After leaving the inn, the Mystic Cavalry followed Xian He's lead as he brought them to the village hall.
They were not in a hurry, however, and decided to slowly take in their surroundings on the way.
It was a small village, as they had expected, and one that did not seem to be too affluent either.
Instead of donning attires that were made to keep out the coldness of early spring, the villagers merely layered on different sets of clothes to keep themselves warm.
Most of the villagers knew each other as well, and would engage in short conversations whenever they saw someone else.
But even if the villagers were in the midst of their conversation, they would all stop and bow to the Mystic Cavalry when they passed.
The respect and admiration were apparent, even from the kids who should not have known much better.
That was the reason why when an old lady failed to exhibit the same level of reverence, she immediately stuck out like a sore thumb.
"This is our fate! It is karma!" the old lady exclaimed out loud. "It is inevitable! We are all going to die!"
It was not to the extent of shouting, but it was definitely loud enough to be audible to everyone in the vicinity.
She looked to be in her sixties, and had slightly dishevelled hair.
Sitting on a bamboo chair on the side of the path, her unfocused eyes were directed straight at the sky, as though she was reprimanding the heavens.
"What's wrong with her?" Mo Mian asked.
Xian He looked over at the old lady, then shook his head helplessly.
"Don't mind her, great cultivator sir," one of the nearby villagers overheard their conversation and walked over. "That's Madam Xie. She has been like that for a while now."
"Is she all right?" Pu Feixiang said with a frown.
"Well, her body is healthy, but I can't say the same for her mind," the villager replied in an awkward manner. "Her story is rather unfortunate as well. Decades ago, she went into the woods with her son and daughter-in-law, but both of them ended up dying to wild beasts while only she managed to return safely. Something has always been strange with her head ever since, but it didn't used to be this bad. It would appear that recent news of the demon taking young men and women from the village had triggered her somehow, causing her condition to deteriorate."
"It deteriorated after hearing about the demon?" Pu Feixiang raised an eyebrow.
"That's right," the villager sighed. "The demon probably reminded her of the brutality that her child had gone through back then. I guess any parent who has to go through the ordeal of watching their child die in front of their eyes will probably be broken to some extent. I just hope that she will feel better after the demon has been taken care of."
"Don't worry, we will do our best in that regard," Mo Mian said while clenching his fists tightly in resolve. "We will make sure to eliminate the demon, so you and Madam Xie can both rest assured."
"We have absolute confidence now that you are here, great cultivator sirs!" the villager answered with a bright smile.
Such an optimistic response was not unique to just this villager either.
Apart from the old lady, the other villagers were also all smiles when the Mystic Cavalry passed.
Overall, there was a joyous atmosphere in East Stream Village now that they knew cultivators were among them.
This was in stark contrast to their mood just the day before.
Back then, they had been extremely uneasy and unsure, not knowing if their pleas would ever be heard.
But now that cultivators had arrived at their village, they felt like the long wait had been well worth it.
Their wishes had finally been answered.
In their hearts, they had no doubt that the omnipotent cultivators would solve their problems once and for all!
The Mystic Cavalry soon arrived at the village hall.
Though it was called that, it was essentially just the residence of the village head, Fu Du.
Even then, as the village head, his residential compound was much bigger than that of others.
Not only that, but there were also numerous small houses built within his residential compound, each meant for a different purpose.
Xian He brought the Mystic Cavalry to the largest of the houses – one that was meant for holding important meetings.
When they arrived, they saw that Fu Du was seated at a long table within. As for the table itself, it was completely filled with plates of different food dishes.
"You are here, great cultivator sirs!" Fu Du greeted while struggling to stand up from his seat.
"Dispense with the formalities," Mo Mian waved for him to remain seated. "It seems like we have kept you waiting."
"No, no! Not at all! I was just early! Please, take a seat," Fu Du gestured to the chairs surrounding the table. "I hope Xian He didn't do anything inappropriate?"
"Not at all," Mo Mian shook his head while sitting down, followed by the rest of the Mystic Cavalry. "But you are right in that he is a little quiet."
"Isn't he? I have been trying to make him talk more as well, but to no avail," Fu Du let out a bitter smile. "In any case, you have travelled far to come here from Purple Plum Mountain. It is probably not much in your eyes, but these are all the signature dishes of our East Stream Village. Feel free to have a taste if you don't mind the simple fare."
"Thank you for the hospitality," Mo Mian said before turning to the rest of the Mystic Cavalry. "You heard him. Feel free to have a taste if you are hungry."
The members of the Mystic Cavalry nodded, but nobody actually moved their chopsticks.
Or rather, nobody except for Zhao Yunxiao, who started digging in without a moment of hesitation.
It almost appeared as though he had long been waiting for the cue to start eating, but that was definitely not because he was looking forward to savouring some delicacy.
After all, how could such simple fare ever compare to the spirit meat and herbs that he had enjoyed back in the sect?
However, information was key to the successful completion of each mission. And sometimes, valuable information could also be gleaned from something as simple as food.
