Chapter 337: Unknown journeys and distant hopes

Xia Nan could kill tangible monsters, but was powerless against the intangible monsters in the hearts of the villagers.

Facing the death of the old village chief and the sacrificial ritual that Aspen said had ended forever, the reaction of the villagers on the scene was something he had never anticipated.

They were not angry because of the death of their leader, nor did they feel the joy of being freed from the shackles named "sacrificial ritual."

Time seemed to have frozen.

The dense crowd huddled together, like lambs huddled together because of fright, staring dumbfounded at the elderly man who had been the village chief for decades but was now only twitching and falling in a pool of blood, and at the experienced hunting captain who held a longbow and had considerable prestige in the village.

The first thing that sounded was a short intake of breath.

But after the broken silence, it was a more suffocating, quagmire-like, viscous panic.

Xia Nan could feel the villagers' bewilderment and helplessness.

He also clearly perceived their instinctive expressions after they completely reacted to the scene before them:

An old woman suddenly pulled her granddaughter, who had a confused face, behind her, as if this could completely isolate her from the few people on the scene;

A lean, middle-aged man gripped the farm tool he used as a weapon, his gaze vigilant, and his slightly retreating footsteps seemed to be drawing a clear line between himself and Xia Nan's group...

Muttering and whispering spread quietly in the crowd:

"They... killed the village chief..."

"The ritual wasn't completed, will disaster..."

"Outsiders... shouldn't have..."

There were no cheers, nor was there any gratitude.

The deep-rooted, almost instinctive cognition of the sacrificial ritual inherited from generation to generation, stemming from fear, could not be easily uprooted by a completely dead corpse or a few words from some reckless young man.

To some extent, this could not even be called so-called ignorance or evil.

Instilled into their brains since childhood, the villagers of Mist Lamp Village had long linked the "risk of sacrificial ritual failure—disaster descending" with the "price of sacrifice—individual death."

Even if Dongshu tried his best to explain that the so-called great existence in the canyon had been completely killed by a passing adventurer and that the sacrificial ritual was a lie used by the village chief to maintain his rule.

It was impossible for the villagers to believe it completely just like that.

The fear of the sacrificial ritual not being completed, the panic over the village chief dying under Aspen's bow and arrow, and the bewilderment about future life under the huge change were the manifestations of their inner emotions at the moment.

Perhaps only with the passage of time, when they tremblingly stopped sending young girls into the canyon and gradually replaced the sacrifices with livestock, only to find that no "disaster" descended, would those ignorant traditions filled with blood and tears finally be abandoned by them.

And only until that time would the villagers likely be able to realize the significance of everything that happened before their eyes today.

Xia Nan watched this scene quietly, his expression calm, with no expression on his face.

There were no waves in his heart either.

The reason he was willing to help kill that Mist Lamp Monster and the Druid later was, on one hand, because of the Association mission requirement to enter the canyon to collect Mist Lamp Grass;

On the other hand, it was also an act in accordance with his own heart.

From the very beginning, he did not expect to gain anyone's recognition through this, nor did he want to get gratitude from anyone; it was just to make his own thoughts flow smoothly.

But at the same time, seeing this scene, he could not help but feel a trace of unspeakable emotion deep in his heart.

A blade's sharpness was enough to cut through stubborn stone, but it could not cut through the shackles in people's hearts.

In many cases, it seemed that as long as the source of the problem was solved, all the tragedies born from it could be ended.

But reality was often more cruel; those polluted soils, those wrong concepts and thoughts, and those fears were more stubborn and harder to eliminate than the "problem" itself.

Xia Nan was just an ordinary person, a traveler who had been trained in modern society and had normal values, and a passing adventurer who took pleasure in slaughtering Goblins.

He was not qualified to teach the villagers what was the right thing to do, nor did he have the obligation to help them break free from ignorance.

Killing that Druid, solving the source of all this, and telling the truth to everyone was already all he could do out of his own heart.

As for how it would develop later... it would be entirely the villagers' own choice.

At the very front of the crowd.

Aspen's fingers trembled as he gently rubbed the bow handle, his faintly reddened eyes staring at those crooked characters, his lips moving, as if he were murmuring something.

It was not until the restless noise in the crowd behind him became increasingly harsh that his consciousness finally returned to reality.

Silently tying the bow and arrow back behind him, he slowly raised his head.

As the number two figure in the village second only to the village chief, after that elderly man whose face was full of flesh folds was shot dead by his arrow, this middle-aged man with a weathered face had already been tacitly accepted as the new leader of Mist Lamp Village.

He did not speak, but the mere action of putting away his bow and arrow had already caused the movement in the crowd to subside quietly.

Then, under the gaze of one pair of eyes after another.

Aspen stepped forward, and while returning the Druid's diary to Xia Nan, he saluted him solemnly with an unprecedentedly serious attitude:

"Thank you for your help to Mist Lamp Village, Mr. Xia Nan!"

"No matter what kind of needs you have, as long as it is within our ability... we will never refuse!"

With such a solemn and serious performance, Xia Nan naturally would not ignore the other party's intentions.

It was just that Mist Lamp Village, to him, was originally just the most inconspicuous one among the countless human settlements he had passed by in the past and future; after the Mist Lamp Grass collection was completed, there was no possibility of staying and contacting again.

As for the so-called reward... when the entire village combined might not be as valuable as the equipment on his body, it seemed that it no longer had much significance.

He nodded slightly, signaling that he understood the gratitude expressed by the other party, and at the same time changed the subject, asking Aspen in front of him:

"So you plan to take over the position of village chief and stay in Mist Lamp Village later?"

Hearing this, this silent and determined middle-aged man nodded.

"The sacrificial ritual has long become a lie and there is no need to hold it anymore, but they..."

Aspen's gaze subconsciously glanced at the villagers who were quietly looking at the few people on the side.

"If there isn't a sufficiently firm leader to lead, I'm afraid it will be difficult to go against the inertia that has become a tradition over so many years."

"I will lead Mist Lamp Village out of the quagmire."

Aspen's daughter died in the sacrificial ritual, and his emotions were extremely complicated after learning the truth.

But just like when he was under the extreme pressure of the village chief back then, painfully choosing the former between the "continuation of the village" and the "life of a loved one," Aspen also had the deepest feelings for this village and this land that raised him.

Although he felt regret and annoyance, if he were really to leave alone at this critical moment that determined the future destiny of the village... Aspen could not do it.

Not expressing any opinion on this middle-aged man's choice, Xia Nan turned his head to look at Dongshu and Lilina beside him. ===== CHAPTER 338 =====