Chapter 195 - Eight Thousand 1

Hump Village was a small and secluded village in City Y, East Sea province. Harold couldn't get inside of it when he pulled over to the entrance. The road paved inside to it was too narrow to drive in and even narrower than the road to the Lotus Tea Manor. He got off from the car and walked further, failing to find a single soul along the way.

This was more like a discarded place, without remains of living creatures and without any hints of human flesh. It was even impossible to see one small kid around this town.

Harold walked through the deserted place and finally saw an aged old man farming in his farmyard. He walked closer to the old man, who was busy with digging sweat potatoes. There were sweat potatoes in all kinds of shapes scattered on the ground in a cloth bag, being peeled off from their muds, shining in their magenta skin.

"Hello sir," asked Harold, "Do you happen to know Spencer Smith, Doctor Miracle?"

The old man didn't hear him. It seemed that the old man was a little deaf and he kept being busy with his work. "Sir, is there any chance that you would know doctor called Spencer Smith?" Harold asked him again

The old man didn't respond.

Harold thought the old man was probably deaf. And he was up to somewhere else to look if there were other households around.

Nevertheless, he found nobody around all along this entire village. These houses in this village were cold and strange, as if no one had been here for a very long time. Some houses were locked, others not. The walls were so low and east to climb, so he leaped into one of them. The house was tidy-clean, even the stools were placed in order.

The village was not robbed, as it seemed. But everyone left and it was not clear why. More interestingly, the houses were left behind very clean.

Harold came out from the village. He walked towards the farmyard again. It was already noon. It took him several hours to drive from the downtown area, but he actually found nothing here, so naturally, he was a little bit irritated and he was sweating because of the heat. When he walked closer, the old man was still engaged in his farm work.

He called Emily and said," there's no one in the village. I can't find any walking person except this old man. And he might be deaf! I can't get any answers from him. The village was nearly deserted and nobody was around." He said on the phone.

"How old is this old man? Is he ninety years old?" Emily asked him.

Harold observed the old man with rapt attention, "he doesn't seem to be ninety years old. Maybe he is seventy. His hair is all white while he appears to be very stout. Besides, he doesn't stop even for a moment while working so much just now, and he doesn't have a drinking cup with his side." He said to her.

"Go help him with the farm work." Emily said.

"Miss Emily, do you mean that he is...?" Harold asked hesitantly.

"I'm not sure," she said. "but don't you say that Doctor Miracle has a weird personality? Maybe he heard it and pretended not to hear or maybe he didn't want to pay attention to the people outside from this village."

Harold thought it through and it really made sense. He hung up the phone, took off his coat, going to the farmyard to help the old man.

"Sir, have some rest and let me help you." He said to the old man. Harold took the shovel from him and began digging gently.

The old man ignored him and went to grab the sweet potatoes he dug out. He cleaned up the soil with his bare hands and put them into the cloth bag. Then, he slipped them onto his shoulders and left.

Harold hurriedly took out a few sweet potatoes he dug out and put them into his jackets. He was following the old man behind. The old man turned around and walked into a small house with red bricks and tiles. There were three rooms, and a small courtyard. The courtyard was filled with different kinds of grass and some unknown trees. The door was also covered with grass. Everybody can see the winter was making its way, but the strange grass showed no hints of withering.

Not a single door could be seen in this house. The old man walked right in and poured out his sweet potatoes on the ground. He went inside of the house, picked up a teapot and poured himself a cup of water.

Harold poured the sweet potatoes which he was holing with his coat and put his jacket on. He was flummoxed. He didn't know how to get the old man's heart. He just stood there, at the courthouse, just like a wooden stock.

The old man ate something casual and began to take his nap. When he woke up, he found out the wooden stake at the courthouse was still standing there, motionlessly.

The old man took the cloth bag and went to the field to continue his farming.

Harold continued to snatch the shovel to help him dig some sweet potatoes. This old man actually planted sweet potatoes on an acre of land. He worked from noon till dawn. He took up his cloth bag, put the sweet potatoes away, and left.

Harold also followed him. A long day of farm work made him sweat down to his vest. The old man poured water for himself to drink. Harold did not dare to disturb him. He drew water from the well outside and washed his hands. After filling up the kitchen bucket, he drank water with his hands and washed his face.

The old man began to cook dinner. He cooked a pot of sweet potato soup.

Harold hadn't eaten lunch yet, and he was starving already. The potato soup looked not that delicious, but he was very hungry now and asked the old man, "Sir, could you please share your soup a bit?"

The old man ignored him and went into his room to rest.

Harold knew that there was a fish pond inside this village. After pausing for a thought, he turned around and walked out. When he arrived at the fish pond, he lit his phone's light, took off his clothes and got into the water.

Five minutes later, he carried two fish out of this pond holding them with his clothes and found a house nearby that was not closed. He fetched water to clean up the fish, found sticks to insert, put up a few more sticks, and then used dry papers, two stones to create a spark, finally, he put the fish on the shelf and started to roast it.

After the fish was roasted, he ate one of them and took the other one back and placed it at the old man's door.