chapter_translated.json

[
  {
    "title": "第1章 黄历",
    "translated_content": "Chapter 1: The Farmer's Almanac\n\nNovember 18, 2024\nChapter 1: The Farmer's Almanac\n\nThe twenty-third day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, Grain in Ear.\n\nRain fell outside. Ning Zhe entered the ancestral shrine dedicated to the Serpent God, flipped open the old farmer's almanac nailed to the serpent's tongue, and checked the auspicious and inauspicious events for the day:\n\n【Auspicious:】\n【Inauspicious: Travel, burial, funeral processions, sacrifices】\n\n\"Inauspicious for travel… Does today's rule mean you can't go out?\" Ning Zhe examined the almanac, committing its contents to memory.\n\nThe almanac's contents were the key to survival in this isolated mountain village.\n\nThis village was called Hejia Village, situated in the center of a basin surrounded by mountains, cut off from the outside world. The entire village was divided into east and west halves by a river, connected by three arched bridges.\n\nThe people of Hejia Village believed in the Serpent God, each household enshrining a portrait of the deity. The Serpent God was depicted as a large jade green serpent with a pair of curved horns. A statue carved from a camphor tree root was enshrined in the ancestral shrine at the south end of the village, surrounded by ancestral tablets – the place where Ning Zhe now stood.\n\nAn old farmer's almanac was nailed to the Serpent God statue's tongue. The most important thing for the villagers of Hejia Village every midnight was to come to the shrine, turn a page of the almanac, check the auspicious and inauspicious events of the day, and then they could sleep peacefully.\n\nAccording to the villagers, the auspicious and inauspicious events in the almanac were heavenly secrets revealed by the Serpent God.\n\nThe auspicious and inauspicious events given by the almanac each day were random. Knowing the contents allowed one to avoid misfortune and invite good fortune. Doing what was auspicious would bring good luck, while violating the inauspicious would bring bad luck. Repeated violations would bring terrible misfortune, and those who violated too many or too serious inauspicious events might even die mysteriously.\n\nNing Zhe had firsthand experience of this.\n\nWhen he first entered the village yesterday, he unintentionally violated the \"seeing birth\" and \"pest control\" taboos listed in the previous day's auspicious and inauspicious events because he didn't understand the local rules, resulting in a terrible day:\n\nHe tripped over a crack in the stone pavement, a falling tile hit the back of his head when he passed under a roof, and just as he was about to go out, a torrential downpour began… He barely made it through the night, and the secluded mountain village was about to welcome a new day. Ning Zhe waited at the shrine entrance, and as soon as midnight passed, he immediately opened the almanac to check the auspicious and inauspicious events for the day.\n\nNing Zhe checked the almanac's contents again:\n\n【Auspicious:】\n【Inauspicious: Travel, burial, funeral processions, sacrifices】\n\n\"Burial, funeral processions, and sacrifices are all understandable, but what does 'travel' specifically mean? Does it mean traveling far away, or does it simply mean leaving houses or buildings and going outside?  Also…\"\n\nNing Zhe was puzzled, his gaze shifting slightly upwards to the blank space after the character for \"Auspicious\":\n\n\"Why does the almanac only list inauspicious events and no auspicious ones?\"\n\nEverything inauspicious today?\n\nAs he pondered this, he heard faint footsteps outside the shrine; some villagers must be coming to check the almanac. Ning Zhe left the lotus pedestal where the Serpent God statue was enshrined and walked towards the side door of the shrine, preparing to leave.\n\nThe villagers of Hejia Village were not to be trusted, and if possible, Ning Zhe didn't want to interact with them much.\n\nBut the candlelight behind him flickered slightly.  Reaching the side door, he hesitated.  Unable to determine the exact meaning of the \"travel\" taboo, he wasn't very daring to go out; he'd had enough bad luck yesterday.