The invincible female ghost is a bit love-struck.

Chapter 312 Shen Yanshan

As soon as Wang Chengan uttered "Here," the shadow at his feet was severed at waist height.

While his upper body was still standing in the snow, his lower body was being dragged south by an unseen force.

The dark shadow stretched swiftly along the ground, passing through the stone platform and over the recently collapsed council altar, like a rope being pulled from a well.

Wang Chengan's face turned pale.

"I didn't answer that."

Lu Yuan grabbed him by the back of his collar.

"I know."

Another roll call came from the direction of Majia Gou.

"Wang Cheng'an".

This time, there was a hint of urging in his voice.

Wang Chengan gritted his teeth and shut his mouth.

But the remaining shadow beneath his feet unfolded on its own, answering for him: "Here."

""

The sound came from the soles of his feet.

The shadow suddenly stiffened, and Wang Cheng'an was pulled forward.

Xu Erxiao grabbed his belt with his backhand, while Lin Zhaoxuan and Zhou Heng held down their shoulders on either side. Song Qinghe shone the bronze lamp at Wang Chengan's feet.

As the blue flame subsided, everyone saw a string of words floating in the shadows: "Wangjiatun Main Tent, Majiagou First Register, one of the six is ​​missing."

Wang Chengan looked down at the line of text.

"It didn't count me in the six people."

"I've settled accounts with you."

Lu Yuan squatted down and used the tip of his knife to pry open the edge of the shadow.

What was revealed in the shadows was not Wang Cheng'an's face, but an old account book.

The paper records the migration, land allocation, marriage, and grain rations of a family in Wangjiatun. The last column reads: "Heir of the main account: Wang Shouyi's son, Wang Cheng'an."

Wang Chengan was startled.

"My father's name."

"It wasn't your father," Lu Yuandao said. "It was them who wrote down the inheritance for your father."

"Your father didn't take over back then, so this column has been empty ever since. Just now, you refused Qi Shousuan in the accounting office, so it wanted to put this empty account back on you."

At the other end of the snowfield, the severed body of the half-standing gatekeeper suddenly moved.

All that remained of him was his wooden chest and abdomen, and the blank paper on his face had been mostly blown away by the wind.

At this moment, he raised a wooden hand and pressed it down on the old account paper in Wang Cheng'an's shadow.

"I haven't finished writing yet."

Lu Yuan looked at him.

"What name did you choose?"

The wooden figure looked down at its hands.

On half a sheet of white paper, the unfinished character is slowly growing, first a left-falling stroke, then a horizontal stroke, and finally revealing a crooked "自".

"Self-preservation".

"It wasn't decided for me by someone else."

"I chose it myself."

"Then why are you helping them capture people?"

"All I know how to do is set up a door."

The wooden figure raised its head.

"With the door standing there, people should naturally follow the rules."

"If you knew the rules would harm people, would you still establish them?"

The wooden figure remained silent for a long time.

"If I don't set an example, someone else will set an even worse one."

"So you're letting the broken door stand up first?"

Lu Yuan sheathed his sword.

Whether a door is broken or not doesn't depend on who installed it first.

"Can the person behind the door come out?"

The self-protecting wooden body trembled slightly. He looked at the shadow of Wang Cheng'an who was being dragged along, and his wooden fingers pierced into the shadow, tearing the old account paper apart bit by bit.

The sound of people calling roll in the Majia Gou well suddenly became sharp.

"The rules of the council are abolished; interference with the land registry is prohibited!"

"Those who guard the mountains don't concern themselves with the village registers!"

"Retreat back to the mountain pass!"

The wooden finger that had been guarding itself was broken off by a force, and the severed finger fell to the ground, from which thick black ink seeped out.

He did not back down.

"You said that the twelve proposals for guarding the mountain were abolished."

"But the registers of the thirty-six villages are still in use."

He raised his other hand and grabbed the second piece of paper from the shadows.

"Then I will set up another gate."

