The Erased Person
Day seven dawned.
The villagers did not understand why they had houses but insisted on staying in the drafty pavilion, yet they respected their choice. The children and young people who had grown familiar with the painted woman over the past two days even brought them some breakfast.
Xu Huo benefited from this as well and did not have to gnaw on dry rations himself.
The other Players also began cooking.
When traveling, they rarely prepared fresh vegetables. After all, cooking took time, so they mostly bought convenient dry rations or meal packs.
The rich aroma of food spread throughout the village.
Several children nearby were almost drooling, but the Players did not share any with them. Meal packs were different from snacks like candy; some of their ingredients could not be eaten by everyone. If an allergic reaction occurred, they did not want to bear responsibility.
"We're going mushroom picking later." A little girl leaned against the painted woman and said, "It was foggy yesterday, so the mushrooms must have grown really well today."
"It was foggy yesterday?" the painted woman asked curiously. "I saw fog everywhere."
The little girl had some practical experience. "When the fog moves, that means it's falling. Ordinary fog doesn't move."
Air currents moved slowly in the forest, and no wind blew through, so the fog looked as if it had solidified in midair. As for the moving fog, it might have been caused by a Player using an item in the forest.
The little girl invited the painted woman to go mushroom picking with her. Children were not allowed to go too far by the adults, and even when they went mushroom picking, several adults had to accompany them. Today, several of the village's older women were taking them.
"Sure,