By noon, there was still no news from A-Qi and the others.
Xie Fan keenly sensed that the atmosphere in the village had changed. If everyone had merely been watching and waiting at first, then after an entire day and night passed without the tour group being found, the villagers had subconsciously begun to grow tense.
Although Xie Fan knew the idol was important, he had not expected the situation to become this serious.
Especially when afternoon came. For some unknown reason, the village chief, who had not shown his face lately, suddenly announced that everyone was to gather that afternoon.
Xie Fan closed the door, unable to keep from feeling nervous.
“We’re going to the threshing ground again this afternoon. What are we going there for?”
The protagonist group had run off, and A-Qi had already searched the entire village last night. It probably was not to announce that matter, so what else could it be?
Could they be mobilizing the entire village to search for them?
But if that were the case, they could have simply had A-Qi or any random villager notify everyone. Wasn’t time the most important thing right now?
A vague uneasiness stirred in Xie Fan’s heart.
“Sun Zhou” stood quietly beside him. Hearing his question, he turned his head.
“You’ll know once you go and take a look.”
Xie Fan: “I guess that’s all we can do.”
Besides, there was no other choice. In such a strange, isolated village, the villagers always acted collectively. No matter what, he had to fit in.
Taking a deep breath, Xie Fan finished his meal and lit his candle. Sure enough, when it was time to leave, he saw Xiao Yao waiting for him.
The familiar dark-blue cloth clothes entered his sight. When the little girl downstairs saw him looking over, she immediately waved.
“Brother A-Xie, I’m here.”
Xie Fan: …
I can see you.
The figure beneath the locust tree was extremely conspicuous. The corner of Xie Fan’s mouth twitched, and he resigned himself to picking up his candle and heading downstairs.
Xiao Yao was also holding a candle. She was kicking a stone around in boredom and only spoke after seeing Xie Fan come down.
“Brother A-Xie, you’re so slow.”
Xie Fan: Why would he walk that fast?
Was he in a hurry to go get himself killed?
The “System” discovered that whenever Xie Fan had someone familiar accompanying him, the amount of activity in his head skyrocketed. It could not help letting out a soft laugh.
Realizing that the System had heard his internal complaints, Xie Fan’s body stiffened. Slightly embarrassed, he turned his head away.
“I was checking the lock on the main room. It took me a little longer.”
“Oh, so that’s why.”
Xiao Yao nodded without suspecting anything. After all, ever since the outsiders had stolen something, everyone in the village had become more vigilant.
For someone as meticulous as Brother A-Xie, checking the lock one more time before leaving was perfectly normal.
“Sigh, I even changed my lock today.”
Xiao Yao sighed and raised her head. “Brother A-Xie, do you think if they still can’t find the tour group tonight, the weather will turn bad again?”
Xie Fan: …How would he know?
Why was she asking him?!
A strange feeling flashed through his heart. Xie Fan pursed his lips and imitated the original character’s taciturn personality as he replied,
“I don’t know.”
“It’s getting late. Let’s hurry.”
“That’s true.”
Xiao Yao tilted her head and suddenly smiled.
“Brother A-Xie, let’s go.”
“If the weather turns bad and the pigs die, you can’t blame me for that either.”
Xie Fan paused.
For some inexplicable reason, he suddenly recalled the scene when Xiao Yao had previously said, “the sheep died.” He could not help frowning.
The weather…
Was the weather connected to the deaths of the five sacrificial animals?
While he was still thinking, Xiao Yao, who was walking ahead of him, covered her mouth as though she had accidentally said something she should not have.
“But maybe I’m just worrying for nothing. The village chief will have a way.”
Xie Fan: ?
Nearly every able-bodied young man in the village had gone out searching. They had even searched underwater in the pond, yet they still had not found anyone. What other way could there possibly be?
Xie Fan could not imagine where else the protagonist group could be hiding, but judging by Xiao Yao’s words… the village chief had another method?
His heart gave a sudden thump.
For no apparent reason, Xie Fan had a bad feeling.
Xiao Yao blinked. “Brother A-Xie, what are you thinking about?”
“Nothing.”
Suppressing the fear in his heart, Xie Fan came back to his senses, only to see Xiao Yao staring straight at him.
A chill rose from the soles of his feet. He casually shifted his gaze away as though nothing had happened.
The sky grew darker and darker.
The familiar intersection soon appeared before them.
The moment Xie Fan reached the threshing ground, he saw the village chief’s house. For some unknown reason, he became dazed for an instant. Looking at the nail marks on the window, he inexplicably found them somewhat familiar.
It was almost as though he had been here not long ago.
But the last time he came here with Xiao Yao, hadn’t he stayed away from the house?
Xie Fan was puzzled. Only after hearing a hoarse, heavy cough did he come back to his senses.
Today, the village chief had not waited for them inside his house. He was already at the threshing ground.
It seemed that the matter really was urgent.
But…
Xie Fan turned his head and looked around.
“A-Qi and the others aren’t here?”
Xiao Yao had noticed as well, but she did not seem particularly concerned.
“Brother A-Qi and the others are probably still searching. They’ll search a little longer while it isn’t completely dark yet. If they still can’t find them, they’ll come back.”
In the spacious threshing ground, the villagers were all whispering among themselves. The matter had grown serious, and on top of that, it had been caused by outsiders.
The gazes several villagers directed toward the village chief were becoming increasingly strange.
Night descended deeper and deeper.
Xie Fan frowned and found that—
[The source text appears corrupted or incomplete here.]
As A-Qi passed him, he subconsciously took an extra look at Xie Fan, and even he seemed momentarily dazed.
“Village Chief,
“We didn’t find them.”
His voice sounded exhausted. The other villagers accompanying him were covered in flecks of mud and looked thoroughly bedraggled.
The village chief nodded. “Forget it. That group must have come prepared. It isn’t your fault.”
“I originally thought they were only an ordinary sketching group. I never expected them to have been harboring malicious intentions all along.”
“We welcomed them with good intentions, yet they stole an idol from the village and offended the deity.”
The village chief’s voice was hoarse, and he coughed after saying this.
Everyone immediately became furious and began loudly denouncing the outsiders.
“Exactly! Those outsiders deserve to die!”
Xie Fan: …
Fine, fine, fine.
Bored, he followed along with the villagers and voiced his agreement. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he could not resist complaining to the System in his head.
“No, seriously. When exactly did he ‘welcome’ the tour group properly?”
The people he had “welcomed” in the original story had practically been wiped out. It was basically a death joke.
The corner of Xie Fan’s mouth twitched. He had to admit that the village chief certainly knew how to phrase things.
The System chuckled softly upon hearing him.
“It certainly was quite deadly.”
Right? Exactly!
Xie Fan nodded, feeling as though he had finally found someone he could actually talk to.
“But did he really call all of us here just to make threats?” Looking at the indignant crowd around him, Xie Fan felt that something was not quite right.
The next second, he got his answer.
More than a hundred candle flames burned across the threshing ground, illuminating the entire place brightly.
The village chief swept his gaze around the crowd, then took out a knife and motioned for A-Qi to hold up a cup of water.
Under Xie Fan’s gaze, the village chief suddenly cut his own finger and squeezed out a drop of blood.
The bright-red blood fell into the cup of water, almost like part of some kind of ritual.
Immediately afterward, the cup was passed through the crowd.
From A-Qi, to Zhang Hai standing near the front, to Xiao Yao…
One villager after another naturally cut open their fingers, as though none of them found anything strange about it.