It was impossible to go back to sleep directly. After much thought, Fang Ming decided to explore the situation in Baimu Village. Since the diary mentioned an encounter with Granny Bai, he would try exploring in a different direction. After all, Granny Bai couldn't be everywhere.
With this thought, Fang Ming jumped down from the tree and took a few steps towards the old well. He then opened his diary, and as expected, the content had changed.
"To avoid Granny Bai, I explored towards the old well. Driven by curiosity, I peeked into the well and saw a corpse floating inside. To my shock, the person was me! Panicked, I immediately left, only to be discovered by the villagers."
"..."
Fang Ming fell silent.
This was worse than directly seeking out Granny Bai, at least his own life wasn't in immediate danger.
But why would his own corpse appear in the well? Was it an illusion or something else?
Fang Ming bit his fingernails, pondering, and decided to abandon this suicidal endeavor. He had no desire to encounter whatever was in the old well; the sooner he never saw it, the better. He would rather face villagers who turned into monsters at night.
Dismissing the west and east directions, the south was the main square, which he definitely couldn't go to right now. It was teeming with busy villagers, and running there would be like offering himself on a platter.
That left only the north.
"Then I'll start exploring from the north."
Fang Ming decided on a direction and glanced at the diary again. It didn't record anything particularly special, just a line: "I am exploring the northern part of Baimu Village."
Passing through the first row of houses near the main road, Fang Ming saw a familiar house—Uncle An's. So Uncle An's house was so close to the square.
Fang Ming was slightly surprised.
However, he didn't stop and continued walking north, passing through four rows of houses, until he saw the boundary.
Fang Ming frowned. "Is Baimu Village this small?"
Something felt off. He had felt Baimu Village was quite large, but now, the total area of the village seemed no more than ten square kilometers.
Putting aside his doubts, Fang Ming approached the white mist and stopped, gazing at the endless expanse.
He tentatively grabbed some mist. It quickly dissipated from his hand, indistinguishable from ordinary fog.
"Is the danger hidden within the white mist? Why don't they attack Baimu Village?" Fang Ming was puzzled. "Or is there some connection between the dangerous entities in the mist and Baimu Village?"
Out of caution, Fang Ming didn't attempt to step into the white mist to investigate. He wasn't in Baimu Village to play detective. Apart from rescuing Zhao Xue and finding clues about his parents, he wanted nothing to do with anything else.
Following the edge where the white mist met Baimu Village, Fang Ming began to walk west. He wanted to see how large Baimu Village truly was.
About half an hour later, Fang Ming saw the boundary of the white mist again.
Mentally counting the houses he had passed, Fang Ming had formed a preliminary understanding of Baimu Village's size.
With the main road as the north-south divide, there were approximately forty households on the north side. The south side, with the ancestral hall and the square, should have fewer. Estimating, the entire Baimu Village had around sixty households.
A very small village.
Having paced out the size of Baimu Village, Fang Ming checked the time. It was still early. He might as well try to find the house of that fool and inquire about the ancestral hall.
Finding them one by one would be troublesome, but Fang Ming had no choice. He couldn't directly grab villagers and ask them. He had to rely on his memory of the fool's house.
Wandering around, Fang Ming searched almost all the houses in the northern part of the village. The only exception was the row of houses by the main road—as soon as he approached the main road, the diary's content would change to encountering Granny Bai.
Helpless, Fang Ming had to return to Uncle An's house, hoping to get some useful information from him.
He quietly returned through the back door and glanced at Uncle An's bedroom. He hadn't returned yet, and Fang Ming didn't know where he was busy.
Back in his room, Fang Ming took out paper and pen and began to sketch out the map of the northern part of the village from memory.
"With the map of the north side done, I'll have to find time to thoroughly explore the south side later."
...
Meanwhile, Zhao Xue met with the village chief under the old man's arrangement. Due to Fang Ming's warning, Zhao Xue nodded and agreed to whatever the village chief said.
"Do you have any more questions?" the village chief asked the woman before him, his expression cold.
Zhao Xue was a little afraid of the village chief. She shook her head and replied, "I have no questions. Village Chief, please proceed as you see fit."
The village chief nodded in satisfaction. Such an obedient woman was rare. Since the outside world became prosperous, every woman captured had to be severely disciplined.
"What is this girl's birth date?" the village chief asked again.
"Reporting to the Village Chief, this girl's birth date is the hour of four Yin. Aside from that woman a hundred years ago, this is the second girl of Four Yin."
"Good! Good! Good!"
The village chief's attitude was identical to when he faced Fang Ming. After confirming Zhao Xue's constitution, he waved his hand for her to be taken away and arranged for the old man to prepare for the upcoming wedding. The entire process was the same as Fang Ming had experienced.
After the assigned people left, the village chief returned to his seat and looked at Uncle An beside him.
"Bai An, has that outsider made any unusual moves these past two days?"
