Chapter 491: The Welcoming Village Chief
The danger might only appear after someone entered. Or perhaps the real trap was located underground, somewhere the vine had not thought to search.
"Whatever it is, we will find out," Lu Zhen reassured her. Even though he knew she wasn’t frightened, he still felt compelled to comfort her.
He pulled her closer and gently rubbed the space between her brows.
"Stop frowning. You will get wrinkles."
Leng Pan slapped his hand away.
"Who are you calling wrinkled?"
"No one. My wife will remain beautiful even when she is a hundred years old."
"So, when I become one hundred and one, I will suddenly become ugly?"
Lu Zhen was speechless.
How had the conversation turned against him so quickly?
Lu Tao lowered his head and covered his mouth to hide his laughter.
He had long discovered that his usually invincible older brother had no chance of winning an argument against his sister-in-law.
"Ahem!" Ouyang Jin cleared his throat. "Commander, shouldn’t we be discussing the well?"
He had no interest in eating the dog food being forcefully fed to them.
Leng Pan returned her attention to the matter at hand.
"Little Vine should be back soon."
Almost as soon as she spoke, something lightly touched her mind.
Leng Pan straightened.
The sensation was faint but carried urgency.
"Something is wrong."
Lu Zhen’s expression immediately changed.
"What happened?"
"Little Vine encountered something."
Leng Pan closed her eyes and tried to communicate with it.
Through their connection, she saw darkness.
The vine had slipped beneath the stone covering the well and moved down the damp wall.
The well was much deeper than it appeared from above. Its tendril extended farther and farther, yet it couldn’t reach the water.
That alone was unusual.
The vine could stretch for hundreds of metres when necessary. A village well should not have been deep enough to exhaust its length.
Moreover, the stone walls only covered the upper portion. Farther down, the passage widened into a natural underground cavern.
There was water inside, but it was not still.
Something appeared to be moving beneath it.
The vine had tried to extend closer when it sensed an overwhelming danger.
The surface of the water bulged upwards.
Before the vine could see what was underneath, several thin shadows shot out of the water and tried to wrap around it.
Little Vine immediately severed one of its tendrils and fled.
Leng Pan opened her eyes.
"There is something alive inside the well."
Everyone reached for their weapons.
"What kind of creature?" Lu Zhen asked.
"I don’t know. Little Vine didn’t see it clearly. Whatever attacked it remained beneath the water."
"Could it be a mutated aquatic creature?" Su Yan asked.
"It is possible," Leng Pan replied. "But that well leads into an underground cavern. We don’t know how large it is or where the water comes from."
The apocalypse had caused countless strange mutations.
A fish, snake, insect, or even some microorganism could have grown into a terrifying creature.
However, if a dangerous mutant lived inside the water, why were the villagers still using it?
Why had no one fallen ill?
Unless they already knew about the creature and had reached some form of coexistence with it.
"Little Vine is coming back," Leng Pan said.
A few minutes later, the thin green tendril entered through the crack in the wall.
Its colour was duller than before, and a portion of its body was missing.
Leng Pan crouched and held out her hand.
The vine immediately wrapped itself around her wrist, trembling slightly.
She channelled spiritual energy into it. Only after absorbing the energy did it begin recovering.
The severed section slowly regenerated, although its condition remained weaker than before.
"It was frightened," Leng Pan said softly.
The mutated vine was aggressive by nature. Even when facing evolved zombies, it would rush into battle and secretly harvest crystal cores.
For it to retreat so decisively, the creature beneath the well could not be simple.
"Once the locusts leave, we’ll investigate," Lu Zhen decided.
Before anyone could respond, footsteps came from outside.
They were slow and unhurried, as if the person approaching was not bothered by the countless locusts in the surroundings.
The team exchanged glances.
Lu Zhen moved in front of Leng Pan while the others quietly took defensive positions.
A shadow appeared behind the curtain covering the doorway.
"Guests, are you comfortable inside?"
It was the voice of an unfamiliar middle-aged man.
Without waiting for permission, he pulled the curtain aside.
The mist barrier stopped him from entering.
Surprise flashed across his face before he quickly concealed it.
He appeared to be in his early fifties, with a broad body and a round face that might have looked kind under different circumstances. Unlike Old Chen, his clothes were clean and his complexion was healthy.
Two men stood behind him, carrying large umbrellas reinforced with metal sheets. Countless locusts struck the umbrellas, but none managed to penetrate them.
"I am Gao Liang, the chief of this village," the man introduced himself with a friendly smile. "I heard that travellers arrived, so I came to welcome you."
His gaze swept across the room, pausing briefly on their backpacks and weapons.
"Chief Gao is too polite," Lu Zhen replied without lowering his guard.
"You arrived at an unfortunate time. These locusts make travelling difficult." Chief Gao raised the clay jar in his hands. "Our village may be poor, but we still know how to treat guests. I brought you some clean water."
One of the men behind him placed several ceramic cups on the ground.
Chief Gao filled them personally.
The water was clear and carried no strange smell. It appeared cleaner than most water available after the apocalypse.
Yet, the moment it was poured, Leng Pan felt the spiritual spring inside her space stir.
At the same time, Little Vine tightened around her wrist.
It was afraid.
Leng Pan stared at the clear water as a faint, unfamiliar energy brushed against her senses.
There was definitely something inside it.