\n\n\"Midnight has passed, and the auspicious and inauspicious events have been updated. If simply leaving the house and moving around the village is considered 'travel,' then the villagers who came to the shrine to check the almanac have already violated the taboo,\" Ning Zhe thought to himself.\n\nThe Serpent God was merciful; those who unwittingly violated taboos for the first time would only suffer minor misfortunes, nothing life-threatening.  In other words, by observing whether the villagers who came to the shrine were unlucky, he should be able to roughly determine whether they had violated the 'travel' taboo.\n\nWith this in mind, Ning Zhe didn't rush to leave. He moved to the side of a wall-mounted pillar, pure black, with a dark red old silk curtain hanging on it. A dim candle flickered slightly below the curtain. Ning Zhe hid behind the curtain, observing the main entrance of the shrine through the cracks in the candlelight.\n\nSoft, muffled footsteps mixed with the sound of splashing water. A pair of white sneakers splashed through puddles in the street and arrived at the shrine entrance.\n\n“……” Ning Zhe's eyes were fixed on the figure entering from the outside, his pupils constricting slightly in shock.\n\nIt was a strong young man, seemingly under thirty, in a simple tank top and loose running shorts. His strong arms and running shoes indicated he was a fitness enthusiast; yet this unremarkable attire sent chills down Ning Zhe's spine.\n\n\"Since I was drawn into Hejia Village, every villager I've met has looked strange. They wore outdated linen clothes, used primitive ox-drawn plows to cultivate the fields, and spoke with a heavy Hakka accent…There wasn't even an electric light in the houses or on the roads.\"\n\n\"If it weren't for the bizarre rules here, and the villagers' stiff movements like shadow puppets, I would have even suspected I'd time-traveled to ancient times.\"\n\nBut in this bizarre 'ancient village,' he saw someone else wearing modern clothing.\n\n\"Who is he? Is he, like me, drawn into this bizarre place?  Are there other living people here besides me?\"\n\nVarious questions filled Ning Zhe's mind, but his cautious nature prevented him from acting rashly. Slowing his breathing, he tried his best to remain silent, his eyes fixed on the strong man in the tank top and sneakers as he entered the shrine and went straight to the inner hall, stopping in front of the Serpent God statue.\n\n\"His goal is also the almanac.\" Ning Zhe understood.\n\nThis man in the tank top was likely, like himself, an outsider who had accidentally stumbled into this strange village, perhaps even unintentionally violating the Serpent God's taboos. His purpose in coming to the shrine late at night was probably the same as his own—to consult the almanac and check the auspicious and inauspicious events for the day.\n\nThe man in the tank top looked up at the old almanac hanging from the Serpent God's tongue, a puzzled expression on his face. Ning Zhe knew what he was wondering:\n\n\"He thinks he's the first person to come to the shrine, that the almanac hasn't been turned yet, and that it's still on yesterday's page. So he's probably wondering why the almanac's contents don't match the taboos he violated yesterday.\"\n\nIn reality, Ning Zhe, having arrived earlier, had already turned the almanac to today's page, of course it wouldn't match.\n\nThe man in the tank top hesitated for a moment in front of the Serpent God statue, then finally reached out for the almanac. He was about to turn the page.\n\n\"That's right, this almanac doesn't have Gregorian dates; it uses the lunar calendar. Modern people accustomed to the Gregorian calendar will find it difficult to determine whether the date shown is today based on the lunar calendar date alone.\" Ning Zhe roughly guessed the situation.\n\nThis situation could be easily solved by simply checking a phone; calendar apps usually display both Gregorian and lunar dates simultaneously. But perhaps because the almanac's contents didn't match the taboos he had actually violated, the chaotic facts panicked the man in the tank top. In his extreme tension, he couldn't calm down enough to think of this.