The rain outside grew heavier and heavier.
By this point, A-Qi had already called together several people, all young and able-bodied men from the village. They were agile and experienced at traveling along rain-soaked mountain paths.
After briefly explaining the situation, A-Qi said with a dark expression, "The wind is strong today and the dampness is heavy. The candles can burn for half an hour at most."
"We have to find them within half an hour, understand?"
"Mm, understood."
The others answered, clearly knowing something as well.
Zhang Hai thought for a moment. "I saw them heading northwest this morning. Why don't we search over there?"
In weather like this, the outsiders couldn't have gone very far even if they wanted to. Rain in these mountains was nothing like rain outside. Getting soaked here definitely wouldn't result in something as simple as a cold or fever.
A-Qi also thought he had a point.
Sure enough, they hadn't gone far before they discovered several fresh footprints beneath a tree. The tread marks from hiking boots made it obvious that they belonged to those outsiders.
They had probably sheltered from the rain here. A trail of footprints, some deep and some shallow, stretched off to the left, leaving a very obvious trail.
A-Qi's expression improved slightly. "This way."
Inside the abandoned house:
Shen Xun had already developed a fever. After getting soaked in the rain and remaining chilled for so long, he hadn't managed to endure it no matter how hard he tried. Now all he could do was sit leaning against the corner with a pale face, waiting for the rain to stop.
He Cheng was somewhat worried. All the cold medicine they had brought was back at the inn, and they hadn't carried any medicine with them. If this continued...
"Tsk."
Just as he grimaced and couldn't resist checking the temperature of Shen Xun's forehead yet again, he suddenly saw Tan Qingxian stand up.
"Someone's coming."
The sound of footsteps was completely drowned out by the rain. If Tan Qingxian hadn't been watching the doorway the entire time, he truly wouldn't have noticed the several figures in the distance.
"They're villagers."
Pei Jing had seen them too.
Those several black umbrellas stopped after approaching.
"Found them. They're here."
Voices carrying Xican Village's distinctive accent emerged faintly through the rain. The next moment, they saw A-Qi.
A-Qi quickly swept his gaze over them. "All of you are here?"
"It started raining, and the village chief was worried about you, so he sent me out to find you."
"Hurry up. It'll be dark soon." He glanced at the sky, looking somewhat anxious.
Isn't it already dark?
He Cheng couldn't help wanting to make a sarcastic remark, but considering they were currently stranded and needed these people's help, he restrained himself and irritably explained, "One of us has a fever." He looked toward Shen Xun in the corner.
A-Qi also saw the outsider.
—He had gotten soaked in the rain.
He exchanged a subtle glance with the other villagers, but nothing showed on his face. "Carry him. We'll give you some umbrellas. Also..."
"Don't leave the group."
What was that supposed to mean?
Before they had time to think about it, they saw the grim-faced villagers move aside to clear a path, signaling for them to hurry.
He Cheng had no choice but to hoist Shen Xun onto his back.
Tan Qingxian took an umbrella and held it over them.
But the moment they left the abandoned house, his brows gradually furrowed. He hadn't been able to see clearly through the curtain of rain earlier, but after walking behind the villagers, he finally noticed that even holding umbrellas was difficult in such heavy rain, yet every one of these villagers was also carrying a white candle?
"The mountains aren't like the outside. It's dark and hard to see the road on rainy days, so accidents can easily happen. We're all used to lighting candles."
A-Qi seemed to know what he was thinking and spoke without turning around.
The explanation was plausible enough. Yet strangely, after hearing it, Tan Qingxian suddenly thought of Shen Xun's dream from last night—the dream filled with candles. The memory flashed through his mind, making him instinctively exchange a glance with Pei Jing.
He knew Pei Jing had thought of it too.
They hadn't thought much of it before, but after being trapped in that abandoned house today, Tan Qingxian was beginning to feel that there truly was something uncanny about this village. Especially—
Shen Xun had fallen ill immediately after having that dream.
His ancestral home was in the south, and he did believe in things like feng shui.
"Does it often rain this heavily here?" Tan Qingxian glanced around.
"Not often. It just happens to be the rainy season."
Truthfully, A-Qi himself was somewhat puzzled.
Xican Village had been closed to outsiders for so many years. This time, the village chief had suddenly received a divine oracle telling them to let the tour group enter, so A-Qi had assumed the deity would favor these people.
But now...
It was only their third day here, yet they had already encountered a torrential downpour, and one of them had even gotten soaked.
No matter how he looked at it, this didn't seem much like divine favor.
The strange thought flashed through A-Qi's mind before he pulled himself together with a grim expression. Seeing that the candle still had a tiny flame burning, he let out a faint sigh of relief.
Fortunately, nothing had happened.
"We're here."
After following the narrow path around a bend, they could already see the old peach tree in the distance.
He Cheng carried Shen Xun into the inn first.
After thanking them, Tan Qingxian stopped and smiled faintly. "Sorry, my watch broke just now. Could I trouble you to tell me what time it is?"
He pointed at the mechanical watch on his wrist.
The obviously expensive mechanical watch had completely stopped and was clearly incapable of telling the time anymore.
"Four in the afternoon."
A-Qi glanced at it expressionlessly. "Get some rest first. We'll come get you tonight once the welcoming ceremony is ready."
After saying that, he nodded and left with the villagers, as though holding a ceremony in weather like this was perfectly normal.
Even Tan Qingxian hadn't expected that the welcoming ceremony would still be held tonight.
"Are they planning to welcome us after we've all been turned into drowned rats?"
He Cheng raised an eyebrow. "Or do these villagers know exactly when the rain is going to stop?"
