A few weeks ago, I took a short trip along the coast of Zhejiang and experienced something extremely bizarre. Curious readers kept asking me where I went. Now, let me tell you—it's a place called the Deserted Village.
It all starts with my recent book, "Ghost Inn." As the name suggests, the story of this horror novel takes place in a place called the Ghost Inn, which is located in the deserted village—a small mountain village in Zhejiang, nestled between the sea and a cemetery. Because it faces a desolate coastline, it's called the deserted village. In fact, I've never been to the deserted village, because this place is purely my fiction—to provide a unique setting for the novel. I think if it weren't for that autograph sale, the deserted village would have always existed in my imagination.
The signed book sale for "Ghost Inn" was held at a bookstore located inside the subway. For some reason, they scheduled the signing after 7 p.m. That night, I sat behind a table near the bookstore entrance. The signing lasted about two hours, and the effect was pretty good. Nine o'clock was when the bookstore closed, and the subway lobby gradually thinned out. I sat alone behind the autograph table, head down, organizing my things, getting ready to go home. Suddenly, I heard faint footsteps. I immediately looked up and saw a young girl standing in front of me—she wore a very ill-fitting oversized sweater with a hem almost knee-high, carrying a cheap faux leather bag behind her. Her long black hair was tied in a ponytail, looking like a college student. She lowered her gaze, holding my "Ghost Inn" in both hands, silently placing the book on the autograph table. I was a bit dazed at the time. Shanghai's winter nights were biting cold, and the bookstore's air conditioning was broken, making me shiver from the cold. She was the last reader to ask me for an autograph that night, but she remained expressionless and silent, as if she had tossed the book to the cashier. I paused for a moment, tilted my head up, and studied her carefully. She had a delicate face, very likable, and even evoked a hint of sympathy. I opened the title page of the book, looked into her eyes, and asked, "May I ask your name?" She was stunned for a moment, her eyelids lowered, and answered in a soft voice, "Xiaozhi." "Xiaozhi?""It's strange, I immediately thought of the name of a flute," is it the 'small' in size and the 'branch' in leaf? She didn't say anything, just nodded. I furrowed my brows and wrote "Xiaozhi Huicun" on the title page, then signed it. I handed the book back to her and said, "Thank you for coming so late to buy my book." She finally opened her eyes wide and looked at me, as if wanting to say something, but her lips moved but she couldn't get the words out. I raised my eyebrows at her, signaling her to calm down. Finally, she took a deep breath and said, "I come from a desolate village." At first, I didn't understand, but she just stared at me blankly until my expression changed—Deserted Village? The place name from my novel finally flashed through my mind. I looked at the girl in front of me in confusion, named Xiaozhi—could she have come out of my novel? Facing my sharp gaze, she lowered her head again and mumbled a few words, as if to say, "I'm sorry." She picked up the book and hurriedly ran out of the bookstore. Deserted Village? It felt like something grabbed my heart. I immediately spread my legs and rushed out of the bookstore, and just before entering the subway ticket gate, I finally called out to her. She was startled and awkwardly turned around: "Sorry, is there something you need?" Actually, I was even more embarrassed than she was, nervously rubbing my hands and saying, "Can I—I treat you to a cup of tea?" She hesitated for a moment: "Alright, I'll give you ten minutes." Three minutes later, I took her to a tea room above the subway. She sat across from me, still not saying a word, just lowering her head to sip her tea. I checked my watch; she didn't have much time left. I coughed and said, "Sorry, you said—you're from the Huangcun?" Xiaozhi finally lifted her head, stared into my eyes, and nodded her chin slightly. "Where is Huangcun?" "In Xileng Town, K City, Zhejiang Province." Just as you wrote in your novel: the deserted village is nestled between the sea and the cemetery. ”? Looking into her black, jade-like eyes, I believed she wouldn't lie: "Are you saying the Desert Village really exists?" "Of course, the Desert Village has existed for hundreds of years. I was born and raised in the Desert Village, so I am a villager." She avoided my gaze and said calmly, "I think you must have never been to Xileng Town, let alone the Deserted Village."I suddenly felt a bit embarrassed: 'Yes, I just saw Xiling Town on the map. As for Huangcun, it was completely fictional on my part. I thought the name fit the atmosphere needed for the novel. I didn't expect Huangcun to actually exist, and that a person from Huangcun would come to ask me for a signature. Thank you for telling me about this.'
