"Is it dead?" Kevin sat in the living room, his gaze falling on the Red Finch before him. At this moment, the Red Finch was completely devoid of life.
He unlocked the cage and held the Red Finch's body in his hands. Even though it was dead, the Red Finch's body was still hot to the touch, and it no longer felt soft like yesterday, but hard as iron, like an iron sculpture covered in feathers. Weighing it, the weight was also heavier than yesterday. However, the "desire" emanating from it was no different from yesterday.
"Why did it die overnight?" Kevin was full of questions. When he rested last night, the Red Finch still seemed full of energy, showing no signs of being unsuited to the external environment or being ill. After all, this was a creature possessing some kind of Nen ability, yet it died after only being caught for a day or two. It seemed far too fragile. If it was this fragile, how could it survive well in the wild?
"Could it be death caused by some kind of habit?" Kevin couldn't help muttering to himself. The main reason was that there were no records of the Red Finch's living habits, whether in literature or other various materials. Or was it because the environment here was different? This was indeed a question that needed to be considered, after all, this village was a sealed area.
"Forget it." Kevin no longer dwelled on it. In any case, this bird was originally intended to be used for medicine. Even if it didn't die for other reasons, Kevin would have dealt with it today, as living things cannot be used to make medicine. He sealed the Red Finch.
"Is this bird really that fragile? The literature says they are quite aggressive, don't they?" Menchi, who had just walked in, asked with a puzzled look. Generally speaking, creatures that are aggressive and can firmly occupy territory are mostly very resilient.
Kevin shrugged helplessly. "Who knows." Since the Red Finch was already dead, there was really nothing that could be done.
Kevin went downstairs. Bian Locke, who usually stayed at the counter, was talking to someone.
"Subsequent deliveries again—but the transportation of supplies has already finished, and it's almost time for the memorial ceremony." Bian Locke's voice carried a hint of helplessness.
"Brother!" A young girl's voice came, clearly filled with dissatisfaction. "The next supply delivery won't be until after the memorial ceremony! How can we wait that long? Find a way to get people from outside to send them in now. Don't you have extensive connections outside? Can't you even get this much?"
After a sigh, Bian Locke's voice became even more helpless, but he had clearly compromised. "Alright, alright, I'll think of a way, see how I can do it."
"Okay, I'm counting on you, Brother. The sooner it's transported in, the better."
"Sigh, alright—after the memorial ceremony—do you want to take over the inn?" No one responded.
At this moment, Kevin had already walked out. The person speaking was Bian Locke standing at the door, and the person he was talking to was a girl dressed in a similar maid outfit, about half a head shorter than him. ? Did such maid outfits exist hundreds of years ago? Kevin mused inwardly.
Taking advantage of Kevin's appearance, the girl looked at him, then nodded slightly as a greeting, and continued, "Then I won't disturb your work, Brother. Remember to be quick." After speaking, she nodded slightly toward Kevin's direction again, bowed, and then quickly left.
Bian Locke looked at his sister's retreating figure, sighed, and then turned to look at Kevin beside him. "That's my younger sister, Lorian."
"She's a very lively girl," Kevin said. Hearing this, Bian Locke glanced at him, with an expression as if asking: What nonsense are you talking about. "Forget it, it's better if she's not so lively."
The two walked back into the house and sat casually at a table and chairs. Bian Locke poured Kevin a cup of tea.
"Oh, the taste is very unique." As the strange tea entered his mouth, a feeling of invigoration arose spontaneously. Hearing Kevin's evaluation, Bian Locke's face showed a proud expression. "This can be considered my specialty, right? It's not bad, is it? From planting and picking to the final production, I did it all myself. It can also be considered my personal specialty, hehe."
Kevin took another sip. The refreshing and lingering sweet taste was indeed wonderful. Even though he didn't know much about tea, he couldn't help praising, "Good tea! Amazing. Do the people in your village all have their own special skills in terms of food and drink?" Kevin couldn't help guessing this, as this was indeed a characteristic of this village.
Bian Locke thought for a moment, then nodded. "More or less. Even someone like me, who doesn't delve too deeply into cooking, has similar personal preferences for taste." It was indeed true. No wonder this place was called the Food Village.
"Bian Locke's tea is quite good, isn't it?" Menchi, who had come down at some point, asked with a smile. It was clear that she and Buhara had already tasted it over the past few days. Kevin nodded.
Bian Locke also poured a cup for Gawain, who came down afterwards.
"How did that bird die?" Gawain asked curiously. He hadn't seen the Red Finch in the living room just now and thought it had flown away—he was truly startled. Kevin just shook his head helplessly.
