Having become wary, the pilgrimage team proceeded with extreme caution after entering the village.
Xuanzang looked around the village. Everything appeared perfectly normal.
There were children and women, as well as elderly men basking in the sun outside their thatched cottages.
Some of the children even screamed and ran away when they saw Zhu Bajie and the Black Bear Demon among the group.
Zhu Bajie cautiously muttered, "This doesn't look any different from the villages we encountered before, does it?"
"Idiot, be careful. Old Sun has already smelled danger!"
Sun Wukong cursed under his breath. Flames flickered within his eyes as he carefully watched every movement of the villagers around them.
Guanyin and the Buddhist Sect experts responsible for protecting the pilgrimage team from the sky were also discussing the matter.
"Bodhisattva, this village seems rather strange. If I remember correctly, this village wasn't here before!"
Hearing the Dragon Subduing Arhat's explanation, Guanyin frowned. Her powers of observation were far greater than Sun Wukong's Fiery Golden Eyes.
The villagers' auras seemed to be concealed by something, and even she could not see through their true nature.
"This is likely someone's little scheme. We must ensure Xuanzang and Wukong's safety. As for the others... protect them as best we can!"
Naturally, this information also reached Xiao Zhen's true body in the Heavenly Court. He began searching through every tribulation in Journey to the West in his mind, but there seemed to be no similar case.
"System, check what's happening on the avatar's side."
At that moment, an unknown light flashed through the spinning eyes of the avatar seated atop the White Dragon Horse.
The Adventure System's Eye of Investigation swept across the entire village and quickly reported several anomalies to Xiao Zhen.
Looking through the chaotic information sent by the system,