'Actually, tonight I just happened to pass by here, intending to take the subway back to school, and saw the advertisement outside the bookstore. I read your book a few days ago and was deeply impressed, so I came in and bought another one for you to sign.'
'So it was just a coincidence—I coincidentally wrote about an actually existing Huangcun in my novel, and you, as a person from Huangcun, coincidentally encountered me at this subway bookstore.'
Xiao Zhi nodded slightly.
I continued to ask, 'You just said you wanted to take the subway back to school? Are you studying at university in Shanghai?'
'Yes, I'm a sophomore this year.'
Suddenly, I looked at my wristwatch and said, 'Your time with me is up.'
'Sorry, I have an exam tomorrow and need to return to school early.'
She hurriedly stood up, still with her head down as she walked out. At that moment, I made an important decision in my heart—I immediately ran up to stop her: 'Xiao Zhi, after your exam, the school will have winter break, right?'
'Yes. I'll go home when winter break comes.'
'Back to Huangcun?'
Xiao Zhi seemed a little scared: 'Of course.'
'I want to go to Huangcun too.'
'What?' She clearly wasn't prepared, just shaking her head in confusion: 'Impossible… This is impossible… Please don't joke like this.'
'I'm not joking. I've already decided. I just want to see the place that appeared in my novel—it must be very interesting. You see, Huangcun is exactly as I wrote in the novel: between the sea and the cemetery. Since it's such a coincidence, I must be destined to have a connection with Huangcun. Xiao Zhi, all you need to do is lead me there.'
She looked into my eyes, furrowed her brows, and took a big step back. I could only feel a faint fear radiating from her. Her breathing became rapid: 'No, I don't know…'
I laughed awkwardly and said, 'Of course, we are merely strangers passing by; you can certainly say no. How about this: I'll give you my business card. If you're willing to take me to Huangcun, give me a call.'After speaking, I hurriedly shoved my business card into Xiaozhi's hand. She seemed a bit at a loss, like a small wild animal trying to escape a hunter, and turned her head away, quickly running out of the tea room. I slowly followed her, watching her disappear into the cold streets of Shanghai.
She came from a remote village. Two weeks passed, and Xiaozhi had not contacted me. I thought perhaps she had already returned to the remote village. Or maybe the remote village didn't even exist, and it was just a joke of hers? I had almost forgotten about it, along with the girl named Xiaozhi.
But one morning, the phone suddenly rang. Sleepily, I answered and heard a faint female voice…… After a few moments of daze, I suddenly opened my eyes wide—was it her? It was her. That morning, Xiaozhi suddenly called me, with the same tone and mannerism: she agreed to my request and could take me to the remote village. We would meet tomorrow morning at the long-distance bus station.
Early the next morning, I arrived at the long-distance bus station on time. It was the peak of the Spring Festival travel rush, and I pushed through the crowd for a long time before finally spotting Xiaozhi. I waved at her; her expression was a bit surprised, and she nodded reluctantly.
Half an hour later, Xiaozhi and I boarded a long-distance bus, with Xiling Town in K City, Zhejiang Province, as the final destination. She sat by the window, wrapped in a thick coat, with a scarf around her neck covering her chin and cheeks. As the bus left the city, the fields on either side of the Shanghai-Hangzhou Expressway were grayish yellow, the scenery gradually becoming monotonous. This dull journey would last another seven hours. I felt increasingly awkward. Since getting on the bus, Xiaozhi hadn't said a word, seemingly oblivious to my presence. It was as if an invisible barrier made of air surrounded her, firmly confining her inside, and stepping beyond it felt like plunging into an abyss.
