My girlfriend is a Miao demon.

In the dead of winter, heavy snow was falling.

One morning 25 years ago, an abandoned baby was found by a kind person and sent to the Wangshan City Children's Welfare Institute.

No one knows why such heartless parents would abandon their newborn baby, only a few hours old, in the freezing cold. No one can tell what extraordinary clues about the abandoned child's origins are hidden in the genuine ancient jade ring wrapped in the baby's swaddling clothes.

Wangshan City, East of the Old City, Nanfeng Lane. These are all the coordinates I left on my journey when I arrived in this world. Xiang Nanfeng is me, and I am Xiang Nanfeng.

Nomads Go to Party (South Wind's QQ name): 2011.12.30 08:46

"Most of the children who grew up in our orphanage will not take the initiative to introduce themselves as orphans to strangers. You may just be curious about this kind of upbringing, but to us, curiosity, concern, or discrimination are just different colored glasses."

"I don't want to receive too much attention because of this, and I don't need any special treatment. That would only make me feel awkward."

Mao Xigu Master: 2011.12.30 08:46

"But you still told Gui Luyao about your background. Why? Was it because of love?"

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 08:47

"Love is a wonderful encounter, especially the kind of love at first sight. I first saw her at the funeral of my colleague Lin Shu. Lin Shu was a cameraman for our station's science and education channel. He seemed like the kind of athletic, good older brother, but we had never interacted before."

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 08:50

"In October, the Science and Education Channel launched a special documentary project on the history of Wangshan. In recent years, most radio and television stations in China have emphasized 'news as the foundation of the station,' so our channel has more resources. The Science and Education Channel wanted to get us to co-produce it. In fact, they did the work, and our side was just the producer Lao Zhang from the program team who was just listed as a co-producer."

"Old Zhang felt that he wouldn't lose out by being a figurehead without doing any work, so he agreed to it. Then they symbolically created a group chat, where people would occasionally say a few words, but the actual work was still done by the other side."

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 08:54

"At noon on November 8th, a message suddenly appeared in the WeChat work group, saying that Zuo Sigong from the Department of East Asian Studies at Youdu University was currently in the city. The Science and Education Channel wanted to arrange an interview immediately after receiving the news, mainly because they were worried that they wouldn't be able to interview him if he returned to China. However, one of their two on-camera reporters was on maternity leave and the other was sick."

"I know this professor; he is indeed very famous. I even read his book when I was in college. Coincidentally, I wasn't busy that afternoon, so I replied directly in the group chat, saying, 'I can go.' So they sent a cameraman named Lin Shu, and the two of us set off from the station around 3 p.m. When we set off, it hadn't started snowing in the city yet."

Mao Xigu Master: 2011.12.30 08:54

"And then, a traffic accident occurred?"

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 08:59

"Yes. This accident is still a bit strange. It was around 8 p.m., I'm not sure of the exact time. It was snowing very heavily that day, and it was completely dark. Lin Shu was driving, and I was sitting in the passenger seat listening to the radio with my eyes closed."

"I clearly remember seeing a white light the instant before the collision, an extremely dazzling white light. My eyes were closed, but I was forced to open them by the light. However, because the light was so bright, I didn't actually see anything."

"Immediately afterwards, the car went out of control and overturned into the flood control ditch below the roadbed. After the car started rolling, I don't know anything anymore."

Mao Xigu Master: 2011.12.30 09:00

"You mean it was a non-contact accident? There wasn't a collision between the two vehicles?"

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:05

"Yes. My own feeling is that a very large vehicle suddenly appeared, and it wasn't a large truck, but a vehicle that was taller and larger than a heavy truck, like a large engineering vehicle such as a mining truck."

"Because the beam of light I saw was coming down at an angle from above. We were driving an SUV, which already had a pretty high chassis, but the car on the other side was probably much higher than ours, otherwise the angle at which that white light came from wouldn't have been so large."

"However, when I woke up, they told me that the traffic police department had made an accident determination, that Lin Shu himself did not see the road clearly, drove the car into the flood control ditch, and then overturned. Moreover, the facts were not difficult to verify, because at the relevant time, only our car was passing through the section of road where the accident occurred, and Lin Shu himself admitted that he was distracted."