Uncle An replied without hesitation, "No unusual moves. He ate and slept, slept and ate. He seemed to be in low spirits, likely due to being robbed."
The village chief let out a cold laugh. "You must understand that if the village's secret is exposed, none of us will escape imprisonment, including—you!"
Uncle An's expression remained unchanged as he calmly asked, "What do you mean, Village Chief?"
"I mean nothing," the village chief said, patting Uncle An's shoulder before turning to leave.
Uncle An watched the village chief's retreating back, a hint of sadness in his eyes. He then looked in the direction of the ancestral hall and sighed deeply before leaving the area.
After the village chief left, he went alone to a house and knocked respectfully.
"Come in."
The village chief carefully opened the door a crack and slipped inside.
"Master, that outsider has been controlled by us," the village chief said respectfully, devoid of the coldness and distance he showed others.
"No, not yet," Granny Bai said, sitting cross-legged on the bed, slowly opening her eyes. "I can't feel his aura. It seems that outsider is not simple either."
"This... Although Bai An harbors ill intentions, he shouldn't know about the problem with the food, should he?" the village chief asked, confused. Previously, they had controlled outsiders who came to Baimu Village through their food without them knowing. Why had they failed this time?
"I need to see that person to understand the reason," Granny Bai shifted the topic. "Bring that girl of Four Yin tomorrow. I will use her to lure that fellow out."
"Yes."
"The ancestral worship ceremony is approaching. You must pay close attention to the situation at the old well. Absolutely no mistakes can be made, or it will cause more trouble."
The village chief respectfully acknowledged and was then dismissed by Granny Bai. He returned home alone.
...
As dusk deepened, Uncle An returned at some point.
Fang Ming walked out of his room and bumped into Uncle An coming out of the house.
"Hello, Uncle An!" Fang Ming greeted him, subtly observing Uncle An's expression. He wanted to know if Uncle An was responsible for his body's mutation.
Uncle An looked at Fang Ming upon hearing his voice, his tone slightly apologetic. "Are you hungry? I'm truly sorry. I was busy with the village's ancestral worship today and forgot to bring you food. I'll cook something now, please wait."
Hearing this, Fang Ming realized he was indeed hungry. However, he was suspicious of Uncle An's cooking. With a glint in his eye, Fang Ming thought of a solution—to personally watch Uncle An cook.
Fang Ming scratched his head sheepishly. "I am a bit hungry. Uncle An, let's go cook quickly. I'll help you; it will be faster if we do it together."
Uncle An readily agreed. "Alright, you can help too."
Soon, the two began cooking in the kitchen, dividing their tasks clearly. Fang Ming watched every step of Uncle An's cooking out of the corner of his eye, ensuring he couldn't tamper with the food.
The dinner was simple. Fang Ming volunteered to stir-fry a home-style dish. Uncle An tasted it and praised it. After they finished eating, the sun's afterglow was about to disappear.
"We can wash the dishes tomorrow. Hurry back to your rooms now." Uncle An glanced at the sky, his expression somewhat serious, and quickly stopped Fang Ming's movements, rushing back into the house.
Fang Ming pretended to agree but secretly crept to Uncle An's doorway, hiding in the shadows to listen. He needed to confirm one thing: would Uncle An turn into a monster at night?
The sun completely sank below the horizon, and Baimu Village fell into its usual sudden silence.
"Ugh, ah—what's happening?" Fang Ming's arms suddenly ached intensely. He immediately thought of how his arms had mutated the previous night. Was it happening again tonight?
But the reaction last night wasn't this severe. What was going on today?
With no time to eavesdrop on Uncle An, Fang Ming struggled back to his room. Instantly, the runes in the room lit up, and the pain in his arms was quickly suppressed.
Fang Ming realized, "So the runes in the room can suppress bodily mutations! No wonder the villagers hide in their houses every night. These runes not only defend against monster attacks but can also suppress the monsterization of the body!"
However, this suppression effect was very weak. Fang Ming rolled up his sleeve. His arm was already covered in patches of black scales. Unlike the faint appearance the previous night, the scales had now materialized and covered his arm!
The runes could only stop the change but not reverse it. There was only one way to reverse it. Fang Ming looked at the night outside.
"It seems I can't go out until dawn. Sigh, what should I do?"
Fang Ming, with a troubled expression, opened his diary, wanting to see what would happen in the next hour according to the prediction.
"I venture out of the house, and my arms begin to transform rapidly. But the good news is that the bodily mutation is currently confined to my arms. At the same time, I encountered a monster, but the monster didn't attack me, possibly mistaking me for one of them."
"Hmm?"
Fang Ming's eyes widened in surprise. He quickly read the content again. Recalling yesterday's events, he wondered why the villager-monster he met at Zhao Xue's place only glanced at him. So it was because he was mistaken for one of their kind?
With this thought, Fang Ming decided to leave the house and explore the main square.