Talking to Thin Air, Erha

"What important matter?" the man asked.

Yangjin looked at me, seemingly waiting for my next move.

In her view, if negotiations broke down, I would definitely make a move.

But I did not. Instead, I told the man the truth.

When he heard that the people of Yukang Village had all gone missing, he seemed startled as well. "Missing? When did that happen? How come I don't know about it? I passed through Yukang Village this morning, and there were clearly people in the village."

He had actually been to Yukang Village.

And it had been that very morning.

"How many villagers did you see?"

"About four or five. One of them was an old acquaintance of mine, and I even chatted with him for a bit. But he never mentioned anything about people in the village going missing."

That was rather strange.

But he had only seen five or six people in the village. It was very possible they were the people we had rescued.

We had rescued seven people in total, and Yangjin was right beside me. That meant there were only six people left in Yukang Village.

Only then did I turn to the man and say, "There's a hidden passage here leading underground. I want to check whether those people who were taken away are being held in the dungeon."

The moment I said that, the man became uncomfortable.

"That won't do. Why should I let you go down there?"

Yangjin snapped, "Who are you? Why do you keep trying to stop us?"

The man said calmly, "This is my home. I'm merely protecting my own home."

Another person who regarded this place as his own home.

Yangjin narrowed her eyes at the aged fellow. "You're saying this is your home?"

The man nodded. "That's right.