There was definitely something wrong with this water.
But we could not refuse to take the bowls. It was an act of kindness on their part.
Holding my bowl, I did not drink from it right away. Instead, I asked the old man, "Sir, how many people are there in your village now?"
"You mean the people still in the village? Around twenty-something, fewer than thirty."
That really was small. Natural villages like this had become rare even across all of Great Xia.
"Have a seat. I'll take a walk around the village." With that, he stood up. I said, "You're still going out this late?"
"Sigh, I can't help it. I'm in charge of village security, and I've gotten into the habit over the years. I can't sleep easy without making a round through the village."
With that, he left. Only Qin Song and I remained in the room. Qin Song quickly took the bowl from my hand, walked outside, and poured the water into the courtyard.
"This village is so quiet. It feels completely lifeless."
Qin Song nodded at my words. "Although we did see lights in the village when we came in, it feels heavy with Death Qi. It doesn't feel like a place where people live at all."
And this old man was strange too. Since he was responsible for village security, how could he have no sense of caution at all? We were two strangers, yet he had brought us straight into their village. Was he not worried that we might be bad people?
In any case, neither Qin Song nor I felt at ease. Qin Song even suspected that the old man was not a local at all, and that this village had long since lost all signs of life. It was an abandoned