"Don't go out after dark."
This phrase had been passed down in Canlao Village for generations. No one could pinpoint when it first appeared, but everyone knew one thing—it was the unquestionable truth.
Grandma Si, a native of Canlao Village, watched the sun sink slowly behind the mountains, anxiety tightening her chest. The moment the last ray of sunlight vanished, the world fell into an eerie silence—utterly soundless. Darkness spread from the west, creeping over mountains, rivers, paths, and trees, until it swallowed the entire village.
At the four corners of Canlao Village stood four ancient stone statues. Weathered and mysterious, their origins unknown, not even Grandma Si knew who had carved them or when they had been placed there.
When darkness descended, the statues emitted a faint glow. As long as the statues shone, Grandma Si and the other elders could finally breathe easy.
The darkness outside the village thickened like ink, but within the circle of light cast by the statues, Canlao Village remained relatively safe.
Suddenly, Grandma Si's ears twitched. She stood still for a moment, then gasped,"Did you hear that? A child… a child is crying outside!"
Elder Ma shook his head. "Impossible. You must've heard wrong… Wait—hold on. There is a baby crying!"
The cry of an infant drifted from beyond the village boundary. All the elders except the deaf ones heard it. They exchanged bewildered glances.Canlao Village was remote and barren—how could there be a baby anywhere nearby?
"I'm going to take a look!"
Grandma Si grew agitated and tiptoed toward one of the stone statues. Elder Ma hurried after her."Grandma, are you insane? It's already dark—leaving the village now is the same as walking to your death!"
"Bring the statue with us. The creatures in the darkness fear it. I won't die that easily."
Grandma Si bent down to lift the statue, but her hunched back could not muster the strength. Elder Ma sighed and shook his head.
"I'll do it. I'll carry the statue. I'm going with you!"
An elder with a limp hobbled over and said, "Elder Ma, you only have one arm, you won't be able to carry the statue for long. I have both hands, let me carry it."
Elder Ma shot him a glare. "You're a cripple! You lost a leg, can you even walk? I may only have one arm, but it's strong enough!"
He picked up the statue with one arm and steadied himself. The statue was unexpectedly heavy. "Grandmother, let's go!"
"Don't call me an old woman! Cripple, mute, be careful, there can't be a missing statue in the village, or the things in the dark will sneak in!"
…
Elder Ma and Grandmother Si left Canlao Village. Strange things seemed to surround them in the darkness, but whenever they were illuminated by the statue's light, the creatures would make eerie sounds and retreat into the dark.
They followed the crying sound and walked about a hundred steps, arriving at the edge of a large river. The sound of the crying baby came from the riverbank. The statue's light was faint and couldn't reach far, but they carefully traced the direction of the sound, walking upstream. After a few dozen steps, the crying could be heard nearby. Elder Ma, his single arm now exhausted, had difficulty keeping up.
Grandmother Si's eyes lit up as she spotted a faint glow—there was a basket at the riverbank, and the glow came from the basket. The crying was also coming from inside the basket.
"There really is a child!"
Grandmother Si went forward to pick up the basket, but paused, unable to lift it. There was a white, waterlogged arm beneath the basket. It was this arm that had kept the basket and the child afloat, until it had been washed up to the shore.
"Don't worry, child, you're safe now." Grandmother Si whispered to the woman under the water.
The corpse seemed to have heard her words. Its hand loosened, and it was swept away by the current, disappearing into the darkness.
Grandmother Si lifted the basket, revealing a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. There was a jade pendant placed on the swaddle, glowing faintly. The glow of the pendant was similar to that of the stone statues, but much weaker. It was the pendant that protected the child from the dark creatures.
The glow was too weak to protect the woman, though.
"It's a boy."
Back in Canlao Village, the villagers gathered around, all of them elderly and frail. Grandmother Si uncovered the swaddle and grinned, revealing her decayed teeth. "At last, our village has a healthy person!"
The one-legged cripple was stunned. "Grandmother, are you planning to raise him? We can barely take care of ourselves! I think we should send him away…"
Grandmother Si grew angry. "I found this child with my own hands! Why should I send him away?"
The villagers murmured in agreement, not daring to argue. The village chief, who was more pitiful than the others since he had no hands or legs, was being carried in a litter. Everyone respected him, and even the fierce Grandmother Si dared not be rude to him.
"If you're going to raise him, we should give him a name."
The village chief said. "Grandmother, do you see anything else in the basket?"
Grandmother Si rummaged through the basket and shook her head. "Only this jade pendant, nothing else. There are characters on it, a 'Qin.' The pendant is pure, and it has a strange power. It must come from a wealthy family."
"Should we call him Qin, or is that his surname?"
The village chief thought for a moment. "Let's make his surname Qin. His name will be Mu, Qin Mu. When he grows up, he can take care of cattle."
"Qin Mu." Grandmother Si looked at the baby in the swaddle. The baby wasn't afraid of her; he even smiled and cooed.
…
By the riverbank, the sound of a flute could be heard. The young shepherd, around eleven or twelve years old, sat on the back of a cow and played the flute. The melody was clear and melodious. The shepherd was handsome, with red lips and white teeth, wearing loose clothes, and a jade pendant hung from his chest.
This shepherd was the boy that Grandmother Si had found by the river eleven years ago. Over the years, the elders of Canlao Village had raised him with great care. Grandmother Si had somehow acquired a cow for him, allowing him to drink milk as a baby, helping him survive the fragile early years.
Though the villagers of Canlao were rough and terrifying, they treated him kindly. Grandmother Si was a seamstress, and young Qin Mu learned to sew from her. He learned to gather herbs and prepare medicine from the village healer, practiced martial arts with the one-legged elder, and trained his hearing with the blind elder. His days passed quickly.
The cow was like a foster mother to him. Grandmother Si had planned to sell it, but Qin Mu couldn't bear to part with it, so she let him take care of the cow.
He often took the cow to graze by the river, enjoying the serene landscape.
"Qin Mu, Qin Mu, help me!"
Suddenly, the cow spoke. Qin Mu was startled and immediately jumped down from its back. The cow's eyes were filled with tears, and it spoke to him. "Qin Mu, I raised you with my milk. I am like a mother to you. You must save me!"
Qin Mu blinked in confusion. "How can I save you?"
The cow said, "You have a sickle at your waist. If you skin me, you will free me from my curse."
Qin Mu hesitated, and the cow continued, "Have you forgotten the kindness I've shown you?"
Qin Mu took the sickle, carefully cutting through the cow's hide. Strangely, no blood flowed from the wound, and the cow's skin was hollow inside, with no flesh or bones.
As he cut deeper, a woman in her twenties or thirties rolled out from inside the cow's skin. Her legs were still covered in the cow's hide, but her upper body had freed itself.
The woman, wild-eyed and disheveled, grabbed the sickle from Qin Mu's hand, and in a few swift motions, she cut through the cow's skin around her legs. She looked at Qin Mu with a malevolent grin, the sickle pressed against his throat. "You little villain, because of you, I was turned into a cow! I've had to feed you milk for eleven years! I was turned into a cow after I gave birth to a child, and the evil woman cursed me! Now, I will kill you first, and then slaughter all the villagers!"
Qin Mu's mind buzzed with confusion, not understanding what the woman was saying.
Just as the woman was about to strike, a cold sensation pierced her back. She looked down and saw a knife protruding from her chest.
"Mu'er, your medicine teacher wants you to come back for your dose." The woman collapsed, and standing behind her was the village's one-legged elder, smiling warmly with a blood-stained