Who Had Gone Mad?

"How many days have you been in this village?"

"When you said something felt wrong, what exactly did you mean?"

"Those companions of yours from the Heavenly Prison-have you checked their identities with them?"

The Man in Brocade kept talking, his gaze grave as he fired off one question after another.

His eyes stayed fixed on Ye Wuyou.

Even knowing that something was wrong with him, the Man in Brocade was desperate to wring even the tiniest scrap of information out of Ye Wuyou.

Ye Wuyou nodded, his expression seemingly turning serious as well. He tilted his head and widened his eyes, apparently lost in thought.

The madman's deliberations did not last long.

Ye Wuyou frowned and said earnestly,

"A few days. Seven or eight, I guess? I don't know either, but it's always been a peaceful night. The Werewolves never kill anyone at night.

As for things being wrong, there's far too much wrong here.

I keep asking about their roles, but none of them will claim one!

I'm the only one claiming Seer, and nobody follows my lead. This team is impossible to carry."

The Man in Brocade had listened attentively at first, but by the end, his face had fallen.

A trace of murderous intent suddenly surfaced on his gloomy face.

But he soon calmed down.

Heaven only knew what would happen if he killed someone in this uncanny village.

A sliver of regret crept into his heart. Could this fellow's unusual behavior really be nothing more than madness?

"It's getting dark."

The voice from in front of him interrupted his thoughts.

Ye Wuyou stared at him, then whispered furtively,

"Let me tell you, when it gets dark, a bell rings."

A bell?

The Man in Brocade froze, then grabbed Ye Wuyou.

"When does it ring? What does it sound like? Does anything happen?"

Perhaps his voice had been too loud. Footsteps approached from nearby, and Ye Wuyou slapped his hand away before pulling him off to one side.

"Come on, come on, let's go back to my place first. Those people are all mad. Talking to them is exhausting."

The Man in Brocade did not refuse. A few minutes later, they arrived at Ye Wuyou's home.

It was a simple adobe house on the eastern side of the village.

The sky was gradually darkening, and there were far fewer figures outside. Presumably, everyone had gone home.

Something stirred in the Man in Brocade's mind. He noticed that the people living nearby were all members of their group who had come to Cloudmist Mountain.

For instance, just across a narrow path from Ye Wuyou lived Bai Lu, the woman from the Joyous Union Sect.

Next door were the people from the Heavenly Prison, followed by Tu Su of the Beast Taming Sect.

Whether by design or coincidence, they all lived in the same area.

But apart from Ye Wuyou, they all believed they were villagers here.

Of course, the boy before him might simply be a madman too.

The Man in Brocade entered the house. It was sparsely furnished: a bed and a battered wooden table with a drawer.

There was nothing else.

"Come in, come in. Sit, sit. Don't be shy. Make yourself at home." Ye Wuyou plopped onto the bed, paying no attention to whether his guest actually had a chair.

The Man in Brocade naturally refused to share a bed with a madman, but there were no chairs in the room, so he simply stood.

"What's this about a bell?"

"A bell? Hmm, let me think." Ye Wuyou blinked, apparently having forgotten what he had just said.

The Man in Brocade felt helpless, but all he could do now was wait quietly.

He was a Third Realm cultivator, after all, and had once been the personal disciple of the Thousand Illusions Sect's leader. There was no point getting angry with this madman.

As long as the madman could provide a little information and help him find a way out of the village, that would suffice.

As for whether these people ended up trapped here until they died afterward, what did that have to do with him?

"I remember now. Every night at midnight, I hear a bell ring. But whenever I ask the others, they say they didn't hear anything. They even laugh at me," Ye Wuyou said.

A bell at midnight?

The Thousand Illusions Purple-Gold Bell?

The Man in Brocade suddenly recalled that on his three previous attempts to leave the village, he had also abruptly lost consciousness at midnight, only to find himself back in the village the next day.

But he had never heard a bell.

A thoughtful look appeared in his eyes. He remembered clearly that he had only been in this village for three days, yet Ye Wuyou's first answer had been at least seven or eight.

Who had remembered wrong?

Hmph. The madman, obviously.

The Man in Brocade's gaze sharpened in an instant. He looked at Ye Wuyou and slowly asked,

"Does anything strange happen after you hear the bell? Or do you feel anything wrong with yourself?"

"Nope. Apart from feeling a little sleepy, everything's perfectly normal."

"But I can't wake the others no matter how much I shout. When I want to go out and party at midnight, there's nobody around," Ye Wuyou said blankly.

Sleepy? Impossible to wake?

If it really was the Thousand Illusions Purple-Gold Bell, his former sect's supreme treasure, how could hearing it merely make someone sleepy?

The Man in Brocade looked at the two dark circles beneath Ye Wuyou's eyes and frowned slightly.

"How do you know all this? Don't you sleep at night?"

Ye Wuyou blinked, then answered,

"Sleep? What sleep? How could anyone my age sleep?"

Then Ye Wuyou leaned closer and whispered,

"Whenever it gets dark, I don't sleep. Do you know why?"

"Because I need to keep my eyes open. I need to catch the Werewolves."

The Man in Brocade's gaze darkened. With a slight twitch of his fingertip, he sent Ye Wuyou flying onto the floor.

Madman though he was, he had at least provided some information.

He turned and opened the door, but a shout came from behind him.

"Where are you going?"

The Man in Brocade was about to answer, but then remembered he was dealing with a madman. He smiled and lifted his foot to leave.

"It's dark now. It's dangerous outside, and tonight might not be a peaceful night. Why don't you stay here?"

Sincerity shone in the madman's eyes. After some thought, the Man in Brocade did not refuse.

He had no intention of leaving this uncanny village tonight.

He would stay and listen for that midnight bell.

Remaining with the madman would also let him verify whether his words were true.

If there was no bell...

Then he would kill this madman before trying to escape the village again.

The two remained in the house, silently waiting for the sky to turn completely dark.

They exchanged a few desultory remarks in the meantime.

After some hesitation, the Man in Brocade mentioned that he knew Bai Lu and Tu Su, hoping to fish out some information.

But the answers he received were as mismatched as an ox's head on a horse's mouth, so he could only give up.

"Smack, smack."

After drinking the last mouthful of meat broth, Ye Wuyou wiped his mouth and turned toward the Man in Brocade, who had been standing by the door all this time.

"Aren't you eating?"

"You actually dare eat anything here?" The Man in Brocade sneered.

Some things looked like food, but who knew what they became once they entered your stomach?

Ye Wuyou shook his head and said smugly,

"I haven't eaten the food here either. I got this chicken from the Cloth-Clad Boy. He raises loads of chickens and ducks. I saw how hard he worked looking after them every day, so I helped lighten his burden."

The Man in Brocade's face twitched, but he said nothing.

Soon, midnight arrived.

The Man in Brocade's expression grew grave. If the madman had not lied, the bell should ring any moment now.

Having eaten and drunk his fill, Ye Wuyou sat on the bed, let out a satisfied burp, and tilted his head.

Perhaps something had occurred to him, for he said to the Man in Brocade,

"Hey, you rich bumpkin in the fancy robe. You said earlier that you knew the Foxlike Woman next door and the Cloth-Clad Boy, that you all came together and never split up along the way."

The Man in Brocade frowned, unsure why he was bringing this up.

Ye Wuyou patted his belly, then asked with a deeply puzzled expression,

"You said they'd all gone mad and thought they were villagers here..."

"Then why... were you the only one who wasn't in the village?"