\n\nPlease...collect...6...9...books....!\n\nUnpredictable punishments create immeasurable authority.  Vague rules and imminent death; in such an environment, few could remain rational.\n\nNing Zhe held his breath, his eyes fixed on the man's hand reaching for the almanac: \"If the almanac, already turned to today's page, is turned again, will it show tomorrow's auspicious and inauspicious events?\"\n\nHe had no intention of warning the other man. Ning Zhe was only curious about one thing: Would the Serpent God permit checking tomorrow's auspicious and inauspicious events today?\n\nThe answer came quickly.\n\nThe man's short, thick fingers lifted and turned a page of the almanac, about to hang the page with today's auspicious and inauspicious events back on the nail. But before the page could be hung, almost less than a second after he turned the almanac, a dull thud echoed through the shrine.\n\nIt was the sound of a human body hitting the earthen floor. He hadn't managed to turn the almanac to tomorrow's page; his whole body collapsed to the ground like a deflated balloon, motionless.\n\n\"So the answer is no,\" Ning Zhe murmured to himself.\n\nAlthough he hadn't actually examined the body, a strange premonition arose in Ning Zhe's heart, as if someone had given him a hint.\n\nHe felt that the man was dead.\n\nA chilly night breeze blew in from the main entrance. The turned page didn't fall back into place, like a withered leaf fluttering in the wind, rustling, or like a butterfly with deep yellow wings, fluttering in the quiet shrine, \"Tomorrow's Auspicious and Inauspicious Events\" faintly visible beneath its wings.\n\nNing Zhe took a deep breath, averting his gaze from the almanac but not intending to leave.\n\nThe man's sudden death was not due to bad luck but to violating some hidden death taboo independent of the \"auspicious and inauspicious events\" for the day.\n\n\"A sub-rule under the rules?\" Ning Zhe pondered as he quickly stepped out from behind the curtain.\n\nA cool draft blew through the shrine. Ning Zhe swiftly dragged the man's body away from the Serpent God statue and hid it under the offering table covered with a large red tablecloth. A freshly dead person wouldn't smell for a while, so the body should remain hidden here.\n\nNing Zhe tidied the tablecloth, quickly left the offering table, and hid back behind the curtain against the wall.\n\n\"There must be other living people in this village besides me and this man, and they might also come to the shrine to consult the almanac.\"\n\nNing Zhe was not frightened by the bizarre death before him; he still clearly knew what he should do—by observing whether others coming from outside were unlucky, he might be able to determine the specific meaning of the \"travel\" taboo in today's auspicious and inauspicious events.\n\nThe almanac's contents were the key to survival in this isolated mountain village.\n\n(End of Chapter)\n"
  },
  {
    "title": "第2章 张养序",
    "translated_content": "Chapter 2 Zhang Yangxu\n\nWhile moving the body, Ning Zhe casually pocketed the vest-wearing man's phone.  A hundred-yuan bill was tucked inside the black phone case, but there was no ID card or driver's license—nothing to confirm his identity.\n\nNing Zhe didn't know the man's screen lock password, so he used the corpse's fingerprint to unlock it.  After unlocking, the first thing Ning Zhe did was go into the system settings and set the automatic lock to 'never,' before starting to browse the man's phone.\n\n—A person's weak bioelectricity in their cells completely disappears about three hours after death. At this point, electronic devices like phones can no longer recognize their fingerprints.\n\nThe vest-wearing man's WeChat nickname was 'AAA Qiao Gaoli Fitness Club - Coach Zhiyuan,' and his real name was verified as 'Lin *yuan.' (Qiao Gaoli is likely a place name)\n\nLin Zhiyuan had many WeChat friends, mostly women marked as 'clients' or 'students.' In a recent chat with a female client surnamed Cai, Lin Zhiyuan mentioned that he was going home to see his parents and would have a colleague cover his shifts for a few days.