To outsiders, everything here appears calm and peaceful, but only those of us involved truly understand that beneath the surface, a storm is brewing. We don't know what kind of conspiracy Elder Tak is plotting in the shadows, but we all hope that things don't get out of hand and drag the entire village into this mess, making them victims of this evil magic.

The village is quite secluded deep inside, with few tourists visiting. The watchtowers are old and probably over a hundred years old.

"What brings you here?" an elderly Qiang man asked as he emerged from the watchtower.

"We wish to pay a visit to Elder Tucker. We wonder if he is in the presence of him?"

"Yes, you can go in and find him if you need anything."

Once we reached the watchtower, we easily found Elder Tak's house, since we had been there before. To our surprise, Elder Tak seemed to know we were coming; the door was open, and he was inside carrying out a custom of daily life for the Qiang people.

130 household chores

We went inside, but didn't disturb him. Instead, we stood aside and watched quietly to see what tricks he was going to pull.

I had already told Wang Ling beforehand that once she got here, she shouldn't say anything out of line and should just follow us.

Elder Tak was engrossed in his work, seemingly unaware of our arrival. After a while, he finished, turned around, saw us, and immediately exclaimed in surprise, "So it's you mages! Please forgive us for not greeting you properly!"

"Elder Tucker, how have you been lately? Didn't expect us to arrive so quickly, did you?" Xiang Fei said casually.

"Well, when you get old, it's not a matter of good or bad. Just take it one day at a time," Elder Tucker replied calmly. "What? I didn't expect you to come so soon?" He then looked at us with a puzzled expression.

We sneered inwardly, "What a cunning old fox."

However, he didn't show it. "Elder Tak, do you still remember the last time you went to the Qiang chieftain's village?"

"I remember, of course I remember. I took you there and we even had a good chat with the clan chief. Is there something wrong with that?"

With a series of cold laughs, I also feigned a puzzled expression, "Hehe, I was just asking casually. Elder Taji, you left too quickly, and we couldn't find you when we came back."

"I thought you were going to be gone for several days. You know the clan chief is dead and there are many things to take care of, so you came back first. What, did you go to the main village again?"

At this moment, Xiang Fei sneered, "Let's not beat around the bush. Elder Tucker, you don't need to pretend with us anymore, do you?"

"What are you pretending for?"

"Hmph, don't think we can't do anything to you just because you don't admit it," Xiang Fei's eyes turned cold as he grabbed Elder Tucker's collar. "I hope we don't run into you again. You definitely won't be as lucky as last time."

"What are you trying to do? Are you trying to threaten me? Don't forget this is a Qiang village. If you want to do evil, you won't be able to escape. Also, I don't know what you're talking about. You are not welcome here. Please leave immediately."

I patted Xiang Fei on the shoulder. "Let's go. They don't welcome us. What are we doing here? We'll meet again sooner or later."

"I hope you'll take care of yourself!"

Elder Tucker gave a somewhat strange smile. "Please take care, I won't see you off."

As I stepped out of the watchtower, I suddenly felt a cold gaze on my back. I instinctively turned around and saw Zha Dan standing at the entrance of the watchtower, looking at me. The inside of the door was pitch black, which made him look particularly gloomy.

I thought he would leave, but to my surprise, he came down and appeared perfectly normal, just like a normal person, and walked towards us.

When he got to us, he suddenly smiled憨厚ly, revealing his snow-white teeth, "Master Liu, I was just thinking of asking you to have a drink. I was not convinced that I lost to you last time."

"Is that so?"

“Yes, you’re someone who can outdrink me. Are you free now? If you are, let’s have another match,” Zadan said, still as honest and simple as the last time he was seen.

I smiled calmly and said, "I'm busy now, but there will be opportunities in the future. I just don't know if you'll still be able to drink then."

"Hehe, why can't I drink? Even if I'm seventy or eighty, I can still drink. Master Liu, then we have a deal. Next time we have the chance, we must drink to our hearts' content."

I nodded. "See you next time."

After descending halfway down the mountain, I ran into Tagilma and the others returning. Feeling a bit awkward, I decided to keep my head down and walk past them.

"Liu Zhihua, are you leaving so soon?" Tagilma suddenly called out to me.

He nodded awkwardly, "Yes, I have something to do and need to go back."

"Oh, I see. Will you come here again next time?" she said, looking at me with her big, watery eyes.

This is getting to me. If this continues, not to mention others, even I feel... well, it's obvious to everyone that she's interested in me. It's a bit subtle, but I always feel that it's not that simple.

"I don't know either, we'll see later. We're leaving now, goodbye." I couldn't wait to leave, but Wang Ling glared at me again.

"Wait, Liu Zhihua."

"Is there anything else?"

Can we be friends?

"We'll talk about it later, we'll talk about it later. I have to go back now, goodbye!" After saying that, I grabbed Wang Ling and walked away immediately. The old blind man and Xiang Fei laughed loudly behind us, "Teacher Liu, you're quite the ladies' man."

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