The tangled strands of hair were gently smoothed out.
Xie Fan hesitated for only a moment before dismissing his earlier doubts and impatiently tying his hair up with the ribbon. Still, something felt strange deep down. He couldn't shake the feeling that something had been off just now, as though he'd forgotten something again?
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember, so Xie Fan could only shake his head and temporarily suppress his doubts. What he failed to notice was that, reflected in the gently rippling water inside the cup——that silver ribbon looked completely out of place in this crude wooden house in a mountain village.
At night:
Tan Qingxian was inexplicably awakened by a sudden thirst in his throat.
His throat had abruptly become dry and itchy. He had clearly been asleep, yet his eyes were forced open by the discomfort, his throat so parched that it was unbearable.
The first thought that surfaced in his mind was: Had Shen Xun's cold over the past two days infected him?
But then he remembered that the person who had been around Shen Xun the most these past few days wasn't him, but He Cheng...
Frowning slightly as he came back to his senses, Tan Qingxian had no choice but to get up and go downstairs for a glass of water.
They had been drinking mountain water during their stay here, which was kept in a large vat on the first floor. It wasn't very convenient, so he rarely came out at night.
But tonight...
Expressionlessly picking up a cup, Tan Qingxian poured himself some water and lowered his head. His Adam's apple rolled slightly. For some reason, he felt that the water smelled incredibly fragrant, so enticing that it almost made him lose control.
His throat spasmed again and again, the twitching muscles making Tan Qingxian's refined face look somewhat strange.
Just before he eagerly brought the water to his lips, some thought suddenly occurred to him. He forcibly restrained his hand and stopped, moving the cup out of his immediate line of sight before lowering his head and carefully examining the water again.
Inside the transparent cup, the cold mountain spring water was crystal clear, without a single speck of debris.
Tan Qingxian stared at it with an unreadable expression. Only when that intense thirst struck him again did he finally lift the cup and gulp down several mouthfuls.
The refreshing spring water instantly suppressed the dryness in his throat, and the burning, astringent sensation faded considerably as well.
Feeling the change in his throat, Tan Qingxian's brows relaxed.
It didn't seem like he'd caught Shen Xun's cold. It felt more like internal heat?
The ventilation in his room really wasn't very good.
Looking thoughtful, he instinctively glanced at his pocket again. His thoughts went hazy for an instant, and only after realizing that his body felt much better did he pick up the cup and head back upstairs.
When he had gone downstairs, the corridor had been completely silent. But the moment he reached the upper floor, light suddenly appeared behind one of the doors. Tan Qingxian looked up and saw what seemed to be a flashlight glowing in the room ahead on the right.
Someone was still awake.
Pei Jing?
His footsteps instinctively paused for a fraction of a second. Tan Qingxian narrowed his eyes slightly, but when he looked over again, the flashlight in the wooden room on the right had already gone dark.
Almost as if whoever was inside had only switched it on because they'd heard something.
...
Early the next morning, just after daybreak, He Cheng returned from the village chief's house looking positively green.
"Here. Bug rice again today."
He casually set the basin on the table.
"They clearly have eggs, but every single time I go to trade for some, they say there aren't any. Isn't this village way too fucking shady?"
Ever since he'd learned from that kid called Xiao Yao that the village had eggs, several days had passed, yet He Cheng hadn't managed to trade for them even once!
Every single time, they told him he'd come too late.
Today he'd gone over at the crack of dawn, and he was still too late? Did people in this village trade for eggs in the middle of the fucking night?!
"I think whoever sells those eggs just doesn't want to sell them to us." He Cheng was speechless.
Shen Xun: ...
"There's only one household raising chickens, and there are so many people in the village. It's normal that you can't get any. Maybe someone reserved them in advance."
"Stop complaining. Just eat something. If this doesn't work, we can see if there are any wild vegetables later."
"Fine."
If fruit weren't so lousy at filling his stomach, He Cheng would have been tempted to beat the old peach tree outside the door bare.
After casually dividing up some of the bug rice, the group picked up their chopsticks.
When they'd first arrived, none of them had been able to stomach it. They had found it almost impossible to accept. But after eating several meals of it over the past two days, although it still looked somewhat disgusting, they could at least force it down now.
As long as they imagined it was protein while eating, it was manageable.
Once his stomach was somewhat full, Shen Xun raised his head and coughed.
"Finished? I'll go return the bowls."
He had been cooped up inside the inn all morning and wanted to go outside for a walk and get some fresh air anyway.
Without the slightest hesitation, He Cheng handed his bowl over. "When I went to get breakfast just now, that guy A-Qi said the village chief still hadn't gotten up. Just leave the bowls outside the entrance to the threshing ground."
"Got it."
Shen Xun nodded, picked everything up, and headed outside.
He was still feeling somewhat unwell today, coughing intermittently, although at least his fever was gone. He had no idea whether this cold would finally clear up over the next couple of days.
While he was thinking about it, he had already reached his destination.
Shen Xun exhaled softly and instinctively wanted to walk a little faster. But just then, a sudden "rumble" sounded beside his ears. He raised his head——the weather had changed again.
