Inside the water mill, darkness reigned. Only a few rays of moonlight filtered through broken window frames, barely illuminating piles of debris and thick dust. The air reeked of rotting wood and stagnant water.
"Phew... we should be safe for now." The girl released my hand and leaned against the cold stone wall, breathing heavily while vigilantly peering outside through window cracks.
I also leaned against the wall, gasping the stale air, asking in shock: "What's going on? Can you tell me? Where exactly is this place? Why do those people want to catch me?"
The girl turned around, her youthful silhouette outlined by the pale moonlight. She looked up, her eyes particularly bright in the darkness. When my gaze met hers again, that intense feeling of familiarity struck me once more—those eyes, that expression, were exactly like my daughter Xiao Yu when she was little, before I left her at age three!
"This is another Hongcun, a world parallel to the living realm—the destination of the departed." The girl's voice was eerily calm. "And you, Lin Yuan, are a living person, an intruder who shouldn't be here."
"A world of the departed?" I felt dizzy and nearly lost my footing. "You mean... this is... the underworld? The legendary... realm of the dead?"
"You could understand it that way, but we prefer to call it 'Shadow Village.'" The girl nodded, her tone devoid of emotion, as if stating the most ordinary fact. "Shadow Village is the dimensional reflection of the living Hongcun, a resting place for departed souls. Every full moon night, the boundary between yin and yang becomes blurred. Certain nodes, like the fish lantern courtyard you passed through, briefly open passages. Living people like you, with yang energy still intact, are occasionally drawn by songs or visions and mistakenly enter this place."
"The fish lantern courtyard... is a node between worlds..." I struggled to digest this incredible information. "And that song was yours too? Did you deliberately lure me here?"
The girl's eyes flickered, neither confirming nor denying, but continued explaining: "You're fortunate—tonight is the fifteenth of the lunar month, the first day the passage opens. But you're also unfortunate—your yang energy is too strong and was quickly detected by Shadow Village's guardians."
"Those people chasing me... are the guardians?"
"Yes. They maintain Shadow Village's order, ensuring the separation of yin and yang, preventing mutual interference. Their duty is to expel, or... eliminate intruders like you." The girl's tone grew serious. "According to Shadow Village's laws, you must return to the living world within three days—before the passage closes. Otherwise, your soul will be assimilated by Shadow Village, and you'll never be able to leave."
"Three days?" I felt panic rising. "How do I get back? Through that lantern courtyard again?"
"Theoretically, yes. But now the lantern courtyard area is surely surrounded by guards." The girl frowned. "We must find a way to avoid them and time it right. The passage is only relatively stable at specific moments."
I leaned against the cold stone wall, feeling drained of all strength. This was all too insane, like an absurd nightmare. Looking at this mysterious girl before me, I couldn't help asking: "Why are you helping me? We're complete strangers."
The girl fell silent for a moment, her profile looking somewhat forlorn in the moonlight. She said softly: "Because I'm waiting for someone. Someone very important to me. Perhaps... you can help me find him, or help me convey some messages."
Her gaze became complex again, seeming to weave together deep expectation and a trace of barely perceptible resentment.
"What's your name?" I asked gently, though my heart already had a vague answer.
"Xiao Yu." The girl replied. "You can call me Xiao Yu."
Thunder!
That name exploded like lightning in my mind. Xiao Yu! This was exactly my daughter's nickname! When I left thirteen years ago, she had just learned to toddle and babble. Now, she should be a sixteen-year-old girl. This girl calling herself Xiao Yu—her name, her eyes, and that subtle stubborn expression between her brows—all overlapped with my daughter's image buried deep in my memory.
"What's wrong? You look terrible." Xiao Yu keenly noticed my distress.
"Nothing... nothing." I suppressed the tumultuous emotions in my heart, forcing out a smile uglier than crying. "It's just... your name is exactly the same as my daughter's nickname."
"Really? What a coincidence." Xiao Yu's expression seemed to freeze for an instant, but quickly returned to calm. "Dawn is approaching. Though Shadow Village during the day isn't as dangerous as at night, there are more people around, making it easier to be exposed. We need to find a more hidden, safer place to hide."
I nodded numbly, feeling my brain had stopped thinking. Following this mysterious girl called Xiao Yu, I stumbled away from the water mill toward Shadow Village's deeper, darker corners. My heart was full of questions and fear, with one voice constantly interrogating me: Was all this a bizarre coincidence, or some destined arrangement?
At that time, I didn't know that this accidental crossing, this encounter with "Xiao Yu," would completely overturn my life's trajectory, forcing me to face the deepest guilt I had avoided for thirteen years, and giving me what might be the last chance to seek that unreachable redemption.