Liu Hai nodded after hearing Zhang Nu's suggestion. Fortunately, he knew exactly where the village elder's house was. “Alright, Zhang Nu, follow me. I'll take you to the elder’s house now.”
Zhang Nu agreed and began walking behind Liu Hai.
As they headed westward through the village, Zhang Nu was struck by how isolated the elder’s home was. It was positioned at the far edge of the village, seemingly opposite in direction to the village chief’s residence.
“Why does the elder live so far out?” Zhang Nu asked curiously. “And why isn’t her house closer to the village center? It seems to be in complete contrast to the chief’s home.”
Zhang Nu’s question piqued Liu Hai’s own curiosity. He had never considered this before and only now realized how peculiar it was.
“Now that you mention it, it is strange,” Liu Hai admitted. “None of us ever thought much about it. I have no idea why the elder and the chief live so far apart.”
Zhang Nu frowned. There had to be a reason behind this arrangement. Could it be that the more respected a villager was, the farther away their home was from the village center? It struck him that the elder and the chief’s homes seemed to be positioned at opposite ends, almost as if they were deliberately placed to balance the village. Together, their locations created a sense of protection, as if their presence was meant to shield the village from all sides.
“What about the other elderly people in the village?” Zhang Nu asked. “Do they live near the village elder we’re going to see?”
Liu Hai paused to think before responding. “Now that you mention it, no. The other elderly also live on the edges of the village.”
This revelation made the situation even stranger. Why would all the elderly choose to live on the outskirts of the village instead of in the center, where they could be more easily reached in times of trouble? Living on the edges made them more vulnerable and harder to help if anything went wrong.
“Why do you think that is?” Liu Hai asked, now clearly unsettled.
“I don’t know,” Zhang Nu replied, his voice serious. “But it’s definitely unusual. There’s something about this village we haven’t uncovered yet.”
For now, however, they decided to focus on the task at hand—speaking with the elder about the mysterious young man.
“Looks like this village holds more mysteries than we realized,” Zhang Nu remarked. “But let’s prioritize asking the elder about that young man first.”
Liu Hai agreed, and the two soon arrived at the elder’s house. The home appeared eerily quiet, as if no one lived there. It struck Zhang Nu as odd that someone as old as the village elder would live so far out, completely alone.
“Granny, are you home?” Liu Hai called out, knocking on the door.
There was no response. Liu Hai frowned, unsure of where the elder might have gone. “Granny doesn’t seem to be home,” he said, puzzled. “But she said she was going straight back home earlier. Where could she have gone?”
Zhang Nu didn’t have an answer either. As he and Liu Hai debated whether to leave, a voice suddenly spoke from behind them.
“Who’s there?”
Both Zhang Nu and Liu Hai froze, their bodies instantly tense. They hadn’t expected the elder to suddenly appear from behind them, especially since they’d been certain no one was home. The two turned to see the old woman stepping out of the house. Her calm demeanor sharply contrasted with the unnerving way she had seemingly materialized behind them.
Neither Zhang Nu nor Liu Hai could shake the feeling of unease. It was as though the elder’s very presence carried a strange, unexplainable weight. Unaware of their apprehension, the elder continued to approach them, her movements slow and deliberate.