Three poles in the sun.
Around noon, our group arrived at the communal dining hall in Ping'an Village.
Seeing me standing at the door staring at the crowd, the monkey nudged me with its elbow: "Young Master Duan, what are you doing?"
"That's strange."
I looked at the people eating inside and muttered, "Look at these people from Ping'an Village. They seem no different from usual. Everyone is doing what they're supposed to do, and they seem very peaceful."
The monkey was puzzled: "Today isn't anything special, so isn't their behavior quite normal?"
I waved my hand and said, "Think about it, Ping'an Village is a small village with only three or four hundred people. So many people have lived together for generations, so they must know each other very well. Today, Uncle Qi died, but it doesn't seem like there are many fewer people here, and it doesn't seem like they have been affected at all."
"So this is what you've been talking about all this time!"
The monkey shrugged and said, "I think you're overthinking it. Fengmen Village is so isolated that even if they really wanted to give Uncle Qi a grand funeral, they would have to have the means! Just like the funeral processions we see in the city, do you think they're for the deceased to see? No, they're for the deceased's family to save face. Otherwise, wouldn't it be better to let their loved ones leave in peace?"
Furthermore, we already know the secret of Ping'an Village—their dead are sent to the willow grove to be raised as Gu poison. But don't forget, while we know this secret, the other villagers besides the clan leader may not. So, it's understandable that their funeral customs are somewhat low-key.
After listening to the monkey's words, I nodded and walked into the cafeteria.
The day before we left, we heard that many outsiders had come to Ping'an Village, but we didn't see any unfamiliar faces in the canteen. They were all villagers wearing hemp clothes.
After a quick lunch, I decided to take a walk around the village to see if I could find any clues related to Uncle Qi's funeral. However, after searching my pockets for a while at the entrance, I realized that I had forgotten to bring my lighter.
Just as I was hesitating whether to go back to my lodgings first, a voice suddenly came from behind me: "Young man, did you forget to bring Huo'er?"
I turned around and saw a man in his thirties smiling at me, handing me his lighter.
I leaned over, lit my cigarette, and nodded to the man: "Thank you."
"You're too kind. We're just people who travel the world; we always rely on friends when we're out and about!"
The man waved his hand dismissively: "Brother, Tumbling Leaf?"
The other party spoke in slang, and the leaves were swirling because of the wind. The word "wind" was a homophone for "sealed," referring to Fengmen Village.
I did not refute the man's words: "There is only one river here. If we can travel by boat here, we must be on the same route."
"Haha, you're a straightforward person."
The man smiled at me and said, "Since that's the case, I won't beat around the bush. Since we're all here for the same thing, we should help each other out and look out for one another. What do you think?"
Seeing that the man had come with a purpose, I raised an eyebrow and said, "I don't like beating around the bush, just say what you want to say."
"Haha, alright then, I'll just say what I have to say!"
The man nodded: "As you can probably see, Ping'an Village is definitely not as simple as it seems on the surface. We will all face various difficulties if we want to investigate this place, but we will also have our own areas of expertise. Therefore, the best way for us to achieve our goal is to share information with each other!"
If you've found any information, I hope you can share it with me. In return, I can share my own intelligence with you. Of course, if you find my terms unacceptable, I can pay you directly.
I looked at the man cautiously: "Before I decide whether to make a deal, can I know what kind of information you have?"
“We have both inside and outside the village. In fact, we should be the first team to arrive at Ping'an Village, but we just haven’t been able to enter the village yet! We’ve explored the area around the village and we even know the route through the maze outside!”
The man paused for a moment: "When we were exploring outside the village, we discovered some secrets about Ping'an Village. After entering the town, we also discovered some secrets, which I believe you will find interesting."
“We can make a deal, but you have to tell me first. If your terms don’t convince me, or if I feel you’re lying, I won’t tell you anything.”
I looked at the man seriously and said, "You can think I'm being unreasonable, and I may not tell you what I know. Whether you choose to exchange information with me is up to you."
"We're all strangers, and since this is the first time we've dealt with each other, someone has to show sincerity. I agree to your terms."
The man looked at me with a very open mind: "Do you want to know news from inside the village, or from outside the village?"
After thinking for a moment, I felt that news from outside Ping'an Village was no longer of much value to us: "It must be from within the village."
The man stated bluntly, "There's a big secret in Ping'an Village. The reason this village was designed in a circular shape is because it can conceal space!"
When I heard the other person say that they knew the route to and from Ping'an Village, I already guessed that this person was a master of formations. However, I still didn't quite understand what he was saying, so I didn't interrupt.
The man continued, "The buildings in Ping'an Village are all arranged in a ring, with neat interior spaces and rectangular shapes. Since they are arranged in a ring and close together, there must be a triangular gap between them. However, the back walls of all the buildings in this village are all flush. Every household in Ping'an Village must have an independent space! This means that there must be a huge secret hidden in this village!"
"Based on this information alone, we are probably not ready to exchange information."
I looked at the man with little interest: "This is just an unverified guess of yours, it's not really a secret, is it?"
The man added, "In addition to each household having its own independent space, the council hall in Ping'an Village is also very special. Its foundation and ground are all specially treated. Not only is the soil underground compacted, but bluestone slabs are also used for theft prevention, which means that there must be a hidden world underground in the council hall."
I was surprised by the man's reply: "You actually dug a tunnel in the village? Aren't you afraid of being discovered by the people of Ping'an Village?"
"So the information I'm giving you came at a risk."
The man looked me in the eye and asked, "Now do you think my information is valuable?"
I thought for a moment: "The village in the willow grove is a cemetery."
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