Chapter 565 Things Are Going Too Smoothly
The address Rhys provided for that small village was extremely remote.
They flew to Everglade City Airport, took a bus to the county town, rented a car to reach the township, and continued towards the village. The road became increasingly difficult, and the rented car could no longer proceed.
Fortunately, Isaac had arranged for someone to pick them up in advance. They switched to a simple ox-drawn cart and continued their bumpy journey.
It took them nearly five days to travel from their departure to their arrival.
The village was surrounded by mountains on all sides, and the houses were all four or five-story stilt houses made of wood.
At the entrance of the village stood a ten-foot-high stone monument, carved with some medicine bottles and some text. The text was not traditional characters, and Nora couldn't recognize a single word. It must have been ancient script.
Next to the stone monument stood a tall, strong man.
Seeing Nora and the others, he asked in broken English, "Were you introduced by Ted?"
Ted Zuniga was the one who provided the clue to Rhys and helped contact the people here.
Isaac nodded and said, "Yes, my name is Isaac Porter, this is my wife Nora Foster, and these three are my children."
Toby said, "My name is Toby Zuniga. Ted has already told me about your request. Follow me, I'll take you to see the senior shaman."
Nora and the others followed Toby into the village. The roads in the village were paved with natural stones, very clean and smooth.
The village seemed to rarely have outsiders. As they passed by, people peeked out of the houses curiously.
Nora noticed that everyone in the village was very young; she didn't see any particularly old people.
Usually, in mountain villages, the elderly are the majority. It was strange to see so many young people here, but she didn't ask much.
Many people greeted Toby along the way, most in their own language, but some children used broken English.
From their simple conversations, Nora learned that Toby was the son of the village chief.
Soon, they were led into a courtyard where a handsome middle-aged man was selecting herbs.
"Mr. Kenneth Zuniga, the guests have arrived."
The senior shaman Kenneth looked up, his gaze lingering on Isaac for a few seconds, then on Magnus, before selecting the herbs in the basket again. He said, "I understand your problem and can help you, but can you fulfill your promise?"
Isaac didn't expect the other party to agree so easily without any pretense. He nodded seriously and said, "I will definitely fulfill my promise."
Kenneth said, "You must know how long the road to our village is. Fixing such a long road will cost a lot of money."
"Government officials came to negotiate over a decade ago, saying it was too expensive to build the road and suggested relocating the entire village. The cost of relocating the entire village was less than a tenth of the road construction cost."
The road to their village was not only long but also uneven and surrounded by mountains, requiring many tunnels, making the cost very high. The government never approved the road construction.
Their community had lived here for hundreds of years, and their shamanic traditions needed to be passed down, so they were unwilling and unable to move out.
But with the development of the times, they built a signal tower in the village, and the young people, seeing the outside world through their phones, yearned for it and needed to communicate and learn. Building the road became urgent.
Isaac said, "Money is not a problem. I am very wealthy, building a road is no big deal."
"Besides building the road, if the children in your village want to go to school, I can arrange that too."
Kenneth, seeing such a wealthy person for the first time, finally looked at Isaac again.
Afraid that Isaac might go back on his word, he quickly said, "I heard from Ted that people outside sign contracts for cooperation. If the contract is not fulfilled, there are consequences. Let's sign a contract."
Isaac had no objections and nodded, asking the bodyguard behind him to take out paper and pen and hand them to Kenneth to write.
Kenneth said, "I can't write in English. You write, let Toby read it, and if it's okay, we'll sign and seal it."
Isaac personally wrote the contract, had Toby read it to Kenneth, and after confirming there were no issues, they signed and sealed it.
Kenneth put away the contract and asked, "Do you want to detoxify immediately, or rest for a night and do it tomorrow?"
Isaac said, "Let's start now."
Kenneth put down the herbs and stood up, walking inside, "Follow me."
Nora stayed in the courtyard with the three children.
Things were progressing so smoothly that it felt like a dream to her.
When Rhys found them, he said that even if they came here, there might not be a way to detoxify, and they shouldn't get their hopes up.
But as soon as they arrived, the other party took one look and said they could detoxify and agreed to help.
It was so smooth that she couldn't believe it.
Isaac and Kenneth came out after an hour.
Isaac's face was dark, and he was walking unsteadily.
Nora hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"
Isaac opened his mouth, then turned aside to retch.
Kenneth said, "It's nothing, he vomited some poison, it's a normal reaction."
Nora stepped back a few steps, keeping some distance, "Do you want to rinse your mouth?"
Isaac looked at Nora with a face full of grievance.
He was already feeling terrible, and she was still avoiding him!
Nora awkwardly touched her head and said, "I'm afraid of getting poisoned."
Isaac gave her a gloomy look and then went to find water to rinse his mouth.
After handling everything, Nora and Isaac prepared to leave with the three children.
Kenneth suddenly called out, "Wait a moment."
Everyone stopped and turned to look at Kenneth in confusion.
Kenneth looked at Magnus and said, "This child is naturally suited to be a shaman. Would you consider letting him stay and learn shamanism?"
Before Nora and Isaac could refuse, Kenneth quickly explained, "There are misunderstandings about shamans outside, thinking shamanism is all about harming people. But shamanism has both good and bad aspects."
"For example, good shamanism can keep people young and strong, while bad shamanism can harm people."
Nora was surprised, saying, "I noticed everyone in the village looks very young. Is it because of the potions?"
Kenneth nodded, "That's part of it."
Honestly, what Kenneth said was quite tempting to Nora.
But she uneasy about letting Magnus learn shamanism, and given Magnus's current condition, he couldn't even communicate, let alone learn anything.
Nora said, "I'm afraid he can't learn. He can't hear or speak now, and can't even communicate, let alone learn."
Kenneth smiled mysteriously, "That makes him even more suitable!"
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