Hunting

"Azhi's diary began in 2013, five years ago, when I had just bought her this computer. The entries from the first few years were perfectly normal. She just wrote about what books she'd read each day, which restaurant had the best desserts, and how she always went to eat alone... But starting around the middle of last year, her diary changed. Her writing became disorganized and dark, like the antisocial things a world-weary criminal might say."

"Starting with the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2017, Azhi began having the same dream over and over. The dream was... twisted and oppressive, like the horror games on her computer. Each time she had it, her mental state deteriorated a little more, and her diary became even more disorganized. It sent chills down my spine."

"I was really worried about her mental state, but I was afraid that if I said anything, Azhi would blame me for snooping through her private things. So I copied the diary entries that described her dreams and sent them to a psychologist in the psychiatric department of Qinzhou City Hospital."

"The doctor said that Azhi might have developed delusions and hysteria because she'd gone so long without normal social interactions or family relationships, and her mind had become immersed in bizarre, horrifying fiction. He said that adjusting her mindset and spending more time outdoors should help. If necessary, he could even come to our home and examine her in person."

"But I knew that wasn't it!"

Feng Yushu's emotions suddenly flared, and her voice rose.

"Because of the dream Azhi had... that terrifying dream that kept appearing in her diary!"

"It took place in a strange village where everyone had a yellow paper slip bearing their name stuck to their face. Everyone in the village worshipped an evil god that looked like a snake. The village was called... He Family Village."

Ning Zhe's expression darkened. "Why didn't you tell me about such an important clue earlier?"

Feng Yushu acted as though she hadn't heard him at all. She didn't answer his question, instead continuing to ramble in a frantic, almost hysterical way. "I can't die here, Ning Zhe. I really can't die here. I have to get out alive and see my daughter. She's already been targeted by the strange things in He Family Village... I have to help her. Her mother has to help her..."

"Do you know, Ning Zhe? I don't care about myself. It doesn't matter what happens to me! I'll do anything you ask. I just want to know how Azhi is doing. She can't get hurt. She's so young, with so much life still ahead of her. If something happens to Azhi, I... I really don't know how I'll go on..."

Watching Feng Yushu rant and rave incoherently, Ning Zhe felt a headache coming on.

"Auntie, you don't seem to be in great shape yourself..."

She was practically insane.

So Feng Yushu hadn't made it this far because a mother's love had made her strong. She'd been broken for a long time; she'd just never let it show.

Once Feng Yushu had calmed down a little, Ning Zhe stopped walking and asked, "Your daughter... her name is Baizhi, right? Which horror games were on Baizhi's computer? And what were those bizarre manga she read? Tell me everything. She might have dreamed about a scene from one of the games or manga."

Feng Yushu thought for a moment, then listed a few titles. "The games included F.E.A.R., The Evil Within, Asylum, Silent Hill, Mandarin Bonds, Red Thread, Paper Dolls, and Paranormal HK... Most of the manga were in foreign languages, so I couldn't recognize them. The only one in Chinese was a shonen manga called Extreme Split, but it wasn't set in the countryside. I think it was some kind of urban Special Ability story."

Ning Zhe considered the titles Feng Yushu had listed. None of the games or manga matched what he was experiencing. "None of those fit. He Family Village isn't a setting from any horror game, novel, or manga."

It seemed that this wasn't some tired cliché about a game invading the real world. They'd truly become entangled with something inexplicable.

"If that's the case, then it's very intriguing that Baizhi dreamed about He Family Village—and that she had the same dream multiple times." Ning Zhe thought it over, then asked, "Auntie, did Baizhi's diary give any details about her dreams?"

Feng Yushu shook her head. "No. Her descriptions were very jumbled, just a few fragmentary sentences, disjointed descriptions of places and bits of dialogue. Reading them gave me a very... strange feeling."

The same strange feeling she'd had when she first arrived in He Family Village.

"All right." Ning Zhe didn't pursue that line of inquiry.

Baizhi's dreams might be an important clue to understanding the relationship between this strange place and the real world. But Ning Zhe felt that, as someone who was about to die, he'd better focus on staying alive first. That was what mattered right now.

And the most important thing right now was to keep Feng Yushu from learning the truth about the phone call she'd received that morning from "Lin Zhiyuan."

He absolutely couldn't let her realize she was mistaken, or all his efforts would be for nothing.

"Auntie, do you want to live?" Ning Zhe asked without warning.

"Of course I do." Feng Yushu looked confused. "What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing..." Ning Zhe let go of Feng Yushu's hand. Standing on a set of bluestone steps beside the street, he spread his arms and stretched toward the sky before continuing, "I want to leave here alive too, but I need your help. Do you understand?"

Feng Yushu nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

Ning Zhe lowered his head. "I've thought of a way to break the rules here, and the plan is already underway. But the Ghost saw through it and is preparing to sabotage it..."

"The good news is that the plan has been proven to work. The Ghost is already panicking. It kept changing identities and calling me just now, trying everything it could. That only proves I'm on the right track. I... might really be able to kill it."

"The bad news is that my plan is extremely fragile. The Ghost could ruin it with the slightest effort, and one mistake could make me lose everything."

"And you're the key to my plan. If the Ghost wants to kill me, it has to start with you. So, Auntie, I need your help," Ning Zhe said calmly.

Feng Yushu nodded, only half understanding. "You... need me to do what?"

"Nothing at all," Ning Zhe said firmly. "I want you to go find somewhere to hide right now. Don't listen to, trust, or accept anything anyone says or does. Just bury your head in the sand like an ostrich until this is over. Leave everything else to me. I'll take care of it."

"Listen, Feng Yushu. I'll get you to your daughter alive. I promise." Ning Zhe's voice remained calm. His eyes held no trace of emotion, only the cool detachment of a hunter examining prey that was already dead. "But can you promise to ignore everything happening around you and blindly believe whatever I say, without asking why?"

"If your answer is yes, then..."

Ning Zhe turned his head and looked straight into Feng Yushu's eyes, his gaze as cold and emotionless as a hunter's.

"I can go kill that Ghost right now."