The rain had silently stopped at some point.
The curved blade originally used to clear a path through the reed grass was now being used as a shovel, its back digging into the ground again and again until it created a small pit.
Everyone either stood nearby or remained in the car, watching as the man carefully picked up the cracked white porcelain doll from the middle of the road, placed it into the pit, and covered it with handfuls of soil.
The smell of damp earth was quite strong after the rain, and reddish water trickled into the pit.
Finally, the doll’s smiling face was hidden beneath the mud.
The man seemed to have walked a very long way to find them. The wide hems of his black trousers were stained with grass fragments. After this “wilderness burial,” he stood up and walked toward the mountain forest. The students, having finally encountered a living person, immediately followed when they saw him leaving, only to discover he was simply looking for a flowing spring. He grabbed a large handful of grass and used it to scrub the curved blade clean with the spring water.
The blade was polished to a razor sharp shine, which was frightening to look at and made one fear that a careless brush of the palm would scrape off a deep piece of flesh.
“Um… senior, what’s your name? Did you come all the way from Nanwan Village?”
Someone asked.
Zhou Liao turned to look at him.
He had hawk-like eyes which were bright and clear, like the light-reflecting pupils of wild animals at night.
The animalistic nature that Teacher Zhang mentioned was quite apparent in this senior.
When he looked over, there was a strong feeling of being locked on by a wolf, driving people to flee instinctively.
The boy who had asked the question took a step back, swallowed, and raised his hands, “If it’s inconvenient to answer, pretend I didn’t ask.”
Zhou Liao frowned. He spread his left hand open, made a gesture of holding a pen and writing in the air with his right hand, then looked at these students.
Clearly, he was mute.
“Oh, oh, I understand!”
The boy breathed a sigh of relief and offered his phone.
“Senior, I don’t have paper and pen. Can you type in the input box?”
[Zhou Liao.]
He showed them his name.
“Oh! Senior Zhou, do you know how to get to Nanwan Village from here?” The boy said with relief, speaking frankly, “We’ve been going in circles here for a while now. The car just spins in place like there’s a ghost wall.”
[You made it angry. It’s that child’s prank.]
Zhou Liao looked at them calmly.
What he typed was chilling.
Why a child?
Why “it”?
“Does ‘child’ refer to that white porcelain doll just now?” Teacher Zhang wiped his cold sweat with a tissue. “Is that doll a toy dropped by a child from your village on the road?”
Zhou Liao nodded.
It was unclear whether he was affirming the first question or the second.
Everyone could only guess that his language system retained a childlike innocence, treating the human-like white porcelain doll as a child.
When playing with toys and playing house, don’t we also assign personality and life to dolls?
[You are lost. The fork in the road back to the village was blocked by wild grass. I have cleared it.]
[Follow me.]
Teacher Zhang: “How about this, you sit in the passenger seat and give directions. I’ll squeeze into the back with the students.”
Zhou Liao was about to return the phone to its owner, but when exiting the message input screen, he accidentally clicked on the photo gallery instead.
He suddenly raised his head and looked at the boy, pointing at a person in the photo, his eyes bright with excitement, like a dragon that had found treasure.
It was a group photo they had taken at the school gate before departure, even with a banner.
As for the person Zhou Liao was pointing at…
“You want to find him? Do you know him? How strange, he didn’t mention it in the car…”
………
Zhou Liao finally saw the person.
The young man was sitting in the back seat. Perhaps the young man next to him had made an interesting joke, he laughed softly. His face was fair and delicate, and the laughter splashed to the corners of his eyes, rippling around a small black mole.
Zhou Liao stood outside the car door, his heart pounding like thunder. His rapid breathing caught the other party’s attention.
Xin Hexue glanced at him lightly.
Zhou Liao blushed and lowered his head.
‘Not a bit of progress.’ Xin Hexue curled his lips into a pleased little cat-like smile.
Matsukawa Masato’s glasses pressed down on his high nose bridge. “Hexue, do you know him?”
………
There was indeed a fork in the road where they hadn’t noticed before.
Zhou Liao told them that Nanwan Village has had little contact with the outside world in recent years. The rainy season brought heavy precipitation, and the actual dirt road in and out of Nanwan Village was overgrown and blocked by wild grass.
They had been going in circles on the same road. Because of the rain, they hadn’t noticed the path blocked by grass, so they kept circling back to the starting point.
Zhou Liao turned around from the passenger seat and made hand signs to Xin Hexue, his eyes earnest.
