Chapter 102
Chapter 102: Dogshit Village?
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“Xiao Bai…”
Watching Xiao Bai’s series of actions, Lin Muyu’s heart suddenly sank, and an ominous premonition rose abruptly.
She opened her mouth, about to ask more questions, but before the words could leave her lips, Xiao Bai interrupted her.
“Don’t ask.”
Xiao Bai’s voice carried an unquestionable firmness.
“I will come back.”
As her words fell, Xiao Bai looked deeply at Lin Muyu.
The next second, she slowly loosened her arms that were wrapped around Lin Muyu’s waist, completely withdrawing from that warm embrace.
“Mm! I believe you! You must come back!”
Lin Muyu hurriedly nodded, her voice carrying a trace of trust.
But before her words had finished, the space beside Xiao Bai suddenly began to shimmer with fine ripples. Light blue patterns spread layer by layer like water waves, carrying an aura that was both mysterious and dangerous.
Xiao Bai took one last deep look at Lin Muyu, then turned and stepped into the ripples. Her figure was instantly swallowed by the light and completely disappeared.
Lin Muyu stood there dumbfounded, staring at the gradually calming space, feeling unsettled in her heart.
Though she didn’t know exactly how strong Xiao Bai’s abilities were, after spending these days together, she could vaguely sense that Xiao Bai was definitely no ordinary being.
Perhaps even Su Wanqing was far inferior to Xiao Bai.
But what about herself?
She was nothing more than a small cultivator who had just entered the Qi Refining stage two months ago, with shallow cultivation and only basic spells learned.
If something really happened, she wouldn’t even have the ability to lend Xiao Bai a helping hand.
At this moment, her only wish was for Xiao Bai to return safely.
After all, if Xiao Bai didn’t come back, she would never again be able to touch those six fluffy and soft big tails.
Wait… Lin Muyu suddenly slapped her forehead, full of regret.
If she had known Xiao Bai was leaving, she should have taken advantage of when Xiao Bai was still in human form to touch her tail more, to properly see what the difference was between the human form and the beast form.
Now it was too late, the person was gone, and she couldn’t touch them even if she wanted to.
…
At the edge of a forest not far from Qinglan Sect, there sat a small village.
Lin Muyu stood at the village entrance, holding the mission jade token issued by the sect in one hand, looking at the wooden plaque hanging at the village entrance. Her brows furrowed slightly, her tone full of uncertainty.
“This should be the place, right?”
The mission location carved in spirit patterns on the jade token was “Dogtail Village,” but on the plaque at the village entrance, written in red paint, was “Dogshit Village.”
She could understand “Dogtail Village,” but what the hell was “Dogshit Village”?
The two names differed by only one character, but their meanings were worlds apart.
“Why are the names different? Did they change it?”
Lin Muyu looked down at the coordinates marked on the jade token again, confirming multiple times.
“But the coordinates on the jade token clearly point to this place. I couldn’t have found the wrong location, right?”
With a heart full of doubt, Lin Muyu lifted her foot and walked into the village.
This village was much larger than she had imagined. Houses were distributed in an orderly fashion, and the streets were much wider and neater than the “Haunted Village” she had visited before. The scale was almost comparable to a small town at the foot of the mountain.
But strangely, the village was exceptionally quiet.
Aside from occasionally seeing one or two villagers hurrying past with their heads down, there were hardly any other people to be seen, and none of the usual sounds of roosters crowing, dogs barking, or children playing that a normal village should have.
Moreover, those passing villagers, when they first saw the Qinglan Sect Daoist robe she was wearing, would initially show some surprise, but this surprise was fleeting, replaced by an almost numb calmness, as if she were just an insignificant passerby.
In any case, the deeper Lin Muyu went into the village, the more she felt there was an indescribable strangeness about this place.
“Excuse me…”
Lin Muyu finally stopped an old woman carrying a vegetable basket, wanting to ask about the situation in the village.
But who would have thought that as soon as she spoke those two words, the old woman suddenly recoiled as if she had seen a ghost, almost dropping her vegetable basket.
Before Lin Muyu could say anything else, the old woman turned and ran toward a nearby alley, her steps panicked, not even looking back once.
“?”
Lin Muyu stood there dumbfounded, watching the old woman’s panicked retreating figure, a big question mark immediately appearing above her head.
She looked down at her own clothes, then touched her face, completely puzzled:
“Wait, do I look that scary? Why would she be afraid of me?”
Not willing to give up, Lin Muyu tried to talk to several other villagers, but the results were all the same.
Whether it was farmers carrying hoes or women sitting at their doorsteps mending clothes, as soon as she opened her mouth, they would immediately show expressions of terror and run away, as if she were some kind of man-eating monster.
“Strange, too strange.”
Lin Muyu helplessly scratched the back of her head, the confusion in her heart growing heavier.
She thought about it and decided to change her approach:
“Let me find the village chief first. Generally speaking, those who apply for missions from Qinglan Sect are the village chiefs. If I find him, I should be able to find out what exactly happened here.”
Just then, Xiaotao’s voice suddenly rang in her ear, carrying a hint of alertness:
“Master, someone over there is watching you.”
Lin Muyu immediately looked in the direction Xiaotao indicated, and saw under an old locust tree not far away, a little girl wearing coarse cloth clothes was hiding behind the tree, her big eyes staring blankly at her, her gaze full of curiosity but also carrying some timidity.
But as soon as the little girl’s eyes met Lin Muyu’s, she immediately turned pale as if scalded, looking terrified as she turned and ran. Her small figure quickly disappeared at the end of the alley.
“No way…”
Lin Muyu looked at the empty alley, a sense of defeat welling up in her heart. She couldn’t help but mutter quietly:
“Do I really look that terrifying? Why is everyone so afraid of me?”
“No, Master is very beautiful.”
Xiaotao’s voice carried some comfort.
“The reason they’re acting this way must be something else, probably related to the strange happenings in the village.”
Lin Muyu sighed and suppressed the disappointment in her heart:
“Alright then, let’s not think about these things for now. Let me quickly find the village chief to clarify the situation.”
She followed the main road through the village and soon arrived at the village center.
Here sat a building that was much larger than the surrounding houses, with a roof covered in neat blue tiles and two red lanterns hanging at the entrance, looking quite impressive.
“This should be the village chief’s house, right?”
Lin Muyu stood at the entrance, examining this house and said quietly with a frown.
“But looking at the scale of this house, this village seems quite wealthy.”
She remembered the villages she had stayed in before, the villagers all lived in similar houses, and no one could live in such an impressive place, let alone have this kind of “special treatment.”
Steadying herself, Lin Muyu raised her hand and knocked on the door. The wooden door made light “dong dong” sounds.
After a moment, an aged but strong voice came from inside the door:
“Who is it?”
“Excuse me, is this the village chief’s house?”
Lin Muyu didn’t directly reveal her identity, but first confirmed the address.
She was now full of wariness toward everything about this village.
“I am the village chief. Are you from Qinglan Sect?”