Yu Daochen nodded. What was said made sense. Although the shotgun was at most twenty meters away, it was a burden to people like them, but it was more than enough to deal with ferocious beasts.
"Forget it, I'm not used to this thing," Yu Daochen refused with a wave of his hand.
Although this thing was fierce, reloading was troublesome. Once the bullets in the barrel were gone, this thing would be no better than a fire poker.
Seeing Yu Daochen refuse, Xu Lei handed the shotgun back to the disciple.
"Let's go," Xu Lei shouted to the disciples and then led the way with Yu Daochen.
The mountain path was all difficult, and there were animal footprints from time to time.
They walked along the path, which wasn't really a path, for about two hours before everyone sat by a small stream to rest.
Yu Daochen sat on a rock by the stream to rest. He glanced at the flowing water in the stream and frowned, "Elder Xu, look at the water in the stream."
Xu Lei looked down with some confusion, his expression became serious. He cupped some water in his hand, brought it close to his nose to smell, and frowned, "There's a smell of blood!"
Yu Daochen had felt something was wrong earlier. The leeches in the water were abnormally numerous.
Leeches lived by sucking blood. In the water, they mainly fed on fish blood. Even if there were many fish in this stream, the number of leeches was unnaturally high.
"Elder Xu, can you determine the source of the bloody smell?" Yu Daochen couldn't smell and had to rely on Xu Lei.
Xu Lei shook his head and looked ahead, "No, but the end of the water source should be ahead. Perhaps that's our destination."
Yu Daochen felt a little uneasy, not knowing what was going on with that kid Zhou Fu.
He hoped that kid was alright.
"Alright, everyone pack up and let's go," Xu Lei called out to the disciples behind him.
Everyone packed up and continued on their way. It wasn't until the sun was about to set that they saw a village ahead.
Xu Lei's face showed a smile, "It seems we've reached our destination."
They walked along the road leading into the village. Wheat fields were on both sides. A disciple named Xiaolong, the youngest, exclaimed, "This is truly a paradise."
Xu Lei looked at the village ahead without speaking, his expression serious.
In a nearby field, an old man was still hoeing the land.
"Hello, uncle," Xiaolong waved and greeted him.
The old man just looked up at them, ignored them, and continued to farm.
"Elder Xu, don't you find this village a bit creepy?" Yu Daochen asked, looking at the houses ahead.
Xu Lei nodded in agreement, "I also find it a bit creepy. It seems too quiet. Anything unusual must have a reason."
Yu Daochen smiled faintly and looked at the figure ahead, "Aren't there people waiting for us ahead? We'll know if we ask."
In front of the village entrance, an old man leaned on his cane, watching the approaching crowd.
When they reached him, the old man looked at them and asked, "I am the village chief of Xiapo Village. May I ask why you are here?"
Yu Daochen and Xu Lei exchanged glances and nodded.
Xu Lei asked, "Grandpa, isn't this village called Luoshui Slope?"
The old man shook his head, "No, the village above is Luoshui Slope. Our village is called Xiapo Village."
"Grandpa, have you seen two groups of people pass through Xiapo Village in the past few days?" Yu Daochen asked.
The old man thought for a moment and nodded, "We rarely have outsiders in our village. A week ago, two groups of people did pass through Xiapo Village."
Hearing this news, Yu Daochen glanced at Xu Lei beside him.
It seemed they had found the right place.
"How far is Luoshui Slope from here?"
Xu Lei asked, planning to reach Luoshui Slope before dark.
The old man shook his head, "Luoshui Slope is still about four hours away. You won't be able to make it before dark."
Xu Lei was helpless. It seemed they would have to wait until tomorrow morning to continue their journey.
"Does the village have any places to stay? Of course, we won't stay for free, we can pay," Xu Lei inquired.
The old man shook his head helplessly, "Our village has a rule that outsiders are not allowed to stay."
Xu Lei frowned, confused, "Why is that? If it's about money, you can name your price."
"It's not about money," the old man shook his head and began to explain.
"Three years ago, an outsider came to our village. We treated him well and arranged for him to stay with a family. But that person killed the entire family of four and set the house on fire. Since then, the village has had a rule against outsiders staying in the village."
Hearing this, the disciple named Xiaolong said, "Grandpa, we are not bad people. We just need a place to stay for the night and will leave tomorrow."
The old man shook his head and sighed, "Young man, you must have heard the saying 'once bitten by a snake, you fear a well rope for ten years'."
Seeing that lodging was unlikely, Yu Daochen asked, "Then, Grandpa, are there any places to rest nearby?"
The old man thought for a moment and pointed to a direction on the edge of the village, "There is a dilapidated mountain god temple over there where you can rest."
Yu Daochen glanced at it and decided to go to the mountain god temple first, "Thank you, Grandpa."
Just as everyone was about to leave, the old man suddenly said, "Since it's still early, why don't you all come into the village for a drink and something to eat?"