No one present understood sign language except Xin Hexue.
Xin Hexue didn’t answer, so Zhou Liao anxiously signed again.
“I am fine.”
He replied.
Zhou Liao nodded. He glanced at him and Matsukawa sitting next to him, and his expression dimmed. He lowered his head, turned back around, and focused on the road ahead.
Xing Ming asked immediately, “What did he say?”
Zhu Jiyue exclaimed in surprise, “Hexue, you understand sign language?”
“I learned it before. Someone in my family is deaf.” Xin Hexue casually made up a reason before answering Xing Ming’s question. “He asked if my surgery went smoothly and if my body has recovered.”
Xin Hexue took out his phone. There was no signal. He opened QQ and found the chat history wouldn’t load either.
His chat history with [Honest man I met online, tricked him out of three thousand for an abortion (No education, not considering) [Offline]] was blank.
It was the same for the others.
Pulling down didn’t refresh the message content.
He would check again when there was a signal.
For now, the only message on his communication app was from Matsukawa Masato, from when they still had a signal halfway, asking if he was carsick.
“Wow!”
“Look, look!”
“We’re almost at Nanwan Village!”
Looking down, in the distance was a village with many houses. The land was flat and broad, red brick houses with red tiles stood one after another. Salt flowers bloomed on oyster shell walls, with several dried fish hanging beneath them.
The distant sea was steeped in the color of the sunset. Fishing boats slowly approached the shore, and they could already hear the sound of crashing waves.
Someone leaned out to look back.
They had finally driven out of these vast mountains. The sea breeze, scorched by the sun, felt warm as it rushed onto their faces and into their ear canals.
Their nerves, which were tense all afternoon, finally relaxed.
………
Teacher Zhang had to increase the price to one thousand before the driver agreed to come pick them up at the same time in the afternoon two weeks later.
Not long after getting out of the car, they looked back to find the driver had already sped away out of sight.
Nanwan Village was indeed a rather primitive place. There were no tall buildings made of reinforced concrete. The surrounding area was all traditional Minnan-style houses made of red brick and white stone, with courtyard-style layouts, featuring sky wells and courtyards, and swallow-tail ridge roofs that dipped in the middle and curved up slightly at the ends.
A mango tree stretched out from over the wall of one household, bearing large, semi-ripe greenish-yellow fruits.
Nanwan Village rarely had outsiders, let alone nine unfamiliar faces arriving at once.
As they dragged their large and small bags and suitcases, they attracted attention from all directions as soon as they entered the village.
A teenage boy stood outside a doorway, tilting his head out, “Brother Zhou Liao, are these your friends from outside?”
Zhou Liao nodded and made a gesture;
—Where are your family members?
“Dad is sleeping, Mom…”
The boy was suddenly covered on the mouth from behind and pulled inside. His mother nodded to Zhou Liao, gave the outsiders a wary glance, and quickly closed the large wooden door.
“Are you the teachers and students from Haicheng University that Zhou Liao mentioned, here for the study visit?”
An old man leaning on a cane walked towards them on the path ahead.
[This is our village chief.]
Zhou Liao typed out the information.
Xin Hexue looked over. The village chief was a thin old man. He was like a piece of dried seaweed, and his face was full of wrinkles and yellow spots.
“Welcome.” The village chief said, catching his breath. “Welcome. It’s been a long time since Nanwan Village had guests.”
“If you don’t mind the simple food, please come to my house for dinner.”
The old man warmly invited them.
Zhou Liao stepped forward and communicated something with the old man on their behalf.
It seemed everyone in the village could understand his sign language.
The village chief’s face changed dramatically, turning as white as painted walls. He asked tremblingly, “You encountered an evil spirit on the road?!”
He tapped his cane on the ground, his expression anxious.
Luo Liang asked for clarification, “Do you mean that white porcelain doll? Is there some local custom regarding this?”
“They are all wild children from the mountains.” The village chief’s voice tightened as he spoke to them. “You bumped into it. It must have set its sights on you now.”
Everyone was speechless. They had never encountered such a bizarre thing before.
The girl with glasses spoke up weakly, “Set its sights on us… what will it do to us?”
“Village Chief, could you please explain in detail?”
Supernatural beliefs were also part of folk culture. Teacher Zhang opened his small notebook, ready to take notes at any time.
But the village chief stopped there.
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing. Don’t worry. After encountering an evil spirit, just resolve the evil spirit and it’ll be fine.”
