The farmwoman, upon seeing Tom and three other guards of the Black Iron Guard with their weapons at their waists, appeared notably fearful and spoke with a trembling voice, "My lords, our village has already handed in last month’s taxes to the Pope Family."
"We are not from the Arias family, nor are we here to collect taxes." Tom said as he extended his right hand, pulling up his sleeve to reveal the silicone bracelet on his wrist.
"I am Jerry from the Double Rest Sect Black Iron Guard (church na). This is Prophet rlin, the three with are my colleagues, and the last person is..."
"I am Anton from the Silver Moon Church. You all are followers of Pisya, aren’t you? Don’t be afraid; I will protect you from any harm by heathens," Anton declared, puffing out his chest.
"We have no ill intentions here." Tom shrugged, "We are just concerned because two Sabbaths went missing. They ca to your village to preach yesterday and haven’t returned since. No one has seen them since. Do you know what might have happened?"
"I... I have only recently moved here, I don’t know," said the farmwoman.
While the conversation was ongoing, the sound of a baby crying ca from inside the house. The farmwoman turned to look inside, then back at the people outside.
Li Yu said, "It’s okay, you can go back and take care of the child."
The farmwoman sighed with relief, thanked everyone, then shut the door. Soon after, a lullaby could be heard from the house, likely a local one that Li Yu had also heard Miss Rabbit hum before, although he forgot the na of the song.
Anton paused for a mont when he heard the song but said nothing.
As the song played, the baby stopped crying.
Then Tom moved on to another household. This ti the door was opened by an elderly man about sixty or seventy years old, but he was much more welcoming than the previous woman.
After Tom explained their purpose, the old man invited the six people into his house.
Besides him, there were his wife, an old cow, and an old hen inside.
The mix of people and animals together resulted in a rather unpleasant sll.
However, the man’s wife, who was a bit hard of hearing, was just as enthusiastic as her husband and even took out the last half-barrel of barley beer they had, offering to warm up the visitors.
Tom declined several tis, unsure if the old lady was just being too hospitable or if she was hard of hearing, but she insisted on pouring the drinks.
Seeing the generous hospitality, Tom could only pull out a few silver coins from his pocket and place them on the table, as if to pay for the drinks. Then he reiterated, "Around yesterday, did you see two n, one fat and one skinny, co to your village?"
"Yes, I rember them," nodded the old man. "They claid to be ssengers of Saturday, wearing strange bracelets just like yours, saying they invited us to help establish sothing called the Land God Kingdom. But I told them I was too old and didn’t know how many winters I could survive, honestly lacking the strength to pledge allegiance to the great Saturday anymore...
"I told them they might ask the younger people in the village, since young ones always fancy new things."
"No, you did the right thing. People should never betray their faith," Anton exclaid loudly, "Especially the faith in Pisya, for as long as we wholeheartedly believe in her, she will also bless and protect us!"
The old man appeared surprised, "Aren’t you from the Double Rest Sect?"
"No, I am a Universal Language teacher from the Arias family, sent here by the Silver Moon Church. We share the sa faith!"
"Is that so..." The old man’s face showed a hint of hesitation.
Tom had no interest in listening to Anton’s nonsense here; he didn’t quite understand why Li Yu brought along soone who was obviously disagreeing with them.
Tom raised his glass and interrupted the two n, asking, "Where are those two now?"
He had ridden a horse all the way, and his limbs had stiffened a bit from the cold; indeed, he also needed a drink to warm himself up.
"They’re in the eastern part of the village, at the Delmon couple’s house," the old man said. "Their three children insisted on clinging to the two Master Xius, begging them to tell stories."
"Is that so, then let’s head there now." Tom was overjoyed at the news and was about to down his drink, but Li Yu gripped his shoulder and said solemnly, "Everyone, don’t touch anything here carelessly."
No sooner had Li Yu finished speaking than an elderly grandmother, who was a bit hard of hearing, suddenly pulled a hand crossbow from under the bed’s straw mat, tremblingly raising it.
But before she could activate it, a Black Iron Guard had already rushed forward, sword raised and slashing, directly beheading the old woman.
Only then did Li Yu’s voice rise, "Also, don’t kill people indiscriminately."
But by the ti he had finished speaking, it was too late; the severed head had rolled off the bed and stopped at his feet.
Li Yu saw full hatred in those dead, unblinking eyes.
Having witnessed his wife’s tragic death, another old man on the opposite side rushed forward, drawing a small knife from his waist and stabbing toward Li Yu’s chest!
Unfortunately, being a re ordinary person, and an aged one at that, his movents were far too slow.
Tom, beating his fellow Lizardman Warriors to it, dashed forward, kicked the dagger out of the old man’s hand, and then pinned him down, managing to capture him alive.
At this ti, Anton was still in a daze. After a mont, he asked Li Yu in astonishnt, "How... how did you realize sothing was wrong with them?"
"When we encountered the first household, that woman said she hadn’t been married here long, but when the baby cried, no one comforted him; this shows her man wasn’t ho. Yet with it being so cold outside now, who would choose to go out at this ti?"
"Uh, that is a bit strange."
"As for the problems with the second household," Li Yu continued, "how could ordinary people have so many glasses prepared in the house as if they were specifically waiting to host us? Moreover, from the mont we entered, the old woman’s expression was a bit unnatural, though pretending to be hard of hearing was a smart choice.
"But when she poured the drinks, I deliberately stamped my foot to knock the snow off my shoes. She clearly reacted, wanting to look this way, but she resisted. However, the biggest issue was that I found young won’s clothes in this room, just like with the first household; she isn’t here either."
Li Yu pointed to the skirt beside the straw mat, which indeed didn’t look like sothing the old woman would wear.
Li Yu paused, then said to Tom, "I don’t know why, but the people in the village are very hostile toward us, and there might be other ambushes here. Contact our people outside, tell them to stay alert."
"Contact, how? They are still so distance from us," Anton wondered aloud.
Then he saw Tom pull a walkie-talkie out of his pocket and wave it in front of him, "You know nothing of the power of Saturday."
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