Wang Chengan was startled.

"You still want to build a door?"

"Build a door that allows people to enter and exit."

Who will guard the gate?

"No one is guarding it."

"Then who will drive?"

"Those who want to leave can drive themselves."

Jishou used his broken wooden finger to draw an arc on the snow.

The arc is not closed; it leaves a gap at the end.

Unlike any of the previous doors.

Lu Yuan looked at the gap and nodded, saying, "It was the right thing to leave the door open."

As the shadow fell along the arc, Wang Cheng'an's figure suddenly relaxed.

The old account paper was torn in two and fell to the ground. The four characters "Main Account Succession" on the paper turned to ash, and Wang Cheng'an's shadow returned to his feet.

But the roll call at the Majiagou mine did not stop.

"Wang Cheng'an, one is missing."

"Wang Cheng'an, first volume awaits verification."

"Wang Cheng'an, return to the village for roll call."

Wang Chengan took a few breaths.

"It knows we're going to Majiagou."

"It doesn't know," Lu Yuandao said. "It's waiting."

Lin Zhaoxuan squatted down to examine the red paper.

The well shadows on the thirty-six pieces of red paper are gradually deepening. What was once just a drawing is now showing signs of water gushing from the well openings. Seven shadows stand beside each well, six of them close together, while the seventh stands at the bottom of the well, looking up at them.

"Each village has a public well."

"The well is the entrance to the old camp," Wang Cheng'an said. "Majia Gou is the first village, so we're the first to be called."

Zhou Heng picked up a piece of red paper.

The place names on the paper were suddenly changed.

"Majia Gou: Roll call at the first village."

"Liujiagou: Re-registration of Marriage Households"

"Xiaoshitun: Mother's name to be determined."

When Xu Erxiao saw the last five words, his fingers clenched tightly.

"They're using my mother's name as bait."

Lu Yuan said, "Let's go back to Majiagou first."

"But isn't there a fake Zhou Heng at the bottom of that well?" Zhou Heng asked.

"The fake Zhou Heng has been taken away by the old shadows of the main altar."

"There's something else down in the well."

"It is precisely because there is still something there that we must go back."

The wooden body that had been guarding itself was fading more and more.

He traced the unclosed arc onto a wooden plaque and handed it to Lu Yuan.

"This is a missing door."

"From now on, everyone may leave a gap in the door."

"When you dismantle the door, don't patch up the gaps."

Lu Yuan took the wooden plaque.

"You're staying here?"

""

"I have no name."

"Now we have it."

"Self-discipline is a title I've chosen myself; it may not be recognized by others."

"Acknowledge it yourself first."

Zi Shou looked down at the arc on the wooden sign.

"Then I will guard this breach."

After he finished speaking, the wooden body crumbled into a layer of fine ash, which fell onto the twelve new regulation plaques. At the same time, a small character "自" appeared on the back of each of the twelve wooden plaques.

The group did not stop.

They headed south along the route they had come from.

It was completely dark, but the snowfield was shrouded in darkness by the thirty-six pieces of red paper. Every time they passed a piece of red paper, the reflection of the well on it would make a splashing sound, as if someone had turned over at the bottom of the well.

When they reached the vicinity of the rafting ground, Wang Chengan suddenly stopped.

One piece is missing.

Everyone looked at the red paper.

Of the thirty-six pieces, the one that originally belonged to Wangjiatun is missing.

Wang Chengan reached for the ancestral tent in his arms.

The ancestral tent remained unchanged, but a wet stain appeared on the bottom, as if it had just been pulled out of well water.

The dampness slowly seeped out, revealing the words: "Wangjiatun, not welcoming its old master."

Wang Chengan remained silent for a moment.

"Did my father leave from here?"

Lu Yuandao: "Didn't you say he had never been to Beishankou?"

"That's what my family said."

Do you believe it?

Wang Chengan did not answer.

