Thank You for the Prize

The tournament ground turned out to be a large settlement, with dozens of villages spread out along a mountain range. But as we ventured through the area, we never ran into any commoners, and I finally grew suspicious enough that I couldn't hold back my questions anymore.

"What exactly is this place?" I asked, hoping that either Xie Lun or Wen Shiyin might be familiar enough with the event to know the answer. "It looks just like common villages from the outside … but no one seems to live here." I glanced at one of the houses we passed by. "There's even smoke coming out of the chimney, but no voices, no signs of anyone moving around inside or outside. It's almost as if this place has frozen in time."