Yin Xiu turned around.
It's strange that you can hear children crying out for food coming from the grain storage room...
The guard who had just spoken turned pale, and two men immediately came out and chased Yin Xiu away. Then one of them opened the door and went inside.
Being far away, Yin Xiu couldn't see what was going on inside, but it was clearly not the granary they had described.
However, because Yin Xiu was getting close, many villagers were already paying attention to him. Yin Xiu didn't say anything and slowly turned around and left.
He memorized the location of the granary and then returned to the woman's house.
As soon as they reached the door, they heard an angry voice from inside the house, "How come I didn't know you had a younger brother? Tell me honestly, where did this strange man come from?"
"I said he's my brother, so he's my brother! What time is it? It's hard enough to live, do you think I have time to go looking for other men? Go do your own thing! Don't cause trouble here!" The woman retorted with a curse, and immediately the sound of tables and chairs being overturned came from inside the house.
Yin Xiu pushed open the door and entered the room, just in time to see the man carrying a wooden stool toward the woman. When he turned around and saw Yin Xiu, his face immediately darkened.
"So you're the one they're talking about, right? The younger brother they're talking about. This seaside village has been sealed off for so long, and suddenly a younger brother like you pops up. You'd better have the guts to come in." The man walked towards Yin Xiu while carrying a wooden stool, trying to intimidate him by giving him a show of force upon meeting him.
But just a second before the wooden stool was about to smash into Yin Xiu's head, a flash of cold light appeared, and the fragile wooden stool was cleaved in two with a single stroke. Before the man could even react, Yin Xiu's knife was already drawn.
The man paused, realizing that the man in front of him was not someone to be trifled with.
He retreated to the woman's side, venting his anger on her, "Who did you bring back! They came at me with a knife right away! Did they think they could kill me while I was unconscious?!"
The woman ignored his anger, which only made the man angrier.
If he couldn't lay a hand on Yin Xiu, could he at least not on his own woman? He raised the half of the stool in his hand again, ready to swing it, but Yin Xiu instantly drew his knife, a long blade pressed against the man's throat, and behind the cold light was Yin Xiu's threatening eyes.
"Don't lay a hand on a woman."
The man, unable to maintain his composure, gritted his teeth and said, "This is my wife. I can hit her if I want, it's none of your business!"
Yin Xiu kicked him, sending him flying into a corner, and stared at him coldly, "You think it's okay for you to bully the weak, so it's also okay for me to hit you, right?"
The man glared at the woman with a dark expression, hoping she would control Yin Xiu, but the woman completely ignored him.
Facing Yin Xiu, who held a long knife and whose eyes revealed danger, the man gritted his teeth and held back for a long time without daring to utter a sound, truly afraid that the gleaming knife would fall on him at any moment.
"Alright, alright, I won't do anything, okay?" In the end, the man reluctantly chose to swallow his anger. This strange man had come to his house and pointed a knife at him, and he couldn't do anything about it. He felt awkward and angry. He looked at Yin Xiu and then at the woman, spitting out a sigh of frustration before leaving.
Watching the man walk away, Yin Xiu put away his knife and turned to look at the calm woman. "Is this how he always treats you?"
"I'm used to it," the woman replied calmly. "After the disaster in Hai Village, everyone became somewhat irritable."
She didn't want to talk about family matters, so she changed the subject, "Where did you go today? It seems like everyone in Hai Village saw you."
"I went for a walk." Yin Xiu sat down and looked outside. He had been here for a while, but for some reason, it was almost dark and the black fog hadn't arrived yet.
"Was the black mist that attacked last time appearing intermittently?"
"Yes, sometimes I come twice a day, sometimes I don't come for several days at a time." The woman nodded casually.
Yin Xiu made a mental note of it, hoping that he could see the sacrificial ceremony before the black mist arrived. However, rather than hoping that the ceremony would proceed smoothly, he was more looking forward to something going wrong during the ceremony.
Thinking of the little wooden house he had visited during the day, Yin Xiu sat down against the wall and slowly closed his eyes to rest. He needed to wait until late at night to investigate.
The whole afternoon was very quiet, and the man did not return until night fell. Perhaps he was wary of Yin Xiu sitting at home, or perhaps he had something else to do. Yin Xiu did not pay any attention to it.
As soon as it got dark, Yin Xiu got up, gripped his knife, and prepared to go out and take a look.
The woman, who was taking a nap in bed, opened her eyes. "Don't cause trouble for yourself. If you anger them, you really could lose your life."
Yin Xiu waved his hand and stepped out the door.
There were few people at night, and no one in the house had turned on their lights, so it was exceptionally dark, making it easy for Yin Xiu to sneak around.
Following the route he had taken during the day, he slowly made his way to the location of the small wooden house in his memory. Even though he couldn't see anything clearly, Yin Xiu could still remember everything about the place. He had spent a long time in the dark, and his body could remember it.
After he reached the vicinity of the cabin, he saw several figures moving around.
This is the only place in the entire sea village with lights on. The campfire on the ground flickers brightly in the sea breeze. The same guards are still standing at the entrance, motionless, though they seem to be dozing off slightly.
Yin Xiu silently gripped his knife, rushed forward swiftly through the night, and with a single swing of his scabbard, several men fell to the ground with muffled thuds.
The people inside the cabin heard the noise and cried out in surprise, "Who is it!"
Yin Xiu squatted down, picked up a piece of firewood, then turned around and pushed the door. When it wouldn't open, he simply said, "Step back a bit, I'm going to chop the door down."
The person inside shifted, then whispered, "They've left..."
Yin Xiu nodded, then instantly drew his sword, splitting open a complete door. Behind the door was a girl of about fifteen or sixteen years old. She was wearing tattered clothes, her face was dirty, and she huddled in a corner, staring timidly at Yin Xiu.
Yin Xiu looked around the room; it was empty, with nothing but the little girl. It hardly resembled a granary.
Under the girl's uneasy gaze, Yin Xiu sheathed his knife and looked at her, "You're a sacrifice, aren't you?"
The girl was taken aback. "How did you know?"
The girl's response confirmed Yin Xiu's thoughts: "The granary... a place to store food, is inhabited by people. Either the villagers are eating people, or it's being prepared as an offering to the gods. Either way, if you stay here, you'll die sooner or later."
The girl shuddered, then tiptoed to her feet, peeked outside, and saw several villagers lying at the door, their faces deathly pale.
"If they find out you opened the door, they'll kill you!"
"It doesn't matter." Yin Xiu grabbed the girl and turned to lead her towards the edge of the village. "You'll die if you stay here any longer. Let's go."
"But... but what will you do if I run away?" The girl asked with a worried expression. "And I have a younger brother... if I leave... my brother won't be able to survive either."
She abruptly stopped in her tracks as she staggered away, then stood rooted to the spot. "No, I can't just leave like this! I have to take my brother with me."
"That works too." Yin Xiu didn't care; as long as he left before the villagers found out.
Seeing that Yin Xiu was willing to save her and even allowed her to stay, the girl was deeply moved. "Thank you for saving me, big brother. Ye Jia will remember your life-saving grace!"