"Oh?"
"Please enlighten me, Master Jin."
Master Liao clasped his hands in greeting and asked mildly.
Master Jin's leather boots crunched dully over the snow. He glanced at Master Liao, and seeing the earnest look on his face, continued:
"Whenever we pass by any villages."
"Don't go in."
"Don't get close, either."
"And absolutely do not speak to the people inside. Better yet, don't even look too closely."
Master Liao's expression changed slightly. "Can't even look?"
"Will something happen if you do?"
"You could say that." Master Jin nodded, his tone more solemn than ever. "Whether you approach the village, speak with its residents, or simply stare at it for too long..."
"They all create a connection."
"The more connections you make, the harder it will be to resist walking over there."
"The village will look no different from any ordinary village. There are houses, smoke curling from chimneys, figures moving about, children playing at the entrance, women drawing water by the well..."
"Everything looks so normal that it feels almost unnatural."
"But as long as you interact with that village and establish some kind of connection between the two of you..."
"Problems will arise."
"The deeper the connection."
"The more likely you are to develop a strange thought."
"This place is nice."
"Why not rest here for a while?"
At that, Master Jin paused.
His expression did not change much, but his voice grew considerably lower. "Once that thought appears, it becomes extremely dangerous. If you fail to deal with it..."
"Then no matter how others call out to you or pull at you..."
"You won't hear them."
"You'll keep walking, and walking, until you enter that village and walk into one of the houses inside."
"And from then on, you'll vanish from this world."
Two men in the