\n\nThe woman replied with a \"Miss you\" emoticon.\n\nLooking through his Moments (朋友圈 - WeChat's Moments feature, similar to Facebook's feed), Lin Zhiyuan's last post was from yesterday morning.  The content was: 'The food at the highway service station is too expensive!  Expensive and greasy, eating one meal requires a month of dieting to recover,' accompanied by a picture of an N1 sports car parked next to a charging station.\n\n\"Lin Zhiyuan was still complaining about the greasy food at a highway service station yesterday morning, which means he entered the village sometime after that,\" Ning Zhe recalled entering Hejia Village himself at 7 a.m., several hours before Lin Zhiyuan.\n\nAfter confirming that data was enabled, Ning Zhe sent a message to the female client surnamed Cai: 'Are you there?'\n\nA red exclamation mark appeared on the left side of the message, indicating sending failure.\n\n\"Failed again, as expected,\" Ning Zhe wasn't surprised.\n\nChecking the call logs and chat interface, it was clear that Lin Zhiyuan had called contacts labeled as parents and girlfriend multiple times, and he had also tried the carrier's emergency call function, but all attempts to contact the outside world had failed.\n\nNing Zhe wasn't surprised by this, because the same thing happened to him. Since entering Hejia Village, he had completely lost all contact with the outside world.  The 4G signal showed full bars, but he couldn't send or receive a single message.\n\nA normal person might feel frustrated by this, but Ning Zhe wasn't normal. For reasons unknown, Ning Zhe exited WeChat and used Lin Zhiyuan's phone to call his own number.\n\nBuzz—buzz—\n\nA buzzing vibration came from his thigh; his phone in his pocket had been answered.\n\nAt that moment, footsteps were heard outside the ancestral hall.\n\nNing Zhe hung up, left Lin Zhiyuan's phone on and slipped it into his coat pocket, focusing on the sounds outside.\n\nWhen Lin Zhiyuan had entered, the sound of his air-cushioned sneakers on the dirt and stone path was very muffled.  This time, however, the footsteps were crisp and clear—the sound of hard heels tapping on the ground, tic-tic-tap-tap, more than one person, two.\n\nNing Zhe's gaze was fixed on the doorway.  Entering were a man in a suit and a woman in an office lady uniform. Their polished leather shoes and high heels were splattered with yellow mud.\n\n\"How could it be him?\" Ning Zhe was surprised.\n\nHe knew the man, though the man might not know him.\n\nNing Zhe recognized the man from the news.  His name was Zhang Yangxu, the head of Qinzou's largest real estate development company, New World Group. Ning Zhe's reason for leaving school and returning to his rural hometown was because Zhang Yangxu's company was interested in acquiring land nearby, to develop a new park in his hometown of Gubei Town.  Ning Zhe's family home was on the company's planned demolition list.\n\nHis grandparents were illiterate, so he, a high school student, had to take a few days off to return home.\n\n\"Zhang Yangxu has also been drawn into this place… Yes, I saw it in the local news before. New World Group executives were supposed to come to Gubei Town for an on-site inspection in the next few days to finalize the land acquisition contract.  I didn't expect the CEO to come in person. The woman next to him must be Zhang Yangxu's secretary or assistant.\"\n\nBased on fragmented information, Ning Zhe pieced together the events: \"Lin Zhiyuan was drawn in while visiting his family. I was drawn in on my way home to help my grandparents with the demolition contract. Zhang Yangxu and that woman were drawn in during their on-site inspection in Gubei Town, right?\"\n\nWhat connection did this strange village called Hejia Village have with his hometown, Gubei Town?\n\nConfused, Ning Zhe watched Zhang Yangxu and the woman in the OL uniform walk to the lotus platform where the snake god statue was enshrined.