Chapter 325: Granary and Resolution

Xia Nan's question was not answered.

When mentioning that strange little wooden house, the abnormal performance of the villager leading the way in front of him caught his attention.

But when he wanted to ask further about relevant information, this villager seemed to have some unknown taboo, kept silent, didn't even dare to make a sound, just lowered his head and hurried on.

This made Xia Nan's plan to inquire about the intelligence inside Mist Lamp Village during the chat on the road impossible to unfold.

Fortunately, this silent and stiff atmosphere didn't last long.

The appearance of a familiar figure, just like when he first came to the village, broke the dead silence in the air.

"Uncle Jem, I... phew, I'll do it!"

Accompanied by a burst of hurried footsteps, the panting boy's voice came from behind.

The visitor was Dongshu.

This boy with an immature face, at this moment, was clearly following the instructions of his Brother Aspen, and after leading Xia Nan to the wooden house where the village chief lived, he went back to take a shower.

At this moment, even his hair wasn't dry, and he rushed over again.

"Village Chief and Brother Aspen have already told me. There happens to be an empty house on the east side of the village. I'll take Mr. Xia Nan there. You go and do your own business."

Because of Xia Nan's questioning, he felt embarrassed and uneasy. This villager named "Jem" felt relieved when he heard Dongshu say this.

Only giving two polite words like "entertain well" and "don't neglect," he turned and left without stopping, as if he had unloaded some heavy burden.

Xia Nan naturally wouldn't have any opinion on this. Being able to have an acquaintance lead the way for him was naturally better for him.

He didn't speak, just stood in place and waited quietly for the boy in front of him to catch his breath with his hands supporting his knees.

"Sorry, Mr. Xia Nan." Seeing that Xia Nan didn't mean to urge him at all, Dongshu felt shy instead, scratching the back of his head with a silly smile.

Then he hurried forward two steps and continued to lead the way for him.

At the same time, he introduced various situations in the village to Xia Nan very trustingly:

"Uncle Jem who led the way for you just now is a famous tailor in the village. The animal skins I bring back from hunting are handed over to him for processing. If you have relevant needs, you can also go to him for help. If you report my name... it's better to report Brother Aspen's name, maybe he can give you some discounts."

"The wooden bridge here has been broken for almost five days. We have to take a short detour, but I heard that the village chief is already arranging manpower to rebuild it, and it is estimated that it will be repaired next week."

"Hey, over there is the threshing ground in the village. I often..."

Dongshu in the village was far more enthusiastic and lively than when he was in the wild. He chattered, and his mouth hadn't closed since he came to Xia Nan's side.

It was not a fake performance, but a manifestation of his own personality and welcome to Xia Nan.

Seeing this, Xia Nan, who had always had doubts about the oppressive atmosphere in the village and the strange house that the villagers refused to talk about earlier, asked casually:

"Your Mist Lamp Village is different from those small villages outside. It's very quiet. Did something happen recently? It feels like everyone in the village is a bit... nervous?"

His tone was peaceful, as if he was just asking casually.

But Dongshu's reaction was unexpected.

The cheerful smile on his face suddenly stiffened, quickly converged, and was replaced by a complex expression mixed with anxiety and powerlessness.

"Village Chief should have mentioned it to you. The traditional sacrificial ritual in the village is about to be held in these two days. Everyone... everyone is preparing, so the atmosphere is a bit strange."

"Actually, it's not like this on weekdays! If Mr. Xia Nan came a few days earlier, you could feel the difference."

"I see... no wonder." Sensing the change in the other party's expression, Xia Nan echoed, stopped asking, and turned the topic to another direction he was puzzled about.

"On the way here, I saw that there was another house behind the village chief's wooden house, and the surroundings were cleaned up quite cleanly. Is there anyone living there?"

At the age of sixteen or seventeen, the boy who grew up in the village had no scheming and didn't know how to cover up the ups and downs of his emotions.

As soon as the words fell, Dongshu, whose face was already stiff because of the previous topic, turned even darker.

"It's Lily'ai..."

He mumbled a few words, murmured, glanced at the direction of the village chief's wooden house subconsciously, and quickly retracted, his expression dimming for a moment.

"Who?" Keenly sensing the possible secret, Xia Nan raised his eyebrows slightly.

"No, nothing, Mr. Xia Nan." Dongshu forced a smile on his face, "I don't know much either, but there should be someone living there, after all, as you said, it's cleaned up so cleanly..."

Before Xia Nan could continue to ask, Dongshu, who was leading the way for him, had stopped.

"Mr. Xia Nan, we are here."

Dongshu stood in place and pointed to a wooden house in front of the road.

The house itself was not much different from those bungalows seen on the road, and even because it had not been lived in for a long time, it revealed a thick smell of decay.

Dark green vines climbed the outer wall, weeds grew, and the overly damp environment of the depression made it possible to see several clusters of fungi at the corners of the walls.

The conditions of Mist Lamp Village were placed here. Being able to have such a whole house empty for Xia Nan to stay in was already the limit of what they could do.

Knowing clearly that it was not deliberate neglect, Xia Nan didn't care much about it.

Just staying for two days, being able to have a decent house to keep out the wind and rain was enough for him, and the environment or something... it didn't matter.

On the contrary, Dongshu felt a bit embarrassed when he saw this house, feeling very sorry.

Throwing the previous topic behind his head, he took the initiative to propose to help Xia Nan clean up the house.

"No trouble." Xia Nan waved his hand at the uneasy other party, his tone casual, "There's nothing to be particular about, after all, I'm not staying for a long time."

Even so, this simple boy with some freckles on his face still stubbornly and sensibly helped Xia Nan clean up the inner room.

When he later indicated that it was really enough and there was no need to clean up hard, the boy's expression even looked a bit unwilling.

"Then I won't bother you?"

Dongshu stood on the road in front of the door, and there was still some dust on his newly changed clothes and hair.

"It's really okay." Xia Nan reached out and patted the other party's shoulder, his tone casual, "I'll stay for three nights at most."

Hearing this, Dongshu nodded seriously.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, his gaze paused.

Just standing on the side of the road, not daring to look up at Xia Nan in front, just looking at the silt and weeds on the ground.

His breathing became gradually hurried in the slow and steady, as if he was gathering courage for himself.

"Mr. Xia Nan, you will stay in the village until the end of the ritual, right?"

"Of course." Xia Nan was puzzled in his heart. After all, he had mentioned many times on the way here and during the process of cleaning the house that he would stay for at least three days before leaving.

The other party repeated this, which was more like confirming something than asking. ===== CHAPTER 326 =====