Zheng Wuyou, wearing only thin pajamas, had gone cold in her hands and feet. It felt like her body's blood supply could no longer keep up with the falling temperature.
The shadow hadn't moved at all. It stood by the bed, holding the same pose as her in an unbroken stalemate.
Zheng Wuyou stared blankly. The two of them were like players in Red Light, Green Light: whoever moved first was a loser.
If she'd been sleeping and suddenly woken in the middle of the night, still groggy, the shadow by her bed might really have scared her into a cold sweat.
But why did she have to run into it while she was wide awake?
Ghost Sister, could you try being a little more professional next time?
At least pick a better time to show up.
Zheng Wuyou couldn't keep up the stalemate any longer. She decided to scoot over and give her poor butt a break. Well, she'd be the loser this time, then.
To her surprise, the shadow moved first. It stepped past her and sat down on the next bed.
Why was Ghost Sister trying to win the loser contest, too?
Zheng Wuyou watched helplessly as the shadow sat on the bed, suddenly bent forward until it was folded in half, then straightened up again.
Finally, it lay down beside Wansi.
???
Having watched every move, Zheng Wuyou was at a loss. Wansi was lying against the wall, and now she didn't dare move at all.
She'd told Wansi to lie down so she could hide properly!
Who knew Ghost Sister had come here to sleep!
The rooster's first crow finally woke the sleeping village. With the shadow keeping her on edge, Zheng Wuyou had no mind to pay attention to the nursery rhyme fading outside the window or any of the other strange things.
Heavy bags hung beneath her eyes, and her sour expression looked ready to blow up at any moment.
At the rooster's second crow, the horizon in the distance turned Fish Belly White, and the slanting rays of the First Sun climbed over the halfway point of the mountain.
As the light gradually filled the room, the shadow on the bed caved in like a sheet of paper, finally becoming a flat black stain.
It looked like grime left behind by someone who'd been lying there for a long time.
At the rooster's third crow, exhausted, Zheng Wuyou breathed a sigh of relief. She heard unsteady footsteps coming up the stairs outside.
The rising sun finally shone through the window and fell across her face.
Afraid the shadow might do something to Wansi or her, Zheng Wuyou had held the same position all night.
When light returned to the world, only a human-shaped black stain remained on the bed.
Curious, she reached out and touched it. The material left by the shadow felt like ash from something that had burned away completely.
Zheng Wuyou didn't care whether she'd get ash on her clothes if she fell over. At that moment, her taut nerves finally relaxed.
The Little Girl on the next bed immediately rolled over, came to Zheng Wuyou, and hugged her. She silently buried her face against Zheng Wuyou's shoulder.
After losing consciousness for more than ten minutes, Zheng Wuyou's mind snapped back to attention at the sound of knocking from afar.
Her short hair spread across the bed as she dozed for a little while, staring blankly at the ceiling. Her eyes were dry, and her head throbbed as if it might split apart.
This was the strange way she always felt after staying up all night.
Two sets of footsteps came from the end of the corridor and stopped at her door. Before anyone could knock, the petite Wansi jumped off the bed and obediently went to remove the door latch.
The old man's cracked hand was still raised in midair.
Miao Laisheng spotted Zheng Wuyou sprawled on the bed through the crack in the door.
It had been a sleepless night, after all.
Everyone gathered again in the Loess House from the night before, patiently waiting for the specially provided breakfast.
There were no windows in the room. Sunlight came in only through the uneven roof tiles overhead.
Beams of light fell in scattered patches across the table.
Aside from Wen Dian and Guo Mu, who were sitting together and looked a little better, everyone else was bleary-eyed and exhausted.
Their dark circles nearly reached the middle of their cheeks.
"This village is no place for normal people!" Sun Wu's tracksuit had several new slits, as if some sharp object had cut it.
Though Wen Dian and Guo Mu looked rosy-cheeked, they nodded in agreement.
Zheng Wuyou rubbed her temples, trying to ease her headache.
"When you're done eating, take your things to Old Zhu's family. There are many customs for a wedding, so be sure not to break any rules."
The old man appeared in the doorway, carrying a basin of the same Corn Porridge as last night. He didn't care in the slightest about the weary looks on their faces.
After setting down the Corn Porridge, he left without looking back.
It seemed he wasn't worried about them wandering around and looking at things today.
Miao Laisheng, who'd been silent, had expected as much. He put the List on the table, and a new line of text had clearly appeared on it.
I knew they wouldn't give us much time...
Zheng Wuyou picked up the List helplessly. It read: [Matchmaker Leads Two at Noon to Bow, Clan Custom How to Raise the Left Hairpin.]
Why was it another word puzzle...
Zheng Wuyou's vision went dark. The shadow from last night had left her mind so muddled that she still couldn't think clearly.
She could only hand the List back to Miao Laisheng.
Thinking of Wen Dian, who'd had the old man cough into his bowl the previous night, she couldn't eat a thing. He pulled the List from the inner pocket of his Toothless Pajamas, planning to check his own task.
"Matchmaker Leads Two at Noon to Bow, Clan Custom How to Raise the Left Hairpin? Why is it another word puzzle?"
Wen Dian's despairing voice echoed Zheng Wuyou's thoughts and rang through the room, drawing everyone's attention.
Only then did everyone take out the rest of their Lists.
Without exception, every one had a new task written on it, and they all had the same line.
"This time, it looks like we've all got the same task..." Uncle Cai looked from side to side, then held up his List to the beam of light. It had only one sentence, too.
"Yeah. We should go visit Old Zhu's family." Zheng Wuyou had no appetite for the Corn Porridge in front of her. After a few careless bites, she stood up and tried to hoist the Wild Boar behind her. When she realized it was beyond her strength, she left it to the freakishly strong Miao Laisheng.
The village chief had warned them that there were many wedding customs, and the sentence mentioned clan customs, too...
That meant this task was related to local traditions.
As it happened, she also wanted to know what kind of customs the White Candles and nursery rhyme from last night were supposed to be.
When they reached the wooden door of the Main Hall, the scene outside was still exactly the same as the day before.
Except that two Big Red Lanterns now hung in front of Old Zhu's family, and Red Couplets had been put up.
"Feels like they don't even need us. The lanterns weren't there before we came over." Guo Mu's burly frame blocked nearly half the doorway. He had some piece of dried grass in his mouth, the source of which was anyone's guess.
"On your way here, did you see White Candles and Yellow Paper scattered everywhere?"
Zheng Wuyou looked around. All the Yellow Paper that had rolled across the ground in the wind last night had disappeared without a trace...
She'd clearly seen it all last night. How could everything have vanished by morning?
"White Candles and Yellow Paper everywhere? Wouldn't those two together start a fire?" Guo Mu turned around, chewing the dried grass with his mouth full. He spat it out a long way.
Weren't those the things people used to worship their ancestors?
Even when making offerings, people knew to keep the two apart.
If they were scattered everywhere here, half the mountain would've burned down by now.
Guo Mu's offhand remark suddenly made Zheng Wuyou think that the shadow which had turned to ash that morning hadn't done so by chance.
He was right. There'd been Yellow Paper everywhere last night, yet not a single stray spark...
So had she missed something last night?
Before you continue