\n\nZhang Yangxu used one hand to turn on his phone's flashlight and the other to hold down the fluttering yellow calendar paper, examining the contents carefully. Soon, he had the same doubts as Lin Zhiyuan before; the calendar's contents didn't match the taboos he had broken yesterday.\n\nHe glanced at his phone screen, his brow immediately furrowing:  \"The twenty-third of April on the lunar calendar. It shows today's content; the calendar has been turned.\"\n\nZhang Yangxu's voice was low, slightly husky, calm and serious: \"Someone has been here.\"\n\nThe woman beside him whispered, \"Was it a villager?\"\n\nPlease...collect...6...9...books...!\n\nZhang Yangxu shook his head: \"We checked when we arrived; all the doors on the entire street were locked from the inside. No villager left their home tonight.\"\n\n\"Not a villager?  Then…?\" The woman's voice was questioning, uncertain: \"Could there be others here besides us?\"\n\n\"Possible,\" Zhang Yangxu didn't deny it.\n\n\"…He said they checked all the locked doors on the street. If that's the case?\" Ning Zhe quickly calculated the time, a stone fell from his heart: \"It seems that simply leaving the house and walking on the village streets won't violate the 'travel' taboo.\"\n\nThe travel taboo referred to something else.\n\nHaving determined the auspiciousness of the day, Ning Zhe had no intention of further interacting with Zhang Yangxu and the woman.  In this environment, no one was trustworthy.  A few steps behind the pillar where he was hiding was the side door of the ancestral hall. It was time to leave.\n\nNing Zhe watched Zhang Yangxu and the woman discussing in front of the snake god statue, his back to the side door. He quietly backed away; the cold evening wind blew in from outside, chilling his spine.\n\nBefore he could reach the door, a cry of pain, tinged with tears, came from behind Ning Zhe.\n\n\"Who are you…\"\n\n(End of Chapter)\n"
  },
  {
    "title": "第3章 冯玉漱",
    "translated_content": "Chapter 3 Feng Yushu\n\nA strange, cry-like laugh made Ning Zhe shiver. Before his brain could process it, his body instinctively reacted, kicking backward towards the source of the sound.\n\nHe looked again; the owner of the voice was sprawled on the ground, clutching their abdomen and curled up in pain.\n\n\"It's a living person,\" Ning Zhe breathed a sigh of relief.\n\nFrom the ancestral hall behind him, Zhang Yangxu and the female office worker, alerted by the noise, were approaching the side door.\n\nKnowing he was exposed, Ning Zhe gave up on escaping. His gaze quickly swept over the woman who had suddenly appeared outside and had been kicked to the ground by him.\n\n\nShe was a middle-aged woman, seemingly in her thirties or forties, though that was just a guess.  She wore numerous expensive and dazzling jewels and her clothing was flamboyant and luxurious.  Her pearl necklace consisted of perfectly round and lustrous pearls; her left wrist sported a crystal-clear jade bracelet, likely costing more than the demolition compensation for Ning Zhe's old family home. Her long, black, shiny hair was meticulously styled with a gold and jade phoenix hairpin.  Her skin was fair and smooth, without a single wrinkle—clearly someone who avoided the sun. A string of glossy prayer beads rested in her right hand, suggesting a possible Buddhist faith.\n\n\nShe wore a deep purple fitted gown, cinched at the waist with a lavender sash embroidered with delicate lace. The careful design and tailoring accentuated her curvaceous figure perfectly. Her oval face held a stunning beauty, like a lotus flower emerging from water, with elegant and refined features.\n\n…All this pointed to a wealthy woman who had lived a life of comfort and leisure, exceptionally well-maintained. People with good living conditions tend to age more slowly. Ning Zhe wasn't sure of her exact age; she looked thirty but might be forty, or even older.\n\nHearing Zhang Yangxu's footsteps approaching, Ning Zhe gently patted the woman's shoulder. \"I'm sorry, are you alright?\"\n\nThough the kick was instinctive, the narrowness of the ancestral hall's side door prevented him from using his full strength. He estimated the impact to her abdomen was minimal, unlikely to cause internal bleeding.  