Mao Xigu Master: 2011.12.30 09:05

"Lin Shu admitted it himself? He didn't say it on the spot?"

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:09

"Yes, no. I was knocked unconscious on the spot, but he wasn't. He only had a broken right arm and was knocked unconscious for a while. When he woke up, he was the one who called the police."

"When Lin Shu went to the hospital, in addition to the fracture, he was only diagnosed with minor internal organ damage and a mild concussion. He was put in a cast and went home after only three days in the hospital. But on the fifth night, he suddenly fell into a coma and was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment. He was rushed to the hospital and spent the night, but he could not be saved due to cerebral edema and intra-abdominal bleeding."

"It's said that when he was hospitalized, he even went to the ICU to see me through the glass. Haha, they said he seemed fine at the time, while I was still in danger."

Mao Xigu Master: 2011.12.30 09:09

"Is this... a misdiagnosis?"

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:13

"I don't know, there was probably some mistake involved. So after he passed away, the family argued with the hospital for a few days and probably paid some money. That's why the memorial service was held a week after his death."

"I had already been transferred to a regular ward. I thought that things had turned out like this on our first day working together, and my condition was very dangerous. If I had been taken to the hospital a few minutes later, I might not have woken up. Luckily, there was a car from my workplace, so I secretly slipped out of the hospital for a while to attend the memorial service."

Mao Xigu Master: 2011.12.30 09:14

"and then?"

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:16

"Then at the memorial service, I saw a girl who was quite pretty. She wasn't a host from the station, and her expression was too calm, so she didn't look like a relative or friend."

"Later, someone told me that on the day of the car accident, it was actually her and Lin Shu who pulled me out of the car. So I took the initiative to go over and say hello to her, and that's how we met."

Mao Xigu Master: 2011.12.30 09:17

"Gui Luyao?"

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:17

"Yes, Gui Luyao."

Mao Xigu Master: 2011.12.30 09:18

"Since it was snowing heavily on Wangshan Mountain that day, and there weren't even any cars on the road, did you ask her why she was still there so late?"

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:22

"Of course. Luyao is a kindergarten teacher at Muge Kindergarten and lives in Loujia Village in the south of the city. She said that one of the children in her class was late picking up their child because of traffic in the city, so she worked overtime to accompany the child and wait for the parent. By the time she got off work, the snow was very heavy."

"She didn't dare ride her bike as usual, so she walked home instead, and that's how we happened to run into each other. Luyao's home is in Loujia Village in the south of the city. The road where we had the accident is called Tianlou Road, and Loujia Village is the southern starting point of this road."

Mao Xigu Master: 2011.12.30 09:22

"So, you two talked for a long time that day?"

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:26

"No.

"After all, I ran away secretly, and the leaders were afraid of taking responsibility if they saw me, so they sent me back to the hospital as soon as the memorial service ended."

"We only exchanged a few polite words that day, but I could tell we liked each other. It's just that, as you know, the environment wasn't really suitable for 'love at first sight.' So I said I wanted to invite her to dinner, but she didn't agree at the time. However, we added each other on QQ and chatted on QQ ever since."

"Hehe, isn't there that cheesy love line, 'We are two angels with broken wings, only by embracing each other can we fly'? We have similar upbringing, and I think our love at first sight is largely related to this experience."

"I was born without a home, never; she used to have a home, but then she lost it. I think that feeling must be worse for her than for me."

Mao Xigu Master: 2011.12.30 09:27

"Oh? What happened to her family?"

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:27

"They say she was born posthumously; her mother ran away shortly after giving birth to her and she was never seen again. She grew up with her grandmother. Before she finished vocational school, her grandmother passed away. After that, she lived alone."

Mao Xigu Master: 2011.12.30 09:28

"No other relatives? What about her friends? Have you seen them?"

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:28

"No, she said she doesn't have many friends, and from what I've observed, that's true. Her life is extremely simple, just going back and forth between two points."

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:33

"Oh, right. There's someone, I don't know if she's a relative or a friend."

"The house she rented, No. 93 Loubei, was a two-story building. She lived on the second floor, and the first floor was a small snack shop."

