Lu Cai was initially concerned about leaving Zeshia alone outside the village but once he entered he seriously considered that it might be safer outside...
"Hey, a lost young man?"
The butcher squatting by the roadside sharpening his knife stared at him with an ambiguous smile.
The elderly woman next door hunched over collecting clothes, looked up, a similarly creepy smile in her cloudy eyes: "He's quite handsome. Ah Mao said he came from outside."
Ah Mao, the child who lived across the street, crouched against the doorframe and grinned sinisterly at Lu Cai—a mouthful of black, rotten teeth.
His sister emerged from the house, her arms drooping like bones but miraculously, she managed to pull her brother away giving Lu Cai a charming glance back.
Everyone seemed very welcoming and the air was faintly filled with the smell of fish.
Lu Cai withdrew his gaze and followed the elder brother who had brought him back to the village without looking away until they reached the village chief's house.
The village chief was an ordinary village man, in his early fifties, wearing a pair of tortoise-shell reading glasses and with his hair long and gray. He was delighted to see Lu Cai, as if he were seeing a family member. He grasped his hand and it felt hot and scorching!
Lu Cai forced a smile, his face a bit stiff. After a moment's thought, he didn't pull his hand away. He briefly described the situation but the other party frowned worriedly.
"That...that's a bit unfortunate."
Lu Cai remained calm, backhanded the village chief and replied, "What's unfortunate?"
The village chief's pulse was a little weak but overall steady and even. He took a quick feel and found no dark matter contamination.
This was something Lu Cai hadn't expected. The other person was so normal it was a little unnatural but it was indeed quite normal...
The village chief seemed oblivious to Lu Cai's subtle movements assuming he was being overly anxious. He replied helplessly:
"Our village is the largest populated area around East China Sea Port. We used to have electricity and signal and Foundation members would come regularly to patrol and clean up. But a month ago our dispersal device broke down."
Lu Cai paused, then immediately realized a lot, yet remained somewhat bewildered.
Dispersals are a new type of protective device developed in recent years. They can resist the erosion of dark matter and are generally installed in densely populated areas for protection.
If the dispersal device wasn't working the strange fog surrounding them would be explained and the villagers' strange behavior could also be due to some degree of influence. But what Lu Cai couldn't understand was...
How did a place without dispersals survive for a month?
He wasn't an idealist. The Foundation members fighting on the front lines understood the challenges of survival in this era which was why Lu Cai found it even more bizarre.
But he didn't ask directly. Instead, he nodded looking a little disappointed and replied, "He'll figure it out for himself."
The village chief offered Lu Cai a few insincere words of comfort. Just then a girl walked by and he quickly called out to her:
"Xiao Yu, this is the young man Daqiang and his friends brought back. His name is Lu Cai. Find him a room and let him rest!"
Looking over he saw a girl about sixteen or seventeen, with a ponytail and surprisingly bright eyes. Hearing the order she subconsciously glanced at Lu Cai warily.
Not wanting to be a thorn in the side, Lu Cai tried to suppress his distant air and smiled faintly, "Hello, I'm Lu Cai."
It was already dark. Xiao Yu frowned and glanced at the villagers around him. Most of them had packed up and gone back to their homes. He said, as if he had no choice but to say,
"Then I'll take him to the empty house at the west end of the village?"
His voice was a touch reluctant yet restrained.
The village chief nodded hurriedly, "Okay, okay."
So Lu Cai followed Xiao Yu to find a house. Several times along the way the little girl hesitated to speak to him.
Lu Cai suddenly thought of the dragon he had left outside the village. He wondered how many insects it had eaten... He couldn't think about it anymore.
He put aside his terrifying thoughts and casually asked, "You can't go out at night here, right?"
Dark matter is more active at night than during the day so the authorities have given clear guidance that unless there are unexpected events ordinary people must limit their outings at night.
If the basic instructions were still followed here the overall threat shouldn't be too great...
The little girl turned and angrily growled at him, "Of course not! If you want to die don't drag us down with you!"
Lu Cai readily complied, "Okay."
Very good they still complied.
Xiao Yu's face flushed and it felt like a fist hitting cotton. He said in frustration,
"I don't know where you're from but I'm warning you it's very dangerous outside the village especially at night. There are all kinds of monsters and demons. Once you're inside don't leave!"
Lu Cai raised his hand to express his absolute obedience.
He was always easy to talk to and everyone in his sect and team gave him a thumbs-up.
Finally, they found the house and as the daylight was fading Xiao Yu gave him a series of warnings before finally leaving in a huff.
Lu Cai surveyed the room. There was a simple bed and a wooden table. A half-burnt thick candle, poked in a broken enamel cup lay on the table. It could still burn for perhaps half an hour. A pair of dusty flints sat beside it.
It was said that thirty years ago, there was a tool that could light a fire with the flick of a finger. But after the catastrophe humanity perished en masse leaving only survival technology to struggle. The rest of civilization, shunning resources for survival regressed infinitely suffering both material and spiritual deprivation.