He was always precise in such matters. As a schoolboy, he could beat up bullies until they were black and blue, yet perfectly control the injuries to only superficial bruises, never escalating the situation. This was no different.\n\nAfter a moment, the gorgeously adorned woman struggled to her feet from the stone path, leaning against the wall and gasping for breath.\n\n\"You… why did you hit me?\" Her voice was weak from the abdominal pain, but surprisingly, she didn't lash out.\n\n\"I'm truly sorry. You appeared so suddenly behind me without a sound, I thought it was one of those… unnatural Hejia villagers trying to sneak up on me. I overreacted,\" Ning Zhe apologized sincerely.\n\n\"It's alright… alright…\" The woman shook her head repeatedly. \"I understand. In a place like this, anyone would be on edge. It's not your fault, not your fault…\"\n\nNing Zhe noticed her complex expression: her pale face betrayed her unease in this strange place; her slightly pursed lips reflected fear of being attacked by the young man, but more prominently, was the relief and joy of seeing another living person after being terrified for so long.\n\n\"This woman has a weak personality and lacks decisiveness. After being beaten, she showed no hostility or aversion, instead actively excusing my mistake and trying to win my favor,\" Ning Zhe quickly analyzed her character traits.\n\nHe turned to Zhang Yangxu, who had reached the side door. \"Hello, Mr. Zhang, I didn't expect to see you here. My name is Ning Zhe, a high school senior at Taoyuan No. 1 Middle School.\"\n\n\"Hello, I'm Zhang Yangxu,\" Zhang Yangxu replied indifferently.\n\n\"I'm Mr. Zhang's legal counsel, Xie Sining,\" the woman behind Zhang Yangxu said, her tone considerably more cheerful.\n\nZhang Yangxu's gaze quickly swept over the woman leaning against the wall and Ning Zhe, slightly surprised. \"Mrs. Bai is here too… Ning Zhe, is it? Do you know me?\"\n\n\"Who doesn't know you, Mr. Zhang? You're too modest. At least, few people in Qinzhou haven't heard of you,\" Ning Zhe said lightly, smiling. \"Thanks to you, I was able to take leave from school to return home. I thought I'd become a demolition beneficiary, comfortably collecting rent, but then I woke up in this… ghostly place.\"\n\nZhang Yangxu nodded slightly. He hadn't expected Ning Zhe to be a local from Gubei Town.\n\nNing Zhe gestured towards the woman leaning against the wall. \"You mentioned Mrs. Bai. Is this lady's surname Bai? Do you know her, Mr. Zhang?\"\n\nZhang Yangxu remained silent; his legal counsel, Xie Sining, promptly introduced her.  \"This is Feng Yushu, Mrs. Bai Fugu, the largest shareholder of the 'New Home' Group. Mr. Bai and Mr. Zhang both have their sights set on this area of Gubei Town, both vying for the development contract. We are currently competitors.\"\n\n\"I see,\" Ning Zhe smiled slightly at Xie Sining. \"But in a place like this, business relationships seem meaningless.\"\n\nZhang Yangxu smiled. \"Indeed, they are meaningless.\"\n\nIn the outside world, Zhang Yangxu might be a tycoon worth hundreds of billions, a prominent figure with extensive connections. But in this isolated village, a place of strange occurrences and supernatural events, he was just an overweight, balding middle-aged man.\n\nThis is why he was willing to speak to Ning Zhe on equal terms.  Here, Ning Zhe wasn't just a high school student burning the midnight oil, but a strong, energetic young adult male.\n\nPlease… collect… 6…9… books…\n\n\nNing Zhe approached Feng Yushu, extending a hand to help her up. \"Madam, how did you get here?\"\n\nFeng Yushu, suppressing her abdominal pain, brushed off the dust from her dress. \"My husband, daughter, and I came to Gubei Town. He's always busy with work and rarely home. We wanted to take advantage of his on-site bidding to have a family outing, relax in the countryside, see the scenery, but then…\"\n\nThen, the unexpected happened, dragging her into this strange place called Hejia Village.\n\n\"Where are your husband and daughter? Did they come here too?\" Ning Zhe pressed.