Chapter 5: The Serpent God is Ill

"The Serpent God... is sick?" Feng Yushu didn't quite understand what Gu Yunqing meant for a moment.

How could a god be sick? "I don't know." Gu Yunqing pinched his brow with one hand: "But it is said that the Serpent God has been sick since 18 years ago, suffering from madness."

Ye Miaozhu took over the conversation: "We overheard this in a large house at the east end of the village. Several people who looked like servants were discussing in private, saying that... every month there are a few days when the originally kind-looking Serpent God statue in the ancestral hall will become fierce and unrecognizable. The He family people are very taboo about this. Whenever the Serpent God is ill, the whole village will collectively close their doors and not go out, seemingly avoiding something."

"No wonder we didn't see a single household with an open door on the way to the ancestral hall, and no one came to the ancestral hall to flip through the almanac," Xie Sining suddenly realized: "So they were avoiding the crazy Serpent God."

"But that doesn't make sense." Zhang Yangxu shook his head: "If the Serpent God is really that dangerous when ill, dangerous enough to make the He family people of the entire village afraid to even go out... then why did nothing happen during the time we entered the ancestral hall, flipped through the almanac, waited for people to come, and left the ancestral hall?"

Zhang Yangxu's confusion was also everyone's confusion, but no one could explain why.

This bizarre village was still shrouded in a mist of the unknown.

In the silence, Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe's eyes moved slightly. He remembered the corpse he had hidden under the offering table, and remembered Lin Zhiyuan, who had died bizarrely in front of the Serpent God without even being able to let out a scream.

Perhaps some things hadn't not happened, but had already happened.

"Regardless of the truth, we can't return to the ancestral hall to confirm it." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe shook his head, took out his phone from his pocket, opened the photo album, and showed a photo to Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu: "This is today's taboo. If you can't remember it, take a picture of it."

Ye Miaozhu beamed instantly: "Thank you so much, this is a huge help."

Zhang Yangxu looked at Ye Miaozhu and Gu Yunqing, who were taking pictures with their phones, and then looked at Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe, who was calm and had no flaws, revealing an inexplicable smile: "Quite meticulous."

Perhaps a bit, too meticulous.

Today's Fortune:

【Suitable:】

【Taboo: Travel, Burial, Funeral Rites, Sacrifices】

"So everyone knows today's taboos now." After taking the photo, Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe put away his phone and continued: "Among them, burial, funeral rites, and sacrifices all belong to taboos that require people to intentionally violate the rules to commit them, and the 'travel' taboo has also been proven not to mean not being able to go out. We can move around normally within the village range, but whether leaving the village counts as violating the taboo and whether there is danger, that is unknown."

"In other words, as long as we don't leave the village, today is equivalent to no taboos."

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe took a deep breath and looked at everyone without fear: "We have already exchanged information just now. Everyone present entered here through 'doors,' so I boldly guess that the exit to leave this ghost place might be a 'door' hidden somewhere in the village. As long as we find it, we can return to the real world."

"A reasonable guess." Zhang Yangxu nodded: "I think I know what you mean."

"If we want to explore He Family Village, today, when there are no taboos, is the best opportunity. Although today is the day the Serpent God is ill, how do we know if tomorrow's taboos won't be more dangerous than today's Serpent God?" Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe continued: "No one can be sure if tomorrow's taboos won't include 'no breathing' or something else. Instead of waiting for death, it's better to actively find a way out, the sooner the better."

"Agreed." Zhang Yangxu nodded.

"I also feel we can't wait for death." Ye Miaozhu also agreed. After a vote, everyone agreed with Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe's statement. Only Feng Yushu looked like she had agreed very reluctantly, and her face was slightly pale due to fear.

"Then let's agree on a time first."

Gu Yunqing said, looking at his luminous wristwatch: "It's 0:27 AM now. Starting from this ancestral hall, we will split up and set off in 3 minutes, exploring He Family Village in groups of two.

1 hour and 30 minutes later, which is 2:00 AM, everyone will gather at the entrance of the ancestral hall on time to exchange the information collected."

"Okay." Xie Sining was the first to agree. Zhang Yangxu and Ye Miaozhu naturally had no objections. Gu Yunqing didn't explicitly say how to split into groups of two, and in fact, there was no need to say it. In a strange environment, it was human instinct to pair up with people they were more familiar with.

"By the way, before setting off, let's exchange phone numbers."

Ye Miaozhu suggested: "You should have all tried to call and send text messages to the outside world. The environment here is very special, the signal seems to be blocked, and neither calls nor messages can be sent out."

"However, although we cannot contact the outside world, we who are in the village seem to be able to communicate with each other." Saying this, Ye Miaozhu took out her phone and dialed a number.

A few seconds later, Gu Yunqing's phone began to vibrate and rang.

"Look, it's connected. People in the village can call each other, and sending text messages should also be possible." Ye Miaozhu shook her phone: "So before we split up, let's exchange phone numbers so we can inform each other if there's any situation."

"So that's how it is, thank you for telling me." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe thanked her while exchanging phone numbers with her.

Actually, he had already tested that people in the village could communicate with each other using Lin Zhiyuan's phone just now, but Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe still appeared very pleasantly surprised by Ye Miaozhu's reminder.

Because he came to He Family Village alone, he shouldn't have had a channel to know this.

3 minutes later, everyone finished exchanging phone numbers and performed dialing tests, then prepared to set off.

Zhang Yangxu and Xie Sining, Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu, the two groups left the entrance of the ancestral hall tacitly and walked toward different alley forks.

"It's good to have acquaintances, even if we are reduced to this kind of ghost place, we can have someone to look after us." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe smiled bitterly and shook his head, turning to look at Feng Yushu, who was still standing at the alley entrance: "Then we are a group. Lady, let's go."

"... Okay." Feng Yushu plucked up her courage to step forward and walked into the depths of the alley with Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe.

It had just rained tonight, the sky was gloomy, and the streets without electric lights were pitch black. The small alleys by the street were even darker, where one couldn't see their own fingers.

Feng Yushu took out her phone, intending to turn on the flashlight for illumination, but was stopped by Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 6 =====