"Dashicun Village is right near the northern mountain, and it happens to be the most prosperous village in the area. Those mountain bandits must have scouted the place before making their move." Lin Jiang pressed his lips together and looked up at his family. "These past two years, common folk everywhere have been struggling. Last year there was a drought in the Dongzhou area, this autumn there were floods in the western prefecture, and down south, with border skirmishes breaking out constantly, the locals haven't had a moment's peace either… I've heard that quite a few refugees and displaced people have turned to banditry just to survive. The bandits holed up in the northern mountain might well have drifted over from somewhere else. That's only five li from our Daxi Village—until those bandits are caught, we all need to stay on our guard."
Lin Erhe nodded in agreement. "This place of ours is a poor, remote corner, far from any wealthy prefectural city. Yet the bandits chose to set up camp here. I reckon they must have committed crimes elsewhere and fled here to lie low. Plain and simple, they're after the remoteness—the town magistrate's office would have a hard time rooting them out."
At that point, Granny Lin and the other women understood.
Never mind whether the town office had enough men to suppress the bandits—even if they did, the bandits had places to hide.
Shennü Mountain behind their house was the perfect hiding spot.
The Shennü mountain range stretched for dozens of li, filled with towering trees and treacherous forests. If government troops wanted to hunt down bandits hiding in there, it would be harder than fishing for a needle in the ocean.
In the end, the ones who suffered were still ordinary folks like them.
Their home was here—even knowing the bandits were lurking just five li away and could come raiding at any moment, where could they run?
Flee into the mountains with their belongings? Abandon their home? Stop farming their land?
As the mood sank, Lin Dashan managed a weak smile and tried to reassure the women. "Things might not go as badly as all that. Those bandits won't necessarily keep killing people every time they strike. This place of ours is small and poor—if they came down the mountain killing every time, and killed everyone off, who would they rob next? Besides, the emperor is wise and virtuous. I'm sure the court and the magistrate's office will take action soon. And the village head—he'll come up with a plan so we can all keep living our lives."
"Big brother, are mountain bandits very scary?" Having finished her small piece of flatbread, Baixiang licked her fingers with relish as she asked.
The adults had kept their voices low, and the three little children were huddled by the wall in the corner, only catching fragments of the conversation.
But Baixiang had sharper ears than most children her age, and she'd caught the words "bandits" and "killing."
Lin Huaisong had never seen a bandit, but he'd heard of them, and immediately showed off in front of his little sister. "Of course bandits are scary! I've heard stories about them—those kinds of people are vicious and evil. They steal things, they burn down people's houses, and the really bad ones even kill people!"
Baixiang grew even more curious, poking her little head in front of her brother. "Scarier than zombies?"
"…What's a zombie?"
"They're really ugly-looking monsters." Seeing that her two brothers genuinely didn't seem to know what zombies were, Baixiang thought for a moment and earnestly explained, "Some don't have eyeballs, some have big holes in their bellies, and some only have half a head… Oh, and they like to eat other people's brains."
Lin Huaisong and Lin Huaibai: "…"
They both turned away and dry-heaved, nearly throwing up the sweet flatbread they'd just eaten.
Even though they knew their sister was definitely making things up, they couldn't help picturing it, and the image that came to mind instantly disgusted them.
"Sis, your talent for spinning tall tales could earn you a spot telling stories at the village entrance… ugh!" Lin Huaibai wiped the tears that had welled up from dry-heaving and patted his chest to catch his breath. "How could monsters like that exist in this world? How would something with only half a head even stay alive?"
Baixiang pouted. She wasn't making things up. Back when she'd been locked in that glass room, the people in white coats would every day chain up strange-looking zombies by their hands and feet and toss them next to her to scare her.
Having gotten the answer she wanted from her brothers, Baixiang quickly put the matter out of her mind.
As long as there were no zombies around here, she wasn't afraid.
Because of the bandits' killings, the Lin family had heavy hearts, and their earlier joy was gone.
It was the same throughout the village. Once word spread, the villagers were all gripped by fear and anxiety.
This atmosphere lasted until early evening, when a villager came by with a message: the village head was summoning the able-bodied men of every household to a meeting after dinner at his place.
