804 Canger Town
“I’m not. I’m a tourist from Suzhou. Why? Did something happen here?”
Su Xiaolu explained her identity. She judged from the little general’s expression that something had happened in Canger Town. She had dealt with many such things along the way, so she asked casually.
Since they had met, she definitely had to help.
The guard sighed. Then, he sized up Su Xiaolu and looked puzzled. “Young Master, didn’t you encounter anything strange when you came in alone?”
Although Su Xiaolu’s arrival did not bring good news, it was not bad news.
Su Xiaolu thought about this journey and said, “Does having many insects count?”
Along the way, there were no signs of humans, but there were many snakes and insects.
“Young Master, I don’t know if I should call you lucky or unlucky. In the past two months, people have been missing in this town. We couldn’t find anything. We could only seek help from the outside world, but the people who left the town never returned. We sent people out to look for them, but they couldn’t come back. Sigh…”
The guard looked melancholic. The town was deserted and there were not many people left. In just two months, more than a hundred people had died. What was terrifying was that the outside world did not know at all.
The guard looked at Su Xiaolu. “Young Master, you’re the first to come in. Our town doesn’t have a lot of people to begin with. People only come here two times every year. One is in the summer, and the other is in the autumn. Summer is coming. Some businessmen will collect wool from us to make clothes. Now that something has happened to the town, we don’t know what to do.”
“I see. It’s fine. I have some skills. I’ve resolved a lot of those things along the way. I’m willing to help Canger Town investigate the case.”
Su Xiaolu smiled and said. From the looks of it, she could enter but not leave.
The guard looked at the sword on Su Xiaolu’s back and asked respectfully, “Young Master, how should I address you? I’m Wang Tianan.”
Wang Tianan did not underestimate Su Xiaolu. He felt that Su Xiaolu was not as simple as she looked to be able to travel the martial world at her age.
Moreover, everyone in the town was in danger now. Whether Su Xiaolu was really capable or not, they needed the help of someone brave.
Su Xiaolu grinned. “My name is Su Lu.”
Wang Tianan’s thoughts were easily understood. Su Xiaolu wanted to help, so she naturally did not care so much.
Wang Tianan made an inviting gesture. “Young Master Su, please.”
It was already past three o’clock. Usually, no outsiders would come at this time. Wang Tianan closed the town gate and led Su Xiaolu into the town.
On the way, Wang Tianan told Su Xiaolu about the town.
There was no government office in such a small town. There were only dozens of garrison guards guarding it.
Because the matter of the demons was not something they could resolve, all they could do was guard and send people out to report the news, but the people they sent could never return.
Some of the commoners in the town were panicking. Some of them did not listen to their advice and left with their families, but no one knew if they had really left. Thinking about how none of the people they sent could return, they thought that their ending would not be good.
If they stayed in town, they could only wait for death. If they left the town, they might die directly.
But what could they do? As long as they were alive, they could only wait.
Fortunately, the disappearances happened at night.
The commoners had been terrified for a few days and were numb to it. As long as they lived, they would do what they had to do.
At night, the garrison would be divided into four teams to patrol and keep watch. Each team had ten people, and there were four teams that alternated during the day. However, even so, people still disappeared every day.
After Su Xiaolu had a rough understanding, Wang Tianan asked, “Young Master Su, are you willing to join our guard team?”
Su Xiaolu nodded. “Yes, but I have a question. Have those who are in danger never made a sound?”
So many people had disappeared, but they had never been able to find the reason.
Wang Tianan nodded. “There’s no sound at all. There’s no cry for help. We can’t even find their corpses.”
Wang Tianan looked at Su Xiaolu and continued, “In the beginning, all our guards even gathered the entire town. As long as they’re alive, they have to be present. We’ll guard them all night. No matter how energetic we are, we’ll all fall asleep. When we wake up again, there’ll be one less person. It’ll be the same for many days, so the people are numb. Everyone will go home and live their own lives. Life and death are up to the heavens.”
Since nothing could be changed, it was up to the heavens. Whoever was unlucky would die.
“Then I’ll patrol the night with you tonight.”
As Wang Tianan spoke, his tone was filled with helplessness. Su Xiaolu could completely understand. She had taken the initiative to patrol the night. Since everything happened at night, she could only investigate clearly at night.
Wang Tianan was stunned for a moment before revealing a happy smile. “Thank you, Young Master Su.”
This Young Master Su was really good. It was a good thing to have more help.
The commoners were trembling in fear, and so were the night patrol guards.
Wang Tianan brought Su Xiaolu to the garrison to stay.
Knowing that Su Xiaolu came from outside, everyone was very surprised and asked Su Xiaolu many questions.
Wang Tianan answered for Su Xiaolu. When they found out that nothing strange had happened to the people who came in, except that there were more snakes and insects, everyone’s excitement fell.
At dinner, Wang Tianan brought food to Su Xiaolu.
Realizing that there was a black thing beside Su Xiaolu, Wang Tianan was surprised. “Young Master Su, this is???”
Why didn’t he see it before?
Mantis Shrimp squatted beside Su Xiaolu and blinked innocently.
He could already be outside, but Su Xiaolu rarely let him out. This time, he took the initiative to ask because he smelled the Interface Stone.
There was an Interface Stone in this town. How could he let Su Xiaolu keep looking for his food?
Su Xiaolu explained to Wang Tianan, “This is mine. You didn’t notice it when I put it in the bag before.”
Mantis Shrimp wasn’t big. Wang Tianan thought that he might have overlooked it, so he didn’t ask further. He said in embarrassment, “I didn’t know about it before, so I didn’t prepare anything for it to eat.”
Su Xiaolu smiled and shook her head. “It’s okay. He can just eat with me. He’s still young and can’t eat much.”
Wang Tianan was relieved to hear Su Xiaolu’s words.
After Wang Tianan left, Su Xiaolu gave a piece of lamb chop from the food to Mantis Shrimp.
“Xiaolu, the him you’re talking about is different from the one he’s talking about.” Mantis Shrimp was a little emotional. He wasn’t what humans thought of as an animal. He was unhappy to be called that.
Su Xiaolu stroked Mantis Shrimp’s head and explained to him, “That’s because you look like an animal. If you were in human form like me, they naturally wouldn’t call you that. However, you don’t like to be in human form. We humans have a saying that you can’t have the best of both worlds. If you choose one, you can only give up the other.”
“There’s another saying that those who don’t know are innocent.” Su Xiaolu rubbed Mantis Shrimp’s head and ate. After only one bite, she exclaimed, “It’s delicious.”
