"So, where is this wood village exactly?" Ram enquired
"You will be surprised," replied Prakhar with a smile.
Then all three of them started to walk straight ahead until they reached an old tree, which seemed as ancient as this world.
…..
Before Ram could ask anything, he saw Hanu go towards the ancient-looking banyan tree and say
"We are here from Village 'One'. We have been sent here by the village chief to meet your leader and discuss something."
There was a silence for some time, then Hanu brought something out of his spatial ring. It looked like a token, and he showed it towards the tree.
There was still no reaction. Ram had even thought he was being pranked, but after seeing the seriousness on Hanu and Prakhar's faces, he chose not to speak. Then he saw something really new.
7 people came out of the ancient tree. He observed closely and knew that they didn't exactly come out of the tree, but the tree distorted, and from within came all these people. He looked at them and then at the tree closely. He could see that the tree was real, as he had used his perception before, but now that all these people were coming out, he used the Supreme Truth eyes; otherwise, why would he use the Truth eyes on a simple tree?
Name: Ancient Tree
Status: Alive
It's a tree that has been here for a very, very long time, but in reality, this tree is not only here but also somewhere else; this tree is used as an entry gate for someplace hidden.
So in other words, it's more like a door to some house, Ram thought in his mind and looked towards the seven people who came out of the tree gate.
These people were a little tanned but physically on the thinner side. He observed that all these people, whether male or female, had very long hair tied above their heads like a bun with some threads. All these people were heavily armed with spears and daggers tied on their waists.
Then a female leader-like personality stepped ahead while the other six men shifted aside.
She had a tall build and a wheatish complexion like the men beside her, but she exuded the aura of a leader.
"It's a pleasure meeting you all here; what are you doing here exactly, and who is this person?" she said while pointing at Ram.
Hanu stepped forward and replied.
"Pleasure is ours to meet you directly at the entrance of the village."
then he continued and said
"We were hearing certain rumours and were advised by the village chief to go to your village and also the neighbouring village and provide help if asked."
The female leader nodded and said
"Hanu, you do know that we haven't requested any help; then what exactly is the meaning of this visit? Why should I really permit you entry? and you haven't answered, "Who is this person?" She repeated it while pointing at Ram with her eyes.
"Natasha, I know that your village hasn't requested the help, and you also know that we won't interfere with your village in any way without the request because of the rule. As for the entry to the village, you could at least show some face to the village chief and not let him be embarrassed."
"Hanu, you and I might have been friends for a long time, but you also know that there are some orders even I have to follow. Please go back, and I apologise to you and your men and especially the village chief for trying to help, but we are fine and we can handle our problems on our own." replied Natasha, then she nodded at the men beside her and turned and started to walk towards the tree.
"Stop." Ram said it out loud. He would have to modify his plans if he didn't get entry to the village, so he had to do something and enter.
"Hey, little man, do not interfere," a follower of Natasha said while staring at Ram.
Ram observed him with truth eyes and knew he was a nobody with the cultivation of a Level 2 beginner.
"My height is surely less than yours, but I can assure you that I can screw you in more ways than you can imagine. So don't call me little again or you might lose your legs."
Ram said this while looking at this 'nobody'.
"What did you say?" "Do you want to die?" The man pointed his spear at Ram, but before he could move, he was stopped by Natasha, who looked at Ram, then Hanu and Prakhar, and she saw that no one was intending to stop Ram. So here she was, sure that the person in charge here was not Hanu but this man in front of her.
"I never got my answer; who are you?"
"Me?" Ram pointed at himself and said, while smiling,
"I am a 'little man' who came from another world called Earth and am here on the trip to different planes to find my purpose, and Wood Village seems to be one of my stop points."
"Puff…" Prakhar started laughing like a lunatic while holding his stomach, while Hanu tried his best to keep a serious face, but it could be seen he had failed miserably as he turned his face towards the sky and avoided looking at Natasha and her men.
After sometime,
"So you are a clown sent by the village chief to help us by making our people laugh?" Natasha said, while pointing at Ram, Here, it could be seen that she had taken a little offence to what Ram had just said.
"You know clowns can be dangerous; there is one where I came from who is very good, but let's leave all the jokes aside. My name is Ram, and I am new to the village. Hanu and Prakhar were coming towards the wooden village, so I joined them, of course, after asking permission from the chief. I am a trader who specialises in products that are not law-locked, and most of my products have wood law embedded in them, so I wanted to see if your village would also be interested in the trade."
Ram said this while observing closely the expressions and reactions of the people of the wooden village, and he could see that they were definitely interested but, for some reason, were hesitating. He had learned from Hanu before that people in wooden villages mostly dealt with elemental wood prana as it was abundant in their place. A wood law product without a law-lock was like the last slice of pizza. So he used the oil on the already-burning fire.
He waived his hand and from his storage ring took out a life-like parrot made of common wood. This parrot looked very real, and the people of the wooden village could easily feel the prana of wood in the parrot; they could even feel that there was something stronger and purer than the wooden prana, and it was the wood law.