My girlfriend is a Miao demon.

As the saying goes: How can the canal be so clear? Because it has a source of living water.

What you can see is the pool, but what you can't see is the open space and the ancient castle beneath it; what you can see is the walled city of Loujiafen, but what you can't see is the snack shop at No. 93 Loubei and Luyao's house: the relationship between the dream world and the real world is like drinking alone under the moon and a puppet on a string, a person, a shadow and the moon, a hand, a string and a puppet, is it a person, a shadow or the moon, a hand, a string or a puppet?

The relationship between phenomenon, order, and logic is becoming increasingly clear, but which one is phenomenon, which one is order, and which one is logic?

Loujiafen seems to be the way we came from, while the ancient castle and stone chamber seem to be the way we went. The starting point of the way we came from and the end point of the way we went from seem to lead to the same destination - the dream world. So where should Xiangnanfeng go?

After leaving Mr. Jia Shouguang's house, Xiang Nanfeng did not take a taxi, but chose to walk alone on the street.

He was indeed walking towards home, but he had no intention of going home. Fortunately, he knew the area very well, so this time he could wander around aimlessly without worrying about getting lost.

Four hundred years ago, they offended a thousand-year-old female demon in Shounan Mountain. They drank water from a pool that had been cursed by the demon, then contracted a plague. They fled from Shounan Mountain and eventually all died in a ravine outside the mountain pass. These are the so-called true masters of Loujia Village, the corpses in the Loujia Tomb, the entire Lou family who were wiped out by the female demon and the plague...

Three hundred years ago, they fled famine and settled in Loujiafen. Then, following the advice of a Taoist priest, they built a wall around the Loujiafen tomb. Over the next 200 years, they continuously renovated the wall, turning it into a walled city. In the end, they used the name of the Loujia family to take over and become the real owners of Loujiafen, the Jia family who are the guardians of the tomb...

My Luyao, who lives in the Lou family cemetery, my Luyao, who disappeared in the stone chamber of the ancient castle in the pool, are you a member of the Lou family who was killed by a female demon 400 years ago, or the female demon who killed the Lou family?

The people in Loujia Tomb seem to have died from witchcraft, but the person who poisoned me with the Bamboo Gu must also be from Loujia Tomb. So, are the Lou family members in Loujia Tomb the masters of witchcraft or the victims of witchcraft? Are they the servants of the White Miao Holy Maiden or the Flower Miao people who practice witchcraft?

These places, events, and people, which seem to complement each other yet contradict each other, are like shadows in a pond and people outside the pond, one going left and the other right, one going down and the other going up. What is their relationship? And what is their relationship with me?

Xiang Nanfeng stopped and sat down on a bench in the city park. He looked up at the extremely high winter sky, as if the gloomy clouds above were a knotted rope with countless knots and no end in sight.

He wished he could cut the rope knot into two, eight, or thirty-two pieces with one stroke. He wished he could drink heavily, sleep soundly, and simply cut ties with this mystery, finish his sick leave properly, and go back to work as a reporter. But where would he find such a sharp knife? Even if someone handed him a sharp knife, how could he bear to, how could he dare to, swing it at the rope binding Luyao?

Besides staying calm, observing, searching, and thinking, besides finding the end of the rope and untying the knot, what other choice did he have?

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 19:08

"Just by examining the material and thickness of the old village stele and the composition of the characters 'Lou Family,' we could deduce that there was another character for 'grave' below 'Lou Family.' Then we found the old patriarch of the Jia clan and unearthed the death of the Lou family three or four hundred years ago. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! Xiang Nanfeng, truly, I admire you more and more. You are truly born to be a great reporter! This is truly discovering clues while riding a horse to examine the stele. I've learned a lot!"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 19:08

"Alright, alright, stop flattering me."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 19:08

"With such great progress, why are you... unhappy?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 19:09

"What's there to be happy about? It's all a mess, how can you be happy?"

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 19:09

"Is it confusing? At least you've figured out the relationship between Loujia Village and Shounanshan Pool!"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 19:09

"Well, you can't say that, at least not right now."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 19:10

"Why not?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 19:13

"I think the only things that can be confirmed to be related right now are the Lou family cemetery and the stone tablet in the mountains, since they are made from the same piece of stone. As for the relationship between Lou family village and Shounan Mountain pool, I think it still needs to be verified. To be honest, the legends and family history that Old Jia told me can only provide me with a line of thought for now."

