"Okay, Bufan." Dick interrupted Bufan and continued to ask the old man, "Old man, can I ask how many people in Seiya Village have had accidents recently?"
"Recently? Well, this year, including Tia, there will be three of them."
"Three people? Then how did they disappear? Can you tell us?"
"Well, their disappearance seems normal."
"Normal? Why do you say that? Old man."
The old man's words made Bufan and others very puzzled. If he disappears, he will disappear. How can he distinguish between normal and abnormal?
"That's right. I was fine one day, talking and laughing with everyone, and then I didn't see anyone the next day. But we usually encounter this kind of situation, such as leaving home to visit relatives or going to the market. Everyone has a big problem. It’s my habit to leave early. So there’s nothing strange about it, I just need to pay attention to it.”
"However, we didn't know the seriousness of the matter until Chris found Tia's body. Then I reported the case to the main city. Don't worry, people from the main city will come and take care of it."
Is this kind of behavior of handing things over to superiors and giving up on oneself really the style a village leader should have? The other party was his villager, three living human lives. Bufan was very puzzled, but after Dick's reminder, he also knew that he had exceeded his authority.
"Has this happened before? Missing people."
"Before? Think about it, old man. Before... before..." The old man closed his eyes and murmured. After a while, the corner of his mouth stopped moving, and the fan in his hand also leaned against his body.
After a while, no one saw any movement from him.
"Isn't he asleep?" Bufan asked quietly.
"Actually, I knew he was asleep when I heard his breathing just now, but seeing you standing there so seriously, I'm embarrassed to disturb you." Siya, as a medicine man, said very authoritatively.
"..."
"Okay, let's go."
"Eh? Where to go?"
"Go to the old lady's house from before."
"Aren't we going back to Bit City to stay?"
"I still have some questions I want to consult with the old lady. Besides, how can I go back so late?"
"oh..."
****
"Are there any missing people from the past? That might be too many." The old woman sitting on the chair thought for a while and then slowly spoke.
This is a somewhat dark room. In the entire room of more than ten square meters, there is only an oil lamp providing a faint light. Several people are sitting around an old table, listening quietly to the old woman. say.
"How much? How do you say this?"
"Old woman, I have lived in Seiya Village for sixty or seventy years. I have experienced too much. White-haired people, black-haired people, and countless scenes of life and death. At that time, in this war-torn world, living one more day was a luxury. Yes, after all, you don’t even know if you will be able to see the sun tomorrow. You just met the old village chief, right? Do you think he is indifferent?"
"this..."
"Don't worry about me, just say whatever you want, haha."
"Okay, grandma, in fact, we feel a kind of disregard for life in him."
The old woman smiled and said, "Everyone in the village knows his indifference."
"Can indifference also gain your support? Why is that?"
After hearing this, the old woman shook her head and sighed: "He has experienced too much and he has endured too much. Some young people may not like him, but we older generations remember his kindness, so we all support him." He, plus he also handled the things assigned by the main city properly, so the main city doesn’t say anything, so what does everyone have to say.”
After that, the old woman smiled and asked again, "Have you noticed that he is missing one hand?"
"That left hand?" Bufan recalled the scene just now and saw that the left sleeve of the lying village chief was indeed empty.
"The village chief's original name is Futian. As a young man, he is an experienced hunter. As long as he goes into the mountains, he will basically never come back empty-handed. He is also very organized in handling things, and everyone agrees with him. Naturally, he also He became the village chief. At that time, we lived a life like a paradise. But not long ago, about forty or fifty years ago, something abnormal happened in this world."
"abnormal?"
Regarding Feifan's doubts, Dick explained: "It should be the disaster of the subsidence. It happened forty-six years ago. According to records, on that day, a hole opened in the sky, and then the earth collapsed. There are many unknown things that we don't know. Creatures rushed out from the ground. They were crazy and cruel, treating humans as food. In just a few days, many villages that were ravaged were deserted, and even some main cities were destroyed.
This sudden disaster caused huge losses to mankind. By the time the strong humans reacted, the underground monsters had already established a firm foothold. Then the war began. Although humans won in the end, the strong ones also suffered heavy casualties. Many main cities fell into a state of ownerlessness. For the sake of profit, humans themselves started civil war again, and many ambitious people began to emerge. This should be the source of the war. "
"But in my impression, Shituo Town doesn't seem to have experienced any wars, right? From the history I know, Elas College has been very stable for 500 years since its establishment, right?"
"That's because you are under the jurisdiction of Elas City, and the war will naturally not affect you. Elas, the city of order, is not just talk. There are reasons why it still stands still despite the wind and rain, just like when I was a child. Just like the City of Light. So, we are very lucky."
In fact, when I was a child, I stayed in a mountain nook, but it seemed to be very peaceful there.
After hearing Dick's words, Bufan suddenly thought of this sentence, but he did not say it out loud.
At this time, the old woman spoke again,
"In that era of war, we lived a life of fear. We would meet some fleeing people every three days, and they brought news from the outside world. Today, this village disappears, and tomorrow another village disappears, even far away from us. Bad news also came from the nearest village. After that, the village chief Futian made a major decision. He proposed that everyone should live in the mountains. , isn’t that asking for trouble? Many people were unwilling. After a dispute, Futian and the villagers each gave in and allowed the women and children to hide in the mountains, while the men and the elderly stayed in the village. They stayed like this for a while. , everyone was in peace. Soon, the people in the mountains got tired of the life inside. They got emotional, didn't want to stay inside anymore, and wanted to get out. At that time, the village chief was not inside, and there were no key people in charge. , the hesitant women finally decided to wait until the food delivery team arrived the next day, and then followed the team out. But the next day, something happened..."