At this moment, Bian Locke put down his teacup. "It was likely killed by the village's curse." As soon as these words were spoken, the scene instantly fell silent.
How to put it—Kevin and the others might not be very clear, but for Menchi and the others, the word "curse" was undoubtedly an absolute taboo in the village. On the surface, these villagers seemed not to care, and their lives were not bad, but how could they truly not care? This small village confined them for their entire lives and even affected their descendants. How could they be completely unaffected? The behavior of the vagrant at the entrance was more like a normal attitude.
Seeing the atmosphere suddenly become quiet, Bian Locke sighed and waved his hand. "A few years ago, I might have still cared, but now it doesn't matter. A curse is a curse—it's there. Even if we pretend not to see it, will it disappear?"
After speaking, he continued with the previous topic. "This piece of information is one million." Without waiting for Kevin to transfer the money, he started talking on his own. "The village has a curse, I believe you all know that. But this curse is not only aimed at us villagers; it's the same for creatures from outside. Perhaps because you are humans, you weren't affected, but living animals that enter the village quickly die. Even a Thunder Beast the size of a mountain cannot survive for more than three days in the village."
The so-called Thunder Beast is the largest creature in the entire Secret Realm. Describing it as a "moving small mountain" is no exaggeration. Thunder Beasts are huge in size, have tenacious vitality, and can even summon heavenly thunder when enraged. It can be said that they stand at the top of the ecosystem in this Secret Realm. However, their numbers are extremely scarce, not exceeding the number of fingers on one hand in the entire Secret Realm. It is said that these Thunder Beasts have long since stopped breeding offspring. They were the batch bred hundreds of years ago.
"In a sense, we should even be thankful for this curse. After all, it didn't directly take our lives, did it?" Bian Locke said with a bitter smile, making a joke.
After hearing these words, Kevin nodded slightly. This was quite consistent with some of his conjectures.
"Since you don't mind, what exactly is this curse?" Menchi didn't stand on ceremony and asked directly. Previously, because the villagers avoided talking about the curse, Menchi had given up asking and planned to explore it herself. Now that someone didn't mind, it was better to ask him directly and get a clear answer.
"I thought you would ask right away. I didn't expect you could hold back for so long," Bian Locke said with a smile. The Hunters who came in the past usually asked about those few types of information at the beginning. "I'm not sure exactly which year the village was cursed. I only know that one day, our ancestors suddenly could no longer leave the village. Roughly estimated, it should have been between two hundred and seventy to two hundred and eighty years ago. As for what the curse specifically is, we don't know. We only know that the villagers and their descendants can no longer leave this place. Or rather, once they leave, they will definitely die. As soon as they step out of the village, the curse will activate."
As he was speaking, the sound of a bell ringing came from outside, accompanied by a long and slightly mournful song. Bian Locke looked outside the door and suddenly asked, "Do you want to go take a look? About the curse." Hearing this, everyone turned their attention toward the door.
"If possible, of course," Kevin replied directly.
Bian Locke led everyone outside the door. They saw a large number of villagers gathered on the street outside. In the center walked a group of people dressed in black and white clothes, wearing various animal masks on their faces. Walking at the very front was an old man, whose attire looked exceptionally formal and magnificent. The people dressed in black and white on both sides silently sang a song, shaking bells in their hands. The surrounding villagers also quietly followed behind.
Seeing this scene, the few people exchanged glances and then silently followed behind the crowd. Combining Bian Locke's words just now with the current scene, there was a strange feeling of a funeral procession, except there was no coffin. The few people were not foolish. They could see that the old man walking at the very front was very old, and his ability to move at all relied entirely on the support of his Nen ability.
Following the procession all the way to the end of the village, some simple facilities had already been set up here, and various items suspected of being used for funerals were hung. Due to different ethnic customs, Kevin and the others were not very clear about their specific uses, but they were mostly related to funerals.
At the boundary, a soft mat was placed. The old man in luxurious clothes walked over and sat steadily on the soft mat, appearing to be resting with his eyes closed. The Nen on his body slowly dispersed and then condensed again. Even maintaining basic [En] seemed extremely difficult. Those dressed in different clothes around him, who seemed to be his family, were all kneeling beside him, their heads bowed.
At this moment, a rustling sound came.
Kevin frowned slightly, as if sensing something, and looked in that direction. They saw a silvery metal sedan chair slowly approaching. Below were four strong sedan chair bearers dressed in white robes. Sitting on the sedan chair was a girl, so beautiful that it was hard to look away.