"The snack shop was very small, and it seemed to mainly do takeout, with only two tables for dine-in. The owner of the snack shop was an old man, about sixty years old, approaching seventy, living alone, without children or a spouse."

"Luyao said that she gives 500 yuan to the old man every month when she gets her salary, and then the old man will provide meals for her when she gets home from get off work every day."

"Their relationship doesn't seem like that of a customer and a grandfather; it's more like that of a grandfather and grandson."

"When I took her home, I noticed that she spent most of her time buying food for the old man, such as half a pound of sunflower seeds, two small cakes, and a pound of roasted chestnuts; there was a TV in the snack shop, and she always held the remote control while eating, changing the viewing angle herself; after eating, she would go to the kitchen to wash the dishes herself, and if it was late, she would also wipe the stove."

Mao Xigu Master: 2011.12.30 09:34

"In that case, their relationship is definitely not ordinary. After she disappeared, didn't you go look for this old man?"

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:38

"I haven't gone there yet, but I've looked for him. But it seems that the old man, like Luyao, has also disappeared!"

"After I woke up in the hospital and found that Luyao was missing, I first called the police once through 110, of course, to find Luyao. At that time, I first provided Luyao's home address, No. 93 Loubei."

"I think I remember this address very well because I was afraid I wouldn't know the way if I came here alone in the future, so I paid extra attention."

"I saw a red road sign nailed to the south wall of the second floor of the small building, which read 'No. 93 Loubei'. The road sign was nailed right next to the window outside Luyao's bedroom, and she had planted a pot of roses on the windowsill inside. At that time, a few red flowers bloomed. I remember that from the angle downstairs, they were faintly visible and looked very beautiful."

"However, the police told me that the Loujia Village area is full of single-story houses with pointed roofs. Except for a few families who have illegally built terraces and sunrooms, there are no two-story houses at all, because the policy simply does not allow it."

Mao Xigu Master: 2011.12.30 09:39

"I see. So, Luyao's house doesn't exist in reality? Then what about that old man?"

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:41

"This is exactly what confused me, and it was the reason I initially wavered. The person who called me back was the local police officer from Loujiacun Police Station, and he spoke with absolute certainty."

"I was stunned. Wasn't this Loubei No. 93?"

"Did I remember the house number wrong?"

"So I quickly described the snack shop on the first floor and the owner's situation, but the police officer immediately denied that the snack shop existed. Then he helped me check the situation of the old man who owned the shop."

"I don't know what that old man's name is. Luyao didn't say, but she told me that his surname is Hexiao, which is a very rare surname. I've never heard of it before, so it's hard for me to remember it clearly."

Mao Xigu Master: 2011.12.30 09:42

"Wait, what did you say!"

"That old man's surname is He Xiao?!"

"You didn't make a typo, did you?"

"Are these the two characters? He Xiao?"

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:42

"Yes, Luyao said Hexiao's surname is Miao, and Grandpa Hexiao is a Miao person, and she also..."

Before Xiang Nanfeng could finish typing, the QQ chat window on the computer screen suddenly started shaking. Mao Xiguzhu, for the first time ever, sent a "shaking screen" message.

Mao Xigu Master: 2011.12.30 09:42

"Could he be a Miao person?!"

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:42

Yes, that's right.

"Luyao said that Grandpa Hexiao is a Miao person, and she herself is too, but how did you know that?"

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:44

"I thought that He Xiao was a rare surname, so I asked the police to help me look up this Mr. He Xiao."

"But after the police checked, they told me that there were only three permanent residents with the surname He Xiao in the city, none of whom were registered in the city, and all of them were migrant workers in their twenties or thirties who came to Wangshan to work. Their age and identity did not match up at all."

"But since Grandpa Hexiao runs a snack shop, he must first go to the police station to get a residence permit before going to the industry and commerce bureau to get a business license, so this Grandpa Hexiao..."

"I'm really confused too, what exactly is he... what is he..."

"Did he disappear like Luyao, or is it him...?"

Xiang Nanfeng reluctantly typed out the words "does not exist at all," then deleted them, typed them out again, and deleted them again.

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:46

Where are they?

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:48

"Why haven't we heard from you yet?"

