“Damn it!”
Qin Xuan accelerated forward, rushing towards the stone houses.
Upon reaching the vicinity of the stone houses, Qin Xuan landed on the ground.
Looking back at the path he had come from, the humanoid figure had disappeared.
It was only then that Qin Xuan finally let out a sigh of relief.
That thing had truly scared him.
He hadn't seen it at all on the way here, but when he looked back from this spot, it was there.
“Could the gaze I felt along the way have been from it?”
Frowning, Qin Xuan felt a bit worried.
“Fortunately, I was flying and my speed wasn't slow. If I had actually walked from below, wouldn't I have been finished?”
Shaking his head, Qin Xuan temporarily suppressed that thought and looked ahead.
This should be a small village.
And it was clearly a village of ordinary Mortals.
After some thought, Qin Xuan used his Thousand Transformations Spirit to transform himself into a seemingly honest and simple appearance, then smeared some ash on his face to make himself look travel-worn.
After all, he was here to ask for directions, so it was better to be low-key.
His Mental Energy probed forward, and he could sense an old man and a young person in the nearest stone house.
“Ahem!”
With a light cough, Qin Xuan walked to the door and gently knocked.
“Is anyone home?”
He knocked for a long time, but there was no response from inside.
“Wouldn't it be easier to just go in and search their souls? This is too much of a waste of time.”
Han Ye said impolitely.
Qin Xuan shook his head, a bit speechless.
“Although I often kill people, what good would it do to lay hands on a few Mortals who have no power to resist? We're just here to ask for directions and find out what kind of place this is, not to kill and burn.”
Qin Xuan immediately and unhesitatingly rejected that suggestion.
“You don't need to worry, I'm just passing through and want to ask for directions. You don't need to be afraid!”
Qin Xuan himself felt a bit speechless.
With so few people around here, his words sounded a bit too fake.
But there was no other way; he didn't know how long it would take to find that place if he kept flying.
Thinking of this, Qin Xuan could only patiently continue knocking on the door.
“Creak!”
The door opened, and an old man, holding a large saber, stared intently at Qin Xuan, his face full of vigilance.
“What do you want?”
The old man asked Qin Xuan without ceremony.
“Elder, this junior is passing through your esteemed land, and I truly don't know which way to go next. I wanted to come and ask for directions…”
Before Qin Xuan could finish speaking, the old man immediately shook his head.
“What esteemed land? This is Stone Village. If you want to ask for directions, I know a path out of the village; it's over there. Just head in that direction…”
The old man said, pointing his saber at Qin Xuan, clearly afraid that Qin Xuan would make a move.
Qin Xuan also knew what the old man was worried about. He smiled 'honestly' and was about to leave.
“Grandpa, don't trick him into going to his death. Look at his clothes; they're more luxurious than those adults who come here. The ash on his face is clearly put there to avoid being recognized by others. He must be a Young Master from some family.”
“Why not let him wait a day? He can leave after Uncle Huang and the others arrive.”
A clear female voice came from inside the house.
The old man glanced at Qin Xuan's clothes, a hint of embarrassment on his face, and then opened the door fully.
His granddaughter was indeed right; one piece of clothing on this person was worth more than all of his own family's possessions here.
Naturally, there was no need to rob him.
“Thank you!”
Seeing the old man open the door, Qin Xuan didn't stand on ceremony. He cupped his hands and walked in.
The stone house wasn't large, and the items inside looked quite shabby.
However, the room was remarkably clean.
Besides the old man, there was a little girl of about ten years old in the room. Although the little girl was hiding in a corner of the room, her round eyes were fixed on him, showing no shyness at all.
“Young brother, please don't be offended. It's not that I, an old man, deliberately doubted you. It's just that it's never been peaceful here, so we have no choice but to be careful.”
Qin Xuan's gaze swept to the side, noting the bow and arrows hanging on the wall and the old man's hunter-like attire, and he understood the situation.
Looking at the apologetic old man, Qin Xuan also cupped his hands.
“Elder, you're too kind. It's this junior who has disturbed you. And this is?”
Qin Xuan said, pointing to the little girl.
“This is my little granddaughter. Young brother, you said you wanted to ask for directions to leave here?”
Qin Xuan quickly nodded.
“Yes, I don't know what place this is? And from which direction can I leave?”
He had seen too much desolation and lifelessness along the way, so now that he had finally encountered a populated area, he naturally wanted to ask thoroughly.
The old man looked at Qin Xuan in surprise.
“Young brother, you don't know this place?”
Qin Xuan shook his head.
“Elder, you don't know, but I am not from this place. I accidentally stumbled in here and now I don't know how to get out, which is why I've come to trouble you.”
Hearing this, the old man nodded as if enlightened, and the wariness on his face lessened even more.
Evidently, after hearing that Qin Xuan was not a local, the old man's vigilance towards Qin Xuan decreased instead.
“So that's how it is. In that case, I won't hide it from you, young brother. We call this place Stone Village, and within dozens of miles, there are a few other villages similar to ours.”
“But besides our area, there aren't many people in other places.”
“As for this area, we call it Burial Spirit Land.”
Qin Xuan nodded slightly, and at the old man's call, sat down beside a stone table.
“Burial Spirit Land? Was some kind of spirit buried here before?”
Qin Xuan was puzzled, but the old man just shook his head.
“We don't know the specific reason. When we came here, they told us this place was called Burial Spirit Land.”
After some thought, Qin Xuan didn't want to waste time on the name.
“Then how can I leave here? Please enlighten me, Elder!”
He truly wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.
Saying this, Qin Xuan cupped his hands towards the old man, who waved his hand.
“It's not easy to leave this place. For so many years, people from here who want to leave have to follow a caravan.”
“Caravan?”
Qin Xuan was puzzled.
“Yes, only a caravan can do it. It's just that the conditions for a caravan to take people away are very strict. For so many years, very few people have been able to leave.”
The old man sighed, clearly feeling helpless.
It was clear that surviving in this place was not a simple matter.
“As long as I know the direction, I can take some dry food and walk out, right? It can't be that I can't walk out…”
Qin Xuan said in surprise.
In his opinion, as long as he could determine which direction led out, he could fly out; there was no way he would be trapped here.
“Young brother, it seems you truly are from somewhere else; you really don't know our situation here.”
He sighed.
“Only caravans have the means to leave here. Others, no matter what methods they use, cannot leave. Even if you choose a direction and keep walking forward, you will eventually return to your starting point.”
“For so many years, too many people here have wanted to leave but found no way.”
“When we finally realized we truly couldn't get out, we gave up.”
“I don't know what methods those caravans use; they seem to be able to avoid this situation. I was once taken out by them with my eyes covered, and the world outside is indeed different from here!”