He suddenly remembered that in the last few years of his father's life, he would often sit behind the accounting room late at night, holding that old abacus in his hand, but never moving the beads. Once, Wang Cheng'an asked him why he didn't do the abacus, and his father only said, "Some accounts, even if you calculate the result, you can't accept it."

He didn't understand at the time.

Only now do I understand that my father may not have never been to North Pass, but rather that he came and refused to become part of the old rules.

Wang Chengan took out the ancestral book and turned to the last page.

Below that ancestral precept, another sentence has appeared at some point: "If one day the abacus rings on its own, do not return to its former master's place."

Wang Chengan's hands began to tremble.

"This was written by my father."

"It's not for me."

"to whom?"

"For the person who takes the abacus later."

Lu Yuan looked at him.

"Your father knew that this scheme would eventually find its way to the Wang family."

In the distance, a fire suddenly lit up in the rafting area.

It was neither a green lamp nor an oil lamp.

It was a paper lantern hanging on a discarded wooden frame.

A woman stood under the lantern.

The woman was wearing an old cotton-padded jacket, her hair was tied up tightly, and she was carrying a bamboo basket. She had her back to the six people and was talking to a well that was sealed with wooden planks.

"Wang Cheng'an is back."

"Aren't you going to come out and greet us?"

Xu Erxiao whispered, "Who is she?"

Wang Chengan shook his head.

"Never seen it before."

The woman slowly turned around.

Her face was very ordinary; there was nothing unusual about her eyebrows, eyes, nose, or lips, except that there was no shadow on her face.

"The Wang family is still the same as before."

"He knows how to use an abacus, but he doesn't know the way."

She placed the bamboo basket by the well and lifted the white cloth covering it.

There were six bowls of steaming soup in the basket.

Despite the cold snow, the soup was steaming hot, and there were six pairs of chopsticks on the side of the bowl.

Upon smelling the aroma, Xu Erxiao's stomach rumbled involuntarily.

The woman smiled.

"We've traveled such a long way, let's have a bowl first."

Song Qinghe immediately blocked the light.

When the blue flame shone on it, what floated on the six bowls of soup were not scallions, but thin pieces of paper with names on them.

Each bowl corresponds to one person.

The bowl in Lu Yuan's hand has "Lu Yuan" written on it.

The bowl in Wang Cheng'an's hand has "Wang Cheng'an" written on it.

The bowl in Xu Erxiao's bowl was labeled "Xu Liushi".

Xu Erxiao's expression immediately changed.

"That's my mother's name."

The woman said, "Weren't you looking for her maiden name?"

"Drink this bowl first, and someone down in the well will tell you."

Xu Erxiao took a step forward.

Lu Yuan blocked the way with his sword.

"How did you learn about Xu Liushi?"

"The well in Majiagou knows."

"Wells don't have ears."

There are people from thirty-six villages in the well.

The woman reached out and picked up Xu Erxiao's bowl of soup.

The paper name in the soup was turned over, and a line of small characters appeared on the back: "Liujiagou, Liu Sanniang".

Xu Erxiao's breath hitched.

The woman handed him the bowl.

"This is your mother's given name."

"Drink it, and you'll remember what she looked like when she was young."

Xu Erxiao reached out to take it.

Lu Yuan spun the knife tip and knocked the soup bowl over.

The bowl shattered on the snow, and the hot soup quickly froze. A young woman's face appeared in the ice, looking up at Xu Erxiao.

"Second Little One".

The sound was faint, as if it came from under the eaves of a very distant house.

Xu Erxiao froze.

"mother?"

The woman on the ice cried out again.

"Second Little One, don't go with them."

"Come back."

"Your mother saved some food for you."

Xu Erxiao's eyes reddened.

Many years ago, his mother would call him to eat from the kitchen in Xiaoshitun. He was still young then, and he would deliberately dawdle because he thought the food was too hot.

His mother would always put the bowl on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), scold him a couple of times, and then pick out the biggest piece of meat and hide it at the bottom of the rice.

The voice is so similar.

