Huangcun
The smell of hospital disinfectant was the first thing Liang An noticed after regaining consciousness. He opened his eyes to an unfamiliar white ceiling and a single LED light casting a cold, white glow. His body felt as if it were wrapped in thick cotton wool, and every movement was slow and laborious.
"Liang An?"
Ling Xiao's voice came from the left, tinged with obvious fatigue and worry. Liang An turned his head and saw Ling Xiao sitting by the hospital bed, with noticeable shadows under his eyes and his hair more disheveled than usual.
“Ling Xiao…” Liang An began, his voice hoarse like sandpaper being rubbed.
"I'm here." Ling Xiao immediately took his hand. "How are you feeling? Is anything bothering you?"
Liang An shook his head and tried to sit up. Ling Xiao quickly helped him adjust the head of the bed and placed a pillow behind his back. During this process, Liang An noticed several electrode pads attached to his arm, and the electrocardiogram monitor next to him was emitting soft, regular beeps.
"Am I in the hospital?"
"Yes. You collapsed in the tea garden and were brought here by ambulance." Ling Xiao's voice was low. "It's been a day and a night."
A day and a night passed. Liang An stared blankly out the window; the sky was a hazy, pre-dawn hue.
“That…arm…” Memories pieced together like fragments: the sunlight in the tea garden, Wen Zhi’s screams, the severed limbs in the soil, and…that icy soul.
Looking at Liang An's pale face, Ling Xiao replied softly, "The police have cordoned off the scene, and the school has arranged buses to take the students home. The case is under investigation."
Where is Wen Zhi?
"He was quite frightened, but he's physically fine and has already gone home." Ling Xiao poured a glass of warm water and held it to Liang An's lips. "The doctor said all your tests were normal, but..."
"Just what?"
“Your temperature has been consistently low.” Ling Xiao frowned. “When you first arrived, it was only 34.2 degrees Celsius, and now it has recovered to 35.1 degrees Celsius, but it is still below the normal range. The doctor said it may be a stress reaction caused by fright, but if it continues, further examination is needed.”
Liang An sipped the water, the warm liquid flowing down his throat bringing him slightly more alert. But he could feel that the icy chill hadn't completely left his body. It lurked deep within his bones, like a thin layer of frost covering his consciousness.
Liang An looked at the black bracelet on his left wrist; it had fallen silent once more.
Ling Xiao followed Liang An's gaze to the bracelet, "While you were unconscious, it kept going back and forth, and finally stopped at 20% and then stopped responding."
Liang An stroked the black bracelet, pursed her lips, and said softly, "I saw...not just the arm. There was...something else."
Ling Xiao gripped Liang An's hand again, his voice trembling slightly at the end: "What did you see?"
“A shadow rose from the ground.” Liang An closed his eyes. “It pounced on me, and then…and then I felt very cold, extremely cold.”
Ling Xiao was silent for a moment, then said, "I can't sense anything... Is it still there?"
“Hmm…” Liang An opened his eyes. “I can sense… it’s still here.”
They clasped their hands together and fell silent. The sky outside the window gradually brightened, and the first rays of morning sunlight streamed through the gaps in the blinds, casting alternating stripes of light and shadow on the hospital room floor.
Three days later, Liang An was discharged from the hospital. The doctors ultimately couldn't find a clear cause for the persistently low body temperature, only attributing it to a "rare manifestation of post-traumatic stress response." The discharge record recommended observation, with prompt follow-up consultation if any abnormalities occurred.
The atmosphere was noticeably different on the first day back at school. The students' conversations in the corridors were quieter than usual, and the topics invariably veered towards the tea plantation incident.
"I heard the police dug up the entire hillside..."
"Wen Zhi hasn't come to school yet. His mother asked for leave, saying he needs to receive psychological counseling..."
"This is horrifying, how could anyone bury a body there..."
When Liang An and Ling Xiao entered the classroom, several students who were talking immediately stopped. The sports committee member, Gao Tong, walked over to them, looked at Liang An, and asked softly, "Are you alright? Everyone was very worried about you."
"It's nothing, I've recovered. I was just frightened," Liang An said with a smile.