"The biggest taboo for us reporters is to have preconceived notions. Once we have preconceived notions, it is easy to be swayed by biased information, and the news we report will lack authenticity."

"In fact, the same applies to historical research. This is why transmitted documents are superior to oral history when collecting evidence for historical research, and why unearthed documents are superior to transmitted documents."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 19:13

"Sorry, I don't understand what you mean. Why don't you believe what Old Jia said?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 19:14

"It's not that I'm unwilling to believe him; on the contrary, I'm probably the one who most wants to believe him. However, based on my experience as a journalist, there's a high probability that such accounts will contain significant inaccuracies."

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 19:16

"You see, most of what Old Jia is saying comes from the notes of the old patriarch, Jia Lingfeng, which he remembers. This notebook was burned in 1948, and now it's 2012, 64 years have passed. Isn't it possible that memories from 64 years ago might be slightly inaccurate?"

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 19:16

"Maybe a little, but the recording you just sent me was very detailed, with accurate information about the time, place, and people involved."

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 19:17

"Really? It seems very accurate and detailed, but have you noticed that the parts with more detail are things he personally experienced? When he recounts things from the notes, the details become less?"

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 19:18

"That's correct."

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 19:24

"This is the reason for the discrepancy. Even if we exclude all subjective intent, stories passed down by word of mouth rely on people's memory and expression habits. Memory may be lost and expression may be omitted, but the total number of stories usually does not decrease."

"The messenger will consciously or unconsciously enrich the ever-shrinking story with their own understanding and experiences."

"Look, the notes that Mr. Jia saw were burned in 1948, which is 64 years ago."

"And when was this notebook written? It was written by Jia Lingfeng in the fifth year of the Jiaqing reign."

"But what time period is it written about? It is about the Jia family fleeing famine and coming to Loujiafen during the Shunzhi period."

"The fifth year of Jiaqing's reign was 1800, and the Shunzhi reign lasted from 1644 to 1661, which is about 150 years later. Did the Jia family, who fled famine, witness the death of the Lou family and the events of the female demon and the plague?"

"No, they only learned about this tragedy from people in neighboring villages back then."

"As the last person to relay the information, Mr. Jia knew that the previous source was provided in the fifth year of the Jiaqing reign (1800). However, when it came to the penultimate person to relay the information, Jia Lingfeng, the previous source he knew was only provided within a certain range, namely during the Shunzhi reign (1644 to 1661). This error ranged to 17 years. And what about going back further, to the ancestors of the Jia family?"

"What about those neighboring villages and towns during the Shunzhi era who informed the Jia family ancestors about this matter?"

"By now, it's changed hands countless times, and the only timeframe available is a vague number from several decades ago. Am I supposed to rely on that to determine the relationship between Loujia Village and that pool in Shounan Mountain? Probably not!"

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 19:25

"If that's the case, it's indeed quite difficult. But what you said makes sense. It's like the refraction of light; each refraction might only deviate by one degree, but if there are many refractions, it's hard to guarantee that a 180-degree turn won't occur. The question is, what are your plans for the next step?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 19:28

"Sigh, let's verify it. What other way is there? To be honest, I was pretty devastated on my way home just now."

"When Luyao first got into trouble, I was so anxious that I was on the verge of a breakdown. All I could think about was going back to Shounan Mountain to save her. I talked about the golden three hours, the golden eight hours, the golden forty-eight hours, and so on. Seriously, I was trying to prove Luyao's existence to everyone. I was so anxious that I felt like killing someone."

"After listening to you, I gradually realized what was going on, and I kept racing against time, like running a 400-meter race. Although it wasn't a 100-meter sprint, I didn't dare to hold back my energy and was really sprinting all the time."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 19:29

"Yes, I know. Just from the fact that you spent seven days searching for the way in Shounan Mountain, I know how anxious you are. But believe me, this can't be rushed! Luyao will be fine. Although I don't have any evidence, it's my intuition, and my intuition is very accurate."

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 19:32

"Oh well, what can I do? There's nothing I can do. Actually, I knew it when I found that pool. There's no use in being anxious."

