"The Serpent Deity... is sick?" Feng Yushu wasn't quite sure what Gu Yunjing meant at that moment.
How could a god fall ill?
"I don't know." Gu Yunjing pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand. "But it's said that the Serpent God fell ill as early as 18 years ago, with a kind of madness."
Ye Miaozhu continued: "We overheard this at a large mansion in the eastern part of the village. Several people who seemed like household servants were discussing it privately, saying that... every month there are a few days when the originally benevolent-looking Snake God statue in the ancestral shrine becomes fierce and malevolent, completely transformed. The He family finds this very taboo. Whenever the Snake God has an episode, everyone in the village collectively stays behind closed doors, as if avoiding something."
"No wonder we didn't see a single household with open doors on our way to the shrine, and no one came to the shrine to consult the Yellow Calendar," Xie Sining suddenly understood. "They were hiding from the mad Snake God."
"But that doesn't make sense." Zhang Yangxu shook his head. "If the Snake God is truly so dangerous when it has episodes—dangerous enough to make the entire village of He family members so fearful that they dare not even leave their homes—then why didn't anything happen during the time we entered the shrine, consulted the Yellow Calendar, waited for people to come, and left the shrine?"
Zhang Yangxu's confusion was shared by everyone, but no one could explain the reason behind it.
This eerie village remained shrouded in an unknown fog of mystery.
In the silence, Ning Zhe's eyes flickered slightly. He thought of the corpse he had hidden under the altar table, and of Lin Zhiyuan, who had died mysteriously before the Snake God without even managing to let out a scream.
Perhaps some things had not failed to happen, but had already occurred.
"No matter what the truth is, we can't possibly return to the shrine to confirm it." Ning Zhe shook his head and took out his phone from his pocket. Opening the photo album, he showed a photograph to Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu. "These are today's taboos. If you can't remember them, just take a photo."
Ye Miaozhu immediately beamed with joy: "Thank you so much, this is a huge help."
Zhang Yangxu watched Ye Miaozhu and Gu Yunqing taking out their phones to photograph the image, then looked at Ning Zhe, whose expression remained perfectly composed without the slightest flaw, and showed a meaningful smile: "How thoughtful."
Perhaps overly thoughtful.
Today's Fortune:
[Auspicious:]
[Taboo: Travel, Burial, Funeral Rites, Sacrificial Ceremonies]
"Now everyone knows today's taboos." After taking the photo, Ning Zhe put away his phone and continued: "Among them, burial, funeral rites, and sacrificial ceremonies are all taboos that require people to deliberately violate the rules to trigger them. The 'travel' taboo has also been proven not to mean we can't leave our homes—we can move around normally within the village boundaries. Whether leaving the village counts as violating the taboo, and whether there's any danger in doing so, remains unknown."
"In other words, as long as we don't leave the village, today is essentially a day without any taboos."
Ning Zhe took a deep breath and looked at everyone without showing any timidity: "We just exchanged information, and everyone present entered this place through a 'door,' so I boldly speculate that the exit from this cursed place might be hidden somewhere in the village as another 'door.' If we find it, we can return to the real world."
"A reasonable speculation." Zhang Yangxu nodded. "I think I understand what you mean."
"If we're going to explore He Village, today when nothing is taboo is the best opportunity. Although today is when the Snake God has its mad episodes, how do we know that tomorrow's taboos won't be more dangerous than today's Snake God?" Ning Zhe continued: "No one can guarantee that tomorrow's taboos won't include something like 'taboo: breathing' or something else. Rather than sitting and waiting for death, it's better to actively seek a way out, and the sooner the better."
"Agreed." Zhang Yangxu nodded.
"I also think we can't just sit and wait for death." Ye Miaozhu also expressed agreement.
After voting, everyone agreed with Ning Zhe's proposal, though only Feng Yushou seemed to agree very reluctantly, her face pale with fear.
"Then let's first agree on a time."
Gu Yunqing spoke while looking at his luminous wristwatch: "It's now 12:27 AM. Starting from this shrine, we'll set out in 3 minutes, splitting into pairs to explore He Village separately, searching for clues to leave this place.
After 1 hour and 30 minutes, that is at 2:00 AM, everyone will meet promptly at the shrine entrance to exchange the information we've each gathered."
"Alright." Xie Sining was the first to express agreement.
Zhang Yangxu and Ye Miaozhu naturally had no objections either. Gu Yunqing didn't explicitly state how the pairs should be divided, but there was no need to—in an unfamiliar environment, partnering with someone more familiar is human instinct.
"Oh, before we set out, let's exchange phone numbers."
Ye Miaozhu suggested: "You've all probably tried calling and sending messages to the outside world. The environment here is special—signals seem to be blocked, and neither calls nor messages can get through."
"However, although we can't contact the outside world, those of us within the village seem to be able to communicate with each other." As she spoke, Ye Miaozhu took out her phone and dialed a number.
A few seconds later, Gu Yunqing's phone began vibrating and ringing.
"See, it connected. We can call each other within the village, and text messages should work too." Ye Miaozhu waved her phone. "So before we split up, let's exchange phone numbers. That way if anything happens, we can notify each other."
"I see, thank you for telling me." Ning Zhe thanked her while exchanging phone numbers with her.
Actually, he had already tested that people within the village could communicate with each other using Lin Zhiyuan's phone, but Ning Zhe still acted very surprised by Ye Miaozhu's reminder.
Because he had come to He Village alone, he shouldn't have had any way to know this information.
Three minutes later, everyone had exchanged phone numbers and tested calling each other, then prepared to set out.
Zhang Yangxu and Xie Sining, Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu—the two groups tacitly left the shrine entrance and walked toward different alley intersections.
"It's nice to have acquaintances. Even when stranded in this cursed place, you can still have someone to rely on." Ning Zhe smiled bitterly and shook his head, then turned back to look at Feng Yushou, who was still standing at the alley entrance: "Looks like we're a team, Auntie. Let's go."
"...Alright." Feng Yushou mustered her courage and walked forward, joining Ning Zhe as they entered the depths of the alley.
It had just rained tonight, the sky was overcast, and the streets without electric lights were dim. The side alleys were even darker, pitch-black where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
Feng Yushou took out her phone, intending to turn on the flashlight for illumination, but was stopped by Ning Zhe.
Reference Glossary:
Ancestral shrine (祠堂) - Traditional Chinese family temples dedicated to honoring deceased ancestors, central to Confucian filial piety practices and community rituals
Yellow Calendar (黄历) - Traditional Chinese almanac used for divination and determining auspicious/inauspicious days for various activities, also known as the Imperial Calendar or Tung Shing