The road to the village was indeed difficult to travel, and with the rain the day before yesterday, the entire mountain road was slippery, and one could easily slip and fall.

After more than ten minutes, the group finally reached the village entrance. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that the village was not as desolate as they had imagined. There were obvious signs of habitation, though it was indeed old. The inscription "Nanbin Village" on the stone at the village entrance was now only a faint trace of the character "Nan," with the other two characters blurred by long-term wind and rain.

Uncle Zhang looked around, then walked towards the nearest old house at the village entrance. Just as he was about to knock on the door to inquire about the situation, the half-closed wooden door opened first.

The person who opened the door was an old man in his fifties, wearing a large straw hat. When he saw the stranger, his gaunt face suddenly became 'distorted', especially his disproportionately large, round eyes, which were somewhat creepy at first glance.

"Fellow villager," Uncle Zhang quickly placed his hand in front of the door, "we're from out of town, we wanted to ask you about something..."

The old man didn't respond. He tried to close the door immediately, but Uncle Zhang held it firmly in his hand, and he couldn't close it.

One wanted to ask questions, while the other just wanted to close the door; for a moment, they were locked in a standoff, neither willing to give in.

"Fellow villager, we're just asking about something, we're not bad people..." As he spoke, Uncle Zhang pulled out a few bills and gave way first.

The old man glanced at the banknotes in his hand, then at the group of strong young men behind him. He loosened his grip slightly, and his voice became unexpectedly sharp, giving people an uncomfortable feeling, "...Come in."

Uncle Zhang then gestured with his chin toward the others.

Xu Qian was the only one with a headache; he seemed to have underestimated this trip, as this was the first time he had encountered something like this...

[Name: Unknown]

[Guild: Unknown]

[Faction: Unknown]

[Affection: Deepest hatred (-100)]

Xu Qian almost vomited blood. Not only was everything unknown, but how could it be negative 100 the moment they met?! Was this a prelude to a fatal attack?!

However, the old man didn't exude any murderous aura, proving that he had never killed anyone. But why was his mind filled with thoughts of killing?! Xu Qian found this truly strange!

"Be careful." Xu Qian whispered to Meng Ziqiu beside him. Seeing Meng Ziqiu blinking and looking silly, Xu Qian regretted it even more. He shouldn't have let Meng Ziqiu come along. Wouldn't it have been better for him to be a fitness instructor in Weicheng?

But since he's already here, we can't send him back now. Let's see how things go for now.

As the people inside were talking, a little girl of about seven or eight years old ran in from outside. She had two loose braids and was calling out "Daddy," which was clearly the old man she was calling for.

The old man lifted the little girl onto his lap. The father and daughter seemed to have a good relationship. When the little girl came in and saw so many people, she wasn't shy at all. Instead, she looked at them with a smile. When her gaze fell on Xu Qian's sheep vest, she paused for a moment, and then laughed, "Brother, you're so handsome."

The old man followed the girl's gaze and smiled, "You can't be naughty."

“…Hehehe.” Xu Qian chuckled dryly twice, without replying.

The girl was much prettier than her father, with round eyes and a round face, fair and clean, and very cute, making it easy for people to lower their guard.

"Daddy, who are they?" the little girl asked, shaking the old man's arm.

The old man's voice was shrill, but his tone was full of affection, "You came from outside, and you're back so soon today?"

"From outside? Like those uncles?" the little girl asked innocently.

The old man looked at the strangers who suddenly seemed interested and nodded. "I guess so."

“Oh,” the little girl broke free and jumped down, “I’m going to go play with Tammy.” As she spoke, the little girl glanced at Xu Qian again, her eyes showing a hint of shyness.

Xu Qian: "..."

As soon as the little girl left, the old man spoke again, "A few days ago, several young people came to the village, just like you, looking for someone. They were dressed all in black, hey, they were quite scary."

"Where are they now?" Uncle Zhang gripped the mineral water bottle in his hand tightly.

"Hmm... this..." The old man lowered his head as if recalling something. "Anda went to the back mountain with them. They will definitely be back tomorrow. Tomorrow is the village's sacrificial ceremony, and Anda will be back. The person you are looking for should also come back with him. If you are not in a hurry, you can wait a little longer."

"The back mountain? Didn't they say what we were going to do there?" Uncle Zhang asked, frowning.

"You'll have to ask them about that." The old man gave a strange, chilling laugh.

...

After dusk, when it was completely dark, the old man took 20,000 yuan from them and took them to the village's "guesthouse." The so-called "guesthouse" was actually just a few empty rooms that no one lived in. However, inside, Uncle Zhang and the others found the climbing rope straps left behind by Sangzi and his group. It was a piece of equipment that the association had just purchased and that was not yet available on the market. Therefore, Sangzi and his group must have been to this village.

The empty house had no lights, let alone electricity. In fact, the entire village had no electricity. Every household still used kerosene lamps, which was quite ancient.

Later that night, it started raining outside, and the wind was incredibly strong, making the already flimsy old house creak and groan. Not only that, the windows were also letting in drafts. When Sangzi and the others stayed there before, they had sealed part of the windows with the plastic packaging of the climbing ropes to prevent the wind from getting in so badly.

Braving the biting wind, the group ate a simple dinner and then gathered around the fire to discuss everything that had happened that day.

"I sneaked out to take a look before it rained. There weren't many people in the village, but apart from the two rooms we're staying in now, the others all showed signs of having been lived in and were very new. But upon closer inspection, there was no one inside."

"Maybe they're still working in the fields and haven't come back yet?" another person said.

"Impossible! Didn't you see how no one cared about those wastelands on our way here? This village is too strange!"

"Not only is the place strange, but the people here are strange too. I've never seen such an unfriendly village..."

Meng Ziqiu turned his head and saw Xu Qian lying on the bed in a daze, seemingly lost in thought. He got up and went over to him.

What are you thinking about?

"...Do you think they'll be back tomorrow?" Xu Qian asked him.

"I hope I can come back." Meng Ziqiu only hoped, because the information they were receiving was all passive.

“…Hmm.” Xu Qian opened his friend list, and the names that were still lit up made him feel a little relieved.

Given that the village had so many strange things about it, they decided to take turns keeping watch at night, rotating shifts in pairs.

From three to five in the morning, it was Meng Ziqiu and Xu Qian's turn to keep watch. Seeing that the previous shift had already gone inside to sleep, Xu Qian quietly told Meng Ziqiu that he had to go out for a while.

"Then be careful." Meng Ziqiu patted his shoulder.

Xu Qian cautiously walked outside, and following the old custom, he removed his Ming Cult disguise, which allowed him to become invisible. He then went directly to the old man's house from that afternoon.

As soon as he reached the door, Xu Qian stopped abruptly. He heard noises inside, and sure enough, the old man opened the door and came out shortly after, followed by the little girl from that afternoon.

The old man peered outside to make sure no one was there before leading the little girl toward the village entrance.

Seeing this, Xu Qian carefully followed.