"We were all terrified; it was the first time we'd ever encountered something like this," Gao Tong said, patting his chest with lingering fear.
"Liang An, Ling Xiao, come here quickly!" Sheng Qing called out, interrupting their conversation. She was holding a handful of pomelo leaves covered in morning dew.
Ling Xiao followed Liang An to Sheng Qing's side. She stood quietly, her brows furrowed with a deep seriousness. Her focus and solemnity were so intense that one hesitated to disturb her. She clenched a pomelo leaf, dipped it in water, and rhythmically patted it gently against Liang An's body. The leaf tip rustled as it brushed against his school uniform jacket, while she murmured, "Wipe away bad luck, keep away all illnesses, and may everything go smoothly."
After taking pictures of Liang An, she tossed the pomelo leaves aside, replaced them with a fresh bunch, moistened them with water, and gently patted Ling Xiao's body. Satisfied, she looked at the two of them and quickly ushered them back to their seats.
As soon as they returned to their seats, their homeroom teacher, Ms. Wang, appeared at the classroom door. She went to Liang An's side and quietly inquired about his health.
“If you feel unwell, you can go home to rest at any time,” Teacher Wang said gently. “The school has arranged for a counselor; I can help you make an appointment if needed.”
"Thank you, teacher, I'm fine," Liang An replied, trying to make his voice sound normal.
The case of dismemberment in the tea garden continues to generate buzz in the media, and students have never stopped discussing it, creating widespread anxiety on campus.
After the morning exercises, the principal gave a speech. His voice, amplified by a slightly distorted loudspeaker, reached every corner:
"Students, regarding the unexpected incident that occurred during last week's tea garden field trip, the school is fully cooperating with the police investigation... Please trust that the relevant departments will find out the truth as soon as possible... The school has arranged for psychological counselors to be on duty all day; any student who needs assistance can go to the counseling room..."
Back in the classroom, amidst a chorus of suppressed sighs, homeroom teacher Ms. Wang stepped onto the podium, trying to make her voice sound lighter: "The midterm exams have been over for a week now. Everyone should refocus on their studies. Starting next week, all subjects will begin new chapters..."
Compared to school teachers, the pressure on the police was obvious. In a local television news briefing, a police spokesperson solemnly promised to "dedicate maximum manpower to solve the case as soon as possible." Longer police lines were erected around the tea plantation, and uniformed and plainclothes officers conducted door-to-door inquiries and searches in the vicinity.
Three days later, a brief announcement was broadcast during the midday news: "DNA comparison has confirmed that the remains found in the tea garden belong to Ms. He Yuzhi, who went missing ten years ago..."
In the classroom, the students staring at their phone screens gasped in shock.
"...He Yuzhi, female, 38 years old at the time of her disappearance. She returned to her parents' home after divorcing her husband ten years prior, and disappeared shortly afterward. Her brother, He Yusheng, reported her missing. It is noteworthy that the forensic examination determined the time of death to be within seven days..."
"How is this possible?" a student couldn't help but exclaim. "Disappeared for ten years, and dead for only seven days?"
This is precisely the point of contention that has brought the case to a standstill. The news continued: "Ms. He Yuzhi has a simple social network. Her parents passed away early, and of her three siblings, her younger sister He Yunian died in a car accident thirteen years ago. Her only surviving relative is her older brother, He Yusheng. The police have begun questioning her, but have not yet obtained any breakthrough leads..."
“No more remains, no witnesses, no motive,” Ling Xiao summarized in a low voice. He had been closely following every development in the case. “A person who disappeared for ten years suddenly reappears in this way…”
Liang An stared at his hands, that familiar chill beginning to spread deep into his bones again. He Yuzhi—that name echoed in his mind, bringing a wave of dizziness. He seemed to hear that woman's weeping, distant yet clear, exactly the same sound he had heard in his dreams.
“Liang An?” Ling Xiao nudged his elbow, looking at him with concern. “You look terrible.”
"I'm fine," Liang An replied with difficulty.
But that wasn't the case. As the days went by, Liang An found his connection with that cold, unfeeling presence growing stronger.
