The Legend of the Demon Hunter

"Can never get out? Why?" Xiao Zhu asked impatiently.

The old man pointed at the villagers behind Xiao Zhu, shook his head and said, "These people you see here all stumbled into this place by accident. Most of them have their own families and friends. When they first came in, they all wanted to get out, but after a while, they found that being able to live here is something to be thankful for, and escaping from here is simply a luxury."

Xiao Zhu broke out in a cold sweat after hearing these words, but he felt that the old man seemed to know a lot of secrets, so he asked, "May I ask what your name is, senior? Can you tell me what is so special about this place?"

"My name is Zhou Yinhong, and I'm the village chief of Taoyuan Village. We call this place the Land of Ashes. Thousands of years ago, this was a veritable paradise, surrounded by mountains and beautiful scenery. Many demon hunters chose to live in seclusion here. But because demon beasts invaded the north more than a thousand years ago, this place was on the front line of the war, and a very fierce battle broke out. The flames of war burned the surrounding mountains into barren mountains. At the same time, a huge active volcano was formed on the mountains in the south. The volcano erupts every half a month, and the embers and smoke linger for a long time, so this place has become what it is today." said the old man.

Xiao Zhu then asked, "Then may I ask the village chief, why do you say that once you enter this place, you can't leave?"

Zhou Yinhong replied, "Thousands of years ago, the Embers Land was originally uninhabited, but I don't know when a group of fire-attributed monsters moved here and lived in the surrounding mountains. The area around Taoyuan Village where we are is considered the area with the fewest monsters, but we are often attacked by monsters. If you want to leave this place, it means passing through the tens of thousands of monsters in the surrounding mountains and forests, which is almost an impossible task."

Hearing these words, Xiao Zhu fell into deep thought. He had experienced the siege of scavengers in the illusion of nothingness, and hundreds of first-level monsters almost took his and Ning Zhiwan's lives. Although he has become a high-level demon hunter now, his strength is incomparable. But if what Zhou Yinhong said is true, the monsters living in the mountains and forests of the Land of Ashes should not be underestimated. Even if a group of second-level monsters besieged him, it might threaten his life, not to mention that there might be higher-level monsters lurking in the mountains and forests.

Thinking of this, Xiao Zhu understood that the only option under the current situation was to stay here temporarily and make plans after understanding the situation.

At the same time, a question also arose in his mind: "Senior, if Taoyuan Village is surrounded by monsters, then how did I get here?"

"It's a teleportation array." Zhou Yinhong sighed and said, "There are teleportation arrays all around this place. As for the origin of these teleportation arrays, we no longer know. We only know that if we accidentally fall into the array, we will be teleported here. This is how the people in the village came in. But these teleportation arrays are one-way. There may be a teleportation array that can go the other way to leave this place, but I have lived here for more than 30 years and have not found any yet."

Hearing this, Xiao Zhu fell silent.

"For some reason, no one has come here through the teleportation array for more than half a year. You are the only one, so everyone is looking at you in surprise." Zhou Yinhong explained.

Xiao Zhu didn't hear anything about this. He looked at the villagers around him. They were all covered in dust and ragged clothes, which showed that life here was extremely difficult.

"Young man, now that you are here, you might as well make the best of it and eat something first!" Zhou Yinhong saw what Xiao Zhu was thinking.

As soon as Zhou Yinhong finished speaking, a villager handed over a large piece of barbecued meat and a leather bag full of water. The piece of barbecued meat looked like a deer leg. The moment Xiao Zhu saw the barbecued meat, he realized that he was hungry. He took the deer leg and started eating it.

The villagers watched Xiao Zhu chewing on the deer leg attentively. It seemed that his appearance added some fun to the monotonous life in Taoyuan Village. At this time, Xiao Zhu's impression of the villagers gradually improved, and he felt sympathy for these villagers who had experienced hardships.

But Xiao Zhu's sympathy was completely extinguished by Zhou Yinhong's words, which also made Xiao Zhu realize the coldness and ruthlessness of this place. He said: "Xiao Zhu, you can't be considered a member of Taoyuan Village yet. Taoyuan Village doesn't support idle people. You must complete a hunting mission and prove that you have the ability to hunt monsters before you can truly join. But since this is your first hunt, I can let A Biao accompany you, but I have to make it clear in advance that A Biao will only protect your safety and will not assist you in hunting."

"Hunting?" Xiao Zhu was slightly stunned.

At this time, a middle-aged man standing behind Zhou Yinhong walked out. His eyes were like those of a ferocious monster. He glared at Xiao Zhu and said, "Bringing a rookie like this with you will only be a burden." After saying this, A Biao shook his body and walked out of the village.

After A Biao walked out for more than ten steps, he saw that Xiao Zhu had not caught up. He turned around and said impatiently: "Rookie, why don't you leave? Do you want me to carry you on my back?"

Xiao Zhu was very unhappy with Ah Biao's attitude, but he held back and did not get angry. He still asked the village chief Zhou Yinhong: "Village chief, what exactly is this hunting?"

"Supplies are scarce here, and the only edible food is the monsters outside the village. So the village arranges people to hunt monsters every day as food for the village. As for the place where the monsters are hunted, it is located in the grassland outside the village. I need to remind you that you must never enter the forest outside the grassland. There are more monsters there and the environment is more dangerous. Once you go in, there is a high probability that you will never come back." The village chief explained.

After listening to the village chief's explanation, Xiao Zhu understood. At the same time, he also understood why there were no old people and children in the village. Just as the village chief said - the village does not support idle people.

"Thank you for your kindness, Village Chief. However, I can go alone on this hunting trip. I don't need anyone to accompany me." Xiao Zhu politely rejected Zhou Yinhong's arrangement.

Xiao Zhu refused to be accompanied by others, firstly because he did not want to expose his own strength, and also because he did not think that an intermediate demon hunter could protect him.

But when he said this, the villagers started to talk about it in a frenzy, and Ah Biao's face suddenly turned extremely ugly, and he said viciously: "Little devil, you'd better not come back empty-handed, otherwise I will peel off your skin."

Xiao Zhu didn't expect A Biao to react like this, but then he thought, in this place where strength is respected, his words seemed to deny a person's strength, which was a great humiliation to him.

But Xiao Zhu didn't have any good feelings towards people like A Biao, so he ignored him and walked towards the outside of the village.