Zhao Yunxiao did not eat much, only taking a small bite out of each dish. But that alone was enough for him to obtain the information that he wanted.
The type of cuisine.
The freshness of the ingredients.
The type of seasoning.
The variety of food.
All of these were indicators that could be used to better understand the current status of the village, the types of visitors they commonly received, as well as the types of activities that the village usually engaged in.
To be expected of a fishing village, fish was found to be the main source of protein in most dishes.
However, there was something strange about the fish.
It was not as though the fish had already gone bad, but it was definitely not as fresh as one would have expected from a fishing village.
"Apologies, we would have been able to serve you better quality food had our fishing activities not been disrupted by the demon problem," Fu Du said, probably feeling conscious of the fact that most of them were not eating.
"It is not an issue. We are just not hungry at the moment," Mo Mian replied. "Well then, why don't we start? Tell us everything that you know about this demon problem that has been plaguing your village."
"The demon?" Fu Du let out a sigh before starting. "Is it about a year ago when it first started? Initially, the incidents only happened around once a month, but they slowly got more and more frequent, and are now happening two to three times a month. Most of the time, the monkey demon appeared out of nowhere in broad daylight, snatching up the young men and women by the river and immediately disappearing back into the woods. There is really nothing we can do about it."
"Does it always happen by the river?" Pu Feixiang frowned in confusion. "If you know that there is such a danger, why do people still keep returning to that spot?"
"We don't have a choice, great cultivator sir," Fu Du said helplessly. "We are just a poor fishing village. We might be able to reduce the frequency of washing by the river, but if we are unable to fish as well, then there is simply no other way for us to survive. Even if we know that it is dangerous, there is no choice but to risk it if we don't want to starve to death."
"I see," Pu Feixiang nodded in understanding.
"But it is not as though we didn't try to do something about it either," Fu Du continued. "For example, we will organise a guard team whenever we have to go fishing. During one of previous the encounters, our guard team managed to fire an arrow at the demon when it appeared, but even that was not enough to stop it from grabbing someone and leaving."
"Did the arrow hit its target?" Chu Han asked.
"According to the guards, it did," Fu Du answered. "But the demon didn't even flinch, and simply carried on with the arrow stuck in its body. It is almost as though it doesn't feel pain!"
The members of the Mystic Cavalry frowned.
If that much was true, the physical endurance of the demon was not to be underestimated!
"Since doing it by force had proven to be impossible, we tried the soft approach instead. Unfortunately, any attempts to appease the demon with food offerings only ended up completely ignored," Fu Du added with yet another sigh. "We have even asked a visiting monk to help us draw up some protective talismans to put up along the river, but those did not work either."
Mo Mian and Chu Han exchanged a quick glance.
Zhao Yunxiao smiled faintly when he saw their subtle interaction, understanding that they were probably thinking the same thing as him.
These talismans drawn by the visiting monk were definitely worth checking out to better understand just what they were dealing with.
Mo Mian followed up by asking a few questions of his own, more towards the physical description of the demon and its general behaviour.
Fu Du did not have any definite answers for them, and was only able to provide some rough estimations from the villagers' accounts.
Apparently, the monkey demon looked no different from ordinary monkeys, apart from the fact that the hair on its arms was completely black as opposed to the red hair on the other parts of its body.
On top of that, it seemed to act with an almost inexplicable level of restraint, always choosing to capture just one person each time.
After all, from what they had understood so far, this demon was probably more than capable of taking down everyone at once.
This meant that it should have been possible for it to capture more than one person if it so wanted to!
"Please understand that we have truly reached the end of our rope here. At the rate that this is going, the entire village will end up starving. That is why we had no choice but to shamelessly seek help from the great Black Tortoise Sect," Fu Du got down to his knees and bowed in a weak manner. "This lowly one humbly beseeches great cultivator sirs to save East Stream Village! Please!"
"Rise, Village Head Fu," Mo Mian answered. "Don't worry, that is exactly what we are here for."
"That's right, Village Head Fu," Pu Feixiang added excitedly. "We will definitely rid your village of this darned demon. You just have to stay here and wait for our good news!"
At the same time, Zhao Yunxiao could not help but notice the glint of resolve that flashed across Mo Mian's eyes for a moment.
It would appear that after hearing the village head's account and seeing how he was still pleading with them despite his pitiful ailing body, Mo Mian was now more determined than ever to see this mission through to its success!
Zhao Yunxiao could not help but let out a bitter smile upon seeing this.
He did not exactly hate this side of Mo Mian that was filled with righteousness and a sense of justice.
But at the same time, he also did not think that it was ideal to allow himself to feel so strongly about a particular matter, especially considering Mo Mian's status as the leader and decision maker of the party.
Any emotional investment might just end up clouding one's perspective, preventing them from seeing the bigger picture when necessary.
After all, encountering a situation that was vastly different from one's original conclusion could just bring about a shock that might result in an extra moment of hesitation.
This extra moment of hesitation would be completely inconsequential under normal circumstances, but it could also end up becoming the difference between life and death should it occur at a crucial juncture!