To Ye Bugui's surprise, the villagers were not the indifferent people often seen in horror movies.
They all looked very lively, and there was even a bold little girl who smiled at them.
If this weren't a dungeon, Ye Bugui would have thought it was a hospitable and simple mountain village.
“They are all human beings,” Lu Shi suddenly said. “I just checked them carefully, and they are not ghosts.”
Just then, an elderly man with a white beard walked towards them.
The white-bearded old man swept his gaze across the three men's faces, his expression so gloomy that it was easy to picture a vulture, a bird of prey.
Lu Shi felt somewhat uncomfortable when he was being scrutinized.
"Are you tourists?" the old man asked with a smile, his tone suggesting that he thought it was a very good thing that tourists were coming.
“Of course,” Ye Bugui replied, clearing his throat and making up a story on the spot: “I plan to invest here and build a resort.”
The old man smiled even more broadly, showing no hostility towards outsiders whatsoever.
This even made viewers in the live stream wonder if there really was such a terrible curse in such a village.
"Really? That's wonderful! Our village desperately needs to spread this word so more people can know about it!"
“Since it’s a tourist village,” Lu Shi said at the opportune moment, “I’d like to know, besides the natural scenery, what other features does our village have?”
The old man stroked his white beard, then suddenly patted his chest and proudly announced:
"This is our village's forte. We have many local earth god temples. In other places, a village might have at most one. But our village is different. Every household digs a cellar and builds an earth god temple in their home. I think this is a unique feature that you can't find anywhere else."
After hearing what the old man said, everyone else in the village showed strange expressions.
Lu Shi took their reactions to heart, then smiled and said, "If that's the case, it will be much more convenient. I think everyone will definitely be interested in our village."
“Since you three are honored guests,” the old man said, leading them into the village and continuing onward, “you must try the cooking of Aunt Gao. She’s the best cook in our village!”
"Really?" Ghost Asura suddenly spoke, then touched his stomach and let out a gurgling sound.
“Of course.” The old man laughed, turned around and said to the three distinguished guests, “I forgot to introduce myself. I am the village chief. If you encounter any problems in the village, you can come to me. I will definitely answer your questions.”
None of the three were surprised; they had actually guessed the other's true identity long ago.
Led by the village chief, they entered a bungalow.
Even before they reached the door, they could smell the aroma of food wafting from inside.
Chapter 106
☪ Malice 2
Gao Sanniang was a very tall and sturdy peasant woman; her height was comparable to that of a man.
When she heard that distinguished guests had arrived in the village, Gao Sanniang had already started preparing in advance.
He guessed that the old man, who was also the village chief, would definitely bring this group of people over.
?
When Gao Sanniang saw the three people who came, she immediately put a steamer of buns on their plate.
The aroma was rich and unique, and even the taciturn Ghost Asura couldn't help but swallow his saliva at this moment.
"Eat it while it's hot!" Although Gao Sanniang looked somewhat fierce, she spoke very gently.
In addition, her admirable culinary skills add another layer of feminine brilliance to her.
Ghost Asura couldn't wait any longer, so he lowered his head and reached out to grab a few buns to eat.
However, Lu Shi was even faster. Before Gui Xiuluo could eat, he whispered a reminder to him:
"Wait a minute, let me take a look before I eat."
Lu Shi's subtext was already quite obvious, and even the experienced Ghost Asura felt somewhat ashamed.
How could he forget that you absolutely cannot eat anything in a dungeon?
Some things, once they enter your body, may have unexpected effects.
Despite being suspected, Gao Sanniang wasn't angry at all. She looked at the three people with a smile and continued:
"You guys must have read too many ghost stories. You don't actually suspect that I'm selling human flesh buns, do you?!"
As she spoke, she walked to the kitchen, took out a bowl of minced meat, and placed it in front of them.
“You can examine it carefully; it’s all just ordinary pork.”
Despite her straightforwardness, Gao Sanniang did not dispel Lu Shi's doubts.
For Lu Shi, he had encountered too many people like Gao Sanniang who pretended to be open and honest but were actually cunning and treacherous.
Without his personal inspection, Lu Shi would never have so easily dispelled his doubts.
Ye Bugui continued chatting with the village chief, boldly envisioning his resort plan.
The village chief listened intently, and even applauded Ye Bugui when he heard the part about Ye Bugui's deep affection.
Based on his feedback, Ye Bugui even suspected that the village chief might be deceived because he was too naive.
