Under the threat of Xie Nanzhou, Jiang Younian settled down and drifted off into a hazy sleep.
The next morning, after breakfast, Jiang Younian and Xie Nanzhou headed out. To avoid the pressure of a crowd, they decided that only the two of them would go.
Axu's home was situated at the highest point of the entire village, with rolling mountains directly behind the house. Because the population had dwindled, the vegetation of the back mountains had begun to show an aggressive ambition; the small village looked as if it were on the verge of being swallowed by the dense forests at any moment.
"Xie Nanzhou, don't you feel like the mountains and trees surrounding this village are growing in a strange way?"
For some reason, Jiang Younian felt as though the mountains and lush greenery encircling the village were positioned in a defensive, embracing formation, wrapping the entire village within them. It did not bring a sense of security, but rather a suffocating feeling of being imprisoned.
Appreciating Jiang Younian's sensitivity, Xie Nanzhou raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, this village is indeed peculiar. Let’s resolve this quickly and leave."
Jiang Younian and Xie Nanzhou asked for directions all the way to Axu’s house. When they arrived, Axu was sitting on the stone stool in front of the door, completely absorbed in a book. Seeing the two of them show up, Jiang Younian felt he didn't seem surprised at all. Instead, he looked as if he had been waiting for them for a long time. However, he appeared quite nervous regarding the book in his hands.
"What are you reading?" Xie Nanzhou strolled forward.
Axu hurriedly closed the book. "Nothing, just looking at it."
"Oh? Is that so?"
They had been dragged out for too long in this village, and the progress was too slow; Xie Nanzhou had lost his patience. He leaned over, snatched the book from behind Axu, and passed it to Jiang Younian.
"You! What are you doing! Give it back to me, don't you dare damage it!"
Axu reached out to grab the book, but Xie Nanzhou blocked him with one hand, pressing forward step by step until he forced Axu back into his house. Although Axu was tall, he was still quite young; intimidated by Xie Nanzhou's cold, sharp gaze, he dared not resist violently.
When Jiang Younian saw the cover of the book, his eyes lit up—it was from the same set of books as the one enshrined in the village head's house. However, this copy had been well preserved; aside from being somewhat yellowed, it was in good condition. Just as Jiang Younian expected, it was indeed a university English textbook, though it was an edition from many years ago. It was densely packed with notes, showing how diligent the owner had been.
The owner? The name!
Jiang Younian suddenly realized he had missed a crucial piece of information. He quickly flipped back to the inner page, only to find that the page where a name would habitually be written had been torn out. Only half a page remained, barely tucked into the gutter of the book, and even that half-page had been pieced together with tape.
Jiang Younian regretfully handed the book to Xie Nanzhou. Xie Nanzhou flipped through a few pages casually and looked at Axu, who was watching them eagerly.
"Whose book is this?"
"It’s my own."
Controlled by Xie Nanzhou and unable to move, Axu tilted his head to the side in frustration.
"Yours? The village head said you only finished primary school under him. Where would you get university textbooks?" Jiang Younian had looked closely; it was a sophomore-level English textbook. And in this village, there wasn't a single college student.
They had been in the village for two days and had gathered some information. There were only a few people left in the village now. Besides Axu, there were no young people. It was either elderly folk like the village head, or madwomen like Foolish Sister. They had seen several households with such women. The only middle-aged men were Axu’s two uncles. The villagers said those who could leave had already left, and they were the ones who couldn't. Everyone said Axu’s mother couldn't stand the hardship here and ran away after giving birth to him. Axu had been raised by the collective support of the villagers.
"I! You think I don't want to go to school? I do! Who would want to be locked in this village for a lifetime?" As Axu spoke, his eyes turned red with grievances.
Jiang Younian and the others didn't understand why a sturdy young man like Axu wouldn't study or work properly, choosing instead to stay trapped in this village after only finishing primary school. Was there a hidden story behind this?
"You said 'locked' just now? Who locked you here?" Xie Nanzhou caught the angry word "locked" in Axu’s speech.
"Everyone left in the village now is someone who cannot leave. Those who could leave have already gone!"
Seemingly losing his temper, Axu took a "what the hell" attitude and stopped struggling. It was that phrase again: *Those who could leave have already gone.* Jiang Younian felt as if he suddenly understood the meaning of those words. At the time, he had just assumed the elders were talking about their inability to leave the land where they had put down roots. It seemed there was another reason entirely.
"Explain yourself clearly. What do you mean by 'cannot leave'? And where did those who left go?"
Axu sat dejectedly on the stone stool, his shoulders slumping. "The village is surrounded by an invisible barrier. It’s as if a circle has been drawn, and we can only live inside it."
No wonder. No wonder Jiang Younian thought the vegetation around the village looked so strange. It turned out there was an invisible barrier in between. But hadn't the village head said he was helping them contact rescue?
"You’ve entered, so you can't leave either." Axu looked at Jiang Younian and Xie Nanzhou, who were roughly his own age; he felt a tinge of sorrow, yet also a hint of joy.
Upon hearing this, Xie Nanzhou remained calm and composed. He didn't even bother standing; he pulled the suddenly tense Jiang Younian to sit in the seats of honor inside the house. "Then tell us, where did the people who left go?"
Axu, acting like a prisoner on trial, sat in the corner, looking aggrieved. Since these people couldn't leave either, he figured there was no harm in talking a bit more.
"Our village is very eerie. Any vehicle passing around the village will stop for no reason." Seeing Xie Nanzhou looking intrigued, Axu continued—after all, it had been a long time since anyone had listened to him talk so much. "Later, I don't know how, but even the village itself couldn't be left. If you want to leave, there is only one way."
At this point, Axu gave the two of them a meaningful look, then suddenly changed the subject. "I only know that ever since I can remember, I’ve only been able to stay in the village. I have no playmates and am always alone."
"I loved playing with Auntie Fatty’s Dahuang dog, but it didn't live as long as I did; it died when I was ten." Axu became more engrossed as he spoke, his words beginning to tumble out without stopping. He talked about everything from the village cats and dogs to the flowers in the east end and the outhouse in the west.
The topic was drifting further and further away. Jiang Younian hurriedly interrupted Axu’s rambling. "Stop. What was that only way to leave the village you mentioned just now?"
It was rare for someone to listen to him for so long, and Axu’s mood had clearly improved. "You’ll know in a while. Anyway, you can't get out."
Xie Nanzhou scoffed, thinking Axu’s smug certainty was just a delusion. A tiny Resentment Realm actually dared to think it could trap him? Even if it meant mutual destruction, that possibility simply didn't exist.
Axu’s confident demeanor gave Jiang Younian a bad feeling; he felt as though something important had been overlooked.
"You just said you always played alone? What about Foolish Sister? Doesn't she play with you?" Jiang Younian recalled the excitement on Foolish Sister's face when she saw Axu—it was not something a fool could pretend to have.
"Her? She’s an adult. How could she play with a kid like me?" Axu’s matter-of-fact tone didn't sound fake.
"But she seemed very happy to see you." Jiang Younian didn't believe it; he didn't believe the joy Foolish Sister showed when seeing Axu was fake.
"Perhaps, she wasn't looking at me?"
"Also, she isn't really a fool."
As soon as these words were spoken, the room fell into an eerie silence. The smile at the corners of Axu’s mouth began to expand infinitely, looking like the triumph of a plot successfully executed.
Oh no!