Even the ending sounds are exactly the same.

Lu Yuan, however, was looking at the ice surface.

"Xu Erxiao, what does your mother call you?"

"Second Little One".

"If she's really down in the well, does she know how old you are?"

Xu Erxiao didn't say anything.

Will she still call you "Second Little"?

The woman on the ice continued to laugh.

"Second Little One, come back quickly."

Xu Erxiao slowly squatted down and reached out to touch the ice.

The face in the ice suddenly changed.

The woman's mouth was split open to her ears, and her eyes were filled with well water.

"I've found your mother's name."

"You should also leave your name behind."

The wooden planks beside the well vibrated simultaneously.

The shadows behind the woman spread out to the ground, numbering as many as seven. Six of the shadows surrounded Xu Erxiao, with the one in the very center holding up a wedding plaque.

Xu Erxiao abruptly withdrew his hand and slashed down with his short sword.

The ice surface cracked.

That face, along with the shards of the soup bowl, sank into the snow.

The woman sighed.

"You guys are always like this."

"Clearly wanting to know, but pretending not to."

Lu Yuandao said, "A real name wouldn't use the voice of a relative to force someone to drink soup."

The woman looked at him.

How do you know that wasn't her?

"Because if she really had something to say, she would first ask you how you've been all these years."

"We won't ask you if you want to be registered first."

The smile on the woman's face gradually disappeared.

She stepped back, her shoe sole landing on the manhole cover.

"Then come down and see for yourselves."

He folded up like a piece of paper and fell into the well.

The space under the manhole cover was empty.

The woman fell without a sound. Only the paper lantern by the well continued to sway, its light casting shadows on the wooden planks, as if nothing had happened.

Xu Erxiao rushed to the well and ripped off the remaining half of the well cover.

There is no water in the well.

The well walls were covered with red paper, each bearing the names of thirty-six villages. Underneath each sheet of red paper was a black thread, which converged at the bottom of the well and finally tied to a square stone slab.

The words "Shoutun" are engraved in the center of the stone slab.

Wang Chengan leaned down and glanced at it, his face suddenly darkening.

"This is not Yijing."

"Yoshii is up there."

"The main shaft is below."

Xu Erxiao asked, "What's the difference?"

"The well above is for people to draw water."

"The well below is for the book to fetch people."

"6

Suddenly, the sound of an abacus being turned came from the bottom of the well.

a bit.

Two times.

On the third strike, the empty abacus frame in Wang Cheng'an's arms floated up on its own and flew towards the well opening.

Lu Yuan cleaved the wooden frame with a single blow.

The wooden frame, pressed against the well's edge by the knife, continued to vibrate. The handprint in the seventh groove became increasingly clear, the five fingers gradually growing knuckles, but the fingertips all pointed towards Wang Cheng'an.

"It's still looking for the main tent," Wang Chengan said.

"It's not looking for the head accountant," Lin Zhaoxuan said, looking at the red papers. "It's looking for someone who can sign on behalf of the thirty-six villages."

A woman's voice echoed from the bottom of the well: "Descendant of the Wang family, with a single stroke of your pen, the thirty-six villages will acknowledge you."

"Majia Gou recognizes you, Wangjia Tun recognizes you, and Xiaoshi Tun also recognizes you."

"You register their names, allocate land for them, and determine who is a registered household and who is a runaway household."

"From then on, there was no more chaos outside the pass."

Wang Chengan stared at the bottom of the well.

"And the price?"

"No cost."

"Then that's not your word."

The woman in the well laughed, "The only price is that you'll be stuck in Shoutun forever."

"You will have a house, food, and someone to call you 'sir'."

"With a single stroke of your pen, everyone will listen to you."

"Isn't this exactly what your Wang family wanted?"

Wang Chengan gripped the knife handle tightly.

"My father never worked as a teacher in his entire life."

"He only keeps accounts for others."

"It's because he refused to stand up for others that you accused him of stealing and evading debts."

