According to the innkeeper, the so-called Ghost Village was originally a place called Niujia Village. Thirty years ago, in the third month of the twentieth year of the Taichang era, all 220 villagers suddenly died in one night, with blood flowing from their seven orifices. The authorities couldn’t determine the cause and hastily buried the 220 people. On the seventh day after their deaths, several women who had married out of the village came to pay respects and rushed in panic to report to the County Magistrate. They claimed that while keeping vigil, they encountered a female ghost who told them she had been a pregnant woman passing through Niujia Village when the village ancestors coveted her beauty, raped her in turns, then killed her and threw her corpse into the river. A hundred years later, her resentment still lingered, so she transformed into a vengeful spirit and came to seek revenge on Niujia Village. She had killed all 220 people. The female ghost also said that Niujia Village harbored filth and evil, and from then on, no one was allowed to set foot in Niujia Village or offer sacrifices there; otherwise, she would curse them to die suddenly.

The County Magistrate didn’t believe this and brought constables to investigate. Unexpectedly, they also encountered the female ghost. After the shock, the County Magistrate returned and died suddenly. After this incident, rumors of the entire Niujia Village being slaughtered by ghosts spread rapidly. No one dared to set foot in the village again, and Niujia Village became known far and wide as the Ghost Village.

Cui Xun rode his horse, frowning as he thought about the innkeeper’s words. Li Ying sat in front of him and turned to ask: “Do you want to go to the Ghost Village?”

Cui Xun nodded: “Taking that shortcut would make the journey to Gongzhou City seven or eight days faster.”

“Aren’t you afraid of the female ghost’s curse?”

Cui Xun smiled lightly: “In this world, humans are more frightening than ghosts.”

Li Ying thought of Wang Ranxi who tried to harm her out of jealousy, her cousin Shen Rong who wanted to kill her out of ambition, and… her father. She smiled bitterly: “You’re right, humans are more frightening than ghosts.”

Cui Xun didn’t try to comfort her but instead raised his whip and spurred the horse. Li Ying felt the cool summer breeze against her face as ancient paths, green mountains, and azure waters came into view. The sound of hoofbeats gradually dispersed her melancholy. It was true that in the vast universe, humans are but a speck; the past is gone with the wind, so treasure those before you now.

Seeing that she was no longer gloomy, Cui Xun pulled the reins and said: “Let’s go to the Ghost Village.”

Following the innkeeper’s directions, Li Ying and Cui Xun galloped along an abandoned official road until they reached a stone tablet inscribed with “Niujia Village.”

Cui Xun dismounted first, then lifted Li Ying down from the horse. They gazed ahead past the stone tablet and saw dilapidated houses standing unevenly on parched earth. Even the trees were bare, their branches and leaves withered and yellow, completely lacking the lush greenery expected in early summer. Occasional howls of wild beasts from the village added to the horror and eeriness of the place.

Cui Xun and Li Ying exchanged a glance, then Cui Xun led the horse, preparing to enter the village. But the Kangju horse suddenly became agitated and refused to take another step forward despite Cui Xun’s urging. Li Ying said, “They say horses are sensitive creatures that can sense environmental dangers. It seems this Ghost Village truly has something strange about it.”

Seeing the Kangju horse’s behavior, Cui Xun’s face showed hesitation. Li Ying discerned his thoughts and said, “Seventeenth Young Master, you don’t need to abandon entering the village out of concern for my safety. I’m already a ghost, what ghost would I fear?”

Hearing this, Cui Xun smiled. He tied the Kangju horse to a large tree and said: “Then let’s go in and see whether it’s human mischief or ghost mischief.”

The Ghost Village had rarely seen human presence for thirty years, and the air was permeated with the smell of mold and decay. Upon entering the village, they immediately saw 220 wooden grave markers and mounds of earth. The grave markers were densely packed, crooked, and twisted, with people’s names written on them. Cui Xun stepped on withered vines on the ground and walked to one of the grave markers. He gently brushed his finger across it, causing thick dust to fall, indicating that indeed no one had ever paid respects here. Cui Xun stood up and looked at the grave markers, his intuition telling him something was strange about them, but he couldn’t immediately identify what.

For some reason, as soon as Li Ying approached these grave markers, she felt dizzy and her spiritual power rapidly weakened. She tugged at Cui Xun’s sleeve, her face pale, and said: “There’s something wrong with these graves. Let’s move away from them.”

After speaking, she felt even more dizzy, barely able to stand. Seeing this, Cui Xun quickly picked her up and carried her several dozen feet away. Only when her complexion improved slightly did he set her down and ask with concern: “Are you alright?”

Strangely, just a few dozen feet away from the graves, Li Ying felt much better, and her dizziness disappeared. She frowned, looking at the mounds of earth, and shook her head: “I’m fine.”

She then said, “Let’s look at other places.”

The two searched other parts of the village but found nothing unusual except for broken walls and ruins. After a while, the sky gradually darkened. Cui Xun lit a flint and stared at the desolate houses around them. After pondering for a moment, he said: “These houses are strange.”

“What’s wrong with them?”

“Ordinary houses face south with their backs to the north, but these houses all face east or west. Moreover, the right side, the White Tiger position, is higher than the left side, the Azure Dragon position. It resembles what geomancers call the ‘White Tiger Curse.'”

