Those people stood foolishly at the bottom of the river.
No matter how the river water rushed, they stood still and motionless, with a dazed and confused expression.
Suddenly, one of them seemed to look up; he saw me.
Then, all of them looked up at me, staring blankly. In the next second, their corners of the mouths curled up into smiles without any prior arrangement.
To be honest, that smile appeared indifferent, but in such an environment, how could it possibly be indifferent?
I felt goosebumps all over my body.
Taking a step back, everything in my line of sight vanished...
I cannot bear to look at this gorge any longer...
"Why..." I asked hoarsely.
Old Gong shook his head, indicating he didn't know.
He immediately told me that he knew only that this place was definitely not a village before. With such a strong vitality, it would be impossible for a normal village to be completed like this, so it must be some other area.
People living here could withstand so much vitality, there must be a reason.
When they reached their limit, the vitality inevitably surged out once, and as a result, everyone went into the river, from then on coexisting with the river water and its dragons.
The voice slightly paused, and Old Gong smiled and said, "Very good, it's just what many people wish for. Such a great place, the vitality is constantly washed by the river, even cats and dogs have to be transformed."
I couldn't say it out loud.
Are they truly longing for it?
It seems that everyone is smiling, but in fact, this is equivalent to never being able to be reincarnated for all eternity?
"I wish to know the precise reason why the villagers disappeared, where the villagers are, for him, there may still be an explanation." I breathed out lightly and said.
Old Gong fell silent for a moment, his eyes darting around, lost in thought.
In fact, there are still some problems here.
Doesn't the Mingjing True Man know more detailed information about this place?
Then why would he use the matter of the plague ghost to force me to choose this place?
Am I wrong about something?
It is not more dangerous here, but more unresolved?
Even if I find the whereabouts of the villagers through Old Gong, I still don't know the detailed reasons.
It seems that Old Gong has said that the villagers have endured too much vitality and dragon energy in this place, and they have been assimilated. But why can they bear it... This is also a problem.
If the problems cannot be clarified, it cannot be completely eradicated...
Suddenly, I caught a whiff of a strange fragrance.
The fragrance was extremely pungent and rich, like the tenderly cooked meat.
Even Old Gong couldn't stop twitching his nose, his eyes showing gluttony and longing in turn.
"Whose family is stewing meat, it's so fragrant."
He turned around, staring at a direction on the shore, with his head bending forward, indicating that I should proceed further.
The aroma was so intoxicating that I breathed more heavily and took a few steps forward.
After moving away from the shore, my mind cleared up a little. The village was abandoned; whose family would still be stewing meat here?
Could it be that someone else is living here? Or are they like me, foreign visitors?
I whispered, "Old Gong."
"Oh, master..." Old Gong seemed to have realized.
I told him my guess, but Old Gong licked his lips, implying that as long as it was human-stewed meat, it didn't matter if we were newcomers or foreign visitors. We could go over and take a bite if someone was actually living there. If it was just a foreigner, we should wait and see.
Pausing, Old Gong said something else, implying that the purpose of the foreigner coming here was even simpler. The place with dense vitality must have large graves or tombs.
My heart jumped suddenly, and I blurted out, "Does that mean this village is underneath a graveyard? The villagers are living on the graveyard?"
Old Gong was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head straightly. He muttered, "Master, you don't understand the vitality. The vitality is at the exit, not at the entrance. It is just that the vitality has passed through here, and the most concentrated place is in the niche. Where the niche is located, I still don't know."
"The explosion of vitality at the niche is what caused the villagers in this village to suffer."
"I understand."
Old Gong's eyes suddenly shone brighter, muttering, "If Laodeng wants to eradicate the trouble here, it would be very simple. As long as there are no people living in the village, no one will die. Or if he goes up and digs the niche above, ruins the place that collects wind and accumulates qi, there will be no more surging vitality."
"No... that's not right... There should be something that regularly guides the changes in vitality?"
What Old Gong said, the first part I understood, but the latter part, I didn't grasp it.
Due to various reasons, the village indeed has no real dangers. What appears to be problematic and unsolvable things, in Old Gong's eyes, have solutions.
Maybe I can return to the Sifaguan tomorrow and report back?
This place is indeed not suitable for a long stay. Sun Zhuo will definitely have someone from the Ghost Shrine or the Tianshou Taoist Temple take action!
At night, I actually can't stay in the village. It is absolutely unsafe.
In thought, I walked out another way.
Old Gong was muttering to himself, unable to come to any conclusions.
As I looked around, I found myself standing on a slope. A temple-like building appeared in front of me.
The fragrance is emanating from within.
The closer I got, the more unbearable the sensation became. My abdomen made noises as if I were starving...
I stepped up and pushed open the temple door.
The temple yard was not large, but relatively clean. The cracks in the brickstones were filled with grass roots, and the grass leaves were all cleaned up.
Moonlight shines down, some of it falling on the temple interior. A stove is placed on a pot on the table.
The charcoal is burning red. The thick white soup in the big iron pot is boiling, and the fist-sized meat pieces are rising with the bubbles. After that, they sink down again.
"Ah..." Old Gong's thoughts were interrupted.
He suddenly took big breaths, his eyes shining brightly. His mouth seemed to be salivating.
"What kind of meat is it? Greedy ghost..."
Old Gong swallows his saliva with force.
I couldn't help it either, my throat muscles were rolling.
"Is there anyone?"
I shouted.
There was no response from anyone...
Old Gong reminded me again that if it's someone living here, I should tell them to leave. If it's an outsider, I should eat some of their meat, and he would help point the direction for them and give them a chance to transform.
After speaking, Old Gong gazed at the pot with drool in his eyes, constantly winking at me and looking at the bowls, chopsticks, and spoons on the ground beside the pot.
The hunger in my stomach is becoming stronger and stronger.
I was about to reach for the spoon, but suddenly, a cold sweat broke out...
Can you just eat anything out in the wilderness?
If it were people from the Ghost Shrine or Tianshou Taoist Temple who had taken a step ahead first, they might use such tricks to lure us into a trap.
To be honest, this trick is quite amateurish, but if it really is the case, I might end up in a precarious situation...
The soup and meat in the pot must have something wrong with them; otherwise, they wouldn't have such a strong attraction!
I bite down hard on my tongue, the pain and the bloodstain make me wake up a lot.
Taking two steps back, I slowly retreat to the temple outside...
"Master, what are you doing? You didn't get any meat, and you didn't even drink the soup!"
Old Gong seems to be getting impatient, and he wants to jump down from my shoulder.