\n\nFeng Yushu shook her head. \"No. I searched for them in the village yesterday, violating several taboos, but I couldn't find them. It seems I'm the only one who wandered in.\"\n\n\"Alright, I understand.\" Ning Zhe nodded with satisfaction.  He now had a basic understanding of everyone present.\n\nEncountering living people in such a place was good, but beneath the surface of mutual support lay a less harmonious reality.\n\nBehind Zhang Yangxu, Xie Sining's phone vibrated slightly. She subtly unlocked the screen and glanced at it—a text message from someone labeled 'Mr. Zhang':\n\n\"Ning Zhe was the one who found the almanac. He arrived before all of us. Be careful of him.\"\n\n(End of Chapter)\n"
  },
  {
    "title": "第4章 门和病",
    "translated_content": "Chapter 4: Doors and Sickness\n\nAfter discussion, the four unanimously agreed to wait a little longer at the ancestral hall. If other living people still existed in Hejia Village and were aware of the \"taboos,\" they would certainly come to the ancestral hall to consult the almanac and check the auspiciousness and inauspiciousness of the day.\n\nTonight, something unknown happened. Every household in Hejia Village had its doors shut and windows closed; not a single person came out to check the daily fortune at the ancestral hall.\n\nThis was highly unusual, and unusualness implied something uncanny.\n\n\"Do you have any leads?\" Zhang Yangxu asked during the wait.\n\n\"None,\" Ning Zhe shook his head. \"The He family members would come to the ancestral hall every night at midnight to consult the almanac.  Today, they didn't. Either they no longer care about good or bad fortune, or they have other ways of knowing the daily fortune. Or... there's some danger inside the ancestral hall today, preventing them from coming.\"\n\n\"Oh?\" Zhang Yangxu was curious. \"Is that so?\"\n\n\"I don't know, it's just speculation,\" Ning Zhe shrugged.\n\n\"Dan...danger?\"  Hearing that there might be danger in the ancestral hall, Feng Yushu's face turned pale. She was already a devout Buddhist, and after witnessing the eerie nature of the snake god in Hejia Village, she was even more timid, walking on eggshells in everything she did.\n\nFeng Yushu looked at the deceased's memorial tablets and the snake god statue on the lotus platform with lingering fear, then looked at Ning Zhe with a pleading gaze, suggesting, \"Otherwise, let's go out and wait outside the ancestral hall... Staying in front of the snake god continuously might be somewhat offensive?\"\n\n\"I agree,\" Ning Zhe nodded, shifting his gaze to Zhang Yangxu and Xie Sining. \"What do you think?\"\n\n\"Makes sense. Ancestral halls aren't places for outsiders to enter, let alone stay for a long time,\" Xie Sining agreed. \"Mr. Zhang, should we go out?\"\n\nZhang Yangxu silently glanced at Ning Zhe and nodded. \"Let's go.\"\n\nThe four left the lotus platform where the snake god was enshrined and waited under the eaves outside the ancestral hall's main gate.\n\nThere wasn't much to talk about among several strangers. Xie Sining suggested that they could share their experiences of being drawn into Hejia Village; perhaps they could find something in common or a clue to leaving.\n\nFeng Yushu spoke first: \"Yesterday... or should I say the day before yesterday, my husband, daughter, and I stayed at a hotel in Gubei Town. Because he had the habit of working alone at night, we booked three rooms—one for each of us.\"\n\n\"Around 7 pm, I made some coffee, preparing to take it to my husband's room... But after opening his door and stepping across the threshold, what appeared before me wasn't a hotel room, but a narrow alley paved with flagstones.\"\n\nFeng Yushu recounted with lingering fear, \"At that time, the stainless steel doorknob in my hand had become an old brass latch. Behind me was a low, stone-built and tile-roofed house. The room inside was empty... as if I had just walked out of this door.\"\n\nZhang Yangxu nodded slightly. \"My situation is similar. My car was parked at a gas station outside Gubei Town. The driver went to the restroom, and I asked Sining to buy me a pack of cigarettes, but she didn't come back for a long time and didn't respond to messages.  