“I feel like this place is too dangerous.”
Mu Chenxi’s tone carried a trace of unease.
She looked at Su Qiuyue and lowered her voice to discuss.
“Qiuyue, why don’t we leave now?”
Su Qiuyue agreed upon hearing this.
She glanced at the Liu Shen Fruit that Bai Yue had casually placed in the corner, then looked at the sleeping Bai Yue and Yan Hua in the room, and finally nodded decisively.
“Let’s go. Now.”
Su Qiuyue’s voice was very low.
“You carry Master and Yan Hua on your back, I’ll use Divine Sense to scout ahead, and we’ll leave immediately.”
She also sensed the thick scent of conspiracy in this village.
This place was definitely a dragon’s lair and a tiger’s den.
The longer they stayed, the greater the danger.
Seeing Su Qiuyue agree, Mu Chenxi didn’t hesitate any longer.
She walked to the bedside and looked at the sleeping Master and Yan Hua, feeling both helpless and amused.
At this moment, Yan Hua was like a soft octopus, sprawled out on Bai Yue’s back, sleeping soundly.
Mu Chenxi simply and efficiently carried both of them at once.
This bit of weight was nothing to her.
Su Qiuyue spread her Divine Sense like flowing mercury, carefully probing everything around them.
She discovered that there were indeed Cultivators in the village houses.
Their Cultivation levels varied, but without exception, they were all focused on training.
It seemed that no one noticed their quiet departure.
At night, the whole village was silent, like an empty city.
The two of them left the village smoothly without incident, racing back the way they came.
If not for the fear of alarming hidden dangers in the village, Mu Chenxi could have flown even faster.
Very soon, Mu Chenxi brought everyone to the entrance of Liushen Village.
The familiar stone stele stood quietly in the night, the three golden characters of Liushen Village glowing in the darkness.
Su Qiuyue and Mu Chenxi looked at it, feeling uneasy.
Mu Chenxi dared not linger.
She glanced briefly, then sped up, flying away into the distance.
However, Mu Chenxi soon realized something was wrong.
She estimated she had flown for half an incense stick’s time, yet the familiar stone stele appeared ahead once again, the three characters “Liushen Village” shining even more glaringly under the moonlight.
“What’s going on? How did we circle back here?”
Mu Chenxi frowned tightly, an ominous premonition rising in her heart.
“There’s definitely something strange here.”
Su Qiuyue’s tone became serious.
Her Divine Sense swept the surroundings repeatedly, but she found nothing abnormal.
That was the scariest part.
“I’ll try a different direction!”
Mu Chenxi was unwilling to give up.
She changed direction and flew off again.
However, after another half incense stick’s time, that cold stone stele appeared in front of them again, as if it were a maggot clinging to bone, quietly standing there.
Mu Chenxi refused to believe it.
She changed directions several more times in succession.
But no matter which way she flew, the result was always the same.
They returned to the entrance of Liushen Village.
They simply couldn’t get out.
“We… we can’t leave this village…”
Mu Chenxi’s voice trembled slightly.
She felt as if she were trapped in an invisible net.
“Let’s go back.”
Su Qiuyue’s voice was calm.
“We’d better return for now. Since we can’t escape, we must not alert anyone. We’ll pretend we know nothing and hope we haven’t drawn attention from those behind the scenes.”
Mu Chenxi took a deep breath.
She had no choice but to agree.
She sighed, carrying the still-sleeping pair back into Liushen Village and returned to Hei Ya’s house.
She placed Bai Yue and Yan Hua back on the bed.
The two continued to sleep soundly, completely unaware of what had just happened.
Su Qiuyue used Divine Sense to probe again.
Hei Ya was diligently cultivating in her own room, and the Cultivators in the other village houses were also immersed in Cultivation, as if completely unaware of their midnight escape and return.
***
When daylight came the next day, Bai Yue slowly woke up.
Mu Chenxi and Su Qiuyue told her and Yan Hua everything that had happened the previous night.
After hearing it all, Bai Yue’s expression became serious.
She instinctively looked at the Liu Shen Fruit she had placed in the corner and felt a headache coming on.
“It’s all my fault for being careless and bringing everyone to such a dangerous village.”
Bai Yue frowned in distress, full of regret.
“It’s not Master’s fault. We agreed to come too.”
Mu Chenxi quickly spoke up.
“That’s right, this was everyone’s decision, not just Master’s responsibility.”
Su Qiuyue echoed.
Yan Hua even took the initiative to blame herself.
“It’s all my fault. I was greedy…”
Looking at her three thoughtful disciples, the gloom in Bai Yue’s heart dissipated quite a bit.
She pulled herself together.
“Alright, now isn’t the time to assign blame. Let’s think of a solution.”
Bai Yue pondered for a moment and made a suggestion.
“Since we can’t escape secretly, is it possible to go directly to Hei Ya and ask her to take us out of the village?”
Everyone agreed this was worth a try.
Without further delay, Bai Yue led the three to Hei Ya’s room and knocked on the door.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
After several knocks, the door finally opened.
Hei Ya emerged with an apologetic expression.
“Bai Yue-jiejie, it’s you all. Is something the matter? I was so focused on Cultivation that I didn’t hear the knocking. I’m really sorry.”
“It’s nothing, Hei Ya.”
Bai Yue smiled, then got straight to the point.
“We have some urgent matters and wanted to say goodbye. Could you take us out of the village?”
“Out of the village?”
Hei Ya was momentarily stunned, then shook her head.
“Bai Yue-jiejie, you want to leave the village? But right now, it’s not possible. You have to wait until after the Ritual ends.”
Bai Yue looked at Hei Ya suspiciously, but her gaze was sincere and didn’t seem to be lying.
“We really do have urgent matters.”
When she heard the word “Ritual,” an even stronger sense of foreboding filled Bai Yue’s heart.
She had a feeling that if they foolishly waited for the Ritual to end, disaster would truly befall them.
That so-called Ritual was likely the root of the danger.
So she decided to try again.
Seeing Bai Yue’s anxious expression, Hei Ya didn’t want to disappoint her lifesavers.
“Then… I’ll try to see if I can take you out.”
Hei Ya agreed and led the group to the village entrance, then along a path heading outward.
But as they walked, they bizarrely found themselves back at the village entrance.
They had circled back again.
Hei Ya spread her hands helplessly.
“See, even I can only leave the village the day after the Ritual ends. Our village holds a Ritual every ten days, and only the day after the Ritual can we leave.”
Hei Ya patiently explained.
Hearing this, Bai Yue and the others felt their hearts sink.
The village’s strangeness and abnormality were beyond their imagination.
It seemed they had no choice but to face the so-called Ritual.