Under the glow of the flames, Fei Tang realized that the one fighting him was actually a girl, and he was momentarily stunned. Seizing the moment, the girl delivered a solid slap, and Fei Tang was furious. He roared—then there was no more sound. Chang Dong stepped in and nearly pulled him apart. The girl capitalized on the momentum, got back up, and kicked him once more, until Ding Liu inserted the torch firmly in the center and looked at him coldly, asking, "Is there any end to this?" The girl fell silent, her mouth now swollen, her collar pulled askew by Fei Tang. Yet even so, her delicate, fair appearance was evident—wearing a sweater and jeans, the seams of the jeans frayed, the fabric slightly loose and fluffy, as if she were a fashion-forward young woman. Chang Dong looked up and saw that on the roof, Ye Liuxi had also managed to lift the elderly man, who was now standing upright. This truly was… an old and frail group. Chang Dong frowned at the girl, asking, "What exactly are you trying to say?" The young woman didn’t even lift her eyes, speaking with sharp directness: “It’s not meaningful at all. Everyone says the people who drive the tin-truck aren’t good—do we really have to be afraid of that, then?” She glanced sideways at the fire torch, now blazing fiercely: “Can you put that out? Bring in the person who holds the frame—then we’ll all be dead.” Chang Dong felt a sudden spark of recognition. The way she used words like “tin-truck” and “person who holds the frame” suggested she was from the interior region. He hadn’t expected such a swift encounter between the two groups—though their appearances were nearly identical, and though her attire, though outdated, didn’t seem to belong to a generation apart. He wasn’t sure how to begin asking questions, nor did he want to reveal that he himself came from beyond the frontier. He glanced at Ye Liuxi, sensing that the task of bridging this gap would now fall to her. — The fire had been completely extinguished, and only faint wisps of smoke drifted out of the walls, only to be blown away by the wind before they could rise into the sky. The young woman remained silent, quietly On either side sat an old man and a young boy, both expressionless, as if ready to be treated however they wished. Ye Liuxi stepped forward, kicked a wobbly stool right over, wiped off the dust, and sat down, inserting her knife beside her: "You three—pick a representative. Rest assured, we'll just chat a bit, then each of you goes your own way. No one will be inconvenienced." No one responded. After a while, the young woman looked up at her and asked, "Really?" Ye Liuxi replied, "You old folks and young ones together—none of you could even hold up against me alone. If you wanted to make trouble, you'd have done so already. Now, speaking calmly and kindly to you? That's sincerity. Do you understand? I usually start by exchanging sincerity for sincerity. Only when that fails do I resort to force." The young woman bit her lip, paused, and said, "My name is Ahhe." She pointed to the young boy, "This is Shuaidiao." Then she indicated the old man, "He's a fortune-teller—he's called Lao Qian." Ye Liuxi "Ah, who hasn't been sleeping?" Ahu said, "We heard some noise and came out to see. Who knew you all came straight over and just took us by surprise, making us hide..." Ye Liuxi remained calm. "So you were actually sleeping? Where were you sleeping?" Ahu noticed she'd accidentally revealed too much and immediately fell silent. Chang Dong now had a clearer sense of what had happened. He stepped forward, pulled out the knife he'd been holding, and handed it back to Ye Liuxi. "All right, don't make a scene." Then he turned to Ahu. "It's just a misunderstanding. You go on now." Ahu was taken aback. "Are we really just being let go like that?" Chang Dong smiled. "Yes, we're not exactly strangers, are we?" Ahu hesitated, stood up, and took a tentative step outward. Chang Dong stepped aside, making no effort to stop her. Ahu quickly turned to the elder signer. "The fortune-teller, what's keeping you there? Come on, let's go!" The three of them walked and hurried out of the door. Fei Tang stared, dumbfounded. "Dong-gong, are "Chang Dong said, 'Hé Hu hasn't much ambition—she's not a bad person. Since she was originally sleeping, and this village is so small, where could she have gone? How could she have moved around? We just light up a torch, and she's already afraid someone will notice. Just wait—she'll be back within five minutes.' As he said this, he suddenly remembered something and frowned at Fei Tang, 'Now, look at you—how could you have treated that young girl?' Fei Tang blushed deeply, desperately trying to save face, 'Well... I was nervous. I wasn't as brave as you. In the dark, I suddenly burst out—didn't even know if it was a person or a ghost. Who would know the difference between men and women?' All of that made sense, and Chang Dong couldn't argue. There were several rooms in the courtyard. He instructed Gao Shen to guard the courtyard entrance, while the others checked every corner with flashlights. Aside from being abandoned and somewhat dilapidated, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Chang Dong walked around, finally stopping at the kitchen entrance. The kitchen had partially collapsed, the large stove covered with mud bricks, thatch roofs, and torn straw mats. As she stood there, Ye Liuxi arrived too, and the beam of her flashlight merged with the one in his hand. She wanted to move forward, but Chang Dong pulled her back: "Wait a moment." Indeed, soon after, a deep voice