On the plain, a small caravan was moving forward with difficulty.
According to Yu Jian, the environment in this area is extremely harsh. Not only are ice storms sometimes blowing, the temperature drops sharply at night, and ice beasts appear. Without the protection of the formation, it is really difficult to survive.
Every once in a while, the village will organize caravans to go to Xingluo City, exchanging cheap and large amounts of food, animal skins, etc. for necessary production materials such as refined salt and weapons.
Of course, the biggest expense is to hand over the sacrifices and invite the formation masters from Xingluo City to maintain the formations that guard the village.
It's a pity that even the most knowledgeable and respected old village chief Shi Ying in the village actually has very little knowledge. His early travels and what he saw in Xingluo City are worth bragging about. For Fang Yuan, however, It's better than nothing.
"Xingluo City is ahead, we'll be there in another eight days and nights!"
Yu Jian, a young man, was also among the team and looked very excited.
The caravan leader was long, and the cart was loaded with thick sacks. The camel beast pulling it was a huge black pig with a hump on its back and its body was covered with thick fat.
According to Yu Jian, this kind of "black-feng dolphin" is very popular here and is the most common mount. Its thick fat can withstand the cold and can be consumed directly when food is scarce. The recipe is very complex, almost anything. Eat them all, and the most important thing is that they are also good meat after slaughtering.
When he said this, the boy swallowed, obviously thinking of the delicious meat he had last time.
Fang Yuan had a cart to himself and was one of the few people in the team who didn't have to rush. Hearing this, he looked at the honest Heifeng Dolphin and was speechless.
Momo has dedicated his life as a laborer, and when he gets old, he will inevitably be slaughtered for meat. He is indeed a creature that specializes in benefiting others and has no self-interest at all.
"Huh? This caravan is so peaceful!"
The guard leader who led the strong men of the village was named Li Hu. He was a seven-foot-tall, high-spirited and unyielding man. He was wrapped in a tiger skin and held a hundred-smelted steel knife. After walking all the way, he said silently in his heart: .
This Xingluo City area is not a safe place. As long as you leave the city, anything can happen, and the soldiers will not take care of it.
Moreover, the various ice beasts spawned by the harsh natural environment also regard caravans as their best prey.
The village had transported several times before. Even if it united with other villages and increased its manpower, it would inevitably be severely attacked several times, causing loss of people and property.
But this time, the whole journey was peaceful, and not even a wild beast was seen.
"This is the intimidation of the truly strong!"
Li Hu looked at Fang Yuan with reverence in his eyes.
"It's a pity that we are old and have no hope of martial arts, and this gentleman doesn't like the women in the village..."
He lamented in his heart, and suddenly saw Yu Jian stepping forward, occasionally saying a few words to Fang Yuan, and the color of hope flashed in his eyes.
Perhaps, the hope of the entire village lies in this boy.
…
"Ice beast? It's between a wild beast and a spiritual beast, but it's still somewhat spiritual!"
With a thought, Fang Yuan immediately spotted an ice snake lurking not far away, letting out a slight breath.
He was decisive in killing all the way, how much evil energy had accumulated in him
Just a trace of it made the ice snake shudder and run away.
If he hadn't secretly helped along the way, this small caravan would have suffered a disaster immediately. It would be great if only half of the people could survive.
"The harsh living environment in this domain is evident!"
Fang Yuan grabbed a handful of black rice in his hand and thought silently.
This is the main crop in Panshi Village. It has a very ordinary taste and even tastes like gravel. It is dry and tasteless. The only advantage is that it grows quickly and is extremely cold-resistant—this is enough in the Starfall Region.
Even so, there are very few plots of land that can grow black rice around Panshi Village, and they must be guarded at all times, otherwise they will be eaten by other animals, and the harvest will not be very high.
The caravan now has more than half of what the entire village has left after leaving food rations and offerings.
"Everyone, work harder and cheer up!"
Li Hu shouted loudly: "We are in Hongye Village just ahead. The village chief there has a relationship with us, so we can use the square to have a good night's rest!"
"There is no disaster this time. If we can get to the city, we will definitely be able to get back several stones of refined salt and dozens of kilograms of iron..."
Yu Jian followed several villagers next to him. At this time, he also learned to calculate, and his eyes were full of joy.
In this Falling Star Domain, even the youngest children have to come out and do what they can. Everyone is equal before survival.
"Red Leaf Village?"
Fang Yuan pondered for a moment and called Yu Jian: "Do you have any friendship with that village?"
"Yeah... Hongye Village is close to Xingluo City, and there is a large flat and fertile land nearby. The village protection formation is better than the Rock Formation... "
There was a hint of envy on Yu Jian's face: "Our old village chief once saved the life of the village chief of Hongye Village when we traveled before, so we formed a friendship!"
