Almanac

Lunar Calendar, 23rd day of the fourth month, Grain Buds.

Rain fell outside. Ning Zhe walked into the Ancestral Hall where the Snake God was worshipped, flipped open the old almanac nailed to the tongue of the Snake God statue, and checked today's fortune:

[Suitable:]

[Taboo: Traveling, Burials, Funerals, Sacrifices]

"Taboo: Traveling... Does the rule for today mean I can't go out?" Ning Zhe studied the almanac before him, committing its contents to memory.

The contents of the almanac were the key to surviving in this isolated mountain village.

This village was called He Family Village, located in the center of a basin surrounded by mountains on all sides, cut off from the rest of the world. The entire village was divided into east and west halves by a river, connected by three arched bridges.

The people of He Family Village all believed in the Snake God, and every household worshipped an image of the deity. The Snake God was depicted as an Azure Jade Serpent with a pair of curved horns. A wooden statue of the Snake God, carved from a Camphor Tree root, was enshrined in the clan's Ancestral Hall at the south end of the village, surrounded by the spirit tablets of the ancestors of He Family Village—which was exactly where Ning Zhe was now.

An old almanac was nailed to the tongue of the Snake God statue. The most important task for the people of He Family Village every midnight was to come to the Ancestral Hall to turn a page of the almanac, check the day's fortune, and only then could they sleep in peace.

According to the villagers, the fortune on the almanac was the Heavenly Secrets revealed by the Snake God.

The "Suitable" and "Taboo" items given by the almanac each day were random. Knowing the content allowed one to avert bad luck; doing what was suitable for the day would bring good fortune, while conversely, violating a taboo would bring bad luck. Repeatedly violating taboos would lead to terrible misfortune, and those who violated them too often or too severely might even die mysteriously.

Ning Zhe had experienced this firsthand.

When he first entered the village yesterday, because he was unaware of the rules here, he had inadvertently violated the taboos of "Seeing Life" and "Eliminating Insects," which caused him to have bad luck all day long:

He tripped over the gaps in the stone slab path while walking, was hit on the back of the head by a falling roof tile while passing under an eave, and just as he wanted to go out, a torrential downpour began... He barely managed to survive until midnight, and as the isolated mountain village was about to welcome a new day, Ning Zhe crouched at the entrance of the Ancestral Hall. As soon as the clock struck twelve, he immediately flipped the almanac to check today's fortune.

Ning Zhe confirmed the contents of the almanac once more:

[Suitable:]

[Taboo: Traveling, Burials, Funerals, Sacrifices]

"Burials, funerals, and sacrifices are easy to understand, but what exactly does 'traveling' mean? Does it mean going on a long journey, or does it count as soon as I leave a building or structure and reach the outside world? Also..."

Doubt arose in Ning Zhe's heart. His gaze shifted slightly upward, landing on the blank space after the word "Suitable":

"Why does the almanac only have taboos and no 'suitable' items?"

Is everything unsuitable today?

Just as he was wondering, the sound of light footsteps came from outside the Ancestral Hall; it must have been a villager coming to check the almanac. Ning Zhe left the Lotus Platform where the Snake God statue was enshrined and walked toward the side gate of the Ancestral Hall, preparing to leave.

The villagers of He Family Village were not exactly upright people; if possible, Ning Zhe did not want to have much contact with them.

However, the candlelight behind him flickered slightly, and Ning Zhe hesitated as he reached the side gate of the Ancestral Hall. Without being able to determine the specific meaning of the "traveling" taboo, he didn't dare to go out rashly; he had already had enough bad luck yesterday.

"Midnight has passed, and today's fortune has refreshed. If leaving the house and moving around the village counts as 'traveling,' then the villager who left their home to come to the Ancestral Hall to check the almanac has already violated the taboo at this very moment," Ning Zhe thought to himself.

The Snake God was magnanimous; those who were ignorant and violated a taboo for the first time would only suffer some insignificant bad luck and would not lose their lives. In other words, as long as he observed whether the villager who came to the Ancestral Hall suffered bad luck, he should be able to roughly judge whether they had violated the "traveling" taboo.

Thinking of this, Ning Zhe didn't rush to leave. He moved to the side of a pillar against the wall. The pillar was pitch black, and a dark red old silk curtain hung on it, with a dim candle flickering beneath the curtain. Ning Zhe hid himself behind the curtain and observed the main entrance of the Ancestral Hall through the gaps in the candlelight.

Light, muffled, and heavy footsteps mixed with the sound of splashing water, and a pair of white sneakers stepped over a puddle on the street, arriving at the entrance of the Ancestral Hall.

"..." Ning Zhe stared fixedly at the figure walking in from outside the door, his pupils contracting slightly in shock.

It was a sturdy young man, looking to be under thirty years old. A simple tank top paired with loose-fitting shorts suitable for running, along with his muscular arms and the sneakers on his feet, indicated that this was a guy who loved to exercise. Yet, it was this plain and ordinary attire that made Ning Zhe shudder.

