Although he didn't let it show but Hao Xuan had almost jumped out of his skin. He was at full alert as soon as they entered the large building and yet, that voice managed to startle him to the core.
He looked left and right but could not find the source of the voice.
"Who am I speaking to you?" he asked in a respectful tone.
*Rustle*
The pieces of leather hanging in the back of the room parted.
"Come closer," the voice said. It sounded quite gentle, and a little bit tired.
Hao Xuan hesitated for a bit but then decided to go in the end. And as soon as he moved past the curtain of leather and hides, he saw the owner of the voice.
It was an old woman. Her body was almost completely turned to stone with only her head still made of flesh. Her face was covered with wrinkles, a sign of the many years she had lived. But it was her bright blue eyes that caught Hao Xuan's attention. They were shinning in the darkroom like two lanterns.
"Hello," Hao Xuan lowered his head slightly, both as a show of respect to an elder and to someone who might be able to help him get out of this place.
"Greetings and salutations indeed, young ones," she said with a kind smile.
"Sit, sit. It has been many a year since the last time we got any visitors," she gestured towards the two chairs on the side with her chin.
Hao Xuan and Jin Wang bowed once again and sat down. Once they had settled down the other old ladies went and stood behind the stone woman with their hands behind their backs and heads lowered.
"My name is Agueda. I am the leader of this little village," she introduced herself first, looking at Hao Xuan and Jin Wang respectively.
"I'm Hao Xuan, and this is my friend Jin Wang."
"How very nice to meet you. But I must ask, what brings you all the way down here?" Agueda asked curiously.
"We are cultivators and were trying to get to the other side of the cliff when a tornado came. We took shelter in a tunnel and somehow ended up here. If you could just tell us how to get out, we will be on our way," Hao Xuan explained, examining every one of their expressions.
Most of them seemed quite relieved when they heard that they would be leaving soon, only the young girl standing on the side frowned. She quickly walked up to Agueda and whispered something in her ear, making her eyes widen. She looked at Hao Xuan with an even wider smile now.
"Please, you are our guests. Stay a night or two and I will have someone escort you outside when things have settled down."
Hao Xuan could hear the eagerness in her voice.
'But why? Do they think we would tell others about the purple liquid?' he thought inwardly, and it was the most logical explanation.
There were a lot of things wrong with these people. There were no elders other than the ones in this room, the women acted quite oddly, and most important of all, why would they choose to live here? To mine rare metals or that liquid? But then why would they be living in such poor conditions?
"Honestly, I'd rather not trouble you guys. You already seem to have your hands full so if you could just tell us where to g-"
"Nonsense, its no trouble at all. Rune, get a room ready for them," she said looking to her left. The leftmost old lady faltered, looked at the other 5 standing next to her for confirmation before walking out with soft steps.
It seemed like even though Agueda was the leader, she didn't have absolute power here.
Seeing the old lady named Rune walk out, she nodded and turned towards Hao Xuan once again.
"This place, the entire mountain, it is called Kubre. We have been living here for a long time now. If you want to know anything just ask."
Agueda looked at Hao Xuan and Jin Wang expectantly, but the other 5 ladies behind her were frowning hard.
"There isn't anything I'd like to kn-"
"What's the deal with the purple liquid? You guys selling it? And why aren't there any old people here?"
Just as Hao Xuan was about to decline her offer, Jin Wang blurted several questions at once, almost making Hao Xuan fall off from his chair. The 5 old ladies expression's turned ugly at once while the young woman seemed surprised.
'This dumbf*ck...' he looked at him like he was looking at an actual mentally handicapped person. Jin Wang met his eyes and shrugged.
"What? She said ask," he explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Hahaha, I did indeed. Well, where to begin? We were sent here to keep watch over that liquid you speak off. And no, it is not for sale. We are just its keepers. And as for the old people, that-"
"Its a gift from the great lord. He has freed us from the mundane world and helped us achieve our true potential!"
Before Agueda could finish, another one of the old women standing behind her spoke up.
Although Agueda still had a smile on her face, it was quite obvious she wasn't really happy at the moment.