The Return of Stars to the Jianghu

Chapter 69 Entering the Village at the Foot of the Mountain Inside the Barrier

“There’s something strange about this forest; we’re going in circles.” Shi Hao stopped in his tracks.

“But we were clearly following the direction of the compass. Could it be that the magnetic field here is wrong?” Luo Yifei also stopped.

"Follow the direction of the sun and go back to that village, otherwise we'll be trapped in this forest and die." Shi Hao picked up the arrowhead and drew a mark on a tree.

Setting down their compasses, the two followed the sun's position and the marks they left along the way, emerging from the woods before the sun disappeared below the horizon.

What came into view was still the fields and the village at the foot of the mountains in the distance.

The two didn't exchange many words and walked one after the other towards the village.

From a distance, it looks like a small village, but as you get closer, you realize that the houses are stacked one on top of another, with more houses behind each other. There is a stream at the entrance of the village, and a small arched bridge over the stream.

To the left is a stone path leading up the mountain, and you can see clusters of houses on the mountain.

The two didn't see anyone at the village entrance. It wasn't until they went further in that they saw some houses with their gates open, and they didn't know if anyone was inside.

Just as the two turned the corner and started walking up the steps toward the house on the mountain, an old man came out of a house with an open gate.

The old man said he was about to close the gate when he saw the two people and called out, "Hey."

Luo Yifei turned around and saw an old man leaning against the courtyard gate. The old man's hair was snow-white, but he was in excellent spirits and showed no signs of old age.

"Hello, sir. We're lost and looking for a place to stay for the night. Do you have a place to stay?" Luo Yifei turned around and walked downstairs.

The old man nodded without saying a word, walked to the other side of the courtyard gate, and pushed the half-closed gate open again.

The two followed the old man into the house.

"Sit down and have a cup of hot tea. No outsiders have visited our village for several years," the old man said, taking out two bowls and pouring tea for the two of them.

After the old man finished speaking, he seemed to want to say something more, but after hesitating for a while, he still didn't speak. Instead, he raised his hand to gesture for the two of them to drink tea.

"Fellow villagers, no outsiders come to your village, don't you ever go out?"

“We want to get out, but we can’t leave this village. We are a cursed village. We can only stay here generation after generation. Fortunately, every family has land, and there are many fruit trees on the back mountain. No government officials come to collect taxes. So we can manage.”

“I see that there are quite a few houses in your village, but it feels a bit deserted.”

"Yes, it is indeed deserted, and there are fewer and fewer people. No outsiders have come in for twenty years. Fewer people are getting married in the village, fewer children are being born, and the old folks of my generation are passing away one by one, so naturally there aren't many people left. Don't be fooled by the number of houses here; there are only a few households that are actually living here."

"Is it that the young men and women in the village don't like each other? Is it only people from other villages who can get married?" Luo Yifei had a vague idea.

"This is a cursed village. When men and women marry, their children are taken away by the heavens. No child lives to adulthood, and most of them look different from normal people," the old man said slowly, but there was no trace of sadness in his voice.

"Are many people in the village related by blood?" Luo Yifei wanted to verify his guess.

“That’s right. Our village is actually one big family. Our ancestors for three generations or more have all been one family. For the last three generations, people in our village have been exchanging places without marrying each other. We’ve been waiting for a destined outsider to pass by so that the curse could be broken.” The old man finished speaking and took a sip of tea.

Luo Yifei then changed the subject and chatted with the old man about the strange things about this place.

"It seems very easy to get lost around here?" Luo Yifei asked tentatively.

"Yes, because our village is cursed. The forest to the south of the village is too big. People who go in will just wander around in circles. If they are lucky, they will return to the village after three or four days. If they are unlucky, they may wander in the forest for months. They may survive by eating wild fruits and rabbits."

To the north of the village are towering mountains stretching as far as the eye can see. I climbed them before the Lunar New Year; they seemed endless. I crossed eleven mountains, but even from the summit, the view remained the same – mountains that stretched as far as the eye could see. A few years ago, some young people from the village crossed seventeen mountains, and they saw the same scenery as me: mountains that seemed to stretch endlessly.

As for the east and west sides of the village, there are large grasslands, but if you go east, you will suddenly appear on the west side of the village, and if you go west, you will suddenly appear on the east side of the village.

No one in our village can leave. Only you outsiders can leave.” The old man said a lot in one breath.

"So that means the strangers came to your village before and then left successfully. How did they leave?" Luo Yifei couldn't hide the excitement in his eyes.

"You saw the stream in the village when you came here, right?"

"I saw it," Luo Yifei replied, and Shi Hao nodded as well.

“Follow the stream, go up or down. You can leave either way. But only strangers can do that, not us. Before the New Year, I tried to go up the mountain with a stranger along the stream. We reached a lake at the top of the mountain, made a raft, and wanted to reach the other side of the lake, but he disappeared on the raft when it reached the middle of the lake. I rowed the raft to the other side of the lake, and then crossed ten mountains, but I couldn't find a way out, so I had to go back to the village.” The old man stopped after he finished speaking.

"What about the others? How did they get out?" Luo Yifei pressed.

"Most of them are similar. Further down, you'll reach the forest. The stream will turn east and join a large river, where strangers will disappear on the surface. And no matter how hard we villagers row, we can't reach the other side. We can only come back." The old man's expression was somewhat somber.

"Could they have fallen into the water?" Shi Hao suddenly asked.

"No, if someone fell into the water, there would definitely be a sound and some ripples on the surface. But I didn't hear any sound or see any ripples. I just turned my head and the person was gone," the old man replied confidently.

The two continued to ask about the details of the stranger's disappearance, but did not obtain any useful information.

However, one thing is certain: this village has welcomed many travelers from afar. Without exception, these people have all mysteriously disappeared on the water within the village. Whenever a stranger prepares to leave, the village always sends a strong young man to see them off and try to find their way out. Unfortunately, all these efforts are in vain, even the most recent one—they can only watch helplessly as the stranger vanishes into thin air before their eyes. It's as if that mysterious body of water hides some unspeakable secret or power, causing all those who try to uncover its mystery to return empty-handed.