"In this village, don't be curious about anything, and don't ask the villagers any questions. Just do as they arrange for you, even if it means marrying you off immediately. I will find an opportunity to help you escape in the future, so you must appease these people for now. Absolutely do not do anything out of the ordinary!"
Fang Ming said a lot in one breath, and Zhao Xue listened, a little confused but generally understood what Fang Ming meant.
She wasn't stupid. Although she didn't know the identity of the man in front of her, given her current predicament, she could only trust his words for now.
Seeing that Zhao Xue still had some confusion in her eyes, Fang Ming asked, "Can you do it?"
"Why are you telling me this? I don't think I know you, do I?" Zhao Xue retorted instead of answering Fang Ming.
Before obeying Fang Ming's words, she at least wanted to know who he was.
"I am..."
"Creak." The sound of the door opening!
Fang Ming quickly shut his mouth and crouched down, hiding in the corner.
A villager walked out of a nearby room, looking somewhat dazed, swaying as he exited.
Fang Ming stared intently at the villager from the shadows, afraid of being discovered.
But what happened next made his heart race.
The villager stopped in the middle of the yard, and then tentacles pierced out from his back. His limbs tore through his clothes, transforming into four sharp insect limbs, and his head became a gaping maw, its sharp teeth constantly writhing.
"Grug, grug..." The monster let out a few pained hisses, and its gaze suddenly turned towards Fang Ming's hiding spot.
Fang Ming's heart sank. He immediately wanted to turn and flee, but strangely, the monster only looked at Fang Ming for a moment before leaping onto the courtyard wall and disappearing with a few bounds.
"Why didn't it attack me?"
Fang Ming was puzzled and immediately took out his diary to check. However, the diary didn't mention this incident.
Putting away his diary, Fang Ming dared not communicate with Zhao Xue for the time being. He decided to hide here and observe the surroundings. If there was more than one villager in the house, it would be disastrous.
"Where are these monsters going? If the monsters are transformed villagers, I remember that two-headed monster ate a lot of small monsters. Wouldn't that mean it ate many villagers?"
Fang Ming's mind was racing with these thoughts. He needed to figure out why these villagers were turning into monsters. Theoretically, how could humans become such things? There had to be a reason!
"If I can find out the reason, perhaps I can use this opportunity to eliminate the monsters in this village."
"Hello, hello, are you still there? What was that sound just now?" Zhao Xue's voice came from inside the house. She was tied up and lying on the ground, so she hadn't seen what happened.
Fang Ming ignored her, took out paper and a pen from his bag, and began to write, jotting down some basic information about Bai Mu Village.
Seeing that Fang Ming remained silent, Zhao Xue thought he had already left. She stared at the window for a long time before sighing heavily.
"Thump."
A crumpled piece of paper was tossed in through the window crack. Zhao Xue's eyes lit up. She struggled to get up and grabbed the paper ball with her bound hands.
Fang Ming crouched back outside the window and said, "Everything I need to tell you is written on the paper. Tomorrow, someone will untie you and take you to see the village chief. You can find a chance to read it when you get back."
"Okay, I understand."
"Then I'll be going now."
After speaking, Fang Ming returned to his hiding spot, quietly waiting for dawn. As for Zhao Xue, she truly believed Fang Ming had left. Excessive fatigue quickly lulled her to sleep, though she had secretly hidden the paper ball.
The night passed without incident. Fang Ming checked his diary a few more times, but nothing else happened. The physical changes in his body had also stopped at the intermittent appearance of scales.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
A rooster crowed, and the entire village fell silent again. However, unlike the dead silence of the night, this morning's silence was just the stillness before people woke up.
Fang Ming patted his face to stay alert, glanced at his diary, and confirmed he hadn't encountered any accidents on his way back.
He climbed back out the way he came, running to avoid a few villagers carrying buckets to fetch water, and returned to Uncle An's house, cautiously entering the room where he was staying.
"Sleep."
The fatigue in his body made Fang Ming too lazy to even undress. He lay down on the bed and slept soundly. Nothing much was expected to happen during the day, so he needed to rest and recover his energy.
He slept until noon. When Fang Ming woke up, the sun was already high in the sky. He was woken by hunger...
Get up.
Fang Ming looked for Uncle An but couldn't find the old man. He checked his diary and saw that Uncle An had left food for him. He went to the kitchen, found the meal, and began to eat. At the same time, he opened his diary and discovered new content had been updated.
"Today, Bai Mu Village is preparing items for the ancestral ceremony. Driven by curiosity, I tried to get a closer look under the guise of helping, but was rebuffed by the unwelcoming villagers. I secretly roamed the village and found the square where the ancestral ceremony will be held."