"Finding the pond and Loujia Village is useless, even finding the castle and No. 93 Loubei is useless. I must find the logic behind it, otherwise even if I walk through the castle gate and return to No. 93 Loubei, it will be meaningless. I will still be left in this real world just like last time."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 19:34

"Yes, you're right, you finally understand. I don't remember this, and I believe that when Luyao came to find you back then, she also went through a lot of hardships to try to enter the parallel universe. It's not that easy! But you're on the right track, and you've been on the right path so far."

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 19:35

"Alas, it seems like it's all gone to waste right now! What follows is all hard work and slow progress, and my intuition tells me it's a thankless task, who knows?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 19:36

"Alright, I won't complain to you anymore. I shouldn't have! Let's get down to business first. I need to consult you, this Maoxi witchcraft expert."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 19:36

"Oh? What do you want to ask?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 19:38

"I once heard a saying that 'when a person dies, the Gu (a type of poison) is destroyed'?"

Is that right?

Is there a type of witchcraft that can kill many people at the same time, and after killing them, it can still spread to others like a plague?

"Or to put it another way, do you think it's possible that the Lou family members buried in the Lou family cemetery were killed by witchcraft?"

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 19:43

"There is a saying that 'when a person dies, the Gu poison is destroyed,' and generally speaking, that should be the case. But perhaps an extremely powerful Gu witch casts Gu on many people at the same time?"

"And what if the corpses of the Lou family members who were killed by the Gu worms become new Gu worms for the Gu Master?"

"It's hard to say."

"I think we need to consider two factors. One is how many people were killed, how many members of the Lou family died, was it three or five, thirty or fifty, or three or five hundred? The difference is huge."

"Furthermore, just how powerful is this so-called female demon? If she were an ordinary female demon, using ordinary witchcraft, killing one or two people would be quite difficult. But to kill people like a plague, this female demon must be an extraordinary being among the Sanmiao people."

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 19:44

"So, it's either yes or no, it's all possible now?"

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 19:44

"I'm afraid that's the case."

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 19:44

"Well, it seems like it really has vanished without a trace."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 19:45

"So what are you planning to do next?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 19:50

"I'd like to rule out the possibility that the plague killed people first."

"It was common for people in ancient times to be superstitious and mistakenly regard plagues as plague gods. Due to the lack of scientific knowledge and methods for the prevention and control of infectious diseases in ancient times, many infectious diseases would often break out in cycles once they entered a region, just like the flu, which would break out once every winter and then lie dormant in the other three seasons. Infectious diseases would break out periodically, just like the most typical example of the Black Death in Europe."

"Do you know about the Black Death? The Renaissance and the Reformation, which changed the world, were both spurred by the Black Death."

"The Black Death broke out in Alexandria, Egypt in 1347, and a few months later, in 1348, it spread to Florence, Italy, and from there it was unstoppable. Within two years, it had spread to almost the whole of Europe. At that time, Europeans were in despair about life, and the average life expectancy of Europeans was only 20 years."

"Moreover, the reason why this plague was so terrible was that the period from 1348 to 1350 was only its first outbreak period. After this outbreak period, the Black Death seemed to have passed on the surface, but in reality, the virus had been lurking in Europe for a long time."

"For the next 400 years, Europe was plagued by outbreaks of plague, one after another. Sometimes it would break out here, sometimes there, in a cyclical pattern, which eventually caused the death of one-third of the population of Europe."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 19:51

"What?! Life expectancy is only 20 years? A third of the population is dying? This is terrifying!"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 19:57

"I'm wondering if it's possible that what killed the Lou family was some kind of highly contagious disease with an extremely high mortality rate?"

"The Lou family was infected with some kind of virus, and an infectious disease broke out within the family. The superstitious villagers fled to this place, Loujia Village, to escape the plague. The Lou family members died, and the local farmers were also infected. As a result, a plague broke out, many people died, and a lot of land became unclaimed."

"New immigrants came to this land, but although the Lou family died, the virus continued to parasitize the local air, water and animal hosts for a long time. They infected the new immigrants again, and then the new immigrants died, the land was ownerless again, and then new immigrants came again."

"After this cycle repeated several times, no one dared to easily set foot on this 'feng shui treasure land' anymore. The people around didn't understand that infectious diseases could kill people, so they became superstitious again and fabricated the heretical tale of the female demon."

