The village road was made of packed earth, lined on both sides with wooden houses and vegetable plots. Some people poked their heads out of their houses to look, while others stood by the road, talking in low voices, their gazes curious and appraising.
Shen Fei and Xiao Ning'er did not look around. They simply followed the village chief in silence.
They knew that from this moment on, they were no longer merely hunters in the Dark Forest. They had entered another human settlement.
This place was called the Jade Grove Clan, hidden deep in the forest and separated from Glory City by an unknown span of years.
As Shen Fei walked, he committed the village's layout to memory. The arrangement of the wooden houses, the positions of the watchtowers, the villagers' clothing and expressions, the crops growing in the roadside plots-he rapidly sorted every detail in his mind.
Xiao Ning'er was observing too. Her gaze swept over the eaves of the wooden houses, the tools in the corners, the buckets beside the well, and several young people practicing archery in the distance.
She noticed that although the villagers' clothes were coarse, they were neatly mended. Although the wooden houses were simple, their structures were sturdy. Although the village was remote, life here was orderly.
The two followed the village chief to an open space in the center of the village. Beside it stood an enormous old tree, its canopy obscuring more than half the sky. Several stone benches and a rough wooden table sat beneath it.
The village chief stopped, turned, and said something else to them. Then he pointed at the stone benches, gesturing for them to sit.
Shen Fei and Xiao Ning'er sat down on the stone benches.
The village chief sat opposite them, with the young