Lu Cai expertly lit the candle, its warm yellow light filling the room. The fishy odor inside was much lighter than outside making it somewhat bearable.
He had many doubts. This village was full of contradictions but he always remembered the instructions given to them by his master and the foundation:
Absolutely no exploration without thorough preparation. Absolutely no alerting the enemy. Absolutely no loss of precious combat resources!
Few humans could contend with dark matter. They were co-opted by various organizations becoming the weak force resisting this mad tide.
Each spark of fire is precious. They were accustomed to sacrifice and didn't actually fear death much. But the best death was to die in a fire that ignited new hope for humanity.
Lu Cai recalled the many fellow disciples and teammates who had fallen. The candle wick, damp and smoldering, made a crackling sound. He was startled to realize that he was suddenly overcome with sadness like the little match girl in the fairy tale.
"..."
He twitched his lips and leaned against the wall snapping his fingers.
The candle went out and the sounds in the darkness reached his ears more clearly.
...It was outrageous. He had seen so many strange people before dark and at this time they had all obediently returned to their rooms to sleep. At least, from what he could hear there was nothing unusual.
He calculated the time by taking his pulse. Around twelve o'clock they officially confirmed the peak danger period had passed and the village was still quiet.
Lu Cai smacked his lips. If everything was so normal... then he would go out for a while.
It wasn't disobedience; it was mainly because he was worried that Zeshia, the foreign dragon, wouldn't adapt to the local climate and might get sick, spreading disaster to the rest of the community.
Experiments have shown that creatures infected with dark matter shouldn't be consumed excessively especially those showing signs of mutation. The harm of consumption is directly proportional to the dosage so Lu Cai had to go and take a look.
...And he noticed that the dark matter outside the village wasn't a significant threat; instead, the village itself felt more eerie.
Without giving it much thought, he, having cultivated his body for years, slipped out with the swiftness of a swallow. Unsure of the surroundings' safety he'd even gone so far as to cast a shield of spiritual power tonight impervious to even the most ordinary dark matter.
Down the path into the village, Lu Cai sprinted briskly practically courting death. But Zeshia, lying in the woods not far away, seemed to cheer up!
Oh, it wasn't that it was initially melancholy. Well, perhaps a little. It understood why Lu Cai didn't bring it into the village because ordinary people would surely be terrified by its heroic presence so it was willing to cooperate with its human as a silent supporter. But... this was its first night out of the valley and firsts are important. It just had a tiny regret.
But now! Listen! How steady and reliable were the footsteps of its brave dragon rider, charging toward it in the dead of night despite violating human ethics!
It shook itself clean, shook off the fallen leaves and joyfully awaited Lu Cai's arrival.
It waited for a long time and even stopped but no one showed up.
It was a little confusing even a little unhappy. What could have delayed their reunion?
Did he run into the princess?
So, Zeshia angrily stretched his neck out of the woods only to quickly pull it back in the next second—nearly having his nose sliced off by Lu Cai!
Lu Cai used his spiritual power to dispatch the last dark matter entity blocking his path. He ran into the woods and immediately saw Zeshia, staring at him with wide eyes.
"You, are you okay?"
Lu Cai was at a loss for words. He actually wanted to ask what had happened to Silver Dragon so far.
Zessia nodded with a gleam in his eyes but saw that Lu Cai had started to move closer but suddenly stopped.
I was a bit puzzled when he heard Lu Cai ask, "Did you eat those bugs?"
Zesia nodded then said bewilderedly, "I ate one. It looked good but the taste was just average so I didn't eat any more. What's wrong?"
After Zeesia nodded, Lu Cai took a few steps back, no longer moving forward.
After making sure Zeesia was alright after eating the bugs he took a deep breath and gestured with difficulty, "Zesia, let's make a deal... Let's make a plan."
Old Latin was no longer widely spoken and Lu Cai racked his brains but couldn't remember how to phrase the three rules. He decided to teach Zeesia Chinese later when he had time.
Zesia nodded obediently. It was the right thing to do and having a plan made its dragon rider appear principled.
Then it listened to Lu Cai stumbling over his words for twenty minutes, expressionless.
Roughly speaking it's forbidden to eat or drink without permission, show its face without permission, attack without permission, speak loudly, flap its wings, jump, or fly... even mate.
No, all the dragons are in the Dragon Valley. It can't mate here even with permission!
And it's still underage, how could it even think of such a thing!
It's wagging its long tail wildly!
Clearly, Zeshia wasn't aware of the rumors about the promiscuous private lives of Chinese dragons. Lu Cai's concerns were a bit far-fetched.
Although he was puzzled by the numerous rules—was Lu Cai a Royal Knight?—Zeshia nodded gravely trying to appear magnanimous.
Lu Cai breathed a sigh of relief condescendingly reaching out to touch Zeshiya who had eaten the insects. Then, lowering his voice, he said:
"Tomorrow, leaving."