Arya was shocked, but he returned to normal expression.
“Sorry Ki, as much as possible, we should not only prevent it. We should also try to free some of the kidnapped residents.”
Several residents then lowered their heads. Some even shook their heads when they heard the naive young man’s words.
“Yes, we want that too Arya. However, there is nothing we can do. As we discussed earlier, we used to patrol in turns every night to catch Gento Ireng if he appeared in this village,” said Ki Darmo, “at first, we thought it would work, but the kidnapping actually happened during the day.”
Arya was silent. Gento Ireng turned out to have a clever mind, the proof was that he could still carry out his actions during the day when most of the villagers were busy in their rice fields and fields.
“If I may ask, how long has this been going on Ki?” the young man finally asked.
“A year ago, son. Gento Ireng was actually a resident of Sedayu Village too. However, he suddenly disappeared and then returned to cause chaos in this village by kidnapping the villagers.”
At first glance, Arya’s face looked surprised, hearing that the kidnapper was one of the villagers.
“Then how did Ki Darmo and the villagers here know that Gento Ireng kidnapped the villagers to be handed over to the White Crocodile Demon Queen in the skull pit?” Arya asked again.
“Several villagers have seen Gento Ireng come out and enter the skull pit strangely. According to them, Gento Ireng seemed to have entered a cave without his clothes getting wet at all, unlike entering river water.”
Arya did not respond immediately, he seemed to be contemplating what the Serayu Village Head had told him.
Not long after, he said, “It really is strange, what kind of knowledge did he use to be able to enter the river into the skull pit? This is what we have to find out Ki, then about the White Crocodile Demon Queen herself, how did the villagers know about it?”
Now Ki Darmo looks contemplative, he is trying to remember where he came from when he found out about the White Crocodile Demon Queen that he told Arya earlier.
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"Look, Arya, there is a large white crocodile that can change its form to become an extraordinarily beautiful woman who is often seen by residents in the depths of the skull. "Sometimes he just goes out for a short time, stands and walks on the surface of the river water, then goes back in," explained Ki Darmo.
"Oh, because she could transform herself into a beautiful woman who was originally a white crocodile, that's why Ki Darmo and the residents named her the White Crocodile Demon Queen?"
"That's not the case, Arya. Gento Ireng once threatened one of our residents. If you don't want to submit to the White Crocodile Demon Queen, this village will always be in chaos. One of them was by kidnapping villagers, all of whom were single men, to become his followers and slaves." Ki Darmo explained more fully.
Arya immediately understood about the Crocodile Demon Queen that the Serayu Village Head mentioned. This is truly dangerous and cannot be allowed to drag on. Naturally, the faces of the residents looked tired.
Suddenly, he remembered the teacher's message.
"If Ki Darmo and the residents here allow, I will help to solve the problem that occurred. Hopefully, with the knowledge I gained from Eyang Guru, I can successfully free those who have been kidnapped and of course they are still alive today," said Arya.
Ki Darmo and the villagers who were inside and standing in front of the pavilion looked at each other.
They seemed less convinced by what Arya said about the kidnapped villagers still being alive.
"Are you sure, Arya?" asked one of the old men in the pavilion.
"I can't be sure whether the effort I'm going to make will be successful or not, but there's no harm in trying, who knows I might find the secret to getting into the depths of that skull. Regarding some of the kidnapped villagers, I'm sure they're still alive because they were used as servants or slaves by the White Crocodile Demon Queen," said Arya to convince them.
Ki Darmo and the villagers seemed to smile happily, it was obvious on their faces that they were meeting a figure they could rely on to complain about the problems that were troubling Serayu Village.
"Of course we allow it and even pin great hopes on Arya," said Ki Darmo.
Arya then decided to be in Serayu Village for a time that he himself could not be sure how long he would be there.
What is clear is that he wanted to solve the problem by first finding out how to get into the depths of the skull.
Although at first Arya felt strange with everything Ki Darmo told him about the figure of Gento Ireng and also the White Crocodile Demon Queen who could live inside the depths of the skull, he then realized that in this world there were also other creatures who could change form, a kind of demon.
Like the White Crocodile Demon Queen, the demons could live and be anywhere, be it on land, rivers or even the sea.
Some of them were also sometimes invisible and only certain people who had the ability could see them.
Arya, who felt he had the ability, decided to help the residents of Serayu Village from the terror of the White Crocodile Demon Queen and her followers.
Slowly, the young man who had just come down from the mountain bowed respectfully. "If so, I will try my best."