Although Zhang Nu was a bit skeptical, he still followed Liu Hai back to the village. He trusted that Liu Hai wouldn’t deceive him, and if Liu Hai was saying this, it meant the villagers had finally accepted him and acknowledged he was no threat to them.
As Zhang Nu walked closely behind Liu Hai, he had many questions he wanted to ask, but he sensed that Liu Hai wouldn’t answer them right away. Only once they reached the village would he know the full story.
When they finally arrived, Liu Hai led him straight to the old woman they had spoken to previously. At the sight of her, Zhang Nu instinctively took a step back, fearing that she might turn on him. He knew these elders in the village were not as simple as they appeared; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to ascend Nine Fox Ridge so easily.
The old woman noticed Zhang Nu’s reaction, and a trace of disappointment crossed her face. Yet she didn’t blame him, understanding that this was all due to her own actions. She had driven him away without reason, so his wariness was justified.
“Child, I know now that I was wrong,” she said gently. “It was foolish of me to send you away without considering the truth. I hope you can forgive me.”
Hearing these words, Zhang Nu quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, the old woman wasn’t setting a trap for him. It seemed Liu Hai’s words were indeed true, and the elder had genuinely begun to accept him.
“Granny, what are you saying? You were just being cautious for the sake of the village, which is completely understandable,” Zhang Nu replied. “But why the sudden change of heart?”
The old woman realized that Liu Hai hadn’t informed Zhang Nu of everything, which was probably for the best. After all, it was they who needed Zhang Nu’s help, so it was only right for them to explain the situation directly. They felt genuinely ashamed for once insisting on driving him away, only to now ask for his assistance. But with no other options left, they could only hope Zhang Nu would agree to help.
“Sigh… I know asking this of you now might make you resent me,” the elder said heavily. “But we have no other choice. Recently, the children in our village have suddenly started disappearing. We don’t know what’s happening, but we hope you might help us investigate.”
Zhang Nu was taken aback by the old woman’s words. He hadn’t anticipated such a situation, and the thought that the village’s children had gone missing without reason left him shocked.
“Granny, what do you mean?” he asked. “How could the village’s children have all gone missing? Are we dealing with something supernatural?”
The old woman nodded. Indeed, there had been strange events in the village recently. Although they could manage the situation for now, they desperately needed a way to resolve it.
“You’re right,” she replied. “Recently, there have been some strange occurrences in the village… Not long ago, the children suddenly disappeared without a trace. When we finally located them, they were reduced to nothing but bones, with not a single piece of flesh remaining.”
Zhang Nu was taken aback by the old woman’s words. How could any creature devour an entire human body so quickly?
“How is that even possible?” he asked. “Even under unnatural circumstances, the flesh of a body wouldn’t completely disappear within just two days.”
Everyone was well aware of how implausible this sounded, which was exactly why they had reached out to Zhang Nu. Somehow, they felt he possessed a mysterious strength that could help. Now that they understood Zhang Nu posed no threat to the village, they were convinced he might actually be able to save them from this predicament.
Zhang Nu realized how challenging this would be. On his own, he doubted he could solve this mystery, and he didn’t want the villagers to place all their hopes on him alone.
“Granny,” he began, “I’ll do everything I can to help. But I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to resolve this entirely, especially since we don’t yet know what we’re dealing with.”
The elder nodded, relieved that Zhang Nu was willing to investigate. His support was already more than they had hoped for. As for the final outcome, they knew it would ultimately fall on them to handle whatever lay ahead.
“We understand,” she replied. “We’re grateful for any help you can give.”