Suddenly, the red paper on the well wall flipped over.

Behind each one lies a memory of the past.

The old folks in Wangjiatun say that Wang Shouyi stole the abacus.

The well keeper of Majiagou said that Wang Shouyi had altered the accounts without authorization.

The clan chief of Xiaoshitun said that Wang Shouyi refused to hand over the master register.

The voices from the thirty-six villages overlapped, like a roar: "Debts not repaid!"

"The Lord's name will not return."

"A descendant of the Wang family, succeeding his father in taking over the family business."

Wang Chengan's expression grew increasingly grim.

Lu Yuan didn't look at the old photos, but only at the bottom of the well wall, where a piece of red paper was placed.

Along the edge of the red paper was a line of very small writing: "This statement has not been confirmed by the person in question."

Lu Yuan threw the broken sword.

The blade stuck into the red paper, and a handprint immediately appeared on the paper.

"Wang Cheng'an, don't listen to what they're saying."

"Let's see who wrote it."

Wang Chengan suddenly realized.

He took a white bead out of his bag and flicked it towards the well wall.

The white pearl struck the red paper, and the writing on the paper separated layer by layer.

The surface layer is a collection of seals from the Thirty-Six Villages.

The middle level is defined by the word "public opinion".

At the very bottom, there was only a handprint wearing a white glove.

Han Shoumo.

No, to be precise, it was an old palm print that Han Shoumo had used before.

But next to that palm print, there was another line of new words: "In the name of the thirty-six villages, the chief village's main tent is established."

The signature is not Han Shoumo.

It is a character "沈" with only half of it.

Shen Yanshan.

Xu Erxiao cursed, "Wasn't he tearing down the signs on the platform?"

Lu Yuandao said, "Shen Yanshan only dismantled the old altar on the mountain."

"He didn't move from Tun Ce at the foot of the mountain."

Wang Chengan removed the empty abacus frame from under the knife.

"He knew we would come to Majiagou."

"So we made the red paper for the Thirty-Six Villages show up ahead of time."

Lin Zhaoxuan said, "He doesn't want you to take over the main tent."

"He wants to drive you to the bottom of the well, and then make you dismantle all the old names of the Thirty-Six Villages for him under the pretext of refusing."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Xu Erxiao asked.

"And then what happens after it's taken apart?" Zhou Heng asked. "No one cleans it up."

"Shen Yanshan could say that only the council can clean up the mess."

Lu Yuan nodded.

"He wants to disrupt the old rules first, and then make everyone ask for a new headquarters."

The woman's voice at the bottom of the well turned cold and sinister.

"If you are unwilling to return to the public treasury, then let the thirty-six villages fight over it themselves."

"Every well has its own history."

"Married households, land deeds, ancestral names, deceased persons, and runaway households."

"Can you sort this out one by one?"

Lu Yuandao said, "Even if we can't finish sorting it out, we should start from the very first one."

"Then let's start by having you go down into the well."

The red paper on the well wall also burned at the same time.

The fire wasn't red, but a ghastly white.

From the darkness at the bottom of the well, a stone staircase slowly emerged.

Paper figures stood on both sides of the stone steps.

Each paper figure has a red paper pasted on its chest. Some say "Village Chief", some say "Clan Elder", some say "Taoist Principal", some say "Marriage Master", and some say "Nameless Public Guardian".

They all looked up.

"Those going down the well, please state your name first."

Xu Erxiao said, "It's the same old routine again."

"If you don't report it, the matter cannot be resolved."

"I don't want to go either."

He pointed to the bottom of the well wall.

"But my mother's name is there."

"If you want to know Liu San Niang's real name, then tell her that she is the son of Xu Liu Shi."

Xu Erxiao's fingers slowly tightened.

That's not my name.

The paper figures all opened their mouths at the same time.

"But this is all you have."

Xu Erxiao stepped onto the edge of the well.

"I am Xu Erxiao."

"Xu Liu's son is a part of me."

Not all of them.