"Cough, cough, cough..." Fang Ming choked with anger at the incomplete entry, quickly taking a sip of thin porridge to suppress it.
Fang Ming grumbled, "Can't you just clearly state where the square is?"
He'd have to find it himself again.
Helpless.
Fang Ming finished his meal in a few bites, cleaned up, and slipped out the back door again.
Since he didn't know where the square was, Fang Ming couldn't ask the unwelcoming villagers. He could only pick a random direction and see where it led.
Given that the diary predicted the future within an hour, he could find the square by just walking around.
As expected, after wandering for less than ten minutes, Fang Ming spotted the location of the square – to the southeast of the village.
A large number of villagers were busy there, setting up many things. Most prominent was a sacrificial altar about ten meters high, and livestock were being driven to it to be slaughtered.
Fang Ming found a large tree on the opposite side of the square and climbed up its branches. From the height, he observed the situation in the square.
Besides the obvious altar, there was a platform in the center of the square, presumably for a performance or some other purpose. Around the platform were neatly arranged tables and chairs. In the northeast corner, a row of pots had been set up, which was likely what the young man had mentioned earlier about a communal feast.
"Why does this small, rundown village have such a large fountain?"
Fang Ming noticed a huge fountain in the southwest part of the square. Judging by its scale and distance, his estimate wasn't precise, but at first glance, it had a diameter of about ten meters, perhaps even larger!
This was completely beyond Fang Ming's understanding. The village seemed to be from the 1970s or 1980s. During this era, even feeding themselves was a problem, so how could they afford to build such a large fountain?
Moreover, to put it bluntly, this fountain seemed completely out of place in this village.
Strange things happen when things are out of the ordinary...
Not only that, but Fang Ming also discovered another well in the village!
In the northeast direction of the square, a somewhat dilapidated well was easily visible to Fang Ming from his high vantage point.
Fang Ming frowned. "Is that the old well?"
Near the well, there were three graves, each over two meters high, surrounding it in a triangular formation. This confirmed to Fang Ming that this was indeed the old well, the place where he had entered Bai Mu Village from reality!
He knew that there must be something strange lurking in the old well, perhaps similar to these transformed villagers. A monster that lived in water and could maintain its monstrous form even in daylight.
"Could the source of the villagers' transformation into monsters be it?"
Fang Ming guessed, as the old well was undoubtedly the most peculiar feature of this village at the moment.
He had no recourse at the moment, nor could he make explosives, otherwise, he would have the idea to blast the old well.
His intuition told him that eliminating the being in the old well would undoubtedly cause some irreversible changes in Bai Mu Village!
Fang Ming observed for a long time, but couldn't discern anything significant from the surface. The diary also offered no useful hints, as it only predicted his future and was not an omniscient, all-knowing perspective.
"Perhaps I should explore other parts of the village?"
He decided to act immediately. He didn't even know the routes of Bai Mu Village or who lived in each house. If he had to escape in the future, wouldn't he be like a headless chicken?
Opening his diary, Fang Ming planned to see if exploring would lead to any unexpected encounters.
"I walked west along the village's main road and encountered Granny Bai. She seemed to recognize me, and I quickly evaded her. I continued walking forward and saw the thatched hut where the principal resided, but strangely, the house was now empty."
"Postscript: The Bai Mu Village at night is the Bai Mu Village I most want to understand. Suggestion: Observe the situation in Bai Mu Village at night, but it is very dangerous, so please consider carefully."
The diary's content made Fang Ming thoughtful. He would encounter Granny Bai on this route. That person seemed kind? She was one of the only two women he had seen in Bai Mu Village so far, the other being Zhao Xue, who had saved him the first time he came.
However, the physical changes he was experiencing now made Fang Ming suspicious of everyone in this village. Even Uncle An, who constantly gave him hints, was like this. How could others be kind to him for no reason?
It was best to avoid Granny Bai if possible.
As for the principal's disappearance, it left Fang Ming bewildered. Wasn't this deviating from the historical trajectory? Without him saving "his" life, how would "he" have escaped after being released by Granny Bai?
Fang Ming slapped his thigh, feeling a sense of helplessness. "Could it be that because I changed Zhao Xue's life trajectory, the principal has disappeared?"
The principal was an important clue for him to find his parents. If he disappeared, where would he find clues about his parents?
For a moment, he didn't know whether helping Zhao Xue was good or bad.
And this newly appeared postscript...
Fang Ming stared at the diary, lost in thought.
"I'll go back and sleep."
Fang Ming sighed. Since exploring would lead to encountering Granny Bai, and the principal he most wanted to see was missing, he decided to abandon the idea of exploring today.
As soon as his thought was confirmed, the content in the diary changed to "Slept."