As long as you don't leave

"The Snake God... is sick?" Feng Yuqin didn't quite understand what Gu Yunqing meant.

How could a god be sick?

"I don't know." Gu Yundan pinched his forehead with one hand, "But it is said that the snake god was sick 18 years ago, and he was suffering from madness."

Ye Miaozhu continued, "We overheard this incident in a mansion at the east end of the village. A few people who looked like servants were discussing it privately. They said that... there are a few days every month when the snake god statue in the ancestral hall, which used to look kind, becomes ferocious and unrecognizable. The He family is very taboo about this. Whenever the snake god gets sick, the whole village will stay indoors, as if they are avoiding something."

"No wonder we didn't see a single door open on the way to the temple, and no one came to the temple to look up the almanac." Xie Si Ning suddenly realized, "So they were hiding from the crazy snake god."

"But this doesn't make sense." Zhang Yangxu shook his head and said, "If the snake god is really that dangerous when it gets sick, so dangerous that the entire He family in the village is so scared that they don't even dare to go out... then why didn't anything happen during the time we entered the ancestral hall, looked through the almanac, waited for people to come, and left the ancestral hall?"

Zhang Yangxu's doubts were also the doubts of everyone else, but no one could explain the reason.

This strange village is still shrouded in a fog of unknown.

In the silence, Ning Zhe's eyes moved slightly. He remembered the corpse he had hidden under the altar, and Lin Zhiyuan who had died strangely in front of the snake god without even a scream.

Perhaps, some things are not that they have not happened, but that they have already happened.

"No matter what the truth is, we can't go back to the ancestral hall to confirm it." Ning Zhe shook his head, took out his phone from his pocket, opened the album, and showed a photo in front of Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu: "This is the taboo of today. If you can't remember it, take a photo of it."

Ye Miaozhu immediately smiled happily: "Thank you so much, you've been a great help."

Zhang Yangxu looked at Ye Miaozhu and Gu Yunqing who were taking out their phones to take pictures, then looked at Ning Zhe who looked calm and composed without any flaws, and smiled inexplicably: "You are very careful."

Maybe a little too careful.

Today's luck:

[should:]

[Avoid: travel, burial, mourning, sacrifice]

"Then everyone knows about today's taboos." After taking the photos, Ning Zhe put away his phone and continued, "Among them, burials, funerals, and sacrifices are all taboos that require people to deliberately break the rules. The taboo of 'travel' has also been proven not to mean that we can't go out. We can move around normally within the village, but I don't know whether leaving the village is a taboo or whether it is dangerous."

"In other words, as long as you don't leave the village, you can do whatever you want today."

Ning Zhe took a deep breath, looked at everyone without showing any fear and said, "We have just exchanged information. Everyone present entered here through a 'door', so I boldly guess that the exit from this ghost place may be a 'door' hidden in the village. As long as we find it, we can return to the real world."

"A reasonable guess." Zhang Yangxu nodded: "I think I know what you mean."

"If we want to explore Hejia Village, today is the best opportunity. Although today is the day when the snake god went crazy, how do we know if tomorrow's taboo will be more dangerous than today's snake god?" Ning Zhe continued, "No one can be sure whether tomorrow's taboo will include a 'ban on breathing' or something else. Instead of waiting for death, it is better to take the initiative to find a way out, the sooner the better."

"I agree." Zhang Yangxu nodded.

"I also think that we can't just sit there and wait for death." Ye Miaozhu also agreed.

After a vote, everyone agreed with Ning Zhe's opinion, except Feng Yusu, who seemed to agree very reluctantly, and her face turned slightly pale with fear.

"Then let's agree on a time."

Gu Yunqing said, looking at his luminous watch:

"It is now 0:27 in the morning. Starting from this ancestral hall, we will split up in 3 minutes, two by two, to explore Hejia Village and look for clues to leave here.

One hour and a half later, at 2:00 a.m., everyone gathered at the entrance of the ancestral hall to exchange the information they had collected. "

"Okay." Xie Si Ning agreed first.

Zhang Yangxu and Ye Miaozhu naturally did not raise any objections. Gu Yunqing did not specify how to divide the groups into pairs. In fact, there was no need to say it. It is human instinct to form partnerships with people you are more familiar with in an unfamiliar environment.

"By the way, let's exchange phone numbers before we leave."

Ye Miaozhu suggested: "You should have all tried to call and send text messages to the outside world. The environment here is very special, and the signal seems to be blocked. Neither calls nor messages can be sent out."

"However, although we cannot get in touch with the outside world, we who are in the same village seem to be able to communicate with each other." As he said this, Ye Miaozhu took out his mobile phone and dialed a number.

A few seconds later, Gu Yunqing's cell phone began to vibrate and ring.

"Look, it's connected. People in the village can call each other, and text messages should be possible too." Ye Miaozhu shook her phone: "So before we split up, let's exchange phone numbers first, so that we can inform each other if anything happens."

"So that's how it is. Thank you for telling me." Ning Zhe thanked her and exchanged phone numbers with her.

In fact, he had just used Lin Zhiyuan's mobile phone to test that people in the village could communicate with each other, but Ning Zhe was still very surprised by Ye Miaozhu's reminder.

Because he came to Hejia Village alone, he should not have any channels to know about this matter.

Three minutes later, everyone exchanged mobile phone numbers, tested dialing each other, and were ready to set off.

Zhang Yangxu and Xie Sining, Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu, the two groups tacitly left the gate of the ancestral hall and walked towards different forks in the alley.

"It's great to have acquaintances. Even if I end up in a hellhole like this, I can still have someone to look after me." Ning Zhe smiled bitterly and shook his head. He turned around and looked at Feng Yushu who was still standing at the alley entrance: "Then we are a group, Auntie, let's go."

"...Okay." Feng Yusu bravely stepped forward and walked into the depths of the alley with Ning Zhe.

It had just rained tonight and the sky was gloomy. The streets without lights were dark and it was pitch dark in the alleys beside the streets.

Feng Yuxu took out her cell phone and was about to turn on the flashlight, but was stopped by Ning Zhe.