Xiang Nanfeng sent two consecutive "shaking" messages, but still did not receive an immediate response from Mao west Gu Master.

Mao Xigu Master: 2011.12.30 09:50

"The Miao people, perhaps I should have thought of this sooner."

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:50

"Why did you suddenly disappear? What were you thinking about?"

Mao Xigu Master: 2011.12.30 09:52

"Xiang Nanfeng, tell me first, since we can't find the address at No. 93 Loubei or the snack shop, and Gui Luyao and Grandpa Hexiao can't be found either, how can you be sure they've disappeared and aren't just figments of your imagination?"

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:56

"Fantasy? Please believe me, that's absolutely impossible!"

"Loujia Village and Muge Kindergarten are both located in the south of the city. Wangshan City is a huge place!"

"I'm absolutely certain that I've never been to either of these places, never passed by them, and never even heard of them. But yesterday morning, I rushed out of the hospital and headed straight to Muge Kindergarten to inquire about Gui Luyao. The teachers and security guards at the kindergarten all said they'd never heard of her, so I had no choice but to prepare to go to Loujia Village again."

"Before Luyao disappeared, I would pick her up from work half the time. Yesterday, when I walked this road, I found that the things along the way were exactly the same as the scenes I remembered seeing when I walked with Luyao."

"There are too many details on this road; I could never imagine them out of thin air."

"Especially after this happened yesterday:"

"I passed by a roasted nuts shop. Last Friday, when I picked Luyao up from school, she bought roasted chestnuts and melon seeds for Grandpa Hexiao here."

"When I passed by this time, I heard the shop assistant saying that chestnuts were 17 yuan per catty when calculating the price for customers, so I casually asked, 'Isn't it 15 yuan per catty?'"

"The clerk told me that it was a promotional price from last week, which ended last Friday!"

"If it's true, as the doctor said, that a patient whose brain is partially awake and whose auditory nerve is intact can use the information they are listening to to create an instant dream, then I might hear my roommate and his wife talking in my hospital bed and then weave them into my dream. But what about this promotional message?"

"If I was really in a coma for 46 days, how would I know these things?"

"Could someone really tell me about a promotional message from a small shop on the street 20 or 30 kilometers away?"

"Would he really tell me about every single building, green space, and municipal transportation facility along the route from Muge Kindergarten to Loujia Village?"

"So yesterday I originally wanted to go to Luyao's house to look for her myself, but when I got to the nut shop I couldn't wait any longer, so I went straight back to the nearby Dongfengli Police Station to report the case again."

Nomadic Revelry: 2011.12.30 09:59

"Believe me, this is not a dream!"

"Someone must be deliberately hiding everything about Gui Luyao!"

"But who is this person, and why would he do this?"

"What does this have to do with Luyao's disappearance?"

"Although I still can't figure these questions out, one thing is very clear to me:"

"It seems that all the evidence directly related to Luyao has now been destroyed. How could so many people, including Luyao herself, Loubei No. 93, the snack shop, and Grandpa Hexiao, have given the same story?

"I really can't figure it out. But all the information except for her is impeccable: Loujia Village, Muge Kindergarten, the roasted nuts shop..."

"Damn it, I still have to go out. I must go to Loujia Village in person right away. I refuse to believe that just because the person is gone, the building can also be gone."

"How is that possible!"

Xiang Nanfeng became more and more excited as he thought about it. He had slept for too long last night.

Without waiting for Mao Xigu's reply, he sent a message saying, "I'm leaving now, I'll talk to you when I get back," and then closed his laptop, preparing to get out of bed, change his clothes, and wait for another chance to "escape." However, just as he was getting out of bed, he heard a knock on the door, and the doorknob of the ward door moved in response.

"Xiao Xiang, bro! Your big brother's here to see you!"

A voice that was neither entirely unfamiliar nor entirely familiar came from the direction of the corridor.

As Xiang Nanfeng got up, he instinctively looked up towards the door and happened to see the visitor peeking out from the crack in the door, revealing half of their face.

The moment their eyes met, Xiang Nanfeng, who was bending his knees and straightening his back, suddenly plummeted into the abyss like a stone statue. He felt a dizziness and slid back onto the bed.

"Lin...Lin Shu! You...you're still alive?"