At this moment, Ye Bugui changed the subject and suddenly asked, "Village Chief, you're being so good to me now. If other people come to invest in the future, will you still have the same attitude? I can't control what they do. But if it's a resort, I hope that I'm the only one from our village who can run it."
The village chief smiled, seemingly unsurprised by Ye Bugui's sudden hardening of his stance.
"Actually, besides you, other people have come to our village recently."
This was what Ye Bugui really wanted to ask, and upon hearing this, he couldn't help but laugh to himself.
However, judging from Ye Bugui's facial expression, he had hidden his true thoughts very well.
"Who are they?" Ye Bugui raised an eyebrow, asking with a hint of disdain, "They wouldn't be like me, claiming to be an investor, would they?"
At this moment, Lu Shi had already broken the bun open, and the aroma inside exploded like a bomb, filling the entire room.
Even Ye Bugui, who had little appetite, felt a little hungry.
Lu Shi frowned; this really wasn't human flesh.
However, the aroma is perhaps too strong, making it easy to suspect issues with the ingredients.
"So, is everything alright?" Gao Sanniang looked at Lu Shi with a smile, as if waiting for his explanation: "Or do you think the aroma is off? Then you'll have to mention my family's secret recipe. Unfortunately, it can't be passed on to outsiders."
"Gurgle..." Ghost Asura's stomach couldn't help but growl again, which made him feel embarrassed, and he planned to bury his head in the ground.
"Eat up," Lu Shi said resignedly. "It should be fine if you're really hungry."
Ghost Asura grunted in response, then grabbed a steamed bun with his hand without hesitation and stuffed it into his mouth.
Before long, Ghost Asura gave a thumbs up and commented quite objectively:
"It's delicious, you should try some!"
Lu Shi nodded, and he also picked up a steamed bun and took a bite.
It smells very good, and you can taste the pork.
Could it be that he guessed wrong, and that the people in this village are actually good?
As for the curse, did it come from a stranger?
That has to be said, this is one possible approach.
After some probing by the village chief, Ye Bugui finally understood the situation.
It turns out that two other people had already been here before them.
“But these two are so disobedient!” The village chief glared, clearly having a lot of complaints about the two. “I’ve told them time and time again not to wander around, but they completely ignore me and still insist on going to the temple.”
"Fortunately, we acted in time, and these two people have now been arrested."
"Arrested?" Ye Bugui was quite surprised. He thought that the people in this village would always wear a kind exterior!
He never expected that the villagers would arrest him simply because he went to the temple.
To Ye Bugui, this incident undoubtedly sent a signal that there was something seriously wrong with the gods enshrined in their temple.
However, visiting the temple during the day is too risky, so they will probably have to wait until night to take action.
"Yes." The village chief snorted and stroked his long beard. "You don't need to be nervous. As long as you honored guests abide by our rules, our village is very hospitable."
Suddenly, Ye Bugui found a steamed bun near his mouth.
He looked down and saw that it was Lu Shi who handed him the steamed bun.
Despite having little appetite, Ye Bugui immediately took a bite. It was Lu Shi who fed it to him, so of course he had to eat it.
After eating the pork, Ye Bugui was surprised to find that his appetite had greatly increased.
At the same time, Gao Sanniang made a large plate of chicken.
She placed the plate on the table, and almost everyone's attention immediately fell on the plate of chicken.
Only after the village chief was quietly given some wine by Ye Bugui did Ye Bugui say with a smile:
"Village chief, where are those three rule-breaking guests you mentioned being held now? Could you take us there to see them?"
The village chief shook his head, his first reaction being to refuse Ye Bugui's request:
"No, they... you can't go to where they are. Besides, what's so interesting about a place like that? You're not planning to let them out, are you?"
Lu Shi suddenly placed his hand on the back of Ye Bugui's hand, and Ye Bugui said with a grin:
"Village chief, you're overthinking it. I'm just curious about their current situation, and I want to learn from it. Only in this way can we completely dispel our idea of wandering around the village, right?"
"Besides, the three of us are completely defenseless," Lu Shi lied without batting an eye. "Even if we did go to see them, we wouldn't have the ability to rescue them at all."
Sure enough, after hearing what they said, the already somewhat drunk village chief grunted in agreement.
"Alright, since you're so eager to see it, I'll take you. Just... just don't regret it!"
After the meal, the three of them followed the village chief to their next destination.
Throughout the journey, Lu Shi continued to carefully observe his surroundings.
To his surprise, he couldn't find a single house that looked different in the village.
It can be said that the houses where the villagers live are exactly the same, except for their different locations.