"Hmm? Ah yes, let's go." Arther said and ran ahead of them.
Mei Mei nodded and followed him, and Ardor Huo clicked his tongue and followed after them. Huang Ran was quiet as always, and he calmly walked ahead with his hands in his pockets.
Yuki watched them leave and took a deep breath before following them.
It didn't take long for the team to arrive at the village, which was a small, simple village.
"Is this the village?" Ardor Huo scoffed.
"Ardor!" Mei Mei called out, glancing at him.
Ardor Huo shrugged and walked through the village with the rest of the group following behind. The village was called Sunset village, and it was named after the setting sun that can be seen every night. Yuki knew this Village well because it's not far away from Sunrise village. In fact, it's behind the mountain that blocks the sun being seen rising, and blocks the sun being seen setting in Sunrise village.
"Stop, we aren't here for fun. We'll stay the night here and leave in the morning." Huang Ran said. "Also, Mei Mei and Yuki, try to gather as much information about the Abyss while not alerting the villagers."
Yuki nodded, knowing how hard it was to get information about the Abyss, since no one in the village has the strength to even approach the Abyss, they usually remain ignorant of their existence.
"Alright, I'll try." Mei Mei nodded as well.
"We'll meet back here when the moon reaches 12 o'clock." Huang Ran said.
Yuki nodded her head and turned to Mei Mei who was also looking at her. The two nodded at each other, and started to walk up north.
"Let's start here." Mei Mei suggested, pointing towards a bar which had its lights on and was full of people, despite it being the late afternoon.
"Hmm." Yuki nodded and followed her inside, and Mei Mei happily walked inside with Yuki close behind her.
The bar reeked of alcohol and Yuki scrunched her nose up in disgust at the smell. The smell is so bad that she could taste the alcohol in the air. Looking around the bar, there were many people drinking and singing.
"What do we do now?" Yuki asked. She's never been on a mission before, nor has she tried to gather information in a place like this.
"Simple, we just overhear others' conversations. It would be easier asking, but we can't start a mass panic." Mei Mei winked at Yuki.
"I see." Yuki nodded her head and they sat at a table at the corner of the bar where they could easily listen to others' conversations. The two sat down for a while and heard no useful information, just rumors that are not important to the mission at all.
"Ugh, no good." Mei Mei groaned.
"Indeed." Yuki sighed.
"Ahh, let's just walk around the village at this point. How the hell are ordinary people supposed to know about the Abyss acting up." Mei Mei sighed again, but louder than last time.
"It's better than sitting here." Yuki nodded and stood up.
Mei Mei quickly got up as well and the two began walking outside of the bar. They walked in the streets of the village, passing by a few people along the way.
"Aghh!"
Yuki and Mei Mei turned their heads and saw a small boy lying on the floor with some items scattered around him. The boy didn't look older than 13, he was wearing tattered clothes and had cuts and bruises all over his body. His black hair was messy and dirty, and he looked like a street rat.
"Oh no!" A girl cried out and helped the boy up, trying to put the items in his bag.
"Are you okay?" The girl asked, looking at him with worry.
The boy looked at her with sad eyes and shook his head. The girl held his hand and helped him up.
"Huh, what was that?" Yuki said, tilting her head. Mei Mei who was next to her watching the show was stunned when she heard Yuki's words.
"What do you mean?" Mei Mei asked with confusion on her face.
"How can a bagger have gold coins when he looks like he was robbed? Also, there seems to be something he is hiding that is more valuable than gold coins." Yuki said and continued to watch the two, a smile tugging on her lips.
"Ohh..." Mei Mei's eyes widened and looked back at the two who were talking and laughing like normal kids.
"Do you want to follow him?" Yuki asked, turning to Mei Mei who looked back at her with an excited smile on her face.
"Of course! Let's go!" Mei Mei grabbed Yuki's hand and went after the boy who was walking into the woods outside the village.
"Do you think he's going somewhere? Or maybe someone is waiting for him." Yuki wondered.
"I don't know." Mei Mei shrugged.
"Maybe he's lost?" Mei Mei said, trying to give the boy the benefit of the doubt.
"He does look lost, but not in the sense of location." Yuki shook her head.
"Whatever that means," Mei Mei smiled at Yuki who was thinking deeply. "But what is he hiding though? You said it's more valuable than the gold coins he carries, which shouldn't be the case for people with no money."
Yuki shook her head. She didn't know what it was, but she saw something that looked like a black finger, and she felt that she's seen something like this before. She just didn't know where.
"Ahh, whatever. Let's just see what he's up to." Mei Mei sighed, seeing Yuki's puzzled face.
Yuki nodded and the two girls followed behind the boy who was now a bit far from the village, so much that they couldn't see any more buildings or people. The boy stopped when he reached a part of the forest where there were no trees or bushes around, just plain grassland. But the grass was dead, turning onto a grayish color. The air smells like sulfur, which is something that usually can't be smelled from a distance, meaning that the amount of sulfur is dangerous for humans to breathe in.
Yuki touched the ground, feeling the coldness of the earth. Her brows furrowed as she stared at the boy, who was smiling as if nothing was wrong with him or the area.