"Later, when the Jia family fled to this place, the viruses had already died naturally due to a lack of hosts. So the Jia family luckily became the new masters of this dead land?"

"In other words, this is just a story of 'it's better to be lucky than early'."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 19:58

"And what about the Lou family? Why did they initially contract this infectious disease?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 20:03

"That's normal. The Black Death in Europe was nothing more than a plague outbreak. The plague bacillus was lurking in a rat, and that rat just happened to bite someone. And someone just happened to eat the food that rat had gnawed on?"

"The Lou family is the same. The Lou family lives deep in the mountains of Shounan Mountain. They must be hunters, right? What if they happened to hunt a rabbit carrying the plague bacillus? And then the rabbit got angry and bit someone? And the whole clan got infected with the plague?"

"Or maybe they just happened to shoot a pheasant that had bird flu? Or maybe they did nothing, and migratory birds from the north passed through their village and could have spread bird flu to humans."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 20:04

"But aren't so many coincidences a bit too much?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 20:04

"I know from my experience in journalism that coincidences happen every day, and it's not surprising to anyone if it happens to you."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 20:05

"So you're more inclined to believe that what killed the Lou family was just a plague? A contagious disease?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 20:05

"Of course not. I just want to eliminate all the impossibilities, so that the remaining one, no matter how impossible, must be the truth."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 20:06

"Then how do we rule it out? Exhume the body and perform an autopsy? You could really examine the remains of the Lou family members in the Lou family cemetery. I saw in the news that the French used DNA from the teeth of soldiers who died 200 years ago to test for the cause of an army's defeat in a war, and it turned out to be some kind of plague?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 20:07

"Ha, yes. It was during the Russo-French War of 1812, when DNA sequences from soldiers' teeth were scanned to identify specific types of infectious diseases. I've seen that news too."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 20:08

"So you're really going to dig up the grave and examine the body?"

"This is indeed a method; it can verify the cause of death of the Lou family members. If it was witchcraft, then it wasn't an infectious disease."

"Conversely, if the corpses in the Lou family graves generally have the DNA sequence of a certain virus, it means that what killed the Lou family members was an infectious disease rather than witchcraft. This means that the clue of the Lou family's ancestral home, the pool in Shounan Mountain, is not valid. There is no witchcraft or Miao people there, so it is not the direction leading to the dream world."

"If that's really the case, then wasn't Gui Luyao taking you there to get you out of the real world?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 20:09

"Okay, that's a good idea! But how do we implement it?"

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 20:13

"I have a friend who works in molecular biology; I think he should be able to handle these kinds of tests or analyses. But as for tomb raiding..."

"Haha, didn't you rent a small house near Loujiafen? You can dig a hole in the house, dig downwards first, and then go in sideways, right?"

"Or we could avoid all that trouble? We could set up a ladder and climb over the wall when it's quiet at night?"

"Loujiafen has a ready-made walled city. It blocks your view from the outside, but if you go inside, it will block the view of those outside!"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 20:14

"My apologies! You're clearly a professional in this area! I think if my methods don't work and I have no choice but to resort to tomb raiding, I'll definitely ask you to come along!"

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 20:15

"Haha, okay, I've never robbed a tomb before! But seriously, what's your method? Researching historical records?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 20:15

"You're a science student, aren't you capable?!"

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 20:16

"You don't believe the legends, you're afraid of archaeology, so what's left but history? But I have a concern. Doesn't history only record major events? Tens of thousands of people die, and all that's recorded in the history books is a single sentence? Would history really record a plague or a supernatural event in a few small mountain villages?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 20:17

"Yes, you're right. History books probably wouldn't record something like this, it's too trivial. But even if history books don't record it, I think there's a place where it should be recorded."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 20:18

"Where?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 20:19

"County annals and local chronicles. Historical records document major national events, while local chronicles record major local events. If there was a plague or some other event that killed hundreds of people, I think it should be reflected in the local chronicles."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 20:19

"That's a good idea! Oh, no wonder you went to the Wangshan City Library yesterday afternoon?"

