Fog shrouds the green Wuzhen

Just after the Ghost Festival, a relentless downpour enveloped Qingwu Town in a damp, cold fog. The road sign beside the national highway was rusted, the words "Qingwu Town 5km" blurred by the rain, like blood splattered on paper.

Lin Shen slammed on the brakes, and the SUV's windshield wipers spun frantically, unable to clear the thick fog. In the passenger seat, Su Wan adjusted her glasses and swiped her fingertips across her tablet. The screen displayed the final news item about Qingwu Town: in 2018, the town's last family moved away, citing "nightly opera performances and women in red knocking on the windows."

"Are you sure this is the place?" Zhao Lei leaned forward from the back seat, clutching a blessed amulet. "My grandfather said that even dogs wouldn't dare approach a century-old empty town like this at night."

"Do you think the 'Searching for Diversity' annual challenge is a joke?" Chen Mo, sitting next to the driver, held a cigarette in his mouth, his smoke rings condensing into a cloud of white mist on the car window. "Find the legendary 'Marriage Temple' and take a photo with the red string, and we'll get the sponsor's bonus."

The Xunyi Society is a group of seven young people from different cities united by their interest in the supernatural. They include Lin Shen, the driver; Su Wan, the data organizer; Zhao Lei, the timid but fun-loving; and Chen Mo, the chain-smoking idiot. They also include Li Ye, an expert in outdoor survival; Zhou Tang, a feng shui master with a compass; and Meng Yao, a photography enthusiast who always has a camera.

"Look, there's light ahead!" Meng Yao suddenly pointed ahead. A faint yellow glow shone through the mist, flickering like a will-o'-the-wisp. Lin Shen restarted the car and slowly drove forward until a dilapidated archway came into view. Half of the characters "Qingwu Town" had fallen off, the remaining "Qing" and "Zhen" blackened by rain. The copper bells hanging from the eaves had long since rusted, making only a harsh creaking sound in the wind.

Just as the car entered the town, the engine suddenly stalled. Lin Shen tried several times, turning the key all the way in, but the dashboard only made a hollow "clicking" sound.

"Something's wrong." Zhou Tang opened the compass, and the needle spun wildly, finally pointing firmly towards the center of town. "The aura in this place is very chaotic, as if there's more than one 'thing' here."

Li Ye picked up his backpack and pulled out the engineer shovel from his waist. "Don't waste time, let's find a place to shelter from the rain first. I think the ancestral hall up ahead might be the marriage temple we're looking for."

Everyone packed up their things and trudged towards the town center, one foot deep, one foot shallow. The bluestone pavement was covered in moss, making every step slippery. The doors and windows of the old houses on either side were tightly closed, and the spring couplets on the door panels had faded to a grayish white. The wind blew through the cracks in the doors, making a "woosh" sound, as if someone was sighing inside.

Meng Yao held up her camera, its lens sweeping across a building with a wooden sign that read "Stage." Suddenly, a figure in costume flashed across the screen, its sleeves arcing through the air. When she looked again, the figure had vanished.

"Did you see that?" Meng Yao pulled Su Wan's arm, her voice trembling, "Just now, there was a person in costume on the stage..."

Su Wan looked in the direction she pointed. Half of the stage's roof had collapsed, and the surface was covered with fallen leaves and rainwater. There was no sign of a person. "Maybe it's the fog. It's too dark here," she said soothingly, her hand quietly clenching the pepper spray in her pocket.

The group arrived at the ancestral hall in the town center, only to discover it wasn't a marriage shrine at all. The words "Wang Family Ancestral Hall" were engraved on the lintel, and the red silk hanging from the doorframe had long since faded and turned black, resembling dried blood scabs. The door was ajar, creaking in the wind. From within, a faint scent of incense ash, mingled with a faint hint of rouge, wafted.

"That's not right. The information says that the Marriage Temple in Qingwu Town is in the center of the town..." Su Wan frowned and looked down at the tablet. The screen suddenly flashed, and all the information about Qingwu Town turned into garbled characters.

"Don't look for it anymore." Chen Mo pushed open the door. The light in the ancestral hall was dim. There were two tablets on the altar in the center. The words on them were blurred. "Go in and take shelter from the rain first. We'll look for it again when it stops."

As they entered the ancestral hall, the door behind them clanged shut, and no matter how hard they pulled, it wouldn't open. Zhou Tang's compass needle suddenly stopped spinning, pointing directly at the curtain behind the altar—a pair of red mandarin ducks embroidered on it, their eyes embroidered in black thread. In the dim light, they looked like two staring eyes.

"Who's there?" Zhao Lei's voice trembled, and the amulet slipped from his hand to the ground. "Come out! Stop playing tricks!"