Although he had been walking ahead with Shen Xun on his back, he had heard Tan Qingxian's question just now and had keenly noticed the problem.
Tan Qingxian couldn't help having some suspicions of his own.
However, none of them voiced their thoughts. After tacitly changing the subject, they looked toward the chair.
"How's Shen Xun?"
He Cheng's expression relaxed slightly. "I just gave him some medicine. We'll see if his fever goes down after a while."
"Shen Xun's usually in pretty decent shape, so he should be fine."
As soon as he finished speaking, He Cheng stood up. "I'm covered in mud. I'm going to take a shower first."
His gray outdoor jacket was covered in muddy splatters. The fact that he had endured it until now was already his absolute limit.
He Cheng turned and headed upstairs first. Tan Qingxian also wanted to clean himself up, but there was only one bathroom in the entire inn, so he could only wait.
The hall on the first floor fell silent.
Pei Jing frowned as he wiped his hair. When another "rumble" sounded outside, he instinctively looked over, originally assuming that the thunderstorm had become even more violent.
Unexpectedly, after that muffled peal of thunder, he discovered that the rain was actually... gradually weakening?
Only a few minutes later, the dark clouds dispersed.
The rain had actually stopped, exactly as they had speculated?
The last few droplets clinging to the peach tree slid from its green leaves. The puddles on the ground quickly became still, leaving only the sky overhead somewhat gloomy.
...
Xie Fan had originally thought the rain would continue all day, but unexpectedly, just as night was approaching, it actually stopped?
His heart gave a thump, and a bad feeling arose.
"Don't tell me tonight's welcoming ceremony is still going ahead as usual?"
Because of the rain, he had relaxed a little that afternoon, assuming there wouldn't be a welcoming ceremony today and that he might escape disaster.
Who could have expected the sky to clear by evening?!
Xie Fan stared at the sky, opening his mouth several times without knowing what to say. But this bizarre village simply cleared up whenever it felt like it. Not another drop of rain fell, and the sight made him practically want to curse.
His heart involuntarily rose into his throat. Before long, Xie Fan heard villagers coming outside.
He knew that several days ago, the village chief had already arranged for certain villagers to accompany the outsiders at the welcoming ceremony. What surprised him, however, was that even Xiao Yao had been told to attend?
Xiao Yao came skipping downstairs. Seeing that Xie Fan still wasn't leaving, she looked at him in confusion.
"Brother A-Xie, aren't you going?"
Xie Fan: ...
Going there to get myself killed? How considerate.
"I'm not going."
Suppressing the sarcastic remark in his heart, he paused slightly. "The village chief didn't ask me to."
"Oh."
Xiao Yao's expression became strange, and she instantly understood.
The village chief must have thought Brother A-Xie was too gloomy and would feel uncomfortable there.
Feeling as though she had accidentally stabbed Brother A-Xie right in the heart, Xiao Yao blinked and comforted him.
"But it's okay. The welcoming ceremony isn't actually very interesting. We just light a fire."
Light a fire?
Xie Fan snapped back to attention, looking somewhat puzzled.
Why did they have to light a fire?
Candles, fire—thinking carefully about it, both were connected to light. Did this welcoming ceremony have some particular purpose?
Xie Fan had never thought deeply about this before. It was only after Xiao Yao mentioned it that he realized there was something questionable about it.
But there was still too little information.
He lowered his eyes and saw Xiao Yao wave at him.
"All right, Brother A-Xie, I have to go now. I'll come see you again when I get back tonight."
The little girl holding the candle glanced at the sky, let out a startled cry, and hurried off a little faster.
Xie Fan: ...
When you come back tonight, you might be looking at a corpse.
The corner of his mouth twitched. He watched Xiao Yao leave, and since there was no way for him to stop the welcoming ceremony, he simply returned to his house, closed his eyes, and gave up.
Forget it. If I die, I die.
The very next second, Xie Fan, who had been sprawled flat on the bamboo bed, abruptly rolled over and sat up.
Die, my ass! I haven't lived nearly long enough!
Even a salted fish had to struggle a little longer, right?
Reaching up to tie back his hair, a thought inexplicably surfaced in his mind.
Whether it was in the book or what he had just witnessed with his own eyes—the welcoming ceremony was going to be held tonight.
The entire village's attention would be focused on the tour group. No one would be paying attention to him.
So, was there a possibility that—
—he could try leaving the village tonight?
The book had said that once someone entered this village, they could no longer leave. Even the guides who had brought them here earlier had stopped outside the mountain rocks.
But what if?
After all, he was just insignificant cannon fodder. What if he got lucky and managed to exploit a bug?
Xie Fan took a deep breath.
He couldn't just sit around waiting to die. He should at least try. There would never be a better opportunity than tonight. If it worked, he could escape. And if it didn't...
Things couldn't possibly get any worse than they already were, right?
He was cannon fodder scheduled to get killed off tonight!
The scales in his heart gradually tipped to one side. Seeing that there was now absolutely no one left on the road outside his house, Xie Fan gritted his teeth and looked at the candle flame on the table.
In the end, he cautiously reached out and picked up the candle.
The instant he raised his hand, perhaps because a gust of wind happened to blow past, the wooden boards of the rather flimsy house gave a faint "creak."
Xie Fan raised his head in confusion, but saw nothing.
Without time to think about it, he pushed open the door and walked outside.
What he failed to notice was that, beyond the reach of the candlelight, countless densely packed black eyes were embedded across the roof beneath the night sky as the door opened, watching his every movement.
What was that?
Xie Fan stopped after taking two steps and turned around in bewilderment.
Just now, for a split second, it had felt like someone was...
watching him?