She had pure white, smooth, and lustrous long white hair. On her flawless face, a pair of red eyes, like gemstones, were particularly striking. She was wearing relatively fitted white clothing, adorned with silver ornaments. The fitted robe covered her up to her knees, and her jade-like calves hung casually. Her bare feet were also painted with silver nail polish. Pure, alluring, poignant, delicate—a strange combination of temperaments merged wonderfully on her, yet somehow harmoniously, making her appear both mature and with a hint of youthfulness.
Hiss~ White hair, red eyes, bare feet. Kevin secretly clicked his tongue and silently withdrew his gaze. However, the girl sitting on the sedan chair had her eyes on them. Seeing these four unfamiliar faces, Menchi and the others openly sized them up, but Kevin quietly withdrew his gaze. The girl's gaze lingered on Kevin for a moment, and she slightly smiled.
"Is that the Saintess?" Menchi murmured. Hearing this, Kevin turned to look at her, a puzzled expression on his face. "What Saintess? Isn't this a village of chefs? Why is there a religious figure?"
Seeing Kevin's gaze, Buhara explained, "Though it's strange, there is indeed the term 'Saintess.' However, there is no religion here, only this one Saintess. Anyway, the villagers all call her that. Look at that small castle over there—that's the Saintess's residence." However, the two only knew this basic information and nothing else.
With the arrival of the Saintess, the villagers in the square immediately quieted down, and everyone bowed their heads slightly. Seeing this situation, Kevin and the other three followed suit. Though everyone had their heads bowed, before the Saintess made her appearance, Kevin quickly glanced at the villagers' expressions. Though not very obvious, everyone's attitude seemed to be different.
The sedan chair stopped, and the Saintess gently rose. Her feet did not touch the ground. The chair she was sitting on slowly floated into the air, moving toward the boundary in a forward-leaning posture. At this moment, Kevin raised his head and squinted slightly. He felt he hadn't seen wrongly—the Saintess was actually sitting on a snake's rear end. It was this snake's Nen ability that was supporting her in the air. Moreover, this snake seemed to inherently possess the ability [In], so it was invisible to the naked eye. However, with so many villagers here, and a group of Nen users at that, Kevin didn't believe no one knew how to use [Gyo], so this shouldn't be considered a secret.
The Saintess floated over to the old man, closed her eyes, and murmured as if praying. After speaking, the sound of bells rang again. The family members who had been kneeling on both sides fell into grief, and all the villagers raised their heads to look. They saw the old man slowly stand up, turn his head to look at his family on both sides, said nothing, and then slowly walk toward the outside of the village.
At this moment, Kevin fully activated [Gyo]. He wanted to see what this curse was all about. Not only him, but Menchi and the others beside him were also observing carefully.
As the old man crossed the boundary, the Nen on his body instantly expanded, spreading outward recklessly. Some dark grudges were mixed within the Nen, drifting away. The essence of these grudges seemed no different from the original grudges in the village. The old man walked silently, the Nen on his body expanding further. The so-called expansion did not mean that his amount of Nen increased, but rather the range of Nen erupting outward was getting larger and larger.
Finally, a cry came from the sky. By this time, the old man had walked very far, and they could only see a blurry figure from behind. A giant bird, like an eagle, swooped down like a silver lightning bolt. More creatures were rushing from all directions. Soon, the old man was submerged by these animals. Immediately after, these animals began to fight each other. Some villagers had already started leaving one after another. They seemed to have long been accustomed to this scene.
"So this is your funeral culture?" Gawain asked, watching quietly. Bian Locke beside him nodded slightly. "However, it's not that old as a culture. It's said that this method has only been practiced for less than one hundred and fifty years. In recent years, more and more elderly people choose to die this way. They believe that only then can their souls return to the outside world, and they won't return here after reincarnation."
As expected, the cause of this culture was all too clear. Confined in the village, no one would not yearn for freedom. But when freedom is closely linked to death, freedom naturally comes after life. Moreover, living in the village was not difficult either.
"So the curse you mentioned is that leaving the village will cause powerful animals outside the village to target you?"
Bian Locke nodded. "Just like we pursue those delicacies, we are now being targeted by those 'delicacies.' It's quite ironic, isn't it?" These words caused the few people to fall silent. This statement was indeed very ironic, and one has to admit, it's somewhat self-inflicted.
After all, this is in the Secret Realm, and the powerful creatures in the Secret Realm were mostly what they had previously raised around them. Otherwise, the situation of dying as soon as they left the boundary wouldn't occur. Logically, if the animals around were weaker, leaving the boundary would only involve some risks. The problem is that there are simply too many powerful creatures in the Secret Realm, and this is precisely what they themselves caused. It is extremely ironic. For a moment, Kevin didn't know how to comment.