Page 132

"Exchange," she said flatly, her gaze fixed on the apples in the bag.

She likes apples.

Probably not expecting that a pink tentacle would open the door for him, the young man remained silent for a long time before taking the willow leaf and leaving.

Exchange complete.

Ye Jiang closed the door again with her tentacles.

Rong Yin: "..."

Ye Jiang was so captivated by her two tentacles that she didn't even want to sleep, and continued playing until late at night without stopping.

Tonight, Shuiling Town is unusually quiet. I wonder if the Weird Snow has damaged the town's ecosystem. Not even a single insect chirps in the darkness. It's too quiet, giving one an inexplicable feeling that something ominous is brewing in the darkness confined by these high walls.

A gust of wind blew in the dead of night, causing the wooden sliding window, which wasn't fully closed, to creak, becoming the only sound of the night.

Squeak.

Squeak.

Ye Jiang used her tentacles to close the window tightly, and the sound finally stopped.

The room fell silent, save for the dim light.

Ye Jiang went to bed very late that night. When she woke up the next morning, she suddenly lost interest in her new equipment. In the end, she massaged herself with the tentacles and turned them back into arms. In just one night, her novelty wore off completely.

Tap, tap, unusual footsteps came from outside, very orderly and noisy. She opened the window and saw that it was the Guard patrolling the street. The Guard were wearing conspicuous uniforms and did not care at all whether they were disturbing the people at this time.

What are these people doing so early in the morning?

Ye Jiang couldn't understand, so she slammed the window shut, shutting out the noisy noise.

As Ye Jiang walked out of the room and downstairs, she saw the homeowner Hua Ling, using her supernatural abilities to leave in a hurry, looking as busy as the Guard, though she didn't know what she was busy with.

Guest Rong Yin came in carrying a breakfast bag and told her he had bought too much breakfast, asking if she wanted some. Ye Jiang's thoughts were drawn to the young man. She wondered why he always bought too much. Despite her surprise, she considerately helped him carry the extra breakfast and reminded him to be more careful next time. The young man said he remembered.

Having solved the breakfast problem without even leaving the house, Ye Jiang chose to go for a walk in the street over "going back to the house for a nap." She still planned to go find her mission target, even though she seemed to do it every day, but her mission progress hadn't increased at all.

The atmosphere in Shuiling Town was strange and unusually tense today, undoubtedly caused by those uniformed guards. For some reason, the entire Guard had flocked to the town, moving from one end to the other, making the townspeople's faces look quite unpleasant. But the Guard weren't actually doing anything; they were just wandering around, as if they wanted to show off how elegant their uniforms were.

Ye Jiang also wandered around the town, but after circling twice without finding anything, she stopped and squatted on the roof of a house to Guard patrol the streets.

The Guard had just walked away when a few townspeople hid in a corner and started chirping crickets quietly.

"Why so fast this time? It was only ten days ago..."

"The Guard are going too far! How could they do this? It hasn't even been that long!"

"They did it on purpose because they were unhappy with our joint search for the missing townspeople and our joint action against the Polluted. They couldn't stand seeing us like this! They're trying to teach us a lesson!"

"No matter what, this is way too fast..."

"I wonder who will be selected this time, and who will become..."

"This can't go on, we can't!"

Several townspeople looked indignant, their eyes bloodshot.

Da--Da--

The people in uniform returned, and the townspeople's expressions changed drastically upon hearing the footsteps; they quickly hid and dispersed.

From the rooftop, Ye Jiang took in the entire scene. After thinking for a moment, she followed a townsman inside, and went in with him after he entered the house.

"Scare!"

The townspeople were startled when they realized someone was following them, but breathed a sigh of relief when they saw it was Ye Jiang.

"You startled me, you're a guest from outside!"

Ye Jiang remained silent with a blank expression. She hadn't even bothered to walk quietly; it was the townspeople's own lack of vigilance that was the problem.

The townspeople didn't really blame Ye Jiang. Once their racing hearts calmed down, they let the matter drop and asked Ye Jiang why she had followed them. Ye Jiang, completely lacking in tact, directly asked the townspeople, "What are you talking about? Too fast?"

"What?"

"What were you talking about on the street corner? Too fast?"

"..."

The townsman then realized that his conversation had been overheard and broke out in a cold sweat. "N-nothing!"

Ye Jiang looked at him expressionlessly, her eyes indifferent. It was a look that indicated she didn't want to hear his denial. It was pointless; she had heard everything.

Townspeople: "..."

He looked at Ye Jiang for a long time, then gave in.

He gritted his teeth and spat out a single word. "It's a hunt."

A flicker of fear crossed his eyes as he said, "There might be a hunting event in town in the next couple of days."

