Chapter Fifteen: The Desolate Village of Clear Spring

Li Yunfei had been a soldier for five years and hadn’t come home in a long time. The single-story brick house near the wharf that he remembered from before had now become a two-story building with a ground floor.

As he drew closer to the house, he hooked his hands together, and a box of eight-treasure porridge and a carton of peanut milk appeared in his grasp. Tucked into the handle of the porridge box was a pack of Dragon and Phoenix Harmony cigarettes—gifts he had prepared.

He arrived at the courtyard in front of the house just as an elderly man, his hair white and skin weathered, looking to be in his sixties, was sitting on the step beneath the eaves, eating from a large bowl.

Seeing Li Yunfei—a young man who was clearly from the city, carrying gifts and smiling as he approached—the old man’s eyes flickered with surprise.

"Great-Uncle Four, having breakfast?" Li Yunfei greeted him cheerfully. The old man hurried to his feet, peering at Li Yunfei in confusion. "And you are?"

With a smile, Li Yunfei replied, "Don’t you remember me? Li Yunfei, from Li Kuijun’s family."

Recognition dawned on the old man’s face, and his manner grew warmer. "Oh, Kuijun’s boy. Now I remember. I heard from Yingzhong you’d joined the army, didn’t you? Are you back home to visit your family?"

Zhang Ziying’s father was called Zhang Yingzhong. Most villagers in Qingyuan bore the surnames Zhang or Li, with a few named Wang. The old man was known as Li Four, while Zhang Ziying’s grandfather was called Zhang Three. Together, they were Zhang Three and Li Four, and the village once had a lunatic known as Wang Pockmark Two, who had suddenly gone mad. His madness was said to have a supernatural cause.

There was an old nursery rhyme in the village: "Pockmark, quick and fleet, goes down to the river to hunt the quail; the quail gets caught in the water, Pockmark gets caught by a ghost."

Li Yunfei explained, "I was discharged at the end of last year. For the past several months, I’ve been working on getting a driver’s license and job-hunting."

"Discharged, eh? That’s good. Have you eaten yet? Come, join me for a bite," the old man said, leading Li Yunfei into the house.

Li Yunfei entered, set his gifts in a corner, and said, "I’ve already eaten, I’m not hungry. I came by to see if I could borrow your boat—I want to visit the old house."

The old man’s spirits lifted at the sight of the gifts, especially the cigarettes. He agreed heartily, "No problem—the boat’s docked at the wharf, haven’t used it lately. Take it as you please."

"Thank you, Great-Uncle Four," Li Yunfei replied gratefully.

The old man had already noticed the little fox on Li Yunfei’s shoulder and asked curiously, "Fei, why are you carrying a fox? That animal stinks to high heaven."

Li Yunfei smiled. "This is a special breed—it doesn’t smell."

The old man nodded, agreeing, "It is unusual. We have foxes in these hills, but I’ve never seen one with such red fur."

He added, "By the way, there’ve been a lot of wild boars near the old house lately. Be careful. You’ve got a backpack—are you planning to stay there?"

Li Yunfei replied, "Yes, I’ll stay a few days. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. I’ll come back to see you later."

"As long as you know. Go on, then."

Li Yunfei took his leave and followed the path in front of the house for several dozen meters until he reached the wharf. Several fishing boats were moored there, tied to the posts. His great-uncle’s was easy to spot; while other boats used tarps for their canopies, his had a layer of plastic film on top.

He untied the rope, jumped aboard, lowered the oars, and rowed toward the dock on the opposite bank.

This river was a tributary of the Meijiang, about sixty meters wide. Before the hydroelectric station was built, its deepest part was just over two meters; the rest was shallow. But after the dam went up, the water was blocked, and now the river was as deep as the dam’s foundation—over ten meters. When heavy rains brought floods, the dam would open its gates to release water.

After crossing, Li Yunfei tied up the boat and made his way up the mountain path.

Along the river, fields lined both sides of the road, planted mostly with peanuts and sweet potatoes, and rice seedlings filled the paddies. Beyond the fields, the mountain paths were flanked by increasingly dense grass and shrubs. Every year, before Tomb-Sweeping Festival and the Spring Festival, many villagers returned home and cleared the roadside, so the path was never lost to weeds.

Before long, system prompts began to sound in his mind, one after another.

"Attention, host: Cricket Cave instance detected, level 6 to 10. Please select difficulty."

"Attention, host: Katydid Cave instance detected, level 6 to 10. Please select difficulty."

"Attention, host: Giant Praying Mantis Cave instance detected, level 6 to 10. Please select difficulty."

"Attention, host: Mountain Rat Cave instance detected, level 11 to 15. Please select difficulty."

"Attention, host: Snake Pit instance detected, level 16 to 20. Please select difficulty."

"Attention, host: Toad Hole instance detected, level 16 to 20. Please select difficulty."

Li Yunfei felt a twinge in his teeth. The instances he encountered were, for the most part, too high-level for him to clear. The insect-type instances at his level were either populated by ferocious, aggressive monsters with deadly force, or by winged creatures that could fly.

Couldn’t there be an instance with a non-flying, slightly weaker monster for once?

Ignoring those options, Li Yunfei pressed on with light steps toward Qingyuan Village.

After more than half an hour and crossing several ridges, the village came into distant view. All he could see were ruined wooden houses—deserted and desolate.

Some five or six hundred meters from the village, a graveyard lay just off the path. Elderly villagers who had passed were mostly buried here, including Li Yunfei’s own ancestors. His parents had been cremated and were interred in a city cemetery.

As he passed the graveyard, Li Yunfei’s breath hitched and a chill ran down his spine.

A system prompt echoed in his mind: "Attention, host: Cemetery instance detected, level 31 to 35. Please select difficulty."

What the hell, even the graveyard’s an instance? What kind of boss is that supposed to be? Ghosts? Skeletons? Zombies?

Whatever it was, Li Yunfei was nowhere near strong enough to challenge it now, nor would he dare even if he were. After all, those buried here were his own ancestors, or the Zhangs’, who were as close as family from generations of intermarriage. It would be sacrilege to farm an instance here.

He hurried past the graveyard and finally entered the village.

But as soon as he stepped within its bounds, a fresh wave of dread prickled at his scalp.

"Attention, host: Qingyuan Abandoned Village instance detected, level 51 to 55. Please select difficulty."

Li Yunfei stopped in his tracks, staring in disbelief at the deserted village before him.

So—the entire village was a massive instance?

What kind of boss lived here?

Wild boars?

Or was there something far stranger lurking in this village?