Chapter 4014 Secluded Mountain Village

The yellow fog covered a wide area, and it took us more than an hour to finally emerge from this old forest.

Seeing that Uncle Qiao and the others were all fine, I relaxed and started walking quickly without breathing, which made me feel quite suffocated.

After we left the old forest, no one seemed to notice anything unusual.

However, we did not find any trace of Wang Guodong.

Uncle Qiao's green-headed, golden-eyed beast also followed us out of the old forest shrouded in yellow mist. It glanced around warily, then quickened its pace and continued leading us forward.

This little thing doesn't know where it's leading us; we've just followed it the whole way.

There's no other way but to go down this path to the bitter end.

So we followed the Green-Headed Golden-Eyed Beast for a while, and after climbing up a hillside, the beast stood at the top of the hill, half-erected, looking down at the hillside, and even turned back to yell at us a few times.

We quickened our pace and walked up to the Blue-Headed Golden-Eyed Beast, looking in the direction it was looking.

When we looked, we were all dumbfounded. In an open area at the foot of the hillside, we found a village.

At this hour, the village was brightly lit, with several bonfires lit and people moving about, creating a lively and bustling scene.

Master Qiao and his two men also saw the scene below and were so shocked that their mouths dropped open.

"How come there's another village here?" Uncle Qiao asked in surprise.

“It is indeed strange that a village would appear deep in the mountains and forests. Are there any isolated tribes in the heart of Changbai Mountain?” I looked at Third Master Qiao.

Third Master Qiao paused for a moment, then said, "There really is. I've heard that deep in the Greater Khingan Mountains, along the Aoluguya River, there's a reindeer-herding tribe called the Evenki, also known as the Yakuts. They're a reclusive ethnic group, known as the last hunting tribe in China. They're also the only ethnic group in China that raises reindeer, but they're not in our Changbai Mountain area."

"Besides this, is there anything else?" I asked again.

“Yes… I’ve heard that deep in the Changbai Mountains, there’s a group of Manchu people who have preserved the traditional Manchu way of life. They’re known as living fossils of Changbai Mountain’s wooden culture because everyone in the village builds houses out of wood. I’ve also heard of another village where the descendants of the Qing Dynasty’s royal family live in complete isolation. They haven’t intermarried with other ethnic groups for over 300 years. This old forest is huge, so it’s not surprising that some people live in seclusion here,” Uncle Qiao continued.

I glanced down at the village below the mountain again and saw that it was brightly lit and there were figures moving around, as if they were celebrating some kind of festival.

To be honest, after walking around in these deep mountains and forests for several days, seeing so many people all of a sudden made me feel quite comfortable.

"Young Master Wu, shall we go down and take a look?" Third Master Qiao asked tentatively.

Before I could respond, the blue-headed, golden-eyed beast had already run down the hillside and was rapidly approaching the village.

"Wait a minute, let me go check the village first to see if there's anything fishy going on. Once I'm sure there's no danger, we can go down together." With that, I slapped the Heavenly Seal, releasing Mei Ling, Sister Na, Zi Ba, and Xiao Xiao to protect Master Qiao and the others. Little Fatty stayed behind as well.

I immediately activated the invisibility talisman and headed down the hillside.

If it really is a secluded village in the mountains, then it's fine; if not, then it might be a trap.

However, the presence of people here also confirms a point: the Huangxian Temple we encountered earlier may have been built by these people.

Perhaps after they moved, the Huangxian Temple was abandoned.

This place is about twenty miles away from the Yellow Immortal Temple.

With that thought in mind, I had already approached the village.

The whole village seemed to have thirty or forty households, and all the houses were built of wood, just like what Uncle Qiao had described. Could it be that these villagers were really Manchus from China, living in seclusion here?

Then I walked towards the village and lit a large bonfire at the entrance, with several villagers gathered around it.

These people were all wearing clothes made of animal hides, but it was impossible to tell what kind of animal hides they were made of.

They sat together, chatting and laughing, with a wild boar sizzling and oozing oil over the campfire, its aroma filling the air.

I continued walking towards the village, intending to check further to see if there was any danger.

Upon entering the village, I found that everyone was quite busy, with the elderly and children hurrying along, all heading in the same direction.

I followed the villagers and walked in the direction they were heading.

The village wasn't big, and we soon reached the other side. Once there, I saw that the scene was even more lively.

There was a large open space in front of us, with many tables and chairs set up there. Many people were sitting around it, chatting and laughing.

Not far away, another bonfire was lit, and a group of young girls were singing and dancing around it.

Not far away, several large pots were set up, with something cooking inside. The aroma wafted over, instantly whetting one's appetite.

In front of the campfire, a wooden platform was set up, like a stage, decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations. It looked like a wedding was about to be held here.

Before long, people carried trays and walked towards the table, and people put their food on their own tables.

As I was looking around, my gaze suddenly swept across the scene and I saw a familiar figure appear on the wooden platform in front of me—it was the blue-headed, golden-eyed beast.

The little thing saw me too, waved at me, and even winked at me.

I have no idea what this blue-headed, golden-eyed beast is up to.

I'm invisible right now, yet that blue-headed golden-eyed beast can still detect my presence.

I took a walk around the village. Everyone was busy with their own things, and the atmosphere was cheerful. Everything seemed normal, and there was nothing unusual.

After finding no danger, I went back and told Uncle Qiao and the others what I had seen.

Before Uncle Qiao could even respond, Little Fatty, hearing that a feast was being held in the village, immediately became interested and excitedly said, "Little Jie, let's go have a meal too! We can just give a little money as a gift. I haven't been to a feast in ages."

"All you ever think about is food. Didn't you just eat tonight?" I rolled my eyes at him.

"I'm hungry again. Let's go, let's hurry up, or the food will get cold." Little Fatty grabbed my arm and we headed towards the village ahead.