The Guard patrolling the streets were there to announce that the hunt was about to begin.

"A hunting operation?"

"Yes, let's choose a hunting party and hunt down the Polluted."

Ye Jiang remained silent; it turned out to be a hunting operation.

But--

If a hunting expedition is to be held, where are the Polluted?

Shuiling Town is so clean, there are absolutely no Polluted.

Moreover, if it were just a hunting activity, why do the townspeople feel fear and resentment when they talk about it, even though this is a town with supernatural abilities?

"Are you going to hunt down the Polluted in the wilderness?" Ye Jiang asked.

Just like how the Ability Control Bureau regularly cleans up the Polluted in the wilderness, it's said to be a rather dangerous task, which explains why the townspeople are afraid.

"Of course..." the townsman began, but stopped mid-sentence. He closed his mouth bitterly, and after a moment said, "Please don't ask, sir. This event has nothing to do with you; it's an event of our town. You don't need to know too much about it."

That's what she said, but Ye Jiang was a little concerned because she noticed a time. "Ten days ago," which was about the time her mission target went missing.

Ten days ago, the town held a hunting event; this was information Ye Jiang herself had extracted.

If that's the case, is it possible that her target was actually a member of the hunting party who got into trouble and couldn't be found during the hunt for the Polluted?

Ye Jiang thought about it and it seemed more and more likely. She could almost hear the pleasant sound of the mission progress rapidly increasing, and she perked up, asking the townspeople, "Do you know the list of the hunting teams from the last hunt?"

He then asked, "In which wilderness area did you hold your event?"

The townspeople seemed about to speak but then stopped themselves.

Ye Jiang: "?"

Is this also a secret that can't be told?

The townsman seemed genuinely troubled; his eyes darted away, and his voice was bitter. "Guest, please don't ask anymore, really, please don't ask me anymore."

Ye Jiang: "..."

All right.

Ye Jiang turned and left to find Hua Ling. She wanted to ask Hua Ling, and Hua Ling probably wouldn't refuse her question.

Ye Jiang wanted to find Hua Ling, but Hua Ling had suddenly disappeared without a trace. She couldn't be found anywhere; she had vanished after leaving home that morning. Ye Jiang tried asking another townsman, but like the previous one, the townman hesitated and didn't want to talk to her much.

Ye Jiang understood that they still needed to find Hua Ling, but where was Hua Ling?

Ye Jiang decided not to go out and waited for Hua Ling to return home, but two days passed and Hua Ling did not come back. Instead of waiting for Hua Ling, she received a notice for the Guard to gather.

In the morning, just as the sun rose, two thousand townspeople gathered in the open square outside the Guard's encampment. Except for the tomb keeper, all the other townspeople were present. The Guard, led by two captains, stood on a high platform built with earth-elemental abilities, looking down at the people.

Everyone had arrived, but the organizers of the event remained silent. Two A-Rank ability users sat quietly in high positions, their invisible pressure spreading out. The townspeople below were completely silent, their nerves on edge.

Finally, the leader, Zou Dongrong, stood up.

"Gentlemen, you should know why I have called you here today."

The townspeople were ashen-faced.

Zou Dongrong admired the faces before him, a slight smile playing on his lips, "That's right, it's to kick off the hunting operation."

He proclaimed loudly, "The team's prophet foretold that another evil Polluted is about to taint our homeland!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a team member in uniform took a few steps forward, smiled, and raised his hand, indicating that this was his prediction.

Zou Dongrong declared passionately, "This is the home we built with our own hands! How can we tolerate such evil things intruding? The Polluted deserve to die! The Polluted deserve to perish!"

The townspeople remained silent.

Zou Dongrong calmed down, his initial excitement subsiding.

He softened his expression and said gently, "As with previous hunts, this time we will select several warriors to form a hunting team. Protecting one's home is a noble honor, and opportunities are rare. We can only select a few, so please don't be disappointed if you are not chosen."

"..."

"This time, the Guard patrolled the streets for two days, observed for two days, and selected for two days. Finally, we have the results. I announce the list of this hunting team as follows--" Zou Dongrong looked at the people below with a smile, keeping them in suspense.

Below the high platform, the townspeople felt a heavy weight on their hearts, not because they were worried about losing the election, but because they were worried about being chosen, as if a cold guillotine was hanging over their heads.

Do not be selected.

I don't want to be chosen.

The townspeople's hearts pounded like thunder.

Outside the crowd, Ye Jiang, who was just joining in the fun, munched on an apple while looking at the high platform in the distance. She thought to herself, "So this is what a hunt is like. It's not going to the wilderness, but hunting the Polluted that the prophecy foretold will soon appear in the town."