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 20:20

"Hmm? But that doesn't make sense! Didn't you only learn about the Lou family and the plague from Jia Shouguang today? Did you already know yesterday when you went to the Lou family cemetery? Didn't you go to the library yesterday afternoon?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 20:21

"Yes, I only learned about the Lou family and the plague today. Yesterday I was looking into other things. I was looking into the ancient castle in the dream world. I don't know if you know anything about the history of our city of Wangshan."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 20:22

"Looking at the mountain? You mean the history of the mountain? Forgive my bluntness, but does the mountain even have a history? Didn't the news keep saying that 30 years ago there was only one road and ten houses?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 20:25

"Ha, that's referring to the new town of Wangshan. Of course, the old town 30 years ago was similar. It was said to be just a small county town with only five roads, and it was only established in the 70s. Before the 70s, until ancient times, this area belonged to the neighboring Xiyang County. So it's not wrong to say that Wangshan has no history."

"However, Wangshan, as a rural area of ​​Xiyang County, had a considerable population and a decent level of economic development in ancient times. But no matter how good the economy was, it was still just farming, and it never developed any noteworthy industrial or commercial culture. If the plains were like this, I imagine the mountainous areas near Shounan Mountain would be even more impoverished. Who would live in the mountains or mountainous regions?"

"Herbalists, shepherds, hunters? I can't think of any other ones."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 20:26

"Yes. So you want to investigate that castle? The castle beneath the pool?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 20:26

"Yes, if it's true."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 20:28

"Of course it's real. The dream world is also a real world; it couldn't possibly conjure up a castle that defies logic out of thin air. So, you're trying to find out from the county annals of the real world why such a castle was built in Shounan Mountain in the dream world?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 20:33

"I'm not sure I can find out why it was built, but I'm sure it's a Gothic building, with those bronze doors, reliefs, the open spaces inside, the spiral staircases..."

"I can at least confirm that it is a purely Western-style building, completely unrelated to traditional Chinese architecture. In ancient times, or at least in modern times, in relatively isolated, purely agricultural areas like Wangshan or Xiyang, especially deep in the mountains and forests:"

"A Western-style building, this is too out of place!"

"This is like Antarctica welcoming a polar bear, or a foreign country welcoming a giant panda; the local media will definitely rush to report on it."

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 20:38

"I haven't studied history formally, haha, but from a purely news perspective, I really think that castle should be the easiest to research. It's so newsworthy, it's hard not to attract attention."

"I can't understand why anyone would build an ancient castle in the belly of Shounan Mountain. I can't understand why they would build the castle in such a place."

"I've heard that Hohenzollern Castle in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, is built on a mountaintop at an altitude of over 800 meters. I've heard that Wartburg Castle in Thuringia, Germany, is built on a particularly steep cliff. I've also heard that Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland, is surrounded by cliffs on three sides and faces a mountain ridge on the other side..."

"It's not that there aren't castles built deep in the mountains, or that there aren't castles in dangerous locations. The problem is that dangerous locations are easy to defend and difficult to attack, but this castle is too strange. How could it be built in the lowest part of the mountains? That open space is surrounded by mountains, it's practically a deep pit."

"Building houses in a place like this is practically inviting flash floods and waterlogging, isn't it?"

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 20:40

"That's right, it's currently submerged under the pool, isn't it? This is indeed very unusual. If that's the case, investigating the castle first is definitely more convenient and direct than pursuing clues about the Lou family cemetery! After all, you've been to the castle in person, and it's the last place you saw Gui Luyao."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 20:41

"So what did you find out yesterday afternoon?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 20:43

"Oh, don't even mention it! Yesterday was Saturday, and the library was packed. I waited in line at the information kiosk for ages before I finally got to the front, only to find that the county gazetteers were all in the fourth reading area. I wandered around for ages but couldn't find the fourth reading area. I finally asked a staff member and found out that I had come to the wrong place. I went to the new building, but the fourth reading area is in the old building."

"By the time I got there, it was already 4 p.m., and they had stopped admitting people."

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 20:46

"Even if we had gone in two minutes earlier yesterday, we might not have found anything even with more than an hour left. Besides, even if we had found something yesterday, now that we have the clue about Jia Shouguang from the Lou family legend, we would still have to go again tomorrow. So we might as well investigate them all at once."

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 20:46

"Alright, but Xiang Nanfeng, since you're going to investigate the castle, there's one more place you've overlooked?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2012.01.09 20:46

"Anything else? Where else?"

Mao Xigu Master 2012.01.09 20:46

"Kindergarten, Pastoral Kindergarten!"