In winter, the days were short and the nights long.
That night, after the women had coaxed the children to sleep, they sat together around the fire in the main hall, waiting, their hearts restless.
No one spoke.
The main hall was so quiet it was almost eerie, broken only by the crackling of burning firewood, wisps of grey smoke curling upward.
The young children couldn't grasp this anxiety and unease, and slept soundly.
Baixiang slept especially well.
Here, there were no wounded moaning in pain through the night, no ugly zombies making guttural noises, and no white coats suddenly appearing to stick needles in her and draw blood.
It was so reassuring.
Baixiang was so happy she giggled in her dreams. In her drowsy haze, she heard the creak of a door opening and closing, followed by low voices speaking near her ear.
"The little girl must be having some wonderful dream, laughing so sweetly." A woman's voice was close by, soft and gentle.
A man responded, his deep voice tinged with tenderness. "Isn't that right—just hearing our daughter laugh like that makes my heart feel all warm and soft."
After a pause, the man spoke again, "Sulan, when I registered the child's household, I didn't change her name, and there's a reason for that. I suspect the child isn't from around here—somehow she ended up in this place. If she came from a family that loved her, they must be heartbroken over losing her. Keeping her name means her family will have an easier time finding her… And if no one comes looking, then the child is meant to be ours, fated to be our daughter. Do you blame me for doing this?"
"How could I? I understand your heart, and Grandmother knows it too. One should act with integrity and a clear conscience to find peace of mind. It's precisely because you're so upright that I married you. As for Baixiang… no matter whether our bond with her is long or short, right now she's just a little child with no one to rely on—we are her support. No matter what, I'll raise her as my own daughter."
No lamp was lit in the room; a sliver of moonlight filtered through the narrow wooden window, casting the interior in a hazy, dim glow.
Lin Dashan leaned over, gently lifting his sleeping daughter and moving her to the inner side of the bed, then sat back against the headboard beside his wife.
He had just returned from the village chief's house, and it was already the dead of night.
Yet the couple had no trace of drowsiness—the events at Dashi Village weighed heavily on their hearts, suffocating them.
They were ordinary folk; at most, a quarrel with someone would end in a scuffle. When had they ever witnessed a loss of life?
The mountain bandits had raided and killed six people, and the murders had happened right beside them, so close.
Just thinking about it sent chills down their spines.
Lin Dashan took his wife's hand. "The village has organized ten patrol teams, starting tomorrow we'll take turns patrolling and guarding the village. On my days off, I'll go to town to find work—leave during the day and come back at night. Once the snow melts on the mountain in spring, I can go hunting too. I'll earn enough silver to support the family, and the authorities will surely wipe out those bandits soon, bringing peace back to the folks around here."
Li Sulan gave a soft hum in acknowledgment.
The night deepened.
Occasional barks from distant dogs only made the silence around them more pronounced.
After lying down, Li Sulan turned on her side and gently gathered her sleeping daughter into her arms, holding the little one close. Only then did the unease that had hung over her for most of the day begin to settle.
As for her daughter's origins, she had thought about it even more deeply.
When Baixiang had fallen into their yard, she had been completely naked, and the small arms, lower back, and spine revealed dense clusters of tiny, needle-like wounds and lingering bruises—clearly signs of abuse.
She had once served in a wealthy household, and she had seen and understood more of the dark secrets of inner chambers than the rest of her family. Either Baixiang had escaped, or she had been abandoned.
In the future, if Baixiang's family truly came looking for her, unless she was certain those people genuinely loved the child, she would never give Baixiang back!
Hearing the shallow breathing from her arms, Li Sulan's nose tingled with emotion. She kissed the top of her daughter's head and held her even tighter.
Baixiang's eyelids twitched. "Papa, Mama… hee hee hee!"
She was dreaming again.
The vast safe zone, the cold glass building of the research institute.
Inside the room lay a floor full of corpses in white lab coats, and a scattering of zombies that no longer groaned.
She pushed open the door of the glass building, hopped out, touched the golden sunlight, and met her Papa and Mama.
Baixiang was so happy.
Hee hee hee!