Chapter 1 A Gray and White House

I took a step forward, changing my finger from a knocking gesture to pointing straight ahead with two fingers. The gate opened in response, revealing an empty courtyard.

Beside the house's gate, a shadowy figure was vaguely reflected, appearing at first glance as if someone was watching the gate. Upon closer inspection, it seemed like a malevolent ghost stuck to the door, waiting for someone to come out.

Nie Xiaochun gestured to me, indicating that someone was also hidden on the left side of the gate.

Nie Xiaochun deliberately said, "Should we go into the courtyard and take a look?"

"No! Keep going!" I followed the wall all the way to the village entrance. "That person said the village chief's house is the third one counting from the village entrance, so we'll go back."

After Nie Xiaochun took a few steps back, she suddenly said, "Are we counting wrong? I don't remember seeing this house before."

When I looked in the direction Nie Xiaochun was pointing, I indeed saw a house with a grayish-white door.

In the Northeast, rural areas typically use red or blue for their gates.

Red, needless to say, signifies blessing and warding off evil.

Blue is a homophone for "lan" (拦, to block), meaning to keep bad things out.

However, they would never paint the gate grayish-white because only grave doors are that color.

I stood directly in front of that gate and knocked twice. "Is this the village chief's house?"

Nie Xiaochun tugged at my sleeve. "You're knocking on the wrong door."

"Sometimes, it's better to ask ghosts than people! Even if I knock on the village chief's door, he might not open it." I knocked several times, but there was no response from inside.

I took out a steel needle threaded with a red string from my backpack and used my fingertip to press down on the needle, flicking it into the doorway.

The spool of red thread spun quickly a few times and then stopped, indicating that the needle hadn't flown far before being blocked by something.

From the moment I knocked, I was certain it was a grave.

When encountering a house transformed from a grave, one must never enter.

Living people cannot enter a grave gate. If you really walk in, it means your soul has left your body.

If your soul enters the grave while your body is still standing outside, who knows what the people inside the grave will do to you? Any wandering ghosts could easily take your body away.

I shot out that steel needle to bring the person in the grave out.

Just as my finger pressed on the red string, I heard someone in the neighboring courtyard say, "Who's looking for me in the middle of the night? Don't they know not to knock on doors at night?"

I wrapped the red thread around my finger and pulled it back little by little, while saying, "I'm from the county, looking for the village chief for something. If it's not convenient, we'll come back tomorrow."

The person in the courtyard muttered, "Now that you're here, I can't send you away! Come in!"

"No, thanks!" I said, pulling the red thread. "It's too late, so I won't bother you. I just came to recognize the place. I'll come back tomorrow to talk."

As I spoke, I felt the red thread in my hand suddenly tighten, as if something was pulling it back.

The thing in the grave had been hooked.

It was also struggling!

The village chief became anxious. "Young man, I'm not afraid of the trouble. Why are you being so polite? I'm telling you to come in, so come in."

I smiled and said, "I actually just came to ask about something. If someone can tell me, that's fine. I won't bother you, old man."

The village chief was surprised. "Someone tell you? Who?"

"The house next to you!" I said deliberately. "The one with the gray gate."

"Don't talk to him! That's not..." The village chief opened his door and ran out, just in time to see me pull a hand out of the gate.

The village chief was stunned. "You, you..."

I turned to look at the village chief and said, "See? I found the person."

The village chief ran up a few steps in fright. "Quick, let him go! This won't do! Let go! If you do this, the villagers won't be able to live. I'm begging you."

I took out another steel needle and pinned the hand I pulled from the grave to the ground with one swift strike. "Let's talk first, and then I'll let him go."

"This..." The village chief looked at the hand, then at my face, and hesitated for a while before saying, "Let's go inside and talk!"

I took Nie Xiaochun into the village chief's house. The village chief told his family to go back to their rooms and led us to an empty wing room. After pouring us water, he said, "Sir, I know you're a capable person."

"But you might not be able to handle the affairs of our village."

"If you want to ask about something, I'll tell you everything I know."

"If you want to take care of the village's affairs..." The village chief hesitated for a moment before saying, "I think it's fine for our village to just get by like this."

I looked at the village chief and said, "Uncle, to be honest, we came to ask about the Lao Bu family."

The village chief was startled by my words. "Are you enemies with the Lao Bu family, or relatives? You can't talk carelessly about their affairs."

I replied, "I'm friends with Bu Youming. Back then, his family left some loose ends here, and I came to help clean them up."