He often fell into the same dream, as if he had returned to that empty white space. In the white space of the dream, there were no golden thread-bound books, nor any divine consciousness, only the echoing of a woman's weeping, intermittent, as if coming from a very far place, or as if echoing directly in his mind.
Then, strange things started happening during the day as well. Sometimes, while he was listening to a lecture, he would suddenly feel that the sounds around him became distant and blurry, and his vision would gradually become unfocused. His consciousness seemed to be detached from his body, suspended in mid-air, watching "himself" sitting in the classroom, staring blankly at the blackboard.
The first time this happened, it lasted about thirty seconds. His deskmate, Sheng Qing, gently touched his arm and whispered, "Liang An?"
Liang An suddenly snapped back to reality, as if surfacing from deep water, gasping for breath. The surrounding classmates cast surprised glances at him.
During the break, Ling Xiao took Liang An's wrist and led him to a corner of the corridor. Suppressing his worry, he asked softly, "What's wrong?"
"I don't know." Liang An rubbed his temples. "It just suddenly... disconnected."
"Disconnected?"
“It’s like my soul and body have been disconnected.” Liang An tried to describe the feeling. “I can see what I’m doing, but I can’t control it, and I can’t feel my body.”
Ling Xiao's expression turned serious. After school that day, he took Liang An directly to the hospital for a follow-up appointment. But the test results remained the same—no organic lesions were found, except that his body temperature was still hovering around 35.3 degrees Celsius.
"It could be psychological," the neurologist said. "I recommend seeing a psychiatrist."
Ling Xiao led Liang An out of the hospital. They knew that everything was related to the bracelet firmly attached to Liang An's left wrist. However, they couldn't find a breakthrough point or a solution for the time being.
As time went on, Liang An's "disconnections" became more frequent and lasted longer. Sometimes he would suddenly stop talking, his eyes would become vacant, and he wouldn't respond no matter how Ling Xiao called him. After a few minutes, he would recover on his own, but he would have no memory of what had just happened.
The worst incident happened during math class. Liang An suddenly stood up and walked towards the classroom door. The teacher called his name, but he didn't respond. Ling Xiao chased after him and caught him in the hallway, only to find that Liang An's eyes were completely unfamiliar, and his lips were moving silently, as if repeating some words.
“Liang An!” Ling Xiao shook his shoulder.
Liang An blinked, looking around blankly: "How...how did I get here?"
That night, Ling Xiao made a decision.
“We need to ask for leave,” he told Liang An. “Your condition is getting more and more serious.”
“But the midterm exams just ended, and the monthly exams are coming up soon. I don’t want you to be affected…” Liang An protested weakly.
“Exams aren’t important.” Ling Xiao interrupted him, her voice unusually firm. “I’ve already spoken to the homeroom teacher and asked them to give us a week off.”
"Did Teacher Wang agree?"
“I told her that you were still affected by the tea plantation incident and needed to rest at home.” Ling Xiao packed his schoolbag. “She understood and even said she wanted to come for a home visit, but I declined.”
Liang An didn't argue anymore. In fact, he felt a sense of relief. The strain of maintaining a normal state during the day was increasing, and he was finding it increasingly difficult to distinguish between dreams and reality, and to judge when he was "himself" and when he was being invaded by that cold consciousness.
On his first day off, Liang An slept almost the entire time. Ling Xiao sat by the bed reading, checking on Liang An from time to time. His temperature was still low, but his sleep seemed relatively stable.
The next afternoon, things changed.
Liang An woke up from his afternoon nap, but his eyes immediately became vacant. Instead of sitting blankly as usual, he got out of bed and began to put on his coat.
“Liang An?” Ling Xiao put down his book and approached him.
Liang An did not respond and walked straight to the door.
"Where are you going?" Ling Xiao stopped him.
Liang An mechanically walked around him and continued walking out. Ling Xiao grabbed his arm and found that his skin was colder than usual, almost like a lifeless mannequin.
"Liang An, wake up!"
Liang An turned his head to look at Ling Xiao, but his gaze pierced through him, as if looking into a very distant place. His lips moved, uttering a few syllables: "Huang... Village..."
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