“Come to my house for dinner first. I’ll give you the materials to resolve the evil spirit tomorrow morning. It’s too late today.”
………
The village chief had three sons, all married. The three sisters-in-law were busy working in full swing in the kitchen of the old house, and light blue cooking smoke rose into the deep blue night sky.
Two Eight Immortals tables were set up in the hall. One was for the teachers and students, the other for the village chief’s family.
“Feel free to look around, just look wherever you like!”
The village chief was waving a palm-leaf fan, half-lying on a recliner in a leisurely manner.
The sea breeze swept under the mango tree and blew into the courtyard.
Teacher Zhang led the students on a tour. “This is a structure with two main sections, three central bays, and bilateral protective wings.”
It wasn’t a large house, but the eaves could accommodate this many people and was sufficient for a family’s living needs.
It was a symmetrical left-right structure. Upon entering, the lower hall had lower rooms on the left and right. On either side of the deep courtyard were the wing rooms. The village chief lived in the large room next to the main hall. His sons and daughters-in-law lived in the large room on the opposite side. The remaining two brothers’ families occupied the back hall and back rooms.
The village chief’s parents and wife had all passed away. Xin Hexue noticed black-and-white photos hanging on the wall next to the shrine.
“Sea Kingdom, Everlasting Spring.”
He softly read the gold-painted plaque on the shrine. Incense sticks and candles dimly illuminated the characters, with candle wax dripping down and accumulating.
He had seen a plaque with this content in a temple before.
As his words fell, a gust of wind wrapped around his bare calves, chillingly eerie.
The red candlelight flickered, which was a bit unnerving.
Someone called out from the main hall, “Dinner’s ready!”
Xin Hexue took his phone from his pocket, turned, and asked, “Village Chief, may I take photos?”
The village chief, who had been lounging leisurely on the recliner, suddenly sat up. His clear and distinct black-and-white eyes stared at Xin Hexue.
“Teacher Zhang, I need to speak with you and your students.” He turned to Teacher Zhang. “You are free to move around the village and take photos during the day, as long as you don’t damage anything or disturb our lives. Do as you please. But at night, especially after 9 PM, do not be outside. Stay indoors, and do not take photos.”
Matsukawa Masato spoke up politely, “Village Chief, may I ask why?”
“Sea monkeys come ashore at night.”
“If they have nothing to eat, they will enter the village to steal our things. You must keep the doors and windows closed.”
The village chief spoke seriously, warning them word by word.
“But why no photos?”
The village chief smiled. “Oh, this, the brick you use for taking pictures.”
He pointed to the one in Xin Hexue’s hand.
“Smartphone?”
The village chief nodded. “Yes, yes! I see Zhou Liao has one too, but he doesn’t use it much, and keeps it at home. When you use this phone to take pictures at night, doesn’t it flash light? Don’t use that, don’t use that.”
“My father and mother were both afraid of things that flash light and capture images. Back when I took them to the photo studio in town, just taking pictures with a camera frightened them.”
Xing Ming said, “We can also turn off the flash mode.”
But in the dark, with the flash off, nothing would show up in the photo.
The village chief shook his head. “Don’t use this, don’t use this. Listen to this old man.”
It was probably some taboo in the village.
Since they were here, they had to respect the locals’ beliefs.
“Children, come eat!”
The village chief called out.
Nanwan Village lived off the sea, with generations making a living from fishing. Only a small area near the hillside had arable land. Every household raised chickens and ducks freely, and some also raised pigs, cows, and goats.
So overall, food was not scarce.
Braised duck, blanched small squid, oyster omelette, stir-fried clams, poached yellowfin croaker cooked in soy sauce water, fried eggs with dried radish…
The ingredients were fresh and sweet, complete with color, aroma, and taste.
Teacher Zhang, along with Zhou Liao, sat with the village chief’s family. The other table was all young people, and all were ready to feast after a long day of physical and mental exhaustion.
During the meal, someone asked curiously, “Village Chief, don’t you have any children in your family?”
As they walked through the village, they saw many families with three generations living together, some even had long-lived elders, bringing four generations under one roof.
The village chief’s face flushed. “Useless! My three daughters-in-law are all useless!”
The three sisters-in-law lowered their heads. They were all dressed in local short sleeved jackets, which were colorful and form fitting, highlighting their beautiful and slender figures.
Their husbands, however, seemed more “fruitful”, each with a beer belly. While eating, they sat with their shirts open inelegantly, their faces greasy and bellies pushing against the table.
It was hard to look in their direction.
