Ning Zhe walked into the house but saw neither his grandfather nor grandmother.
He checked his phone for the time:
2018-06-06, lunar April 22, 7:27 AM.
At this hour, Grandfather should be fishing at the reservoir outside town, and Grandmother likely selling vegetables on Old Street in Gubei Town. The old house was empty.
Ning Zhe approached the old camphor tree, brushed fallen leaves off the wooden bench, sat down, and examined himself. His clothes were pristine—no dust or bloodstains. All injuries from He Village had vanished; his body was as usual.
Just as before entering He Village.
If he still could transform easily into a magpie and fly onto a branch, he might think his prior experience was a dream.
"Oh right, Auntie… she's not dead, is she?" Ning Zhe unlocked his phone, opened contacts, scrolled to the bottom, and found no entry for "Feng Yushu."
"So that's it?" Ning Zhe frowned. He began to understand the logic.
Unlike himself—who entered that strange realm early that morning—Feng Yushu was drawn into He Village around 7 PM last night as she carried a cup of coffee to her husband's hotel room. Pushing open the door, she stepped into that fractured world.
"If time outside and inside syncs, then Feng Yushu won't enter He Village until after 7 PM tonight. She'll return to reality the moment she opens the hotel room door."
A thought surfaced: "Does that mean if I go to the village clinic now, I'll see Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu alive?"
And Zhang Yangxu—who entered He Village later than me—he and Xie Sining might still live in the real world…
With that in mind, Ning Zhe stood, strode across the leaf-strewn courtyard, left his old home, and walked onto Gubei Town's streets.
Gubei—his hometown—was a backward rural town with no pillar industry. Everything felt tranquil. Early on the quiet streets, only a few students lingered in open breakfast shops, steam rising from buns and soy milk.
The breakfast shop owners were familiar. Before he reached the door, the apron-clad hostess waved a bamboo strainer and called out, "A Zhe! When did you get back? School on break? My daughter never tells me anything…"
"I took leave to come home," Ning Zhe replied casually. "They're demolishing the town soon; our land was requisitioned. No one at home can read paperwork, so I came back to check."
He paid ¥2.50 by mobile payment and received three steaming pickled-vegetable buns and a cup of soy milk.
Walking down the street and nibbling a bun, Ning Zhe dialed Feng Yushu's number from memory.
The call connected, and a gentle female voice answered, "Who is this…"
"Hello, I'm Ning Zhe."
"Ning Zhe? Do I know you?" Feng Yushu sounded puzzled. A faint breeze in the background suggested she was outdoors—perhaps at a gas station or roadside.
"Must be a misdial—sorry." Ning Zhe sipped soy milk. "But we'll meet again—somewhere else."
"What are you talking about…" Feng Yushu's confusion sounded genuine, but Ning Zhe had already hung up.
He finished his buns in three bites, tossed the bag and cup into a street bin, and slipped into a hidden alley. A black-and-white magpie flew out.
Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu interned at the village clinic—a government medical point—across from the Dragon King Temple by the bridge. Ning Zhe spread his wings and flew above the sunlit town, the warm breeze rustling his feathers.
Soon he reached the clinic's rooftop.
He alighted on a potted money tree by the entrance, watching inside.
Like the breakfast shop and barber, the clinic opened early. Before 8 AM, patients already waited. A woman cradling her child sat on a bamboo chair, worry creasing her brow—likely the child had run a nighttime fever.
Grandmother had once brought him here early like that.
Dr. Lin emerged, having washed and brushed his teeth. After asking symptoms, he placed a mercury thermometer in the child's armpit.
"Let me fetch breakfast—just a few minutes." He left and spotted the still magpie on the money tree.
The mother relaxed. "A magpie on the money tree—Doctor Lin, you're going to prosper."
"Getting rich from sick patients isn't good fortune." Dr. Lin teased the bird; it stayed put. He laughed and set off.
Patiently, Ning Zhe waited. After Lin returned with breakfast and treated the child, two well-matched young professionals arrived at the clinic.
They were Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu.
Modern youths who rise before 9 AM count as early risers.
Their timing was perfect: Lin had just administered the injection. He sent Ye Miaozhu to the dispensary, while Gu Yunqing opened the clinic door fully.
Inside came a thud—Ye Miaozhu collapsed before everyone.
Silently, Ning Zhe watched as Dr. Lin and the mother gasped. At the door, Gu Yunqing slumped to the ground, lifeless.
Both were dead.
"So it's true…" Some of Ning Zhe's suspicions were confirmed.
Just now, time arrived, and the Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu of He Village returned.
But they returned as corpses.
Whether Feng Yushu will emerge from He Village at 7 PM tonight alive or dead remains unknown.
Chapters in advance there: patreon.com/Thaniel_a_goodchild