Long Chen walked to the nearest hut with Mingyu and Zhiqing and knocked on the door.
Some noises came from inside the door after the knock, but there was no response.
"Excuse me! We are from the Xuan Kingdom. We need to talk to the village head. Can you tell me where I can find him?" Long Chen called out.
He waited for a minute, but there was no response.
"Let's go talk to someone else." Long Chen let out as he turned back, but right then, the door opened.
He looked back only to see an old man standing at the door.
"Are you really from the Xuan Kingdom? "The man stood at the door and asked.
"Yeah, We need a place to stay the night. That's why we wanted to find the village elder." Long Chen answered her.
"Oh. Come with me. I'll take you to the village elder." The old man said with a smile as he got out of the hut.
"Stay inside, I'll be right back." The old man said to someone inside the room before he closed the door again. Long Chen didn't see who he was talking to, he didn't care either.
The old man walked in the front while Long Chen followed him. After walking for a short distance, the man stopped in front of another weak-looking hut and knocked on its door.
"Chief! It's me. Open the door." The old man said as he knocked on the door.
The door opened in less than a minute.
"What do you need m..." Another old man came out of the hut, but as soon as he saw Long Chen and the other, he walked back and closed the door.
"Mu Gan! How can you bring strangers to my house?" The Village Chief's voice came out from the other side of the door.
"Chief! These people are from the Xuan Kingdom! They are looking for a place to stay the night."The old man informed the chief.
"The Xuan Kingdom?" A shocked voice came from inside and the door opened again.
"Yes, Chief! I even saw their luxurious carriage! " He said to the chief.
"Please come inside," The Village Chief said as he smiled and invited Long Chen and the others inside.
"Thank you for the invitation." Long Chen smiled as he entered inside. The others entered as well.
"I'm sorry for the bad behavior we showed you previously. It's just that the village is going through some troubles. Everyone is on alert."The Village Chief told Long Chen as he bowed his head.
"It's alright. You don't have to worry about it. We were about to stop and set a camp when we noticed your village. We thought that we can stay here for the night if you people have some rooms available." Long Chen said to the Village Chief.
"It's fine even if you don't. We can still set up camps." Long Chen continued.
"Thank you for understanding and don't worry. We do have room for all of you. There are many empty huts in the village" The chief said, though some sadness was clear in his voice as he said it.
"Mu Gan. Go show them the huts that belonged to Little twenty-one, little twenty-two and little twenty-three" The Village Chief said to the old man.
"Ah, Yes," Mu Gan said as he stood up. He walked towards the door.
"Thank you." Long Chen said to the Chief Of the village as he stood up and left with Mu Gan.
The Chief of the village couldn't help but sigh as he sat in his empty hut after Long Chen left.
Long Chen was walking with Mu Gan in the silence of the night, but there was a feeling that the village wasn't in a good condition. They all looked scared as if they were in a nightmare.
"Master Gan, Can I ask you something, if you don't mind." Long Chen asked.
"Ah... alright. Ask me anything." Mu Gan nodded his head
"What kind of name is Little Twenty One, Little twenty-two and little twenty-three?" Long Chen asked Mu Gan with a strange look on his face.
"Oh, The little guys weren't given a name since they were going to die before they grew up completely. We only have the numbers." Mu Gan answered with a sad look on his face. His voice was shivering as he talked about it.
"Death before growing up? What do you mean by it?" Long Chen asked with a stunned look on his face.
"Because they were to be taken by the demon before they turned 15" Mu Gan responded.
"A demon? Can you explain everything to me? I might be able to help." Long Chen said with a frown.
"It's fine. You won't be able to help. We have asked for help from many travelers before, but they all died." Mu Gan replied.
"Those who were strong refused to help us." He continued.
"Why were you scared of opening the door before you found out that we're from Xuan?" Long Chen asked again.
"Because of what happened before. Every time we allow a guest to stay here, we are punished by him. That's why we don't allow strangers inside the village. But there was a time when someone from the Xuan Kingdom came. We denied him permission to stay here." Mu Gan said as he remembered the past.
"In his anger, that man destroyed many of the houses and beat the man who denied him, to his death."The man continued.
"We can't offend the Demon and we can't offend the cultivator's from Xuan either." The man sighed as he continued ahead.
"What about the kids and their deaths?" Long Chen asked another question.
"You will see it tomorrow. I think tomorrow is the date when the next batch will be taken from the village." The man looked towards the sky as he said.
"I don't... Alright. I'll wait tomorrow to see what's actually happening." Long Chen muttered. He had realized that no matter what he said, He won't get the answer from this man. It was much easier to watch it with his own eyes.
"We're here! Those three are the huts you can stay in. You three can choose any of them. There are beds in all three of those huts, but there is no blanket. So I hope that you will adjust" The man said as he stopped in front of three huts. All those huts were near each other.