Transmigrated Into The Book

The man scratching on the floor for a while now finally finished what he was doing. He brushed off his palms. "This will do," Sun Wei commented upon scanning his perfect teleportation array. 

Qi Zhou stepped beside his ears and whispered. "It's crooked, you're really bad at art." When a smack was about to land on his head, he dodged and gripped Sun Wei's wrist. "Stop f*cking around with me!" 

When the two were about to fight again, Xianyu hurriedly stepped between and pushed them apart. "Guys, please don't fight here," He said. The lady behind him was also frightened. 

The two glared at each other then both turned their heads away with a snort. Xianyu tried to calm them down, because the lady told them that they needed to hurry. 

And since it's getting late already, Sun Wei finally cast a chant three times before all of them stepped in the middle of the round teleportation array. In the blink of an eye, they vanished into thin air. 

The first thing Xianyu saw when he opened his eyes was village people. They were on a bridge. When he scanned the surroundings, he realized that it was a pier. The noises coming from the vendors beside the bridge are enchanting everyone to buy their products while the stray kids are running happily everywhere. 

"Let's go," Qi Zhou broke his sight-seeing. 

The lady told them that they needed to walk more meters to reach their household. The three didn't hesitate to agree with the lady. 

After half an hour of exploring the village, they have finally arrived. The place differed from the aura of the pier. When the people saw them, they dashed into their houses and closed their windows and doors. The busy and noisy pathway turned abandoned and quiet. 

"What happened to them?," Xianyu couldn't help but whispered to himself. 

The lady walking beside him still heard him. "I'm sorry for the unwelcoming atmosphere," she mumbled. "The people here fear my family, so whenever they see one from us, they will immediately hide away," she explained.

"Hmm…" Sun Wei cupped his chin. "Is it because your grandfather's illness is contagious?" he asked as he stopped and shot a glance at the lady following him behind. 

The lady averted her gaze. "I d-don't know," she mumbled.

Qi Zhou scanned their surroundings. "Well, it can't be helped," he said. 

Before continuing the walk, the lady lowered her head and clenched her dress which made Xianyu gazed at her, "What's wrong?" he asked. 

A tear again caressed her cheeks. "W-We... We are not l-like t-this before," she sniffled. "M-My grandfather w-was the one supervising the agriculture farm here. Back then, all his subjects were on our side." Xianyu brushed her back. He couldn't take to see the lady hurting so much. 

"What happened to them now?" Xianyu asked, which led him to surprise because the lady hugged him tightly. "All of them started to distance themselves from us the moment they heard about my grandfather's condition," she cried. "Some of them even mocked us saying that it might be a curse." 

Sun Wei, who was busy copying the girl's dramatic expression secretly, stopped. "A curse,?" The lady nodded at him with sullen eyes.

They walked a few more steps before finally reaching the lady's house. 

It was a small shelter; the walls were made of wood and bamboo. They had a small gate at the very entrance, which was locked by a rope. The lady welcomed them and let them in. She let them sit down on the thin long chair near the window. When the lady came back, an old woman and a child were with her.

"This is my mother," she pointed to the woman on her right, "And this is my younger brother." the young boy on his left waved them a small gesture. 

"We are very thankful for your visit, gentlemen." Her mother bowed her head to show respect. "I am going to prepare something, excuse me for a while." She quickly vanished from their sight.

Sun Wei twitched his brows. "We didn't come here to ask for some food or so…" he groaned when the male beside him stepped on his foot. "It's our honor to help you," Xianyu said instead. 

That gesture and smile melted the young boy's heart, so he approached Xianyu and pulled the hem of his robe. "Mister, mister," he called out with his little voice. "My grandfather is very sick, please take a look at him." His eyes were pleading.

Qi Zhou, who had been quiet since earlier, spoke. "Can you show us your grandfather?" he asked. 

The lady and the young boy led them to another room. It didn't have a door, just a curtain. But what more intrigued them was the pungent smell coming from inside the moment they approached the thin cloth hanging on the entrance. 

Sun Wei covered his nose. "What's with this smell?" he complained to himself, also looking at the two. 

Qi Zhou was the one who took the initiative to part the curtain, and to his surprise, a small space having one wooden bed beside the window welcomed their sight. The one laying on the bed was an old man.

Since the area was against the light, all of them moved closer to the bed to get a proper look. 

The pungent smell became so strong that it almost made them puke. To make sure that the old man wasn't dead, Qi Zhou lifted his hand and felt his pulse on the wrist. "He's still alive," he confirmed. 

Sun Wei, who was behind him, observed the old man's appearance. Its face was a bit crumpled and the eyelids were dry. His fingers are crooked and the nerves in his arms are almost showing. There's one thing he realized, "Is his skin this white from the start?" 

He realized that the old man had fair white skin, despite having parched lips. It was like all his blood was sucked from his body. Based on the lady's story, her grandfather was a farmer, so he must be under the sun every day. What makes him this white and dry?