Su Jiu watched the villagers coming and going, her thoughts shifting.
As she had before, she stopped another person with an air of casual indifference. "Could you tell me where the village chief lives?"
The villager readily shared what he knew and pointed out the way.
The look in Su Jiu's eyes deepened. Only after the villager had left did she slowly ask the other disciples, "Did you notice?"
Most of the disciples did not understand what Su Jiu meant, but a handful had noticed something.
Yang Guo had always been perceptive, and she was especially sensitive to this sort of thing.
"The people here seem to have changed a little..."
Xiao Shen froze. "Changed how?"
Yang Guo shook her head. "I can't quite explain how, either, but compared to when we were at the village entrance, something about them has changed..."
Her words left the others even more bewildered.
In the end, Ning Fan was the first to speak. "They seem to have minds of their own, yet at the same time, they don't."
A Shadow Pavilion disciple asked, "What... do you mean?"
"When these people talk to us, they're undoubtedly conscious. But once they leave us, they're no longer conscious."
Da Shen understood, but surprise stirred in his heart. "Then... aren't they just puppets...?"
Su Jiu shook her head. "If they really were puppets, I would have some way of seeing it with my Otherworldly Eyes. Even living puppets couldn't escape them. But these people are unquestionably alive..."
"They have the normal three spiritual souls and seven corporeal souls, all properly aligned with their bodies. Their seas of consciousness are calm and undisturbed, which means no one has invaded them to take control. In short, every sign indicates that they're just ordinary people."
They were as ordinary and