Chapter 580 - Rituals
It was raining cats and dogs out there. Hao Xuan couldn't even see more than 15 meters ahead of him even though there were torches and lightstones placed every few steps.
Rather than rain, it looked like someone was pouring water over him with a bucket. Only the occasional lightning that snaked through the clouds provided enough light to see further away.
The slaves or rather the natives had already been returned to their living quarters, wherever they were. Even the on-duty guards were hiding in makeshift guard posts to keep dry.
Hao Xuan took out a raincoat from the storage space and put it on before venturing outwards. Rather than hiding and moving around in cover, he walked right out in the open since the line of sight was so limited in this weather.
The ground was muddy and hard to move in even for him, making even the short walk of a couple of hundred meters quite a chore. He was going straight for the gate right now and if the security was as lacking there as it was in almost every other place, he could just walk in.
As Hao Xuan walked somewhat absentmindedly in the rain, he couldn't help but recall the girl's voice from the recording. There was something about it that really bothered him.
Especially the words she mouthed when Tomas entered the cabin, he couldn't help but recall the video and mimic the movement of her lips.
"W-Wel....some?" he muttered out loud without realizing it and was startled by a voice that came from the front.
"Who goes there?!" a weary, anger-fueled voice called out in his direction, waking Hao Xuan from his stupor.
Hao Xuan froze and looked towards the source. There was a guardpost a few meters ahead to the left. There was no light in it so Hao Xuan missed it completely.
Hao Xuan was about to slowly back up when two figures stood up with torches, illuminating the surroundings.
"Oi, what are you doing in the rain? Come here!" one of them called out.
Of the two, one was an older man in his late forties by the looks of his white hair, and the other was a twenty-something-year-old youngster.
They didn't have any weapons and Hao Xuan could barely feel any Qi from them. The old man was in the early stages of the Spirit Realm and the youngster was only in the Earth realm. Neither of them posed any real threat to him so with an awkward smile he walked towards them.
"Greetings brothers," Hao Xuan greeted them in the most common way of the Beast world.
The older man nodded with a smile and raised the torch to see Hao Xuan's face.
"I haven't seen you before," he said with knitted brows, trying to recall all the guards.
Hao Xuan nodded and confirmed his suspicion, "Yes I just got here. Da- I mean Lord Dai Zhi sent me to replace one of the guards that died a couple of days ago. I was with Lord Tomas just now and am going to the gate. Can you guide me?"
As soon as Hao Xuan mentioned the guard that died, the youngster's face became a little twisted. It looked like he was ready to throw punches at the mere mention of him.
The old man noticed that and gently nudged him, gesturing for Hao Xuan to come over.
"Ahh, that's how it is," the old man nodded in realization, "Come join us for some tea brother. The gate is right around the corner but you should warm up a little before going there since it could be a while before you get any food."
Hao Xuan obviously didn't want to accept their invitation especially since the youngster already seemed quite angry with him for some reason but to not raise suspicion, he decided to join them for a few minutes.
The guardpost was barely enough to hold four people and with Hao Xuan's large build, it was just enough for all of them to fit in without getting soaked.
They sat down and the old man put out the torches.
"We're running a little low on wood right now, haha" he explained seeing Hao Xuan's questioning gaze. There were a few red coals in the middle with a kettle on top from which the old man poured Hao Xuan a cup.
Hao Xuan accepted it and took a sip, feeling the warm liquid flowing down his gullet with a pleasant sensation. It actually did help him feel a little better.
The youngster on the other hand was staring daggers towards Hao Xuan as if he had killed his family.
The old man slapped the boy on the back of his head, "Mind your manners" he mumbled in a low voice before looking towards Hao Xuan with a wry smile.
"I'm sorry for the kid's behavior. He was really close to the person you are here to replace...we all were," he said with a sigh.
"Hmm?" Hao Xuan looked towards them with a hint of surprise.
"My condolences then, brothers. I heard about him from brother Tomas, he was a brave man to jump in alone in that situation," Hao Xuan offered a few words of comfort.
The youngster spat at Hao Xuan's feet with a look of disdain, "Tomas is no brother of ours!" taking Hao Xuan by surprise once again.
"Amin!" the old man grabbed the youngster by the shoulder but he shook it off. He stood up, making the already cramped guardpost even more compact.
"That bastard, it's all his doing! If not for him none of this would have happened."
Hao Xuan couldn't help but glance towards the old man who could only shake his head helplessly.
"Can you explain a little bit more? I thought everyone loved Tomas," Hao Xuan dropped the brother from his name to not anger Amin more.
Amin picked that up and calmed down a little, sitting down with a 'harumph'.
"Only the natives "love" him because they don't know the truth. Tomas, he's behind all of it, I swear. I can't prove it but we all know," Amin said through gritted teeth. He really hated Tomas.
Hao Xuan didn't even have to ask anything else, Amin kept talking and the old man had already given up by the looks of it.
"We were all fine before Tomas arrived. It has only been a couple of weeks but ever since he showed up, one thing after another keeps going wrong. First the fire, then the murder-suicides, then the girl and then..."
"But that could just be a coincidence. Why do you think he's behind all it?" Hao Xuan asked.
Amin looked towards the old man for confirmation who feebly nodded in return.
Amin moved in closer, speaking in a hushed voice, "We saw him, several of us. He was seen roaming around the houses of each of the victims before they died. And the girl, she was completely fine before he visited her. Not to mention those weird rituals...."