The village chief: “But, don’t look at me like this, I’m only in my fifties. I still have a long time to enjoy family happiness.”
Hearing this, everyone was surprised.
Because the village chief’s hair was graying, and based on the wrinkles on his face, they had originally estimated he was in his seventies or eighties.
But it made sense. Life by the sea, where one is exposed to sun, rain, and salty sea winds, a person’s skin ages faster.
“Zhou Liao, these young people will stay with you in Old Uncle Zhou’s former house. It should be spacious enough, right?”
The village chief asked concernedly.
Zhou Liao counted the number of people and nodded.
Before leaving, the village chief pulled Zhou Liao aside and spoke with him.
Finally, he instructed, “In any case, if there are any problems, come find me.”
Having packed their large and small luggage, the group stood at the door, waiting for Zhou Liao.
“Thank you for the hospitality at dinner tonight.”
Teacher Zhang said to the village chief.
“Go on, go on. The fish and shrimp here are very fresh. When the village fishing boats return, you can ask them for some seafood to try.” The village chief told them, “There’s a grocery store opened at the village entrance. If you run out of oil or salt, buy it there. But Zhou Liao has been living in Old Uncle Zhou’s former house since he returned from outside, so he shouldn’t lack these daily necessities.”
“It’s seven o’clock. It’s getting late.”
The village chief glanced at the plastic clock on the wall.
“Hurry along. Remember, after nine tonight, you must lock the doors and windows tightly.”
He urged again.
………
The village chief said Zhou Liao was a child who drifted in from the sea, and was raised by Old Uncle Zhou. Once, when he was young, he was beaten and ran away from home. Everyone thought he wouldn’t return, but last year he drifted back from the sea.
But he only made it in time to see Old Uncle Zhou for the last time.
Before his death, Old Uncle Zhou left this large house to Zhou Liao.
Nanwan Village had four major surnames, Zhou being one of them. Old Uncle Zhou had grown up in a large flourishing family. But by his generation, the family line had dwindled, and the house grew emptier. He was the only son. He and his wife had no children after many years of marriage, and people looked down on them for it. They picked up Zhou Liao and raised him as their own son.
Old Uncle Zhou followed his wife’s spirit in death. This large house with five central bays and two main sections was left for Zhou Liao alone to live in.
How large was this house?
Including Zhou Liao, the nine teachers and students could each have their own separate room.
The girls got the large rooms near the central top hall. The others chose theirs, and Xin Hexue selected a side room near the rear section.
There were only two shower rooms for ten people, so they had to queue for showers.
Xin Hexue dried his damp hair as he walked back, his face flushed red from the warm steam.
He pushed the door to his room open.
Zhou Liao inside the room abruptly stood up from the bedside.
Obviously, it was Xin Hexue who had entered the wrong room, but Zhou Liao acted as if he was the one who had done something wrong.
Xin Hexue’s gaze swept around the bedroom leisurely. The room had a red brick floor and wasn’t large, but it was clean and tidy.
“Sit down.”
He said to Zhou Liao.
His tone was flat, and the brief command made Zhou Liao sit back down.
Xin Hexue strode in confidently, like a king inspecting his territory.
He even pushed the room’s original owner onto the bed.
He shamelessly straddled the man.
“Don’t move.”
His waist bent down slightly, the curve like a crescent moon.
Zhou Liao made hand signs with blushing cheeks.
Xin Hexue unbuttoned the jacket one button at a time, as if he was conducting a delicate experiment, completely unaware that his pure white nightgown had already slid up decadently to his thighs, and the smooth skin of his legs was glaringly white under the light.
—Don’t wear such a short skirt.
Zhou Liao pressed his lips together tightly, his ears bright red as he pressed down the hem of Xin Hexue’s nightgown.
“Touching my leg costs ten thousand.”
Xin Hexue glanced down and stated the price clearly.
Zhou Liao looked at him in a daze, his warm palm still covering the edge of the white gown.
“You’re not a pauper, are you?”
Xin Hexue frowned, his fingers searching over the other party’s tense, stiff waist and abdomen.
He found it.
There was a gunshot wound on his side.
This was from when he was escaping S City to the Walled City, and Zhou Liao took a bullet for him.
This was indeed Zhou Liao, the Zhou Liao he knew.
Xin Hexue breathed a sigh of relief. Turning into a boneless cat, he lay down on the only territory here that belonged to him. Finally able to relax, he made a joke, “Considering that we know each other, this one is free this time.”