A sharp screech suddenly came from the bottom of the well.

The paper figures at the front burned to ashes, but a line of blood-written words appeared on the stone steps: "Xu Erxiao, refuses to return home."

Wang Chengan glanced at it.

"It even criminalizes refusal."

Lu Yuandao said, "Because its booklet doesn't have a 'unwilling' section."

He took out the wooden plaque left by Zishou from his pocket and pressed the unclosed arc against the edge of the well.

The blood-red characters on the well wall immediately broke off.

A faint light fell from the arc of the wooden sign, leaving a gap at the wellhead.

"Now we have it."

Lu Yuan said to the bottom of the well, "People can go down into the well, or they can stay in."

"You can register, or you can refuse to register."

"If you insist on admitting it, then I will not enter this well today."

Silence at the bottom of the well.

Xu Erxiao looked at Lu Yuan and nodded.

"I'm getting off."

"But not because it told me to get off."

"I also want to see my mother's name myself."

He first stepped onto the stone steps.

The stone steps were narrow, feeling like walking on a layer of wet paper. With each step, the paper figures on either side would whisper a name.

"Zhang Youcai".

"Zhang Shoujing".

"Zhang Erhu".

"Zhang Wangying".

The same surname was split into four categories, and in the end, it turned into a cry.

Xu Erxiao did not stop.

"A person is just a person."

Wang Chengan followed behind him.

"Repeated records should be processed in separate volumes."

Lin Zhaoxuan said, "The old name and the new name are listed side by side."

Zhou Heng said, "The deceased's memories are not limited to their physical appearance."

Song Qinghe said, "The remaining name needs to be verified; we will not force a claim."

Lu Yuan was the last to go down the well.

As he passed the well, he suddenly saw a figure on the snow outside.

Shen Yanshan stood in the center of the waste wood yard, with no lights or footprints around him.

He did not stop him, but simply gazed at the wellhead from afar.

Lu Yuan paused for a moment.

Shen Yanshan raised his hand and pointed to the empty abacus frame left by Wang Cheng'an.

A line of small characters appeared on the wooden frame at some point: "Beneath the main well, someone awaits their master."

Shen Yanshan then turned and headed south.

Lu Yuan withdrew his gaze and descended the stone steps.

The bottom of the well was wider than I had imagined.

At the end of the stone steps was a circular stone chamber, with a black wooden cabinet standing in the center. The cabinet had thirty-six drawers, each engraved with the name of a village.

The woman stood in front of the wooden cabinet.

She was no longer the ordinary woman she once was.

He was draped in thirty-six red cloths, and his face was divided into thirty-six pieces, each corresponding to an old face of a village.

"We've arrived at Shoutun."

She pointed to the wooden cabinet.

"In each drawer, there is a list of names."

"If you just rearrange the drawers, you'll be able to find Liu San Niang."

Wang Chengan walked to the counter.

"What's in the drawer?"

"Household register".

"Open it and take a look."

The woman did not move.

Lu Yuan raised his knife and pried open the nearest drawer.

Instead of booklets, the drawer contained layers of tightly wrapped red thread. At the end of the thread was a small wooden tag with a name engraved on it.

Each sign is connected by three lines, which lead to "origin", "marriage household", and "main name".

One of the wooden signs started to shake.

"Zhao Yulan".

The sign reads on the back: "Originally from Liujiagou, married into Majiagou, and became the head of the Zhao family household."

Lu Yuan severed the red thread connecting the "main name".

The wooden sign immediately became lighter, and the previously blurry three characters "Zhao Yulan" became clear.

The woman shrieked, "Don't break it!"

"The marriage must be arranged by a designated person."

"A married couple having a husband, wife, children, and a family does not mean that one party must swallow up the other."

Wang Chengan opened the second drawer.

The wooden signs inside were densely packed with the words "Pending Verification".

Some wooden signs read "No insurance," some read "Absentee household," and some simply read "Woman of a certain family."

