Tall, pine trees with silvery bark grew all over the green grassy hills.
This silver pine forest is vast, seasonal, and stretches along the entire southern coast, either flat or hilly and full of life.
In the evening, the mist spreads from the ground and mixes with the evening sun, like a dreamy forest.
A caravan of packhorses pulling plank wagons slowly arrived from the distance.
The cart carried a cargo of mostly ingredients and spices, several sacks full of potatoes, baskets of tomatoes and carrots, salt and spices, and people sitting in empty seats...
The vendor laughed with the tourists behind him, "The forest is very dangerous, don't just run around haha, every year people lose their lives to wolves, during the day there are wild bears, at night there are hyenas roaming around, especially where there is no sign of people, when you see the signboards you have to stay away from it haha, come out to play and don't take your little life into it."
A dozen tourists sat in the empty seats of a couple of crates, all close to the sacks around them, their eyes gazing around with newfound wonder.
Far from the industrial development and pollution of the big cities, the Silver Pine Forest seems to retain its original lushness and the air is very fresh.
Fina leaned in close to Eleazar's ear and whispered, "Deer head spirit?"
Eleazar, who was struggling to untangle the dead knots in her hair, looked up and sensed her surroundings.
"No, the plants here don't have a black-magic-induced scent."
Fina pouted and smacked his hand away, "Stop fiddling and take a good look around."
She didn't seem to have much faith in the results of her divination.
Eleazar could only sit upright, his keen eyes slowly sweeping the surrounding area, trying to pick out any signs of transcendent power.
The lurching plank wagon had driven into the forest avenue, the branches overhead were thick, the light dim, and a hazy, indistinct mist hung around. In the transcendental vision, the whole world appeared as a grayish haze, the distant sounds of insects and birds amplified, the rustle of the wind through the leaves, the movement of rabbits burrowing through the undergrowth, the fluttering sound of worms crawling through the piles of dead leaves, the barking of dogs, the howling of wolves, the hissing of wild beasts at the end of the perceptions, all the sounds united so that the whole forest seemed to be in a low murmur, and after the absence of color in the people around them they seemed like a group of prisoners sitting in a car.
After a few moments of uninterested watching, Eleazar ended his sensory state and continued to play with Aomame's hair.
Fina gave him a blank look.
"It's okay Nana, just think of it as hanging out, no need to be so nervous."
"We haven't even reached the village yet, I don't want to admit defeat that quickly!"
She twisted around, leaving the back of her head behind, the back of her snow-white neck hidden in a waterfall of silky hair, her thin back bumping against him with a click, as if to say 'come play with me'.
Eleazar couldn't help but reach into her hair and gently tweak the shallow mole on the back of her neck.
That petite body instantly stopped moving, as if it had hit a switch of some kind, and snuggled silently in his arms.
...
It wasn't long before the caravan finally arrived at Silver Pine Village.
It was a village built on a shallow pond, with dense wooden stakes supporting countless clusters of buildings connected to each other by wooden bridges, piecing together a whole, surrounded by lotus flowers, the water covered by dense lotus leaves, and the villagers were very hospitable.
The boardwalk was parked on the shore, the only entrance and exit to that village, a long wooden trestle.
Enthusiastic villagers came out, greeted the boss familiarly, carried the goods and counted the money to settle the bill.
And after realizing that there were more than a dozen other tourists visiting the village, they were overwhelmed with surprise and hurriedly called for another group of people to greet everyone.
Sprinkle flowers to welcome, laughter embraced, give them with wreaths, tied hand rope, dancing around the circle, the joyful atmosphere from all directions, everyone has been infected, a tourist with a camera, very happy squatting around to take pictures.
Eleazar twisted the purple petals that had been sprinkled on his body and sniffed them carefully, his gaze turning icy cold.
Politely declining the hand ropes that were like marking his prey, he crouched down and, while pretending to tie his shoe laces, reached back to touch the still-drying blood on the trestle.
"It's blood left over from the morning..."
The enthusiastic villagers around us marveled and said, "Wow, you're very observant, this is dripped from a wild boar we hunted back in the morning, and there's smoked pork chops being served for dinner today oh, it's very tasty!"
Eleazar drops his eyes in disbelief and turns his head again to look at the vendor carrying the goods.
"Uncle, it's getting dark, do you still have to rush back all night?"
The vendor laughed, "Yes, I live in the neighboring village, not much farther, and my wife and children are at home waiting for me to go back, so I won't be bustling with you."
Fina looked at the green braided rope around her wrist, stepped forward, and asked in a low voice, "Notice anything unusual?"
"Uh..."
Eleazar hangs his head slightly, "The damned..."
Fina looked around cryptically, "Where?"
In that colorless, transcendent sight, the villagers all emerged in a faint black mist.
Eleazar retracts his gaze and whispers back, "Not sure yet, they both show signs of contact anyway..."
"Or, all of them!"
Fina was instantly cautious as well, quickly untying her handcord and secretly dropping it.
She finally sensed something was wrong as well.
These villagers, they were too enthusiastic, overly enthusiastic... Dancing and singing in a crowd around them, like a ritual held before a sacrifice.
A group of evil spirits in human skin surrounded her, a scene that was clearly horrifying in every way, but a hint of joy welled up in her heart.
Moving to his ear, he whispered, "Look, isn't my divination great!"
Eleazar obediently turned his head and kissed her face.
"Mmmmmm, you're the best!"
"By the way, when I do what I do you follow and don't just eat anything here."
"Oh~"
Before they had seen the real cursed person, they chose to wait and see what would happen, looking faintly at the group of incredibly excited villagers, waiting for the moment to reveal their true colors.
Being swarmed towards the circular, two-story loft in the middle of the village, said to be a place to entertain outside visitors.
The first floor was set up like a theater, a built up stage with a few long tables set up underneath, seemingly for them to watch the show, and the second floor was the normal hotel style, with more than a dozen guest rooms spread out in the carpeted corridors, and a view of the village set outside from the open air balcony.
The environment is very good, clean and tidy, at the very least much more standardized than those rooms in Blackwood Village, and most of all free.
After they had familiarized themselves with their new surroundings for a bit, someone came up and informed them individually.
"Have you all put your bags away? Dinner's ready, we've prepared a rich feast for you!"