Sniffing the polluted air, Han Fei walked past the ad, “Good environment, good water, good air. This place is so different from advertised.”
Han Fei walked for a while and saw a dead body hanging upside down from a tree branch. The rotten body wore bright red clothes, and the character, Longevity, was sewn on the clothes with black threads.
“Stop! Don’t move any further!” The leaves fell and a strange man wearing two layers of raincoats walked out from behind the tree. He looked around 40, was very buff, and had a bushy beard.
“Isn’t the village ahead?” Han Fei didn’t feel any threat from the man.
“The village is filled with monsters!” The man wanted to say something more when the bells tied to the tree rang. The man became nervous. “Run! Don’t drink the water in the village! Be careful of the old people!” “Is there a problem with the water there? What is going on there?” Before Han Fei got an answer, the man disappeared into the bush. Han Fei was about to give chase when the temperature dropped, and a chilling cackle traveled to Han Fei. Moments later, two elders appeared on the mud road. They carried white lanterns even though it was daytime.
“Young man, are you lost? Why don’t you come to my place for a bowl of warm porridge?” The elder was kind, and Han Fei smiled in return. “Thank you.”
Both parties were very polite. They entered the village happily.
After Han Fei left, the hanging body slumped to the ground. The clothes fluttered in the wind, and the Longevity character became wet.
“We have good Feng Shui here because everyone here lived over 100 years ago. That’s why we’re called the Village of Longevity.” The elder introduced the place to Han Fei. “In the past, many people came to vacation here. There were even media who purposely came in search of the secret of longevity.”
“Young man, you should stay here. The world outside is too chaotic, but we are protected by God here.”
There were two large pillars standing at the end of the mud road. One of the pillars was wrapped with a white cloth, while the other had a dummy tied to it. He looked around 40 plus. His body was dirty. He was barefooted. His legs were covered in wounds and pus. It looked like he was captured back after running away.
“Don’t worry. He’s the village dummy. He’ll act up when it’s daytime. There are too many elderly in the village. We had to do this to prevent him from accidentally hurting someone.” The elder quickly explained it to Han Fei.
“He’ll only act up in the day?” Han Fei was confused.
When Han Fei passed by the pillars, the dummy suddenly opened his eyes to glare at Han Fei. “Get out! Shoo!”
“What’s wrong with you? Shut up!” The elder picked up a branch to hit the dummy. The elder didn’t hold back. He left many welts on the man.
“It’s alright. Stop hitting him.” Han Fei was playing a kind and innocent man.
“I don’t want to hit him too but he refuses to listen to reason. I’ve watched him grow up, but he suddenly lost his mind one day.” The elder tossed the branch away and stood between Han Fei and the dummy. The other elder grabbed Han Fei by his elbow and pulled him into the village. The village was very ancient. It should be a beautiful place but it felt very eerie.
“My family has quite a farm. You can stay with me tonight. Tomorrow, you can find your own place in the village. The village has many empty houses. After you live there for three days, the house is yours.” The two elders were very kind.
They walked down the muddy path overgrown with weeds. Occasionally, Han Fei would giant rats scurry past.
“We’re here.” The elder held the white lantern and bowed three times at his door. Then he grabbed the bronze ring on his door and knocked. “Old woman, I’ve brought a guest.”
A long time later, the door was opened by an old lady. Her face was so wrinkly that one could barely see her eyes.
“Go to heat the porridge. This child hasn’t eaten for a long time already.”
“It’s fine.” Han Fei was shy. He acted how a polite yet hungry person should be. The two elders were very comfortable around Han Fei. They felt like he was different from the normal people who came to the village to cause trouble.
“You must be tired from the long journey. You should go and rest.” The old man showed Han Fei the guest room and left. That was where the mirage ended. Han Fei peeked out through the gap in the door. The elder was so hunchbacked that it appeared there was another person living inside his bump.
“This village is close to Gu Yang Tian Nian Old Folk’s Home. To get to know that place, I need to get to know this place first.”
Han Fei wasn’t confident that he could escape unscathed from a Strange Building. Strange Buildings contained traces of Unmentionables.
