Yang Zhai is walking through the bazaar. For the past few days, he only wandered around. While he was walking he heard a voice,
"Hey, you!"
At first, he thought that it wasn't for him, but after a few more times of calling, he stopped and looked behind. His eyes narrowed when he saw the ones calling for him.
They were the same three people who he met almost a week ago.
"What do you want?"
"Well, what a coincidence, we were wandering around the village and saw you. In fact, we saw you many times in the previous few days, it seems like you fancy walking." Ha Eun says with a slight smile.
Yang Zhai is silent for a moment and looks at the three. He slightly seems to understand their intentions.
"Is this what you wanted to talk about?"
"Yes, no, I mean no. We wanted to know if you wanted to join our group. Min Jae told me that you are very strong. For some reason, Min Jae is quite strong even though he is not a body cultivator; if he complimented you, you must be strong." Ha Eun hurriedly shook her head.
"What are you talking about, Ha Eun?!"
"Are you serious?!!"
Ji Woo and Min Jae were shocked by what Ha Eun said. They didn't even know him; why must she recruit this stranger into their group suddenly?
Yang Zhai stared at He Eun indifferently.
Ha Eun ignored the other two and looked at Yang Zhai intently.
Pity, it's too cruel, making one do what they don't even want to: Yang Zhai considers.
He somehow already had a complete sketch of what kind of personality Ha Eun and Min Jae had.
"Why must I join you and how will it benefit me?" Yang Zhai didn't reject her.
"Uh, about that… you will have…"
Ha Eun is unable to think of a reason.
"So, pity is all you have in mind for me."
This shocked Ha Eun.
How did he know? She thought.
Yang Zhai turned around and walked away.
She stared at Yang Zhai's disappearing silhouette again.
The other two looked at Ha Eun.
"Eun, what happened to you? You don't recruit just anyone because you feel pity for them. Why suddenly pity him?"
Ji Woo inquired in a low voice.
"Hmm, no, nothing, let's go"
Ha Eun was awakened from her daze by Ji Woo's voice.
After a week, on a certain morning, a gloomy and cloudy atmosphere pervaded the air. A strange scent was beginning to permeate the village's surroundings. This alerted the sect elders as well as its disciples.
The sightings of the phantom also increased. A fog was slowly beginning to accumulate around the village.
The village had shut its perimeters and the guards had been increased around the village.
The village streets were becoming empty day by day. In the mornings and nights, this village seemed to be a ghost village.
People avoided leaving the village these days. The sect also stopped all of its activities in the surroundings of the village.
The fences around the village were fortified and the cultivators even erected thick walls around the village.
Inside the hall, many people are present, sitting on the chairs. Their expression, complex.
"What is the current situation?" A person sitting at the leader's chair asked.
"It seems dire, we need to be prepared. It's like we have been cursed or something."
"Not just this, a fear has spread in the whole village. The people avoid leaving their houses these days, including a few disciples."
"Mortal hunters are even scared of going outside of the village to hunt. At this rate, we won't be able to last long without much sustenance."
"Can't we just force them?"
"No, we can't, if we do, we will only incur losses instead of gains. In the state they are in, they won't be able to hunt with efficiency."
"What do you suggest then?" Wang Lei asked the elder who was responsible for the reconnaissance.
"For now, I have formed a group of cultivators to hunt. I also increased the rate of hunting, so we are accumulating a lot of food, but I don't know if it will last us."
"That's not good then, huh."
"Anyway, how did all of this start?" Wang Lei asked
"We are not sure yet."
"So, you are not sure. By the way, did you find something about this phantom?"
"No, we looked around and none of our cultivators saw this phantom we have been hearing about these days. In the previous few days, I heard that sightings of it also increased. But we still couldn't spot it."
"Whatever, be prepared. Appoint at least one elder on each village's gate." Wang Lei left after saying this.
…..
Meanwhile,
"Sigh, why now of all times? Why did it have to be now?" Jun Yi said annoyingly.
They had tried to make the sect dispatch more elders into the surroundings of the Luo village, but something unexpected happened.
"Even after we made sure to increase the sightings of the phantom, we failed. Everything went the opposite of what we wanted." Min Jae shook his head disappointedly.
About more than a month ago, the sect received a message from Tai Qi. It was sent through the Dark Falcon.
It stated that a boy, with a certain appearance, named Yang Zhai, obtained a very powerful inheritance. Not just that, he also managed to reach rank 4 in just a year, and that too without the clan's help. On top of that, his talent was meager and not that great.
He was accompanied by a boy named Jun Haru. It also stated that,
'They could keep the inheritance; what the Bai Clan wanted was those two boys.'
This, even though it piqued the Luo Sect's interest, the higher-ups didn't want to waste their time on the complete unknown. They were not even sure if Yang Zhai was traveling in their direction.
But, there was one who was extremely stirred by this, Jun Yi. He also got his three close friends involved in this. Those three, even though not as much interested as Jun Yi, still chose to help him.
They hoped that Yang Zhai would pass through their sect.
What they didn't expect was that Yang Zhai really did come to their sect, not just pass through it. They had even met him.
"What should we do?" Jun Yi was anxious.
"Jun, forget about it already. We did our best, but our luck was really bad. We need to focus on the danger ahead. We can always get better opportunities." Ha Eun comforted Jun Yi.
The same day, in the evening,
Even though it's evening, it seems to still be morning. The village's streets are empty. A cold air is blowing through. The leaves accompany the air before coming to a stop and then moving again.
No children are playing, no adults are doing their work. The stalls are empty. The clouds cover the whole sky. Only the sound of the wind can be heard.
In a shop,
It's open even though the streets are empty.
This was the same Ka shop from where Yang Zhai exchanged Kas for essence stones.
"The sky is pretty gloomy today. Dark clouds are everywhere. And this scent, it's already pervaded the whole village. Just what's happening?"
/!*****!*****!/