Several thoughts flashed through Teiichi's mind.
If the village chief brought people here... does that mean the ghost isn't in the village?
Furthermore, no other human remains were found there, but Shinsuke mentioned earlier that this cult had appeared here two years ago... It's impossible that the demons only ate one person in those two years; does that mean they ate from different places each time?
Teiichi asked, " Shinsuke, how far is the nearest village from Kuroishi Village?"
Upon hearing this, Shinsuke thought for a moment and said, "The closest one is Yamashita Village, but even Yamashita Village is more than an hour's drive from Kuroishi Village!"
"Isn't there Harvest Cult over there?" Teiichi continued to ask.
"No!" Shinsuke shook his head. "Of all the surrounding villages and towns I know of, only the Shinsuke Harvest Cult is located in Kuroishi Village!"
Having said that, to make his words more credible, Shinsuke added:
"Yes, I've been involved in all the company's deliveries in this area."
Teiichi nodded slightly, asked no further questions, and continued to ponder in her mind.
If this ghost eats outside the village and keeps changing its location while eating...
So it's highly unlikely they're inside the village, meaning they're staying outside?
Hmm... It's clearly impossible for a village to eat without restraint like a ghost. If they really ate without restraint, the village wouldn't be able to cooperate with the ghost.
Does that mean I should only eat one at intervals?
Thinking of this, Teiichi's brows furrowed slightly.
The ghost lingers outside the village, only coming to eat one every now and then, and it keeps changing locations outside the village to eat. The people here are still cooperating with the ghost...
So, if we want to successfully capture the ghost, do we have to wait until they send the next child to the ghost?
If the deadline is approaching, it's fine; Dingyi can just stay in the village for Teiichi. But if it's still a long way off, then it'll be troublesome...
In the past, we would directly grab the village chief and ask him questions.
No... you can tell from the fact that even ghosts don't eat in the same place; this ghost is very wary.
The village chief is unlikely to know the ghost's exact location; all he probably knows is where to send it.
In this situation, if you were to actually interrogate the village chief, you would also face various problems arising from arresting him.
It would be better to wait until the day they are going to perform the sacrifice and then secretly follow them.
So, once you get there, your main goal is to find out when they will be performing the sacrifice?
Hmm... these are just my guesses. I'll have to investigate and see if there's any other information when I get there.
However... we should avoid directly asking the village chief and the others for relevant information...
The donkey cart continued on its way, and soon, after crossing two more mountains, a bright and clear view appeared before them.
What appeared before them was a rice paddy stretching for miles.
It is autumn.
In the rice paddies, some of the green wheat ears have already begun to turn yellow.
A gentle breeze blows, and the yellow and green wheat waves ripple and sway.
At the end of the rice paddies stood rows of low houses, many of which were already emitting wisps of smoke from their chimneys.
You can still vaguely see many figures walking among the fields and paths.
The group followed Shinsuke's donkey cart all the way to the village chief's house.
The village chief was a man who looked to be in his forties or fifties and was only a little over 1.6 meters tall. He was dressed in fairly clean and tidy clothes.
The village chief was not surprised by Shinsuke's arrival.
However, seeing that the three of them—Sadaichi, Kōichi, and Sadaichi—were clearly not in the Teiichi style as Shinsuke, the village chief turned to Shinsuke with some confusion.
Who are these people?
Just as Shinsuke was about to make his introduction, Teiichi interrupted him.
" Shinsuke, you go and do your work. We've talked to the village chief ourselves!"
"Okay, sure!" Shinsuke nodded and began unloading the goods.
Teiichi also looked at the village chief and introduced himself:
"Hello, I am Kato Teiichi, and these two are my wife and child!"
Following Teiichi's introduction, the village chief glanced at Kanae and Nezuko before looking away.
The village chief was slightly taken aback when he saw the hand still placed in front of him; he was clearly not used to this way of greeting.
However, he quickly realized what was happening and offered his hand to Teiichi.
"Hello! Hello! I am Kuroishi Village, the village Kuroishi Daisuke!"
"What brings you to our village, sir?" the village chief asked, looking at Teiichi.
"We're here on a trip!" Teiichi smile.
"Travel?"
The village chief looked at Teiichi with some doubt, clearly having never encountered this term before.
"It's about going to different places, seeing different scenery, and meeting different people!" Teiichi explained.
"Oh, I see! But why would you choose a place like Kuroishi Village?"
The village chief was even more puzzled upon hearing this. How did they end up playing games in such a poor and remote place?
"Because I wanted to see what rural life is like now!" Teiichi smile.
"Huh???" The village chief was clearly bewildered by Teiichi's answer. "Let's see what rural life is like?"
"Yes!" Teiichi nodded seriously.
"What's so interesting about rural life? It's just like this!" the village chief said, somewhat bewildered.
Teiichi chuckled and said, "You've lived here all this time, so of course you don't feel anything, but for us, rural life is quite a novelty!"
"Huh? Where... where are you two from?"
"Us? We came from Kyoto!" Teiichi smile.
" Kyoto? That's a big city! Aren't there even more fun things to do there?" the village chief said, somewhat puzzled.
"Emmm..."
Teiichi moment, then said:
That might be true for you.
"But for those of us who have always lived in Kyoto, there's not much to do Kyoto."
"It's much more interesting to come here and do things like farming, raising chickens, playing in the water, and going up the mountain!"
The village chief stared blankly at Teiichi and Kanae, momentarily at a loss for words.
Wow... city people really know how to have fun!
The village chief sighed inwardly.
"What's fun to do in Kuroishi Village?" Teiichi continued to ask.
This question stumped the village chief. He racked his brains for a long time but couldn't think of anything fun to do here.
"Well... there doesn't seem to be much to do in our village!" the village chief said, somewhat embarrassed.
Teiichi chuckled and said, "It's alright, mountains, rivers, and the like are all fine!"
"Well... there's a river west of our village, and it's used for our clothes, water, and..."
Teiichi chatted with the village chief for a while, and then, after finding out where there was a hotel in Kuroishi Village, he bid farewell to the village chief and left.