"I will send you off one last time" [Global Examination]

[17] Guess Who I am: Allocating Rooms

The man in the leather hat who led the way was the village chief. He called this place "Chars Village" and there was a total of eighteen households.

The village was located close to the border. During the war, the black widow came over with several other Russians and they decided to stay.

"That's a good start... right?" Someone asked, "If she came with some Russians, then maybe there's some common words there?"

"Don't get your hopes up yet." An invigilator warned, "Just because Mike has Russian blood, doesn't necessarily mean that he knows Russian. For all we know, he might just know English, Spanish, French, and not Russian."

The stone monument was engraved by her but even the village chief didn't know the meaning behind those words.

The crowd followed him along the dirt road towards the village.

To one side of the road was a river covered with a thick layer of ice. On the other side were houses. They were all concrete houses and some still retained traces of brickwork but, no matter what it was made of, their roofs were of the exact same dark red color.

They couldn't help but remember the "ink" that was in the hunter's cabin... and they shivered. It wasn't fresh blood, right?

They shook their heads. That was a ridiculous thought. Dried blood would have turned brown, and lugging blood up to just to paint the roofs was just stupid. They were just creeping themselves out at this point at the thought of this spooky, eerie town.

"Didn't you say eighteen households?" Yu Wen muttered quietly, "Just these houses alone look like there's more than eighteen?"

The village chief continued to walk ahead while wrapped tightly in his military coat. It was as if he didn't hear him.

They took their previous statement about the NPC being helpful back.

Now, he wasn't even reacting to them! And even pretending to be deaf!

"Hey, don't walk so fast. We're asking you a question old brother!" Even at a time like this Old Yu didn't forget to refer to him politely.

The village chief was startled by his pat on the back.

"..."

So he wasn't pretending to be deaf?

"Was he... lost in thought?"

It was just getting more and more creepy.

He stopped his steps and mumbled incoherently: "In the past there were certainly more than eighteen. Some died, some left and gradually there are only a few of us left."

"Eighteen counts as a few..."

They all shuddered again. They couldn't put their finger on it... but something just didn't feel right about this forest, this village...

He raised his hand and pointed at two of them: "Like that one, and that one there. You can tell in one glance that it isn't being used."

Old Yu was about to nod when You Huo interjected: "Can't tell. To me it looks like all those houses are uninhabited."

The village chief was surprised: "Why would you think that?"

You Huo: "Too quiet."

No wonder the village didn't feel right.

It was far too quiet.