Through these days of understanding, Fang Yuan also had a general understanding.
In this Xingluo Domain, the closer to Xingluo City, the more fertile the land becomes, and the villages that can be occupied are also very powerful.
Yu Jian's village can only be considered on the fringes and can be considered the poorest and most abject type, while Hongye Village can be regarded as roughly medium-sized. Of course, it is also inevitable to be exploited by Xingluo City.
The reason why this Hongye Village got its name is because it produces a kind of red maple tree. The leaves of this maple tree are relatively precious and can be used as medicine. There is a demand in Xingluo City. While the villagers are farming and hunting, they are also mixed with Red leaves are sold in the city, and life is generally relatively comfortable.
Although it was only at the stage of having enough to eat, Yu Jian was already extremely envious.
"Sir, look, that's the red leaf forest!"
After walking for a while, Yu Jian pointed to a patch of red fire not far away, feeling a little envious.
But when Fang Yuan looked at him, his expression was very strange.
"Wait a minute!"
After a while, Li Hu's face became more solemn than ever before: "The convoy is paused. Come with a few people and come with me to have a look!"
"what happened?"
There was a trace of doubt on Yu Jian's face.
"I'm afraid something happened in Hongye Village..."
Fang Yuan shook his head: "Look... no one is taking care of the surrounding farmland and the red leaf forest... Is it too quiet?"
"yes!"
Yu Jian nodded and was shocked again: "Then... what about the villagers here? Where have they gone?"
"Let's go and see for ourselves, won't we know better?"
Fang Yuan stepped forward and looked at Li Hu: "Let's go!"
"good!"
Li Hu nodded, with a hint of joy on his face.
Although the front was strange and gave him an ominous premonition, when he saw the unfathomable Mr. Fang preparing to accompany him, most of his uneasiness disappeared immediately.
Immediately he called two more villagers, both of whom were warriors who had developed internal strength, and followed Fang Yuan towards Hongye Village.
"Sir, wait for me!"
Yu Jian gritted his teeth and followed suit.
…
"This is… "
After approaching Hongye Village, Li Hu's face suddenly became very ugly.
In the original red leaf forest, light flickered, which was a normal sight, but at this time, they only saw blood! Huge swaths of blood! They were piled up in the red maple forest, with pits and pits, and some were even black. An extremely pungent fishy smell hit his face, which was nauseating. Yu Jian's face turned pale, and he quickly turned his head away, not daring to look anymore.
"Human blood?"
Li Hu squatted down and wiped some blood on his fingers, his voice trembling.
The scene in front of me was really too weird.
"And... with so much blood shed, many people must have died. Where are the bodies? Where did the bodies go?"
He took three steps and two steps at a time, left the red leaf forest, and came to the edge of Hongye Village.
The earthen walls made of bricks and stones were pitted and moss was attached to the surface, and there were a few flickering spiritual patterns, which showed that they had obviously been there for a certain period of time. The village protection formation was operating quite smoothly.
But behind the village, there was no one!
"Li Hu from Panshi Village is here to visit! Is the old village chief here?"
Looking at the village shrouded in a thin layer of clouds, Li Hu gritted his teeth and drank vigorously, but received no response.
Seeing this situation, he immediately fell silent, gritted his teeth, said nothing, and suddenly turned around and left.
"Go quickly and don't look back!"
He scolded Yu Jian and the two villagers, and returned the same way without looking back: "Set off immediately, don't stop!"
After arriving at the caravan, Li Hu immediately drove the black dolphins away, like a bereaved dog.
"what happened?"
Fang Yuan just took a look, but he wasn't particularly clear. The most important thing was that there were no traces of the murderer.
Li Hu's face was as dark as water, and he spoke after a long time, his voice dry: "There are no corpses, but the village protection formation is not damaged at all, but the entire village suddenly disappeared. I'm afraid it's a ghost!"
"Ghost?!"
Fang Yuan was a little surprised.
Even though he has cultivated to superhuman level and has seen many rare and strange beasts, this is the first time he has heard of this ghost story.
"Don't you know?"
Li Hu was very surprised: "Is it possible that you have never encountered ghosts before? It's impossible... Almost every year, villages are wiped out by ghosts... "
"I've heard it a little bit, but it's not very clear. Please tell me..."
Fang Yuan touched his nose, a blur of light flashed in his eyes.
"oh!"
Li Hu felt dizzy and did not continue to struggle. Instead, he explained to Fang Yuan with all his heart: "The so-called ghosts come and go without a trace. They don't even have a fixed shape. They are a kind of... curse!"
"We don't know where it comes from or where it's going. We only know that every time it appears, a large number of living people disappear, leaving behind many strange things..."
"No matter how powerful martial arts masters or even array masters are, they are helpless in the face of this. Only Xingluo City, for some reason, has never had any ghost incidents. It is our last refuge..."