The weather was hot, but the villagers of Anjar were not concerned about it. Anjar was like any typical village in India, which mostly depends upon agriculture. When thinking about ancient Indian villages, most regard them as self-sufficient and not dependent upon outsiders. That was mostly bullshit. Of course, the village also comprises blacksmiths, potters and carpenters, but they can barely cater to the local needs and maintenance.

Merchants would come to the village periodically to sell off things like clothes, spices and other essential goods that were not readily available to villagers.

Since villagers prepared the field and eagerly waited for the monsoon rain to plant. In the meantime, they were merrily visiting each other's houses. Women were sitting in groups, peeling vegetables and gossiping about the latest rumours of the village. Children were playing outside and running here and there.

When Aachman saw this scene, he cursed his parents for losing his peaceful day.

Aachman was not socially awkward, but before the reincarnation, the kid used to play like any other five-year-old child. After Aachman took over the kid's body, he felt curious about villagers and visited them often, not because he liked to stare at the lady's bosom. Even though he externally looked like a five-year-old boy, in reality, his mind was of a nineteen-year-old, so he was not interested in playing with kids, which made his parents concerned about his social skills and health.

He looked around and saw his elder brother and his gang of friends playing hide-and-seek.

Aachman's elder brother was hiding behind a boulder and peeking occasionally to know the whereabouts of the seeker. When Aachman saw this scene, he got a funny idea and loitered noisily around the surrounding area, which gained the attention of the seeker who failed to find the whereabouts of the hiders.

The seeker was a boy about twelve years old with prominent front teeth who passed the area where Aabha was hiding. He looked at Aachman suspiciously, but Aachman pretended to be unconcerned.

Meanwhile, Aabha was making sign language to be quiet, but again, Aachman acted as if he saw nothing. When the seeker left the area, Aabha sighed in relief and glared at his nuisance younger brother.

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"Aabha, what are you doing? Why are you hugging the boulder?" The younger boy shouted innocently to his elder brother.

This made the seeker boy turn back hastily and run towards where the younger boy was pointing.

"Ah ah, this is where you were hiding," the seeker boy yelled smugly.

Aabha was frozen for a couple of seconds in confusion. His expression ranged from shock to anger.

"ahh," Aabha shouted angrily and charge toward Aachman, but, unfortunately, the seeker had other plans for him. He grabbed the Aabha from behind to stop him from running away.

Aachaman was a step ahead of his furious elder brother. He ran away without stopping, but he did not forget to laugh maniacally like a hyena before leaving the scene.

The seeker boy gloatingly shouted at his well-hidden friends. "Friends! Friends! Aabavanan is a new seeker."

Half a dozen children crawled from God knows where and were elated about Aabha's fate.

ooo0ooo

Running for a few minutes made Aachman breathless. He regretted laughing and running at the same time and swore not to commit this blunder in the future.

He stopped and confirmed whether his elder brother was still chasing him. When he found out that Aabha was not chasing him, he laughed with satisfaction at pulling out a successful prank on his elder brother. "Aabha's face was priceless."

The enraged face of his elder brother put him in a good mood. All stress accumulated because of coming to ancient India was blown away.

He was not afraid of consequences because even though his elder brother was stronger and bigger than him; he was actually nineteen years old. How could he be afraid of him?

"Hmph," he snorted. If his elder brother bullied him after he returned to the house, he had a few ways to make his mother and father do his bidding. He was not afraid of his elder brother.

Aachman looked around and understood he entered the inner or centre of the village where the village chief house was situated.

The village chief's house was easily identifiable not only because it was the biggest but also made of stones and roofed with tiles, unlike the other houses in the village which were made of mud and thatched using palm leaves.

This house was a sign of wealth and also the sign of the decline of a chief family because the ordinary village chief house wouldn't be this grand, but since the village chief family's sphere of influence was confined to only this village, it also illustrates their decline.

Aachman looked around and paused and double-take the scene in front of him but still could not understand because the scene was so bizarre.

What Aachman does not know was his well-deserved comeuppance was already around the corner.