Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The damp evening wind blew against me, clearing my head by a fraction.

It seemed to have just poured here. I looked around and found myself in a small, run-down village.

The doors of several nearby houses were locked, their courtyards pitch-black. Yet on both sides of each gate hung bright yellow lanterns.

I stepped closer for a look. They were all lotus lanterns.

Just then, a burst of bustling noise came from not far away, and I followed the sound.

At one villager’s home, the courtyard gate stood wide open. Inside, lights blazed and voices roared, as if they were holding a banquet.

I was about to go in and ask what was going on when an old woman happened to come out.

I quickly stopped her and asked, “Is there a wedding here?”

The old woman lifted her head to look at me, and I nearly jumped in fright.

Her face was strange. Though all her features were there, she didn’t look quite human. She looked more like a wildcat.

“Not a wedding,” the old woman said in a dry, hoarse voice. “We’re sending the girl back to her parents’ home.”

Sending the girl back to her parents’ home? Wasn’t that supposed to be something a new bride did?

Besides, what kind of custom had people holding a banquet in the middle of the night just to send a daughter-in-law home?

The more I thought about it, the stranger it felt. The moment I stepped into the courtyard, a middle-aged man hurried over.

He grabbed my arm. “Oh, you’re finally here! The rain stopped tonight at last. We’ll have to trouble you to send the girl home later.”

“Me? Send her?”

Before I could make sense of anything, I was dragged over to a table and made to sit down.

The villagers around me were all very enthusiastic, pouring me wine and piling food into my bowl.

But I didn’t dare eat much.

Because to my eyes, every one of these villagers-men and women, old and young-looked almost the same. They all had catlike faces.

Just then, the sound of a gong rang out from somewhere.

I looked up and saw four pallid sedan bearers carrying a large red bridal sedan chair to a stop in front of the courtyard gate.

The middle-aged man, who had been standing behind me, suddenly let out a howl. It was not a sound any human could have made.

Then everyone in the courtyard surged toward the entrance. They seemed to be trying to stop that bridal sedan from coming in.

Even though my mind was still a muddled mess, my instincts were screaming that nothing here was normal.

I looked around, trying to find an exit so I could leave at once.

But the courtyard had only that one gate leading out. Behind me was the farmhouse itself.

The house, however, was brightly lit inside, and vague human shadows were cast across the windows.

At that moment, I heard a somewhat familiar voice. “Brother Long? Brother Long?”

Someone was calling me!

My full name was Long Changdong. My memories cleared a little.

I walked toward the house. The door was half-closed, and the person calling me seemed to be inside.

I yanked the main door open. A gust of cold wind swept through, and the brightly lit room instantly went dark.

Inside the main hall sat two figures. On a long table between them burned two red candles, and between the candles were two photographs placed side by side as offerings.

Was this supposed to be a celebration or a funeral?

By the glow of the red candles, I looked closer and saw that the two figures seated on either side were not living people at all. They were paper effigies shaped like a middle-aged husband and wife.

But the photographs on the offering table looked like real living people.

Only the woman’s face in the photo was impossible to make out, blurred into a haze.

The man’s photo, however, was very clear. I took a closer look, and my memories flooded back in an instant.