The sun that had faintly shown itself earlier that morning was swallowed by dark clouds, and in an instant, the sky became completely gloomy.
Shen Xun had originally thought he had more than enough time to put down the bowls and chopsticks and hurry back to the inn. After all, the inn was only a few minutes away from the village chief's house.
But who could have expected the rain to come so suddenly and violently, giving him absolutely no time to react? With a tremendous rush of sound, torrential rain came pouring down.
"It's raining?" Across the way, He Cheng instinctively turned toward the door as well.
"Tsk, why is it raining again? This is fucking annoying. It's been raining every day lately."
They had only been in the village for three days, yet it had already rained twice.
Tan Qingxian also looked outside. "A-Qi said it's the rainy season lately. Heavy rain is normal."
The only question was how long today's downpour would last. Shen Xun had just gone to return the bowls and chopsticks.
Since the village chief's house was close to the inn, Tan Qingxian wasn't particularly worried. At worst, Shen Xun could shelter from the rain at the village chief's house for a while before coming back. It wasn't like last time, when they'd been trapped out on the road.
Shen Xun himself was thinking the same thing.
Originally, he'd only planned to put the things down and leave. But with a sudden downpour first thing in the morning, he could only find somewhere nearby to shelter from the rain.
After moving slightly out of the spray, he glanced at the sky and quickly reached out to knock on the door.
"Village Chief?"
"Village Chief, are you there?"
"It's raining outside. Can I come in and shelter for a while?"
The "knock, knock, knock" of his hand against the door mingled with the dull roar of the rain. After knocking several times, Shen Xun assumed the old village chief still hadn't woken up. He was just wondering whether he should call toward the upper floor when he suddenly heard a series of slow footsteps?
That lame man had gone out. If the village chief was alone inside, how could there be footsteps?
He instinctively felt puzzled, but a clap of thunder immediately diverted his attention.
A muffled "rumble" of thunder came with a flash of lightning, illuminating the eaves for a split second.
The next moment——the wooden door opened.
"What's wrong, Xiao Shen?"
The village chief raised his head, his voice hoarse.
"It just started raining."
That faint sense of strangeness flashed through Shen Xun's mind and disappeared. He was just about to ask if he could shelter inside when he turned his head and discovered that outside...
The rain had actually stopped?
The torrential downpour from moments ago had completely ceased. After a single muffled clap of thunder——the sun had already come out.
The blazing sun hung high overhead, yet there wasn't the slightest trace of warmth.
The puddles on the ground were rapidly evaporated by the sunlight without leaving even a trace behind, as though the torrential rain moments earlier had merely been an illusion.
Xie Fan was still staring at the newly emerged sun, not having expected the weather to change so drastically. He had just frowned when he saw Xiao Yao running back from the vegetable fields in the distance, her steps hurried.
"Bad news, bad news, Brother A-Xie."
"Something happened!"
Something happened?
Xie Fan froze, still somewhat confused.
What happened?
Xiao Yao was covered in flecks of mud, clearly having been caught in the rain. She shook her head and said:
"The sheep in the pen died!"
"Something happened to the five sacrificial animals?"
Xie Fan immediately understood.
Xiao Yao nodded, then corrected him.
"Just the sheep."
She had rushed back in such a hurry that only now did she slowly calm down. Turning her head, she couldn't help complaining:
"It must've gotten sick and died because the rain these past two days made the weather too cold."
"It was obviously perfectly fine when I went to see it yesterday. Who would've thought it'd suddenly die today?"
Xie Fan thought the child might have seen the sheep lying stiff and mistakenly assumed it was dead. After hesitating slightly, he said:
"Maybe it just fainted, or went into shock?"
"No, no. It's definitely dead."
Xiao Yao looked up at him, her tone light and airy.
"I even climbed inside the fence myself, pried its eyes open, and stared at them for a long time..."
Xie Fan's mind involuntarily conjured up the scene: the white sheep lying in its pen amid the torrential rain, its eyes wide open, its corneas pale and cloudy.
And Xiao Yao had even deliberately pried its eyes open...
His stomach churned violently, and Xie Fan almost threw up. But seeing how accustomed Xiao Yao seemed to it, he could only force himself to endure.
A child's emotions came and went quickly. After chattering away for a long while, Xiao Yao gave a dejected sigh, as though her earlier panic had merely been an illusion.
"Forget it. It's already dead, so there's nothing I can do. I can only take good care of the other animals."
"I hope nothing happens to the others."
The little girl with braided hair propped herself up with one hand, looking unusually world-weary for her age.
Xie Fan couldn't smile at all.
His fingertips felt faintly cold.
A thought suddenly occurred to him——the time for the ritual was almost here, yet the sheep had died now.
What would happen next?
Xie Fan instinctively looked at Xiao Yao, trying to discern the expression on the little girl's face.
But she merely tilted her head in confusion and stared at him for a long moment.
Then, in the next second, she suddenly grinned and cheerfully said something that instantly sent cold sweat breaking out all over Xie Fan's body:
"Brother A-Xie, your reaction just now... why was it a little strange?"