Zhou Heng saw a wooden plaque and suddenly reached out and picked it up.

"Chen Qiuyue".

The back of the plaque bears only one Taoist inscription: "Outer gate of Qingsong Temple, lost in the twelfth lunar month."

Zhou Heng's fingertips trembled slightly.

He had seen the name in the old registers of Qingsong Temple.

Chen Qiuyue was not his senior sister, but a fellow disciple who fled with him. That year, the sect was destroyed, and they broke out separately. Zhou Heng always thought she had died inside the pass.

Behind the wooden sign, however, was a newly added line of small characters: "Married into Majiagou, renamed Ma Qiu."

Zhou Heng looked at the woman.

"Is she still alive?"

The woman said, "I was once alive."

"Where are you now?"

"The name was put in the closet, but its whereabouts are unknown."

"You've taken her name, but you don't remember where she went?"

"No one reported it later."

"Then it should be investigated."

"No one in Majiagou is willing to investigate."

Zhou Heng gripped the wooden plaque tightly.

"I'll check."

He circled the three characters "Chen Qiuyue" with a copper coin and wrote on the back: "Zhou Heng, a fellow disciple of Qingsong Temple, recognized her as her old name. Her whereabouts are yet to be determined. She cannot be replaced by Ma Qiu."

One of the black threads on the wooden sign immediately broke.

The woman lunged at him.

Lin Zhaoxuan flicked out ink threads, which entangled her thirty-six strips of red cloth.

"She maintained her figure by relying on these books."

"Splitting the lines first!"

The six men each lunged at the wooden cabinet.

Lu Yuan was responsible for severing the "main name" line, Wang Chengan was responsible for numbering and rearranging, Xu Erxiao specifically picked out the signs that said "unclaimed" or "attached household", Lin Zhaoxuan separated the chaotic origin lines, Zhou Heng sorted out the names that overlapped between the Taoist sect and the marriage households, and Song Qinghe used the green lamp to illuminate the wooden signs that had been soaked in black energy.

Each time a line breaks, a deep chime resounds in the stone chamber.

The thirty-six drawers began to open and close on their own.

The woman's thirty-six faces screamed simultaneously: "Do you know what happens without the Lord's name?"

"The family will fall apart!"

"The village will descend into chaos!"

"Couples may divorce!"

"No one is offering sacrifices to the dead!"

"No one is taking in the refugees!"

Xu Erxiao cut a red thread.

"My mother didn't have a proper name, yet she lived her whole life!"

"You only buried her under the main door after she died!"

"Her son still remembers her!"

He cut off another one.

"If even one son remembers, it doesn't mean there was no one to offer sacrifices!"

The red cloth covering the woman's body began to peel off piece by piece.

Each piece of cloth had a surname written on it.

"plum."

"Zhao".

"horse."

"May."

"willow."

"week."

"List."

After these surnames left her body, they transformed into a flock of paper birds that were wandering around the stone chamber.

When Song Qinghe shone the lamplight over the paper birds, he discovered that each bird had the same small character hidden inside: "Return".

"They want to go back to their own places," Song Qinghe said.

"But the line is broken, and no one is claiming it."

Lu Yuandao said, "It's not that no one is going to take them."

"One person cannot be allowed to lead everything."

Wang Chengan spread the seven indexes out on the wooden cabinet.

"One copy for each stockpile."

"The origin, destination, witness testimonies, and physical evidence should be preserved separately."

"These thirty-six drawers cannot all be destroyed."

"It's ruined; many of those names will never be found again."

Lu Yuandao: "Then just destroy the part that was detaining people."

"9

Upon hearing this, the woman suddenly stopped struggling.

The thirty-six faces slowly overlapped, transforming back into the ordinary woman she was at the beginning.

She looked at Lu Yuan.

"You want to take them with you?"

"Distribute it."

Who keeps it safe?

"Villages, households, sects, fellow practitioners."

"What if they refuse to keep it?"

"So he left the copy by the well."