The curtain swayed gently, and a young girl in a pink skirt walked out. She looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, with her hair in twin buns and two pearl hairpins in her hair. She had a sweet smile on her face and held a ball of red thread in her hand.

"Are you here to seek marriage?" The girl's voice was soft, as if soaked in honey. "I'm the matchmaker here. I can help you find your match."

Lin Shen frowned. He felt something was amiss with this girl. Qingwu Town had been empty for five years, so how could anyone be here? Furthermore, the clothes she was wearing didn't look modern.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" Lin Shen stood in front of everyone and stared at the girl vigilantly.

The girl blinked and her smile became even sweeter: "My name is Hua Liang, and I have been here all the time. Look, this is the red thread I wove. Just tie it around your wrist, and I can calculate your marriage." As she spoke, she raised the red thread in her hand. The red thread glowed with a faint red light in the dim light, swaying gently as if it had life.

Zhou Tang suddenly grabbed Lin Shen's arm and lowered his voice: "Don't touch her string! This string is wrong, it has evil energy!"

Hua Liang's smile froze for a moment, then returned to a gentle expression. "Are you kidding, sister? This is just an ordinary red thread, how can it have a sinister aura?" She took a step forward, the scent of rouge on her body becoming even stronger. "Don't you believe me? Then let me show you - does this sister with glasses have someone she likes but has never dared to say it?"

Su Wan's face turned pale instantly. She did like a senior, but she had never told anyone.

"And this smoking brother," Hua Liang turned his gaze to Chen Mo, "Do you always have the same dream, where there's a person in black clothes chasing you?"

The cigarette in Chen Mo's hand fell to the ground. He stomped out the cigarette butt with shock in his eyes - he had been having this dream since high school and had never mentioned it to anyone.

Hua Liang smiled even more happily, and the red string in his hand drew an arc in the air: "I didn't lie to you, did I? As long as you tie my red string, I can help you realize your wish."

Zhao Lei swallowed and took a step forward: "Then...then can you help me calculate when I can get rich?"

"Of course." Hua Liang said, picked up a red string and was about to tie it around Zhao Lei's wrist.

"Don't touch it!" Li Ye suddenly swung his shovel at the red string in Hua Liang's hand. The red string was cut by the shovel and fell to the ground, instantly turning into black ash and emitting a burnt smell.

The smile on Hua Liang's face completely disappeared. Her eyes slowly turned red and her voice became sharp: "Why are you ruining my business? I just want to help you!"

The temperature in the ancestral hall suddenly dropped, and the tablet on the altar fell to the ground with a "clatter", shattering into pieces. Behind the curtain came the sound of dripping water, as if someone was bleeding.

"Run!" Lin Shen yelled, pulling Su Wan up and running towards the back door of the ancestral hall. Everyone else also reacted and followed Lin Shen towards the back door.

Hua Liang stood there, watching their fleeing figures, a strange smile curling up at the corner of her mouth. With a flick of her finger, a red thread flew out from her fingertips and wrapped around Zhao Lei's ankle.

Zhao Lei suddenly felt his ankle sink, as if something was pulling it. He turned around and saw Hua Liang smiling at him, his eyes bloodshot.

"You...you don't come over here!" Zhao Lei ran forward desperately, but he couldn't get rid of the red string. The red string tightened, tightening around his ankle, causing it to ache, as if it was about to break his bones.

"Zhao Lei!" Meng Yao turned around and tried to pull him, but was stopped by Chen Mo.

"Don't worry about him! If we don't leave, we will all die here!" Chen Mo pushed Meng Yao forward and looked back at Zhao Lei - Zhao Lei had been pulled to the ground by the red line, and Hua Liang was walking towards him step by step, with the red line in his hand getting longer and longer, like a huge net, trying to wrap him up completely.

Everyone ran out of the back door of the ancestral hall and found a narrow alley outside. The walls on both sides of the alley were covered with vines. The leaves of the vines were black with water droplets hanging on them, like tears.

"Zhao Lei he..." Meng Yao's voice was filled with tears. When she turned around just now, she saw Hua Liang's hand had touched Zhao Lei's shoulder. Zhao Lei's body instantly became stiff, as if it was frozen.

"Don't even think about it. We can't even protect ourselves right now." Zhou Tang held up the compass, pointing the needle to the end of the alley. "There seems to be a place to hide ahead. Let's go."

Everyone ran forward along the alley, and heard Zhao Lei's screams behind them. The sound was so shrill that it echoed in the alley, making people's scalps numb.

After running for about ten minutes, a wooden house appeared at the end of the alley. A faint light shone through the windows, and a sign hung on the door that read "Gu Yi Clinic."

"A Gu doctor's clinic?" Li Ye frowned. "Gu doctors are only found in Miaojiang. How could they appear here?"

"Never mind, let's go in and hide first." Lin Shen pushed the wooden door. The door was not locked and it opened with a push.

