"Which village are you from? Why are you here?”
The leader was a middle-aged man with a black beard that made him look extremely rough. Behind him were four young men dressed like hunters.
"We've lost our way here. I wonder if uncle can give us some food and water, and also give us some directions on how to leave this forest.”
"Oh, so you're lost travelers. I didn't expect you to be able to make it this far. No problem, come to our village to rest.”The black-bearded middle-aged man didn't look as rough as he looked. He sized up Fleur seriously and enthusiastically pointed at the village behind him as he invited ESMAU and the others.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, uncle. How should I address you?”ESMAU saw that Flo didn't say a word and had no choice but to get close to Blackbeard. He looked at the four young men beside him curiously. They seemed to be quite skilled.
ESMAU was no longer the young lad who had just left the mountain. He had seen a lot in the past few months and had a certain understanding of the ranks of Martial Warriors. Although he could not determine whether they had Combat Energy, he could tell that their physiques were very good. If he did not take Combat Energy into account, they should be at the level of an Intermediate Martial Warrior, and this black-bearded uncle should be even higher.
"Haha! There's no need to be so polite when you're outside. The people in the village call me Big Beard. You can call me that too!”The bearded man laughed heartily and ordered the four young men behind him to disperse. Then, he led the two students into a private house.
ESMAU turned around and saw that the four young men had gone off in four different directions. With a trace of doubt, he followed them in.
"Wait a moment. I'll get someone to prepare food and water for you. I think you should leave in three days.”The bearded man pointed to a seat beside them and gestured for them to sit down. Then, he frowned and said,
ESMAU's heart skipped a beat as if he had a bad feeling that something was about to happen. This feeling disappeared as soon as it appeared, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not find it. Looking at Big Beardy's slightly furrowed brows, ESMAU wondered if they were going to keep the two of them here. Even though he was a bachelor and had nothing that others would be jealous of, Fu Luo was an absolute beauty. Could it be that they were lusting after her? Recalling the actions of the four young men just now, ESMAU was even more certain.
Since Big Beardy was able to greet the two of them so warmly, it was obvious that he had taken a fancy to Fleur's beauty from the beginning. Thinking of this, ESMAU was slightly angry. They had misjudged them this time."Uncle, do you have any difficulties? Why do you want us to leave after three days?”
"Because you are very unfortunate to have come at the wrong time. I'm afraid you will only be able to leave safely after three days.”The bearded man seemed to be waiting for something. After he finished speaking, he fell into deep thought and did not say anything.
This made ESMAU think that he was stalling for time, waiting for the four young men to bring their men. If the few people they met were so powerful, this village was probably not an ordinary village.
"To be honest, we still have urgent matters to attend to. If it's not convenient for uncle, we won't force you. Since we can come here, even if we get lost, we just need to make a few more turns and I believe we can find the way out.”ESMAU felt that there was no need to say anything else. The bearded man had yet to make any moves, but it was better to leave first.
"No, you can't leave. This is not a place where you can come and go as you please!”The bearded man stood up abruptly and shouted when he heard that ESMAU was about to leave.
"Hmph, our feet are not born on your body. Just because you say we can't leave, we can't leave. Thank you for your hospitality, uncle. We'll take our leave!”ESMAU sneered, thinking that if he were to use force, he wouldn't hold back anymore.
Just as ESMAU was about to turn around, the door was opened and an old man walked in. He glanced at the bearded man and sized up the two of them before saying,"Big Beard, are they the two guests who came today?”
Looking at the four or five people who followed the old man in, ESMAU couldn't help but say angrily,""You guys are quite confident. Do you think that you can keep us here just because you have more people? Then don't blame me for being rude.”
With a flick of his wrist, Hua shi immediately summoned his greatsword. The elder's eyes lit up at the sight of the greatsword conjuring out of thin air. Seeing that Hua shi was about to attack, he hurriedly waved his hand and said,""No, no, I think you've misunderstood. This is a misunderstanding.”
Misunderstanding? Hua shi was stunned. How could such an obvious matter be a misunderstanding? Relying on his strength that was stronger than a swordmaster and his outstanding speed, Hua shi waited fearlessly to see what explanation the old man would have.
"Big Beard, what exactly did you say to make the guests so angry?”The old man didn't explain to ESMAU but asked Big Beardy instead.
"No, I told them to wait three days before leaving!”The bearded man replied respectfully to the old man. Clearly, this old man had a very high status here.
The old man nodded and smiled." Big Beard is right. Let me finish!"”Seeing that ESMAU was about to speak, the old man hurriedly stopped him and said,""This is a misunderstanding. You are suspicious because you see that the people here have some strength, right? That's right, it is impossible for ordinary villagers to have such strength.”
"Then let me tell you about the situation here. You have seen the situation of the magical beasts outside, right?”
ESMAU nodded and said," That's right. According to my previous knowledge, magical beasts will attack humans the moment they see them. However, the magical beasts here are very strange. They don't run or attack us when they see us. They completely ignore us. This is really unbelievable. Could it be that they are all man-made?”
"Although we don't know why they're like this, there's one possibility. They might really be man-made. However, this is very difficult to explain, so much so that we still don't know the truth.”The old man walked to the main seat and sat down. His eyes narrowed as he pondered.
ESMAU and Flo listened to the old man's explanation quietly while Big Beardy and the others waited at the side. The old man sighed and continued,""Ever since the arrival of Lord Redens forty years ago, this place has slowly changed until the current situation. Oh, I haven't told you the reason why I asked you to wait for three days.”
The old man suddenly said," You are very lucky, but also very unlucky. Why did you come to our village? Unfortunately, there will be a beast tide attack in the next two days. I'm afraid you won't be able to leave by then.”
Beast Tide invasion? ESMAU was in disbelief. Weren't the demonic beasts outside not supposed to attack humans? Then why was there a demonic beast tide? Where did this magical beast come from? It couldn't be the ones he had seen outside, right?
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