"..."
Before he could fully understand the meaning of the woman's words, Pei Wende realized that the fog that had swallowed up the village was gradually dissipating.
And as the fog dissipated, the swallowed villages reappeared one by one.
It's just that the traces of being destroyed and devoured still remain, and even the expressions of sadness or joy of the villagers look extremely funny.
"Zhu Nu?"
At this time, a thin old man rushed to the woman's home first and saw Pei Wende and the woman not far away.
"you……"
The old man looked at the woman in shock, or to be more precise, at the two green orbs in the woman's hands.
"Where's Ada? Why is this thing in your hands?"
"Is it possible that the strange changes in those monsters this time are because Ah Da has reached his limit?"
The old man asked several questions in rapid succession, and the old man didn't even care about Pei Wende, who was obviously an outsider.
However, the woman named "Zhu Nu" did not answer his question directly. Instead, she glanced at the villagers who were surviving the disaster with a slightly mocking and sneering expression.
"Oh, you really came in time?"
"Are they planning to sacrifice you this time? A bad old man who has lived for who knows how many years?"
"But don't worry, even if it's for my son, I will definitely not let those monsters spread."
After being ridiculed by Zhu Nu, the old man's eyes showed obvious helplessness.
Obviously, just as Zhu Nu said, the old man did not appear here on his own initiative, but the villagers pushed him to Zhu Nu's face semi-forcefully.
"Nv Zhu, you know this is our fate."
"After all, if there is no one to act as the carrier of the 'mirage bead', those invisible monsters will devour everyone."
"Anyway, old man, I have lived for so many years. Although it is not the most suitable carrier, it can allow everyone to live for a while longer."
"On the contrary, you, there is really no need to think that everyone has such sinister intentions."
Not believing what I said at all, Zhu Nu raised her head and swallowed the two green orbs in one gulp after smiling disdainfully.
"Gulu!"
With a clearly visible swallowing sound, Zhu Nu's skin began to turn gray at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Immediately afterwards, a bone horn like a knife scratched her forehead, and then a scarlet vertical eye opened, as terrifying as a ferocious devil's eye.
However, this is not the end, because this is only the beginning.
"ah!"
Amidst Zhu Nu's suppressed wails of pain, two more small sharp horns suddenly broke out on both sides of her forehead, just as the previous horns formed a triangle.
From a distance, it looks like a simple crown has grown directly on Zhu Nu's skull.
And that scarlet vertical eye is the most important "jewel" in the center of the crown. It is not only eye-catching and gorgeous, but also exudes a strange aura at all times.
"Roar!"
As the "crown" formed, Zhu Nu's already pale skin began to harden.
In just a few short breaths, Zhu Nu's skin turned into a rock-like tough material, and a layer of pale white cuticle grew directly on some key vital parts.
The most important thing is that Zhu Nu's body continued to expand and grow in size during this process, turning into a form that was very familiar to Pei Wende.
"Roar!"
So when all these changes stopped, the original gentle woman had disappeared and was replaced by a skeletal giant that was three meters tall.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
"Roar!"
After completing her transformation, Zhu Nu, who transformed into a skeletal giant, only glanced at her empty home with nostalgia, then turned around and disappeared into the rapidly receding fog.
Be it an old man or Pei Wende...
Zhu Nu seemed to have completely forgotten their existence at this moment, turning into a "dead person" similar to the skeletal giant Pei Wende had encountered before.
"well!"
The old man, who had expected this for a long time, didn't know whether he was relieved or sighed, and then slowly turned his gaze to Pei Wende aside.
"Outsider, it seems you are the cause of all this?"
Since I didn't hear any hostility similar to Zhu Nu's from Lao Tzu's words, Pei Wende nodded after thinking for a moment.
But he was wary of the old man in his heart and would not treat him as an ordinary old man.
This was not just because Pei Wende found the changes in Zhu Nu to be a bit bizarre, but also because the conversation between the two of them revealed a huge amount of information.
"If you don't mind, would you like to listen to this old man like me?"
Unlike Zhu Nu's hostility towards outsiders, the old man's eyes towards Pei Wende were full of nostalgia and regret.
"After all, no outsider has successfully broken into this land for more than ten years."
When I said this, I paused for a moment, as if I was deliberately waiting for Pei Wende's reply.
"Okay, it just so happens that I also want to know what is going on here."
First, he glanced thoughtfully at the direction in which Zhu Nu disappeared, and then turned to look at the villagers who were still hesitant to step forward...
Pei Wende felt that the relationship between these villagers seemed more complicated than he imagined.
However, this did not prevent Pei Wende from obtaining information and clues from the old man's mouth, especially when Zhu Nu suddenly turned into a skeletal giant.
"That's good!"
Nodding happily, the old man didn't reveal his true purpose until then.
"But I hope that after listening to my ramblings, you can take the initiative to leave here and never come back to the village again."
Looking at the old man silently, Pei Wende knew that the old man was making conditions for himself.
Although the other party did not show naked hostility like Zhu Nu, she still did not want to stay here.
The only difference is that Zhu Nu seemed to have no intention of negotiating "peacefully" with Pei Wende from the beginning because of "Ada's death."
"That's okay, but I want to know first, what's going on with that skeletal giant?"
"Also, Zhu Nu keeps saying that I killed Ada and awakened the resentment in this land. What's going on?"
Pei Wende's intuition told him that these two questions might be able to answer most of his doubts.
Vaguely, Pei Wende even felt that even the villagers living here might not know the real answers to these two questions.
"All of this... we have to start from the beginning."
—Recommendation ticket—Monthly ticket—
