The sound of the Haotian Bell grew increasingly urgent. Villagers ran inside their houses, quickly shutting and bolting the doors.
The sounds of doors and windows being secured echoed throughout the village. Even the livestock, sensing something amiss, scattered haphazardly back to their pens, shivering and hiding without making a sound.
A deliberately hushed voice came from ahead. A middle-aged couple, dressed in plain brown clothes, stood beside a door, waving at Li Ang and Guan Anyan.
Seeing this, Li Ang immediately ran over, followed closely by Guan Anyan.
The middle-aged couple pulled open the door. Once Li Ang and Guan Anyan were inside, they quickly shut the wooden door, bolted it, and locked it with a key. They then took several steps back and turned to close the windows.
Through the cracks in the windows, they could clearly see the evening sun’s afterglow fading as a thick, ominous curtain of night began to envelop the mountain region.
"Is everything shut?"
"Everything is shut."
The couple confirmed that all doors and windows were securely closed. Only then did they breathe a sigh of relief and turn, smiling, towards the puzzled Li Ang and Guan Anyan. "You two must be visitors from outside the village, right?" the man asked.
"Yes." Li Ang nodded, pointing to the tightly closed door. "This is..."
"Oh, it’s a curfew tradition of Qi Shui Village," the middle-aged man explained. "Once it gets dark, everyone must stay inside and cannot go out."
Qi Shui Village... Guan Anyan’s heart tensed. This village perished and disappeared three hundred years ago; no living person resides here. So who, or what, could be appearing here now?
"Is that so?" Li Ang feigned agreement. Given how those villagers were fleeing in panic earlier, this doesn’t seem like a normal curfew at all.
However, he didn’t pursue the matter. Instead, he introduced himself, "My name is Lufei, from Chang’an. This is my younger sister. And you are...?"
Although the middle-aged man also wore a straw coat and leaned on a hoe, his face was fairly pale and lacked many wrinkles. His demeanor and speech didn’t resemble those of a common peasant from the Pre-Sui Period; he seemed more like a scholar.
"I am Zhuo Wenbai, also from Chang’an. This is my wife, Lai Qiu."
Zhuo Wenbai introduced his wife. Lai Qiu first bowed awkwardly towards Li Ang and Guan Anyan, then gently tugged at her husband’s sleeve and whispered, "Eldest Son, Lu’er hasn’t come back yet."
"She’s at the ancestral hall playing with friends; she’s fine. I’ll fetch her at dawn." Zhuo Wenbai spoke softly to his wife, "Go to the kitchen and prepare some dishes for our guests. How about stewing the fish from the tank?"
"Ah, but wasn’t the one in the tank reserved last year by Mr. Hou from the city...?" Lai Qiu’s expression wavered slightly. The fish they spoke of was clearly very precious. However, she couldn’t resist her husband’s gentle gaze. She pursed her lips and headed to the kitchen. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the NovᴇlFɪre.ɴet
"From the moment I heard your accents, I guessed you were also from Chang’an." Zhuo Wenbai smiled, inviting Li Ang and Guan Anyan to sit. "I left Chang’an many years ago. Qi Shui Village is quite isolated, so it’s rare to meet fellow people from Chang’an. If you don’t mind, please have dinner with us tonight. Wait a moment, I’ll fetch some homemade wine."
He turned and walked towards the kitchen, disappearing from view. Li Ang and Guan Anyan exchanged glances, silently signaling each other to remain calm and observant.
There was more than one strange thing about this village. The other villagers appeared stiff and sluggish, while only Zhuo Wenbai and his wife seemed more... "intelligent." Moreover, I’m still wearing this bamboo hat, straw coat, and scarf—a bizarre outfit. If I were seen on the streets of Chang’an, the garrison would arrest me in minutes for "suspicious behavior." Yet Zhuo Wenbai and his wife accepted it without question. That makes them all the more suspect.
Soon, Zhuo Wenbai returned with a jar of wine. He opened it, poured wine into two cups, and began to chat with Li Ang.
Zhuo Wenbai claimed to be from Southern Chang’an. He said that, by a twist of fate, he had come to Qi Shui Village in Bingzhou over a decade ago. Attracted by the scenery, he had decided to settle down, marry, and they had a daughter.
As they conversed, Li Ang subtly probed. He deduced from Zhuo Wenbai’s vocabulary and phrasing that his manner of speaking indeed matched that of someone from the Former Sui era. For instance, Zhuo Wenbai mentioned official titles that only existed during the Pre-Sui Period, such as the Minister of the Provincial Governor’s Office of Hebei Dao.
During their talk, the kitchen was filled with the sounds of pots and pans clanging, a cleaver heavily chopping bones, and...
A piercing cry, "WAAH! WAAH—" suddenly came from the kitchen. Guan Anyan and Li Ang instinctively turned their heads in that direction.
Zhuo Wenbai chuckled. "Heh, that’s the sound our village’s black fish make. You haven’t heard it before, have you? Our Qi Shui Village black fish cry out when they’re being butchered. It’s a normal reaction; no need to be overly surprised."
As he spoke, an enticing aroma wafted from the kitchen. It smelled delicious... but not like fish.
"Aren’t you two here for the Qi Shui Village festival the day after tomorrow?" Zhuo Wenbai smiled.
A festival? Li Ang was inwardly perplexed but maintained his composure. He responded casually, "Yes, my sister and I came specifically for it. However, on our way here, we heard several different explanations and still don’t quite understand the festival’s origin. Perhaps Brother Zhuo could enlighten us?"
"Haha, of course," Zhuo Wenbai laughed. "The Qi Shui Village festival commemorates the Qi Shui God. Legend has it that in ancient times, a group of refugees, fleeing from marauding soldiers, escaped into these mountains. Without food, they suffered terribly from hunger, and many starved to death."