came from the courtyard entrance: "Why have you come back again?" — Ahu brought the sweet potato sticks in, followed by Lao Qian. As she looked up, she first saw Fei Tang, who glared at her fiercely; if her gaze could tear people apart, Fei Tang would have surely gone through the paper shredder already. Then she walked toward Chang Dong and asked, "Are you truly a good person?" Chang Dong found her endearing yet a bit silly, and nodded: "Yes, I am." Ahu hesitated, sighed deeply, then released the sweet potato sticks, walked to the stove, knelt down, and cleared away the clutter blocking the stove opening. The sweet potato sticks grew anxious and called out, "Hecan!" Once determined, Ahu is quite tenacious. She leans forward, her voice drifting out: "Well, they already have a tin cart—how could they possibly be greedy about our little things?" There aren't many books at the market. The times are not good these days... She counted on her fingers: "The most in demand are food and drink, and things like knives—things that really matter, you know." As she reached under the cupboard and pulled out a stack of reed mats, she distributed them one by one to everyone: "No chairs, so just sit wherever you can. Where did you come from? You must have real courage to have come at night." Fei Tang reached out to take one, only to find it empty—Ah Hu had given to everyone else, openly leaving him out. Fine, then, Fei Tang thought, snorting under his nose: I'll just sit on the ground. Chang Dong gestured to the book: "Do you know who the author is?" "Yes, it's written on the cover." "Have you ever met him?" Ah Hu looked at him in surprise: "How could I have? He's from beyond the frontier." Chang Dong's heart beat a little faster—he had heard the distinction between the interior and the frontier too. He pointed to the several empty spaces where mats had been laid out: "Are there others living here?" "A few uncles have gone to the Changdong asked casually, "Your village, is it that small?" Ahé replied, "What do you mean, our village? A decade or so ago, this area suffered from the 'Eye Tomb' disaster—whole families wiped out, and the place has been abandoned ever since. We came here to escape the calamity. Now the times are tough, so chaotic that my father says, even though the areas affected by the Eye Tomb aren't exactly ideal, people can still settle there—though they might carry a certain stiffness. On the journey, you see, we gradually formed companionships." She pointed to the fries and the older man, "We started out with about seven or eight people. When we arrived here, we found a haven—a place with ready-made houses, water, and trees. We settled in, but not on the ground. At night, the 'skeletons'—those people with stiff postures—would wake up and start moving around. They're quite fierce; they go berserk as soon as they smell human presence. I've seen walls half a meter thick being completely dug through by them." Ye Liuxi asked, "Do these 'skeletons' have hollowed-out bodies, like skeletons "Ah, I nodded repeatedly: 'Yes, I've never seen one. My father told me—said it moves very swiftly, with a sticky, damp texture, skin pale and wan due to lack of sunlight. It feeds on blood with great ferocity; in fact, it might even tear its victims apart and devour them. My father said, whenever it encounters a human, either it is killed or one must kill it—should it survive, it will never let go of you.' Ding Liu listened intently: 'Then, if we had simply fled earlier, how could they possibly "never let go" of us?' Ah, I couldn't answer. I turned to the old soothsayer: 'What did the fortune-teller say about this?' The old soothsayer spoke calmly: 'I heard that this creature has a keen sense of smell—it can detect your scent and follow it.' Also, don't let that mucus come into contact with anything—supposedly, it has a distinct odor that lingers for days or even nights. While people can't smell it with their noses, their frames can detect it. If it feels wronged on your vehicle, it will become concerned and even rally its companions to come after you for retaliation." Ye Liuxi's heart skipped a beat; she turned to Changdong, "Has the mucus been cleaned off our vehicle?" She remembered that as the frame climbed onto the vehicle, it left behind a trail of sticky residue. Changdong shook his head, "We don't know what it's made of—we didn't dare touch it." Ahu noticed something unusual and immediately grew tense, her words stumbling slightly, "You... the vehicle... on the vehicle, did you encounter it?" Gao Shen asked, "Will it still be in time if we clean it now? Or should we find something to cover the odor?" Ding Liu quickly opened her bag, "I have perfume—I can spray it. Ah Hu’s scalp tingled, and there was a buzz in his ears; his words came in a jumble: “Don’t go! What if we happen to meet out there just when we do? Anyway, we’re already underground now. Just wait until dawn—according to the fortune-teller, before dawn, the human skeletons will surely return to the Yadan heap. Isn’t that right?” Before the old sign could answer, Chang Dong suddenly asked, “What exactly is Yadan heap?” His tone was odd—different from usual. Ye Liuxi suddenly recalled something, and his heart sank. Ah Hu explained: “The human skeletons used to be people, just like spiders catching their prey—first they’re tied to the web. Initially, the human skeletons were embedded in the Yadan heap. Gradually, their blood was drained away, and they were wrapped in, becoming indistinguishable from those buried. But out of every ten, one will eventually re-emerge.”