I had to open the car door to look for her. The moment I opened the car door and got out, I arrived here.\"\n\nXie Sining continued, \"I bought the cigarettes Mr. Zhang wanted at the gas station's convenience store, but after pushing open the door and leaving the store, my feet were no longer on the concrete pavement of the gas station, but on the stone slabs of the streets of Hejia Village.\"\n\n\"Mine was more direct,\" Ning Zhe nodded. \"I returned to my hometown, opened the door to my old house, and then I was here.\"\n\nZhang Yangxu's eyes narrowed slightly, thoughtful.\n\nWas it coincidence? Or inevitable? Whether it was the door of the old house, the hotel room door, the convenience store's glass door... even the car door, the four of them arrived in Hejia Village through different means, but all related to \"doors.\"\n\nNing Zhe's expression remained calm, but he thought, \"It's a pity that Lin Zhiyuan is already dead; otherwise, I could ask him how he got here, if it was also through a door?\"\n\nSuddenly, a dark shadow appeared at the edge of Ning Zhe's vision, fleeting quickly.\n\n\"Someone in the alley across the street, he's running,\" Ning Zhe immediately took out his phone, turned on the flashlight, and pointed the light source at an alley across the street.\n\nThe phone's built-in flashlight didn't have a long range.  Ning Zhe did this to quickly and directly convey the coordinates of the shadow to others. Verbal descriptions were too inefficient and prone to distortion.\n\nBut strangely, the black figure, who had been trying to run away, stopped after seeing Ning Zhe's flashlight.\n\nThe person walked two steps toward them, and then a white light lit up from his hand—another flashlight.\n\n\"Great, it's a living person,\" Feng Yushu breathed a sigh of relief. Her heart had almost leaped out of her chest.\n\nUpon closer inspection, there were not one but two people in the alley across the street. A man and a woman, two young people, who seemed to be college students.\n\n\"Hello, my name is Gu Yunqing,\" the young man introduced himself first, then introduced the young woman beside him, \"This is my senior sister. We are both students of Qinzhou Medical University.\"\n\n\"My name is Ye Miaozhu,\" Gu Yunqing's senior sister introduced herself. \"Were you also unexpectedly drawn here?\"\n\nNing Zhe nodded.\n\nAfter a brief exchange, they exchanged information and identification documents. Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu both presented their internship certificates.\n\nPlease... collect 6...9...books....!\n\nGu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu were both intern doctors. Qinzhou Medical University had a tradition of sending students to rural clinics in remote areas for internships to gain experience, similar to teaching in rural areas. Their internship location was a designated medical point in Gubei Town.\n\nLike Ning Zhe and the other three, Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu arrived here after opening the clinic and pharmacy doors, respectively.\n\n\"It's definitely related to doors,\" Ning Zhe's conjecture became more certain. \"If we all entered Hejia Village through 'doors,' does this mean that somewhere in this village, there's also a door that can let us leave this eerie world and return to reality?\"\n\n\"Uncertain, but possible,\" Zhang Yangxu acknowledged his guess.\n\nZhang Yangxu then asked Ye Miaozhu, \"You should know about the auspiciousness, inauspiciousness, and taboos. But why didn't you enter the ancestral hall to consult the almanac and instead hid in the alley across the street?\"\n\nYe Miaozhu shook her head. \"We didn't dare to go in.\"\n\nGu Yunqing also said, \"The He family members usually come to the ancestral hall on time every day to consult the almanac and check the auspiciousness and inauspiciousness. But today, none of them came. Do you know why?\"\n\n\"Why?\" Feng Yushu hurriedly asked.\n\nGu Yunqing took a deep breath and said, \"I overheard two very old villagers chatting... They said the snake god is sick; today is its illness day.\"\n(End of Chapter)\n"
  }
]