Chapter 3: A New Dawn

When I woke up, I found myself lying beside a tree on the mountain. The long-awaited sunlight felt blinding, and I wondered if it was due to having been in darkness for so long. My eyes were sore and gritty, and tears kept flowing.

Who are they? What is the purpose of doing this? I am completely confused.

"Uncle Wu, where is my dad now?" I asked directly

It is now the year 2015, and you have been over there for a full five years," Old Wu casually remarked. I was drinking water at the time and spat it out. Although I felt I had spent a long time with that old man, it couldn't possibly be five years.

Old Wu's words struck me like a bolt from the blue, and I could hardly describe the shock I felt at that moment. The "sinking sand tomb" that Old Wu mentioned was the very grave excavated by the archaeological team. I looked at the unfamiliar reflection in the mirror and even felt like laughing out loud to the heavens. Who am I? Am I the one who brought disaster to my father and the entire village?

I arrived at the neighboring village based on my memory and found Old Wu's home. Old Wu had not changed much; he still wore a fierce expression. Upon seeing me, he showed no surprise, merely saying lightly, "You have finally returned." It seemed he knew something.

At that moment, my nose felt a bit sour. I looked around the ward, and the walls were covered with calligraphy paper, the characters on them resembling chaotic scribbles, completely incomprehensible, like celestial writing. A wave of doubt surged in my heart. The nurse behind my father explained with a smile, "Don't worry too much. This patient's condition is now much more controlled; at least he no longer exhibits the violent tendencies he had when he first arrived. When he is in a good mood, he writes these things on paper, and after finishing, he insists that we put them up. We don't know what it is, but the doctor said to go along with him, as it helps with his recovery."

Old Wu let out a deep sigh and said, "You should go see your father first. In the evening, I will take you to a place, and we can discuss things further. I believe your father is not insane; rather, someone has deliberately placed him here for treatment, waiting for your meeting." Old Wu said meaningfully.

Old Wu did not answer me immediately; instead, he gestured for me to enter the house. He brought me some fruits and pastries. Every day at the old man's place, I only had some dry fruits, which had long lost their appeal. Upon seeing the pastries, I couldn't help but salivate, and without thinking of anything else, I quickly started eating them voraciously. Old Wu glanced at me expressionlessly and asked, "Do you know what year it is now?" I shook my head, puzzled by why he asked such a question.

Old Wu widened his eyes and leaned closer to me, saying: "Then I must ask you, who are you? Over twenty years ago, your father brought you back from beside the Sunken Sand Tomb. You must have some connection to that tomb. This Sunken Sand Tomb is quite sinister; it is said that during the Liao and Jin dynasties, a battle took place there, one that ended without a victor, as all the soldiers vanished. No one knows what exactly lies within the Sunken Sand Tomb, nor whose tomb it is. It is only said that there is a tremendous secret inside. You should have seen the statue your father kept in his inner chamber; it was wrapped in the cloth that covered you. I suspect that the Sunken Sand Tomb holds something they desire, and you are likely the key to that something."

Old Wu sighed, "He has been captured and is now being kept in the mental hospital in the town."

My father loosened his grip, his eyes still blankly staring in that direction. I glanced at him, turned around, and left, my mind constantly pondering the meaning of that symbol. By the time I returned to Old Wu's house, it was already evening. After we had dinner, Old Wu led me to his bedroom. He pushed aside the bookshelf in the bedroom, and to my astonishment, I discovered that there were steps leading down behind the bookshelf. Old Wu walked straight down, and I hesitated for a moment, asking, "Uncle Wu, where are we going?"

I nodded, took the address, and hurried to the town. After more than two hours of travel, it was already afternoon. Old Wu gave me a pair of sunglasses, and I was startled by my own reflection. When I arrived at the hospital, I smoothly met my father, and everything went so well that it felt suspicious

Old Wu put down the mirror, paused for a moment, and said: "On the night you left, your father killed two Shebi corpses by himself and was arrested as a murderer. Your younger brother also went missing that night. Ever since the dragon head of Panlong was destroyed, the feng shui of the village has changed drastically, and strange occurrences have happened one after another. People have been inexplicably disappearing or dying, so gradually everyone moved away, and the village disappeared."

