Hearing Uncle Cai's question, Zheng Wuyou merely smiled faintly before parting her lips and slowly uttering a few words...
"The new task has actually been laid out before everyone."
"You mean... this nursery rhyme?" Hu Yu's eyes widened dramatically as she pointed at the first spot on the ground, which was almost dry.
Miao Laisheng's nod confirmed her guess.
"If we can't figure out the first two lines of the nursery rhyme, we may end up repeating tonight's events all over again." Zheng Wuyou cast an approving look at Wen Dian, grateful that he hadn't kept this from them.
Then she tucked her hair behind her ear and stood solemnly at the center of everyone's attention.
"'The flower terrace reveals Zhu Village'—then who is supposed to perform this play? And who must wear King Yama's mask? 'Trap Zhu Village'... The earlier riddles seemed to be about completing the task, but each step was actually guiding us toward understanding Zhu Village and finding its patterns. This nursery rhyme is the real beginning."
Zheng Wuyou lifted her eyes, her gaze fixed firmly on the unexpected visitor at the door.
A rhythmic clap sounded behind them.
The group turned around in alarm and saw a strange man sitting at the entrance, though no one knew when he had appeared.
He sat in a wheelchair, his hands clasped together.
There was a smile on his face, as if he agreed with what they had said.
And behind him...
A dense crowd stood packed together. There were people they knew: the middle-aged man, the old woman who loved smoking opium, the old man, and the white-haired old woman whose feet pointed backward.
They all gathered behind him like the walking dead.
There were also many people they had never seen before.
Everyone in the crowd stared unblinkingly into the wooden house. The sight sent chills through them.
They immediately got to their feet and hurried toward the entrance to the backyard.
They tried to keep as far away from the strangers as possible.
"Very impressive. I didn't expect you to actually retrieve the hairpin." The man in the wheelchair lowered his hands, ending his applause, and swept his gaze over the crowd before stopping on Zheng Wuyou.
Zheng Wuyou watched the man in the wheelchair warily. "Zhu Li? You can leave the house?"
The man gently rolled his wheelchair forward a little. "You can't trust anything the Zhu family says. Don't forget, I'm a member of the Zhu family too."
"I'm the one who maintains the rules. I make the rules, so naturally, I can come and go as I please."
Zhu Li's refined voice rang across the mountainside, yet it felt like a club striking Zheng Wuyou and the others hard in the heart.
The group grew even more nervous at his words.
"You've solved some of the riddles. Very good. But if you want to truly leave, I'm afraid you'll have to put in quite a bit more effort." The man in the wheelchair's smile turned sinister.
Zheng Wuyou clenched her fists. "Were you pulling the strings from the shadows?"
Looking back carefully, every step had been arranged perfectly.
Whenever they reached a crucial point, someone would appear to guide them...
The man shook his head. "Not at all. I'm merely honoring a promise made long ago."
Just then, someone suddenly hauled a figure out of the crowd. It was Xiao Xia, whom they had tied up in West Third House...
Xiao Xia remained crouched, her eyes closed. She had fallen into a deep coma.
There was no sign she would wake up.
To everyone's shock, Xiao Xia's once-clear figure began to turn transparent before their eyes!
It was as if a thin veil were gently covering her.
Or as if her curled-up body had sunk into Xiao Wan's soul.
She looked utterly unreal, like an illusion.
The middle-aged man standing nearby held Xiao Xia's body tightly.
"What did you do?" Hu Yu rushed two steps forward, but her furious shout was useless.
It couldn't stop Xiao Xia's body from growing lighter and more transparent.
Even though Xiao Xia had lost consciousness before, this moment made them realize that she didn't belong to this world after all. She was one of them!
At last, when Wen Dian and Hu Yu could no longer stand to watch and moved to take Xiao Xia back,
Xiao Xia's body completely melted into a pool of clear liquid, which streamed through the middle-aged man's fingers like water.
The pool of liquid didn't linger. It fell straight to the ground with a crisp patter.
Then it seeped into the earth as if swallowed by it, vanishing without a trace.
Hu Yu stood rooted to the spot, staring through the doorway at the unbelievable scene.
The people inside the house cried out in alarm, but the man remained calm. "There isn't much time left. If you don't want to disappear one by one, hurry and figure out what 'King Yama' and 'rose symbiosis' mean."
Zheng Wuyou took a deep breath, trying to calm herself so she could think.
Miao Laisheng came to her side and murmured, "Let's work together."
Zheng Wuyou nodded and scanned the surroundings again, intending to start with the wooden house.
Zhu Li had led everyone in Zhu Village to block the entrance to the wooden house. He wasn't going to let them get away with simply explaining things.
She recalled how, on the first day, the old man had stopped everyone from looking around the backyard...
There had to be something in the backyard that they weren't allowed to talk about!
Zheng Wuyou leaned close to Miao Laisheng's ear and whispered something.
Then the two squeezed to the back of the crowd, as if they had a huge secret.
Even Wansi, who was standing closest to them, couldn't hear what they said.
Sitting in his wheelchair, Zhu Li watched the flustered people inside with interest.
The sun slanted toward the western mountain, meaning it was already past noon.
Zheng Wuyou sneaked through the bustling crowd and made her way to the backyard. Slowly, she raised her head and looked above her.
The blazing sun hung high in the sky, still releasing its merciless, scorching light.
It seemed ready to roast the whole world.
Zheng Wuyou thought to herself. She clearly remembered that breakfast and dinner were served every day in the dilapidated earthen hut on the left side of the backyard.
When she turned to look toward the right side of the backyard, she saw bundles of firewood piled high beside the kitchen door, each one tightly bound.
The pieces varied in shape and size.
Some were long, thin sticks; others were neatly split blocks of wood.
She remembered how the old woman from the Zhu family had sternly warned them not to enter the backyard.
But Zhu Li had just reminded them that they couldn't trust the Zhu family.
In truth, entering the backyard wouldn't bring any punishment...
With that thought, Zheng Wuyou gritted her teeth and charged straight toward the kitchen under the blazing sun.
The most eye-catching thing in the kitchen was undoubtedly the enormous stove built from black soil.
It crouched there silently, like a giant beast.
In the corner beside the stove, a heap of black, filthy ash lay in a disorderly pile.
Just looking at it made her feel disgusted.
Since the kitchen walls were all coated with black soil of the same color, Zheng Wuyou couldn't immediately tell which parts had been blackened by smoke from the firewood.
And which parts were the original color of the walls.
Before you continue