What if the area around the well is also destroyed?

"Make another copy."

The woman whispered, "I can't finish copying it all."

"A living person couldn't finish copying it in a lifetime."

"Then I'll copy it for the rest of my life."

Lu Yuan looked at the bottom of the wooden cabinet.

"You don't want to keep these books."

"You're just afraid no one will remember."

The woman's face twitched slightly.

"I was among the first to be detained."

"What's your name?"

"I don't remember."

"I only remember delivering soup to people by the well in Majiagou."

"Later, some people said that I had no husband and no household registration, so I could not enter the village."

"They left me down the well and made me collect names for them."

"After collecting them year after year, all I've left is collecting names."

Xu Erxiao asked, "Are you that woman from earlier?"

"no."

"It's the shadow that was nurtured by this well."

"And what's your real name?"

The woman shook her head.

"It was cut off by the main account line long ago."

Lu Yuan approached her.

"If you do not know, then remember the unknown."

"But the unknown cannot be recorded in the book."

"Who said that?"

Wang Chengan opened the "Remaining Names" register.

"This section is specifically for recording the unknown."

"The unknown also has physical evidence, origin, and witness."

Song Qinghe held up a lantern and shone it on the woman.

An object emerged from her chest.

It was a celadon soup bowl, with a small piece missing from the rim.

The bottom of the bowl is engraved with a very shallow character "柳" (willow).

Xu Erxiao suddenly looked at her.

The woman was also looking at the bowl.

"This is a bowl from my mother's family."

"Is your family from Liujia Gou?"

"perhaps."

"Can you sing a folk song?"

The woman thought for a long time, then softly hummed a few notes.

Xu Erxiao froze.

That was the tune he couldn't remember completely.

The tune his mother often hummed in the kitchen.

The woman didn't look at him.

She whispered, "Someone sang this when I was little."

Xu Erxiao's voice trembled.

"Are you—"

Lu Yuan pressed down on his shoulder.

"Don't admit it yet."

The woman also took a step back.

"I am not your mother."

"I have no memory of her, nor do I know where she went."

"This well only borrowed a song from the incomplete name of Xu Liushi."

Xu Erxiao lowered his head, his eyes filled with disappointment.

"no."

"Then let's call it 'Willow with Missing Bowl' for now."

The woman looked at him.

"Is this a name?"

"Not complete."

"But you have a missing bowl, so your surname might be Liu."

"I'll change it later if I find out."

The woman touched her chest.

The shadow of that celadon bowl slowly merged into her body.

"Willow with a missing bowl".

When she repeated the name for the first time, all thirty-six drawers stopped vibrating simultaneously.

The shadow behind the woman no longer extended towards the wooden cabinet, but instead fell back to her feet.

She peeked out a little from the well's reflection.

It's just a very small amount.

Lu Yuan handed her the "injured name" register.

Write it yourself.

The woman held the pen, her fingers trembling violently.

She wrote: "Willow with a missing bowl."

The next line reads: "At the well in Majiagou, soup was once given to passersby."

The next line reads: "Her maternal home may be in Liujiagou, pending investigation."

After writing, the bottom drawer of the wooden cabinet, which was originally empty, opened by itself.

Inside, a wooden plaque without a nameplate was visible.

The woman took out the wooden plaque and stuck it to her chest.

The thirty-six old faces have completely disappeared.

She was no longer the sheltered shadow of Yijing, but just a woman holding a broken card.

The sound of water at the bottom of the well finally stopped.

Just then, a soft sound came from the deepest part of the wooden cabinet.

Behind the thirty-sixth drawer, there was a hidden compartment.

A white glove was placed in the hidden compartment.

Next to the glove was a blank seal, with a folded piece of paper pressed against the bottom of the seal.

Wang Chengan opened the paper.

The only sentence above reads: "The first garrison's tents are in disarray; the second garrison will handle the situation themselves."

The signature is still only half of the character "沈".

Shen Yanshan.