Sitting on the bed in the guest room, Han Fei soon noticed something weird. There was a cubicle in the guest room, and the door was locked. There was a wall between the guest room and the cubicle and the strangest thing was there was a window on the wall. Lying on the bed in the guest room, one could see the window directly. Han Fei silently approached. The window was blocked off by wooden boards. Han Fei had to remove them to see the things inside. He was about to do that when the door opened. The old lady came in with a bowl of hot porridge. She kept her head lowered. Her hands pulsed with blood capillaries.
“Do eat more. When it’s nighttime, there won’t be anything else to eat.” The old lady’s voice was mechanical. There was no human emotion.
“Thank you.” Han Fei looked at the bowl on the table. It was filled with porridge with wild vegetables. It smelled amazing. Han Fei picked up the chopsticks and searched the bowl. He discovered three coins and a strand of black hair at the bottom of the bowl. “Is this for the dead?”
Han Fei placed the bowl back on the table. He picked up the coins. He wanted to ask the elders for more, but when he exited the guest room, he noticed the sky had darkened. Time seemed to flow faster inside the village. The villagers were rapidly aging. The white lanterns disappeared. Han Fei didn’t stay in the yard. He entered the kitchen. There was no scary scene. The kitchen looked very normal.
“Where did she make the porridge? The pots are perfectly clean and dry.”
Han Fei turned to the main house. He remembered hearing something creak inside the main house when the old lady opened the door for him. Han Fei looked through the gap. Other than a lot of wooden furniture, there was nothing else.
Suddenly, there was nothing on the courtyard door. A country woman stood at the door carrying a bamboo basket. She was about 50, but due to the heavy layer of makeup on her face, it was hard to tell her actual age.
The woman didn’t expect to see someone else there. Her curious eyes locked on Han Fei. The powder on her face fell, and she revealed a creepy smile.
“You are?” Han Fei shivered under her gaze.
“Me? I’m the daughter-in-law of the owner here. I came to deliver him something to eat.” The woman carried the bamboo basket that was covered with a black cloth into the kitchen. While she moved, her eyes kept wandering over to Han Fei. “Have you just arrived? Have you eaten the porridge? When you sleep at night, try not to move around too much… You’ll be more comfortable that way.” The woman wanted to grab Han Fei’s hand, but Han Fei moved away. “Similar to you, I came from outside. At first, you might not be used to this place, but soon, you’ll realize you don’t want to leave anymore.” She smiled creepily at Han Fei. “My house is on the west side of the village. If you find yourself uncomfortable staying here, you can come to find me.” The woman left unwillingly. Han Fei closed the courtyard door. He ran to the kitchen and checked the basket. The basket carried many giant rats and cocoons.
“How is this place a human base? It feels like everyone here is not normal. Their mutations should be related to that Strange Building.”
Han Fei returned to the living room. He just entered the door and instantly noticed something was wrong. He placed the chopsticks on the table before he left, but now the pair of chopsticks was stuck vertically inside the porridge. The strand of black hair disappeared as well.
“No one has been here when I was away, so the culprit should be hiding inside the cubicle.” Han Fei looked through the bowl of cold porridge. The strand of black hair had turned white. Han Fei didn’t leave and stayed in the guest room. When the last light disappeared, darkness swallowed the Village of Longevity. Han Fei felt engulfed by an abnormal sense of chilliness. He frowned slightly. “I feel like I’m inside a ghost territory. Will the village be swallowed by Pure Hatred’s ghost territory at night?” Time appeared to slow down. Fatigue consumed Han Fei.
Han Fei adjusted his breathing. Just as Han Fei was trying to fight off the drowsiness, he heard the clawing of fingernails. He looked to the window. The board slowly cracked open. The old board was clawed away by nails. Slowly, a pale finger reached out. The fingerprint had been burned away. The finger slowly moved, and blood dripped down.
The night darkened. A human face appeared on another side of the window. Its twisted body slowly poked out, and its segmented arms reached toward the bed. This was very scary.
The monster’s lower body was still inside the cubicle, but its upper body had reached out the window. The fingers were about to touch Han Fei’s face.
Han Fei’s eyes flew open.
He pushed his body up and headbutted the monster!