I was suddenly taken aback. Uncle Wu said that my father might have been controlled by someone. Could it be that this symbol contains some message he wants to convey to me? I silently noted down the way the symbol was drawn and calmly said, "Dad, I will come to see you next time." I forced a faint smile.

I let out a sound of acknowledgment. My father, during his leisure time, indeed enjoys the art of writing and calligraphy, but I completely cannot understand what is on the wall; some resemble Latin letters, while others seem to be drawings. No matter how I spoke, my father's gaze remained fixed on one spot. I sighed, realizing that the visiting time was almost over, and I softly said, "Dad, I will see you again in the future"

The jargon on the road, I will explain it to you in detail later. Your father was arrested as a murder suspect, but later it was determined that he had mental health issues, and he was sentenced to several years and is now residing in a psychiatric hospital. Your younger brother should have been taken away by them. This has been a setup from the very beginning, first leading you to mistakenly sew the heads of two evil spirits together, causing you to become entangled with the evil spirits of - pictures - books. In order to protect you, your father inevitably resorted to such desperate measures

Old Wu let out a dry laugh, took a dusty mirror, and held it in front of me. I glanced at it dismissively, but was instantly taken aback; the eyes of the person in the mirror had turned a vivid green, and that person was me. I was so shocked that I couldn't utter a single word, "This..."

I frowned and impatiently said, "Uncle Wu, it's already this late, what kind of joke are you making? I am Zhou Xi."

Just as I was about to turn and leave, my father suddenly grasped my hand tightly, his gaze still fixed in that direction. In a daze, I looked in the direction my father was staring at, where a banner was hanging, simply adorned with a few symbols.

After adapting for half a day, I slowly opened my eyes and immediately recognized that this was the dense forest behind our village. The village was not far away. I did not know how long I had stayed with that old man who sold human skin. I was constantly thinking about my father and ran home in a frenzy. My mind was filled with too many mysteries that I wanted to ask my father. When I reached the entrance of the village, I was stunned. The place that should have been the village had turned into a flat expanse of land, as if the village had never existed here. Not a single house remained, as if it had evaporated in an instant. I walked around to confirm that I had not taken a wrong turn. My head buzzed, and I ran home in a frenzy again, filled with too many mysteries I wanted to ask my father. When I reached the entrance of the village, I was stunned once more. The place that should have been the village had turned into a flat expanse of land, as if the village had never existed here. Not a single house remained, as if it had evaporated in an instant. I walked around to confirm that I had not taken a wrong turn. My head buzzed again. What on earth happened during the time I was gone? Why did the village disappear into thin air?

Old Wu glanced at me and inexplicably said, "Then I have to ask you, who exactly are you?"

I was momentarily taken aback and didn't pay much attention, quickly asking, "Uncle Wu, why is our village gone? Where is my father? Where is my younger brother?"

"What is Shebi Corpse? Why did it come after my father?" I asked in confusion

My father sat in a wheelchair, his face appearing much more weathered, with a significant amount of white hair. His pair of vacant eyes stared at the wall, bloodshot and cloudy. I felt a pang of sorrow and threw myself into my father's embrace, but he showed no reaction, continuing to gaze blankly ahead. I called out to him several times, yet he remained unresponsive.

I was taken aback and quickly asked, "What? Uncle Wu, what has happened in these past few years? Please tell me.

After the shock, I came to my senses, "Uncle Wu, how can I save my dad?"

I walked around the vacant lot, and aside from the faint outlines of the foundation indicating that a house once stood here, there was no clue to be found. I made my way to the nearby village, where Old Wu, who had a good relationship with my father, lived. Speaking of Old Wu, he had no children, bore many scars on his face, and had a rather fierce appearance. In his old age, he moved into our village but seldom interacted with the villagers. However, it seemed he had known my father for a long time. I have always felt that Old Wu was not an ordinary person. Ever since the archaeological team began excavating graves on the mountain, Old Wu moved to the neighboring village. He originally had few friends, and no one paid much attention.