The church was not far from the tavern. As the most conspicuous building in the village, it stood in the center, and since it housed the shrine to the God of Life, it should have been bustling in theory.
But when the group hurried over, they could clearly sense how sparse the surrounding population was. The nearby homes were obviously deserted, and the only building close by was a tavern.
The tavern's doors were tightly shut, but there were clearly people inside. With a brief glance, Chen Shanshan could see several pairs of brownish-yellow eyes, just like the old woman's, cautiously watching them from the shadows behind the cracks in the door and windows.
The scene made Chen Shanshan very uncomfortable. She disliked eyes of that color—withered and lifeless, as though belonging to walking corpses. They looked just like things that had crawled out of the soil.
It would have been understandable if the old woman had such eyes. After all, when people reached the end of their natural lives, wasn't it normal for them to have that zombie-like gaze? But the villagers peering through those cracks were clearly all young and strong.
There was definitely something wrong with this village.
"Why have that group come again? Didn't they enter the church earlier and never come back out?"
"Exactly. Those people clearly already—"
"Maybe they just look alike. Who knows where these monsters came from? The king insists on trusting them and even hired them as knights. I said they were suspicious. Look, even the gods have become angry."
"Shh, keep your voice down. Don't let them hear you. They're all knight lords. If you offend them, they can cut off your head."
"Then let them cut it off. There's no way to live like this anymore. My daughter and