The room was dimly lit, lit only by an oil lamp on the table. Its flame flickered, casting shaky shadows on the wall. Behind the table sat a woman dressed in Miao clothing. She looked to be in her thirties, with fair skin and a seductive look. In her hand, she held a black clay pot, which made a buzzing sound, as if insects were flying around inside.

"Dear guests, what brings you here so late at night?" The woman raised her head with a faint smile on her lips, but her eyes were like hooks, catching everyone's gaze.

"We...we are here to take shelter from the rain. We just encountered something strange in the ancestral hall in front." Su Wan stuttered. She always felt that there was a dangerous aura about this woman.

The woman's gaze swept over the crowd, finally stopping at the compass in Zhou Tang's hand. "Are you here looking for something? Qingwu Town isn't a good place. Every year, nine out of ten people who come here never make it out."

"Who are you? Why are you here?" Lin Shen asked.

"My name is Chen Ba, and I've lived here for quite a while," the woman said, setting down the pottery jar. "The girl you met must be the one named Hua Liang, right? She loves to entangle people with red string. Anyone she entangles will eventually become her 'marriage sacrifice.'"

Everyone shuddered at the words "marriage offering." Zhao Lei's screams still echoed in their ears. Thinking about it now, Zhao Lei was probably in grave danger.

"Then...then can you help us?" Meng Yao held the camera, her voice trembling. "We just wanted to take a picture, but we didn't expect to encounter something like this."

Chen Ba smiled, took out a small box from under the table, opened the box, and found seven black insects inside. There were red patterns on the bodies of the insects, which looked very strange.

"If you want to live, you can," Chen Ba picked up a bug and placed it in his palm. "Swallow this 'Heart Guarding Gu'. It can help you block the evil spirits outside and warn you when you are in danger. However, this Gu has a side effect - if you have evil thoughts in your heart, it will bite your heart and make you suffer unbearable pain."

Everyone looked at each other, no one dared to speak. The thought of swallowing insects made people feel sick, not to mention that this insect was called "Guardian Gu", which didn't sound like a good thing.

"What? You don't dare swallow it?" Chen Ba put away the box, the smile on his face turning mocking. "Then you can just wait to be entangled by the flower ghosts, or eaten by other 'things'. Qingwu Town is very lively at night."

The rain was still falling outside, and the wind blew in through the crack in the door, carrying with it a smell of blood. Everyone knew that Chen Ba was telling the truth; they had no way out now.

"I'll swallow it." Li Ye was the first to speak up. "As long as I can survive, swallowing a bug doesn't matter."

Chen Ba smiled, took out a bug, and handed it to Li Ye. Li Ye took the bug, closed his eyes, and swallowed it in one gulp. He didn't feel any discomfort, just a slight warmth in his chest, as if something was moving inside.

With Li Ye taking the lead, Lin Shen, Su Wan, Zhou Tang, and Chen Mo also swallowed the worms one after another. Only Meng Yao was still hesitant. She looked at the worms in the box and her face turned pale.

"If you don't want to swallow it, that's fine." Chen Ba put away the box. "But if you meet Shui Xietong later, don't expect us to save you."

"Shui Xietong? What is that?" Meng Yao asked.

"It's an evil creature that likes to drag children into the water and drown them," Chen Ba said nonchalantly. "It loves to prey on timid people like you, especially at night. As soon as it hears the sound of water, it will appear."

Meng Yao trembled with fear when she heard the words "drag the child into the water and drown him." She remembered the black vines she had seen in the alley and the faint sound of water. She quickly picked up a bug and swallowed it.

After eating the insects, Meng Yao felt a warmth in his chest, and the fear he had felt before was alleviated a little.

"Okay, you're safe now." Chen Ba put away the box. "However, this Heart Guarding Gu can only help you block some of the evil spirits. If you encounter the Evil Witch God or the Ghost Mother, it won't be effective."

"Evil Witch God? Ghost Mother?" Su Wan frowned. "How many evil creatures are there in Qingwu Town?"

Chen Ba smiled but didn't answer. He simply pointed to the oil lamp on the table and said, "When the oil lamp goes out, you'd better stay inside and don't go out. Also, if you hear opera singing at night, don't go and watch out of curiosity. That's just the ghost opera singers looking for companions."

Everyone was silent. They only now realized that the dangers in Qingwu Town were greater than they had imagined. This expedition, originally just for the prize money, had turned into a life-or-death test.

The flame of the oil lamp flickered, casting a gloomy shadow on Chen Ba's face. She looked at the crowd, a strange smile on her lips, and thought to herself: New "gu material" has been delivered to my door. This time, the "Guardian Gu" should be able to grow even fatter.

The sound of rain outside the house was getting louder and louder, mixed with the sound of opera singing and women crying. The night in Qingwu Town had just begun.