The sheep pen had been built against the courtyard's south wall. There wasn't a single sheep inside.
The main house stood at the north end of the courtyard, facing south. There wasn't a single person inside.
Where had everyone gone?
Was I dreaming or not?
There was no time to light a cigarette. Cui Jiuyang took out his lighter and burned himself with it.
Hot.
Scorching.
It hurt enough to make him want to cry for his mother.
Even the fine hairs on his arm were singed off.
But he didn't wake from this dream.
He left Shepherd Li's house and followed the wall to the village chief's home.
The village chief's surname was Wang. It had always been Wang; no one with any other surname had ever held the position.
The village's population consisted of three surnames: Wang, Li, and Cui. The Wangs were the most numerous, followed by the Lis, with the Cuis the fewest.
Or rather, Cui Jiuyang's household was actually the only one with the surname Cui.
As a child, Cui Jiuyang had hated seeing the village chief more than anyone else. Whenever the chief spoke to anyone in his family, he always began with, "You folks from the old Cui Family..."
As though none of them had names, and "the old Cui Family" was a name they all shared.
But this time, he had no choice but to seek out the village chief.
The villagers, dogs, sheep, birds, and cicadas had all vanished. Surely the village chief bore at least some responsibility?
The village chief's gate was closed.
Cui Jiuyang dispensed with politeness, pounding and kicking the gate. "Uncle Wang! Uncle Wang! What kind of event is the village holding?"
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"How come everyone's gone after I woke up?"
There was no response.
The village chief's courtyard wall was too high to climb over.
The village alleyways were narrow, no more than two meters wide, but in the thick fog, Cui Jiuyang could only turn his head and see the wall behind him.
The wall on the other side of the alley was probably just over a meter away, less than two, but he couldn't see it.
When he looked into the fog, he could only feel that there was a vast, vast distance beyond it...
Standing outside the village chief's gate, Cui Jiuyang's hands began to tremble.
So there wasn't anyone left in the entire village...
No.
It wasn't that there was no one.
He corrected himself.
There was... nothing alive.
Following the foot of the walls through the all-engulfing fog, Cui Jiuyang returned to his own gate with tangled feelings.
The vermilion gate looked like a huge, bloody maw.
But he had nowhere else to go. He could only come back here.
He held his breath and steadied himself, ready to push the gate open.
Then something suddenly occurred to him, and he whipped his head around...
Where was my electric scooter?
Hadn't I parked it right outside the gate?
How... had it disappeared?
Chapter 2: Curtains
Had someone stolen my electric scooter?
For some inexplicable reason, Cui Jiuyang actually felt a little pleased.
If someone had stolen the scooter, didn't that mean someone was here?
Someone was better than no one!
Cui Jiuyang lit another cigarette, forcing himself not to think about whoever had stolen the scooter... what if they weren't human?
I couldn't scare myself like this.
It was summer, after all.
Had the Eternal River south of the village flooded?
Had the whole village evacuated, and those heartless bastards forgotten me?
I'd only been back home for a short while.
It was perfectly normal for them to forget me.
I forgave them.
Even whoever had stolen my electric scooter. I forgave them too.
No need to bring it back. Ride it for fun. What did it matter who rode it?
Cui Jiuyang's mind was a complete mess, but he still had to go through the gate in front of him.
Creeeak... graaate...
The iron hinges were rusty, scraping with a piercing noise.
The gate hinges needed oiling. Why did I always forget?
It was fine. No one was home.
Look at me, getting so muddled. Of course no one was home.
Mom and Dad had died young from workplace injuries.
After Grandpa died of illness, wasn't the house empty?
Once inside the house, Cui Jiuyang shut the door and slid the bolt into place.
He turned and leaned against the door, slowly... sliding down to sit on the floor.
Finally.
He was back.
His T-shirt was soaked through.
Only after an unknown stretch of time did he stand up and, as though nothing had happened, use the last lukewarm water in the thermos to make a packet of instant noodles.
He wanted to watch some television while he ate, but discovered the power was out.
When he checked his phone again, it had three percent battery left.
I'd forgotten to charge it last night.
It didn't really matter. There was no signal anyway, so the phone wasn't much use.
The noodles were still half-hard and tasted bad, but he was so hungry that he made do and ate them.
Then it grew dark.
The sky went dark all at once.
It was like... like a light bulb going out during a power cut.
The darkness fell swiftly and cleanly.
And left Cui Jiuyang alone in the dark.
He took out his lighter and, using its meager light, found candles in a cupboard.
He had bought them as a backup during the last maintenance outage... today, they proved invaluable.
It was dark, but the fog still hadn't lifted.
Holding a candle, he stood by the window. Its faint light illuminated the thick fog outside, the candle's golden glow tinting it a warm yellow.
Through the glass, the fog took shape.
Cui Jiuyang discovered that it was churning, like broth bubbling in a pot of stewing tofu.
The fog showed no sign of dispersing.
I couldn't go outside again.
His phone had shut down.
He could only stand by the window, holding the candle up to the glass and watching the fog churn.
Then.
A face covered in wrinkles emerged from the fog and pressed tightly against the windowpane.
The candlelight edged the lower half of the thing's face outside with gold, while leaving its upper half in shadow.
It was smiling.
Cui Jiuyang yanked the curtains shut!
The hand holding the candle began to tremble uncontrollably...
What was that just now?
Before you continue