Old Man Sun’s expression changed as soon as he heard that. His eyes widened as if he had seen something extremely terrifying, and even his voice was lowered.

“The village didn’t worship foxes before, but they suddenly worshipped them. Then, strange things began to happen, and people often went missing for no reason…”

The candlelight flickered incessantly, only illuminating a small area in the surroundings. At this moment, the sky had completely darkened, and there was no light outside at all.

Half of Old Man Sun’s face was hidden in the shadows, and the expression on his face could not be seen clearly. The other half of his face was full of wrinkles, and coupled with this low and deep tone, it appeared somewhat sinister and terrifying.

Fang Qinyu subconsciously clung to Gu Xi, and could not help but say, “It sounds a little scary.”

On the other hand, the other female disciples were almost the same.

Li Junyan frowned and asked, “If that’s the case, could it be that the demonic beasts are causing trouble?”

Only in this way could the strange phenomenon of these villages be explained.

“If it’s man-made, then what’s their motive?”

Old Man Sun shook his head. “We don’t know whether the demonic beasts are causing trouble. In any case, no one has seen it clearly. Even if they can see clearly, the whereabouts of those people are unknown.”

“Is it possible that those young men brought something out of the Phantom Forest, and that’s why there are changes in the future?”

Gu Xi extracted the information in his words and quickly captured the most crucial part. His view was also agreed by Li Junyan.

“Fellow Daoist Gu is right. Maybe they touched on some taboo existence.”

Old Man Sun hesitated for a moment and said, “Perhaps. However, those young men had already disappeared when the mutation began. Some said that they were already dead, while others said that they had been carried away by demonic beasts. In short, no one knew where they had gone.”