"Ever since I was dragged into He Family Village, every villager I've seen here has been strange. They wear outdated linen clothes, use primitive ox-drawn plows to till the fields, and speak with a heavy Hakka Accent... There isn't even a single electric light on the road or in the houses."

"If it weren't for the weird rules here and the villagers' stiff movements like shadow puppets, I would have even suspected that I had traveled back to ancient times."

But in such a weird "ancient village," he had actually seen another person wearing modern clothing.

"Who is he? Was he dragged into this Weird Place just like me? Are there other living people here besides me?"

All sorts of doubts filled Ning Zhe's mind, but his cautious nature kept him from acting rashly. Slowing his breathing and trying his best to control himself so as not to make any sound, Ning Zhe watched without blinking as the sturdy man in the tank top and sneakers walked into the Ancestral Hall, went straight to the Inner Hall, and stood still in front of the Snake God statue.

"His goal is also the almanac," Ning Zhe realized.

This man in the tank top was likely an outsider who, like him, had accidentally been dragged into this weird village, and might have even inadvertently violated the Snake God's taboos. His purpose for coming to the Ancestral Hall in the middle of the night might be the same as his—to flip through the almanac and check today's fortune.

The man in the tank top looked up at the old almanac hanging on the Snake God's tongue, a look of confusion on his face. Ning Zhe knew what he was confused about:

"He thinks he is the first person to arrive at the Ancestral Hall, that the almanac hasn't been turned yet and is still on yesterday's date. Therefore, he is probably wondering why the content on the almanac doesn't match the taboo he violated yesterday."

But in reality, Ning Zhe, who had arrived a step earlier, had already turned the almanac to today, so of course, it wouldn't match.

The man in the tank top hesitated in front of the Snake God statue for a moment, but eventually reached out toward the almanac. He was preparing to flip through it.

"Right, this almanac doesn't have Gregorian dates; it uses the Lunar Calendar. Modern people accustomed to the Gregorian calendar find it difficult to judge whether the date shown is today based on the lunar date," Ning Zhe roughly guessed what was happening.

This situation could actually be solved by just opening a phone to take a look; phone manufacturers usually displayed both the Gregorian and Lunar calendars on the calendar interface. But perhaps because the almanac's content didn't match the taboo he had actually violated, the chaotic reality had panicked the man in the tank top. Under extreme tension, he hadn't been able to calm down enough to think of that.

When the law is unknowable, its power is immeasurable. With ethereal rules and death lurking nearby, few people could maintain their sanity in such an environment.

Ning Zhe held his breath, his eyes fixed on the man's hand reaching for the almanac: "If the almanac, which has already been turned to today, is flipped again, will it show tomorrow's fortune?"

He had no intention of going out to warn the other person. Ning Zhe was now only curious about one thing: would the Snake God allow someone to check tomorrow's fortune today?

He got the answer to this question very quickly.

The man in the tank top pinched the almanac with his thick fingers and flipped a page, intending to hang the page with today's fortune on the nail. But before this page could even be hung up, less than a second after he flipped the almanac, a dull thud echoed through the Ancestral Hall.

It was the sound of a human body colliding with the Yellow Earth floor. He hadn't managed to successfully flip the almanac to tomorrow; his entire body collapsed onto the ground as if his strength had been drained, and he lay there without moving.

"It seems the answer is not permitted," Ning Zhe whispered to himself.

Although he hadn't actually examined the body yet, an inexplicable premonition arose in Ning Zhe's heart, as if someone had given him a hint.

He felt that this man was dead.

The cold evening breeze blew in from the main entrance, and the flipped page of the Yellow Paper refused to settle back into place, fluttering in the wind like a withered leaf, or perhaps a butterfly with deep yellow wings dancing in this silent Ancestral Hall, with "Tomorrow's Fortune" faintly visible beneath its wings.

Ning Zhe took a deep breath and turned his gaze away from the almanac, but he had no intention of leaving.

The sudden death of the man in the tank top was not due to bad luck, but because he had violated some hidden taboo independent of the "Today's Fortune" prohibitions.

"Is it something like an Unspoken Rule beneath the surface rules?" Ning Zhe pondered as he quickly stepped out from behind the curtain.

A cool draft blew through the Ancestral Hall as Ning Zhe nimbly dragged the body of the man in the tank top away from the statue of the Snake God, hiding it beneath the Offering Table covered by a bright red tablecloth. A person who had just died would not emit any odor for a short time, so the body should remain hidden here without being discovered.

Ning Zhe straightened the tablecloth, hurried away from the Offering Table, and hid back behind the curtain against the wall.

"Besides me and this man, there should be other living people in this village. They might also come to the Ancestral Hall to consult the almanac."

Ning Zhe was not paralyzed by the bizarre death that had just occurred before his eyes; he still clearly understood what he needed to do—by observing whether others who came here from the outside met with misfortune, he might be able to determine the specific meaning of the "travel" taboo in the daily fortune.

The contents of the almanac were the key to surviving in this isolated mountain village.