NOVEL WEB Chapter 61: Entering the Village
“An ancient magician’s tomb?” Pierre was shocked. A reason like that had never crossed his mind. That explained why the town was full of adventurers.
“First a holy beast egg, now an ancient tomb. It’s hard to believe they’re both happening here.”
Pierre nodded at Jier’s words. It was odd that two events as significant as these would happen near a border town as small as theirs. That an ancient tomb surfaced was also incredibly exciting news. But this was inconsequential compared to saving Clara. They needed to focus on what was important. “Whether it’s a coincidence or not, our priority is to find the murderer and clear Miss Clara Wenda’s name.”
Jier nodded. They came for a mission, and that mission was to find Mrs. Malin’s murderer.
“Getting back on topic, we found some really good leads at Mrs. Malin’s villa. It should give us some direction.” Jier had already started forming a plan based on the what Feng Wu said.
“From what Miss Feng Wu told us… the only thing we know is that the murderer is wearing female human skin. We don’t know that person’s identity. I do not know if it could have been Ms. Dusha or not.” Perhaps it was Ms. Dusha. Who else would have an agenda against Mrs. Malin other than Ms. Dusha. Maybe she did it to take over as the new wife.
In fact, Mr. Wenda didn’t waste time making his mistress the new lady of the house, ceremonially carrying her over the threshold while Clara was detained by investigators. With his first wife dead and the daughter from that marriage jailed, there was nothing in his way.
At first Pierre was just annoyed at Mr. Wenda’s disregard of Clara’s plight, but the ceremony made him ashamed to even know the other man. Pierre sighed. He was conflicted and unsure what to think. Before meeting Dusha, Wenda had been a fine man. It was only after meeting her that he began behaving abominably. How could people be so fickle? It made Pierre’s faith in humanity waver.
“To take a new wife so soon?” Jier’s opinion of Mr. Wenda was very low. “What kind of person is this Ms. Dusha?”
“She seemed like a gentle and kind-hearted lady the two times I met her. But then again, she can’t be very kind if she was scheming to take someone else’s husband.”
“Is there a way for us to meet her?”
“Yes. There will be a birthday party for the mayor’s daughter in two days. Anyone with connections will be there. You and Miss Feng Wu can come as my guests.”
Feng Wu stood very quietly to the side not engaging in the conversation. It was only because Jier knew it was her habit to be silent that he knew she was indeed paying close attention to their conversation, anyone else would have looked at her blank stare and thought she was spacing out.
They talked about the party a little more before finally calling it for the night and retiring to their respective rooms.
Feng Wu pulled Little White and Little Bun out from her dimensional ring once she got inside her room. Little Bun had been unhappy to have to go inside, so to be shut in it for the entire day… he was very grouchy! He came out in a flood of tears, the anger at being neglected clear in his eyes. He cried and cried for an hour before Feng Wu was finally able to coax him silent again.
He eventually tired himself out and dozed off to sleep thinking about Feng Wu: Mama bad! Always locking me up…wuuu wuuu…
Little White took over and carried Little Bun around the room, rocking him gently up and down.
Feng Wu watched them as she thought about her own mission: find the bad people who kidnapped the girls and bring the girls back home. It seemed simple. She thought about it some more before taking a shower and going to bed.
The next morning Feng Wu woke up earlier than usual. She went downstairs with Little White and Little Bun trailing behind her. This was because yesterday was too much for Little Bun. He would rather die than go back inside the ring. As a result, Feng Wu could only have Little White carry him along as she went downstairs.
Like everyone else, Pierre and Matron La were both shocked to discover that Feng Wu was the baby’s mother. Both had the same thoughts: what was this world coming to, that a girl so young was already a mother?
Since the birthday party was not for another two days, Feng Wu and Jier decided to work on the mission with the missing girls. They both thought it would be quick and simple, a nice break for their brains from the current mission about Clara.
It wouldn’t work to bring Little Bun along, so they left him and Little White under Pierre and Matron La’s care while they headed north to Ice-Rime, the village with the missing girls.
Ice-Rime was small village of about a thousand people whose main livelihood depended on growing a type of winterberry fruit indigenous to the region. The winterberry variant they grew was commonly used in cooking and winemaking; in fact, many wine merchants visited the country specifically to purchase the berries. The demand allowed the people of Ice-Rime to make a comfortable living. It was a good life that turned hellish when the girls began disappearing.
The village chief increased security by gathering a troop of strong young men to patrol the area. It was no use though as the girls continued to go missing. The chief was so anxious his hair turned prematurely white.
Every single person in the village was at their wits end, so they pooled their money together to request the help of a strong adventurer.
Jier and Feng Wu rushed to the village, but they were met with hostility when they arrived.
“Who are you and what you want here?” asked a woman. She was clearly tense and leery of them. The other villagers surrounding the kids were equally unwelcoming, some even pulling out their weapons.
This was normal since the villagers were on edge over the disappearances. The appearance of any stranger would make them nervous.
Jier knew how to play this. He easily adopted the image of a gentle and refined young man. “Your village issued a mission at the guild headquarters. We are the adventurers who accepted that request.”