Li Ying was startled. The White Tiger Curse was known in geomancy as the most ominous curse. Those affected by it were prone to bloody disasters. Looking at these houses, with rust-covered farm tools placed outside, Li Ying said: “The people of Niujia Village should have been ordinary folk. How would they know about the White Tiger Curse? Even if they did, they wouldn’t arrange their houses in this layout.”

Unless… someone had guided them to create the White Tiger Curse without their knowledge.

Cui Xun had already pushed open a half-closed wooden door: “Perhaps we’ll find something inside.”

Stepping inside, a cold, chilling air hit their faces. From the furnishings, it was a very simple rural home. The house had almost no furniture, only a simple wooden table. This must have been the family’s entrance hall. Beyond the entrance hall, they could see a dilapidated kang bed. To the left was a tiny kitchen stacked with moldy, damp wild grass, evidently used for making fires. But didn’t ordinary households use firewood and charcoal for fires?

Cui Xun’s voice came from behind: “Firewood is harvested by woodcutters to sell. These farmers couldn’t afford firewood, let alone charcoal. They could only use wild grass for fires.”

Li Ying suddenly realized that her concept of an “ordinary household” was based on officials of the fourth rank like Cui Xun or wealthy merchants like Yu Fuwei, not the most impoverished farmers of the Great Zhou.

She felt deeply ashamed and murmured: “There’s the story of Emperor Hui of Jin saying, ‘Why don’t they eat meat porridge?’ Today, I’m no different from Emperor Hui of Jin.”

Cui Xun consoled her: “You’re a princess who has lived in the palace all your life. Understandably, you don’t comprehend the hardships of common people.”

But his comfort did little to ease Li Ying’s feelings. She looked rather unhappily at the dark, cramped kitchen: “This entire farmhouse isn’t as large as one of my bedrooms in Fengyang Pavilion. So this was the life of Great Zhou farmers thirty years ago.”

When Li Ying had previously studied Qu Yuan of Chu’s phrase “lament the many hardships of the people’s livelihood,” although she felt sympathy, the lives of common people were too distant from her reality. She had grown up in silk and jade, treasured like a pearl, never having experienced poverty or hunger. So it was impossible for her to deeply appreciate those words. Even after leaving the Lotus Pond and experiencing many things, she had never left Chang’an. How could she know that beyond Chang’an was another world entirely?

Today, she finally understood what “the many hardships of the people’s livelihood” truly meant.

Sometimes, the impact of what one sees with one’s own eyes is far greater than what one reads in books.

While she was lost in thought, suddenly there was a sound. Cui Xun heard it too, and they walked slowly to the kitchen window. Looking out through the cobweb-covered wooden window, both were stunned by what they saw.

Outside, a ghastly white moon hung in the sky. Under the moonlight, the previously empty Ghost Village gradually filled with people in hemp clothing—white-haired elders, innocent youths, strong men carrying hoes, and gentle women holding children. The people gathered in small groups, talking and laughing. Against the pale moonlight, the scene was even more eerie.

Li Ying’s hair stood on end: “Where did these people come from?”

Cui Xun stared at the hundreds of gathered people. He recalled the mounds of earth at the village entrance and calmly said: “Not these people-these ghosts.”

Li Ying was surprised. She examined the crowd carefully and indeed, these villagers lacked any trace of living energy. Just as Cui Xun had said, they weren’t people but ghosts.

She was about to ask Cui Xun if these were the rumored villagers of Niujia Village who had been killed by ghosts when she felt something tug at the hem of her skirt. She looked down and almost lost her soul from fright.

She screamed and threw herself into Cui Xun’s arms. He stumbled back from the impact, hesitated for a moment, but still put his arms around her comfortingly. He stared steadily at the cause of Li Ying’s fright—a child of about five or six years old who was looking up at them with curiosity.

The child spoke, his voice innocent: “Who are you? Why are you in my house?”

Li Ying was so frightened that she clung to Cui Xun, tightly gripping his hand. But Cui Xun’s voice was perfectly calm as he addressed the child: “We’re travelers looking for some water to drink.”

“Oh, travelers. I thought you might be immortals.”

Cui Xun smiled slightly. He even dared to pat the child’s head: “What’s your name? How old are you this year?”

The child blinked, counting on his fingers: “My name is Li’er. I’m six years old this year.”

“Li’er…” Cui Xun nodded and pointed outside: “Who are they?”

“Those are my father and mother, and the other villagers.”

Indeed, the hundred ghosts outside were the villagers of Niujia Village who had died mysteriously.

Cui Xun asked again: “What are they doing?”

“It’s dawn, and they’re going to work.”

Dawn…

Li Ying looked out the window with doubt. The ghastly white moon was particularly conspicuous. She couldn’t help saying: “Isn’t it night?”

The child looked at her strangely: “There’s the sun outside. How could it be night?”

Li Ying grew more doubtful, but Cui Xun tugged at her sleeve. She immediately understood and fell silent. Cui Xun spoke gently: “Oh~ It’s dawn. What will Li’er do?”

“My father and mother are working. I need to prepare food for when they return.”

After speaking, Li’er sat by the earthen stove and stuffed wild grass into the furnace. Even though the wild grass was damp and moldy and could never burn, Li’er rested his chin on his hand and muttered to himself: “The fire’s too big. It needs to be smaller.”

He even used fire tongs to adjust it, as if the motionless pile of wild grass was already blazing. This eerie scene sent a chill down Li Ying’s spine, but Cui Xun said, “Li’er, I have some flatbread here. Don’t cook now. Take me to see your father and mother.”