After the bus entered Zhejiang, I finally couldn't help but ask, “Why won't you speak?”
Xiaozhi finally turned slightly: “What do you want me to say?”
“Say anything. Are you afraid of taking me to the remote village? Suddenly feeling regretful?” I looked into her eyes and whispered, “If you say you regret it, I'll return to Shanghai at the next stop.”
She pulled the scarf slightly down and said softly, “No, I don't regret it, I just don't know what to say.”
“Just talk about the remote village.”
“It's just an ordinary small village, with the sea on one side and a cemetery on the other.”
“Anything else?”"I stared into Xiaozhi's eyes and asked. But she always avoided my gaze, and I could sense something terrifying hiding in her eyes, doing its utmost to keep me from noticing. And my task was to excavate those things from her eyes, like a mysterious archaeological activity.\n\n'You said before that the abandoned village has existed for hundreds of years?'\n\n'According to my dad, the ancestors of the people in the abandoned village came from the Central Plains. After the Jingkang Incident during the Song dynasty, they fled with Emperor Gaozong Zhao Gou to Zhejiang. Since they were refugees from far away, they could only settle on a desolate coastline.'\n\n'That means it's been over eight hundred years.'\n\nAt this moment, Xiaozhi quietly turned her head, and the winter sunlight poured through the car window, casting a layer of white metallic glow on her face. Against the monotony of the scenery outside, her face looked vividly alive…\n\nBy three o'clock in the afternoon, we arrived at Xiling Town. The town is surrounded by continuous green mountains and, like many small coastal towns in Zhejiang, is full of people running small businesses. Xiaozhi didn't seem to like Xiling Town; her scarf almost covered half her face. We passed through the train station and got on an old minibus, which would take us to the abandoned village.\n\nThe minibus drove onto a country road, flanked by winter fields and forests, all exuding a sense of somberness. As we went up a hill, the surroundings became increasingly bleak. Apart from exposed rocks, there were only some low shrubs, trembling constantly in the cold wind. I stared out the window without blinking; compared to the bustling Xiling Town, this place felt like a completely different world.\n\nWhen the minibus struggled up a high hill, I suddenly whispered, 'The sea!'\n\nI saw the sea in the distance—the dark sea. I had seen the sea countless times before, but in this desolate place, the feeling it gave was entirely different. Hard to describe in words, under the dim clouds of dusk, the distant horizon appeared blurred, like a gloomy oil painting.\n\n'Xiaozhi, have you seen "The Jamaica Inn"? It's really strange. We only crossed one mountain, and it feels as if we've come from Zhejiang in China to the desolate southwest coast of England.'\n\n'I saw it in high school, that's why I liked the novels you write.'\n\nHearing her words, I couldn't help feeling a little secretly proud."After bumping along for more than ten minutes, my eyes suddenly opened up to a clear view, and a huge stone archway appeared—the deserted village had arrived. I helped Xiao Zhi carry her luggage out of the car and looked up at the intimidating stone archway. The arch was at least tens of meters high, with many intricate stone carvings. In the center of the arch were four large Chinese characters in regular script—'Chastity and Yin-Yang.'
I didn't know what these four characters meant, but placed on this grand archway, they sent chills down my spine. The sky had begun to darken, and the shadow of the arch was cast over me, deeply startling me. Xiao Zhi reached out and poked me: "What's wrong?"
"Unbelievable, I actually can see such a large archway in this deserted village!"
"This is a chastity archway granted by the emperor. Hundreds of years ago, during the Jiajing period of the Ming dynasty, a person from this village became a jinshi and served as a high official in the court. The emperor granted this archway to honor his mother." A cold wind from the sea blew, and Xiao Zhi wrapped her scarf tighter, "Stop looking, let's go into the village quickly."
I first determined the directions: to the east was a large area of rocks and cliffs, with the turbulent black sea visible, and a thick layer of dark clouds over the horizon. The other sides were continuous mountain ranges, desolate and barren. Behind this chastity archway lay the deserted village I had been seeking in my dreams.
Through the tall archway, I could see the ancient tiled...
