"Wu Yu, you're so useless. This is the fourth time you've gotten lost," Violet said sullenly from the side, looking at Wu Yu with disdain.
"There's absolutely no way we could get lost this time." Wu Yu quickly retorted after a moment's thought, "We haven't even had any forks in the road on this stretch of road recently, so how could I possibly lead you astray!"
"Maybe you've made a mistake from the start?" Violet still seemed untrustworthy.
Violet has been speaking with a biting tongue lately, which Wu Yu interprets as a psychological trauma caused by her brother's death, so Wu Yu can only choose to tolerate her.
Even when his professional skills were questioned, Wu Yu could only pretend to be very sad to gain sympathy: "Hey, hey, that hurts, I've been leading the way diligently the whole time."
"Alright, alright, you two stop arguing. We can just ask the villagers ahead if we've taken the wrong path. Besides, whether Wu Yu led us astray or not, having a place to stay is better than sleeping in the wilderness," Ella said, stepping in to smooth things over. She'd been playing the peacemaker role for almost a month now.
Ella took Violet's hand and, to prevent her from arguing with Wu Yu any further, led her towards the village.
“I know it’s not easy for you either, but she’s still a child.” Layton came over and patted Wu Yu on the shoulder to comfort him.
"Layton, do you think I would care about such a small thing? What I'm thinking about is, if I haven't gone the wrong way, what kind of place is this village?" Wu Yu said worriedly, his gaze fixed on the somewhat dilapidated village ahead.
“Don’t overthink it. Although this path is a shortcut, it’s not usually used by many people because of its treacherous terrain. We only chose this route because we were trying to make it to Violet’s school registration time. If these villagers relied on ripping off travelers to survive, they would have starved to death long ago,” Layton said with considerable experience, before following Violet and the others toward the village.
Because of the burden on his mind, his paranoia grew stronger. Wu Yu knew this was bad, but he could only silently warn himself not to be so suspicious. Then he cautiously looked around and moved closer to the village.
This village is really small; it's the kind of place where you can see the whole area from a high vantage point. Wu Yu roughly estimated that it probably doesn't exceed a hundred households.
As soon as Wu Yu and his group approached the village, they were spotted by several children playing at the village entrance.
Wu Yu tried to greet the group of children with a smile, but they ran away as if they had seen a monster, shouting, "Village chief, another adventurer has arrived!"
"Since someone has gone to call for help, let's not go in yet," Wu Yu instructed, then exchanged a glance with Layton, and stood on either side of the two girls to deal with any unexpected situations.
However, it turned out that Wu Yu was overthinking things. After waiting for a while, only an old man came out with two young men, while the group of children hid behind the adults to watch the excitement.
Wu Yu carefully observed the old man. His eyes were sunken, he was thin and bony, and his face was covered with wrinkles. He only had an aura of old age and decay. He could not sense any danger from him.
He was probably just an ordinary old man, Wu Yu concluded. As for the two unarmed young men beside him, they were probably there to prevent the old man from falling down.
"Hello, village chief, is this the Evil Dragon Mountain Range?" Wu Yu stepped forward to greet him and confirm his location.
"Sigh." To everyone's surprise, the village chief sighed deeply and said regretfully, "Again? This time it's a group of such young lives."
The answer was irrelevant. Could it be that the old man was hard of hearing? Wu Yu wondered to himself, then looked pleadingly at the two young men beside him.
The young man did not answer Wu Yu's question. Instead, the village chief continued, "That's right, adventurer. This is the Evil Dragon Mountain Range. Please follow me. Our village has empty houses for you to stay in. I will have the villagers provide you with enough food and water. I only hope that you will leave a reward that is in line with market value when you leave."
Seriously? I haven't said anything yet, how did you know what I wanted to ask for? Can this old man read minds?
Wu Yu said with a hint of awe, "Village chief, thank you for your hospitality, but could you please answer a question for me first? Why is your village not marked on the map?"
"Of course it's to evade taxes," the village chief said matter-of-factly, revealing a few of his remaining teeth, which gave Wu Yu the feeling of a mafia godfather.
"I understand. You people have been hiding in this remote mountain valley, refusing to report your location to the Empire in order to evade taxes. It's utterly despicable." Violet, who was well-versed in Imperial laws, immediately recognized the village chiefs' crimes and spoke them out bluntly.
Damn, your ability to stir up trouble is just as good as your brother's. But your brother has the power, so he can punish evil and promote good. You don't have the power, so you're just courting death.
Wu Yu glared at Violet fiercely, then said ingratiatingly to the village chief and the others, "Children don't know any better, don't take it to heart. We promise we won't mention your business to outsiders after we get out."
"It's alright. This young lady has a pure heart, and what she says is true. To the Oli Empire, we are criminals. If you, sir adventurer, want to report us, please do so. However, this is a piece of land abandoned by the empire. Even if you report the situation here, the empire will not send a lord to take over," the village chief said indifferently.
"Why?" Violet asked urgently, feeling challenged as a noblewoman.
"Of course it's because of the evil dragon in the mountains. The village in this location has been destroyed countless times. Compared to provoking a monster that humans can't defeat, the Empire definitely thinks it's much more worthwhile to give up a small piece of barren land," the village chief explained.
"No way, there really are dragons in these mountains?" Wu Yu exclaimed in disbelief.
"Otherwise, why would this place be called the Evil Dragon Mountain Range? Wait, aren't you here to slay dragons?" The village chief frowned, his forehead wrinkles shrinking into a ball, making him look a little scary.
"Hehe." Wu Yu chuckled awkwardly. How could they, these shrimp soldiers and crab generals, possibly be here to slay a dragon? Wu Yu estimated that the evil dragon could kill them with a single fart.
Wu Yu stroked his chin; there seemed to be some misunderstanding here.
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