Chapter 4 of Part 1: Secret Passage, Narrow Escape (1)

  Beigua Village is at the end of this valley, surrounded by high mountains, with countless tombstones scattered densely on the mountain waist. This village is many times larger than Nanggua Village. On the white stone at the village entrance, there are red characters "Beigua Village" engraved.

  I stood on that rock and let out a long breath, finally arriving. I pulled out the red envelope from my bag, on which was written: Beigou Village, Third Group, Received by Zeng Hao.

  Now I have arrived at Beigua Village, but what about the third group and Zeng Hao? Who exactly is he? I must find someone to ask. Thinking of this, I continued walking into the village. The architectural style is exactly the same as Nangua Village, with extremely high walls made entirely of green bricks, giving people a sense of suffocation. In comparison, the eaves of the houses are much lower, just barely above the wall.

  What's even stranger are the big gates with eight trigrams patterns - although this place is called Beigua Village. At that time, I didn't think much about these things, but now these patterns suddenly make me interested in the name of this village. I wandered around the streets for half a day, but still didn't see anyone, so I had to find a household and lightly knock on the door.

  After a while, no one responded, so I increased my strength and knocked on the door again. At this moment, a hurried footsteps came to my ears, and the sound was coming from behind me. I quickly turned back and looked in that direction.

  In the distance, I saw Jin Douzi holding that colorful wild chicken in her arms and running towards me, waving at me as she ran. Just then, I suddenly heard a slow "thud thud" sound of slippers hitting the ground coming from inside the door, each time dragging on for a long time, getting closer and closer until it finally stopped at the doorway.

  When Jin Douzi ran in front of me, he was already panting, he put down the wild chicken in his arms, bowed his head and panted heavily, before Jin Douzi could speak, the door had been slowly pushed open with a "rumbling" sound.

  The door was opened by an old lady with a withered face, who looked very old but had a kind and gentle demeanor. The old lady sized me up from head to toe, then looked at Jin Douzi, and finally turned back to me, furrowing her brow and asking: "Young man, what brings you here?"

  "Oh, old lady, I'd like to ask, where does the Zeng Hao family from Beigua Village Group 3 live?" I said, pulling out that red envelope.

  No sooner had my words left my mouth than I noticed the old lady's face change greatly. She snatched the letter from my hand, and murky tears welled up in her eyes. With a pair of wrinkled hands, she gently stroked the envelope.

  I exchanged a glance with Jin Douzi, then looked at the old lady again.

  "You... who are you to Zeng Hao?" I think it's unnecessary for me to explain, but in my impression, this Zeng Hao should be a man. The old lady seemed to suddenly realize her own mistake, hurriedly wiped away her tears with her sleeve, and then said: "I am Zeng Hao's mother."

  Hearing this sentence, my heart finally felt a lot more at ease, after all I had completed my task. The old lady said: "Come in and have a glass of water quickly."

  Mentioning water made me a bit thirsty, so I was about to step into the yard when Jin Douzi grabbed me again. I glanced at him and stepped across the threshold. Jin Douzi seemed a bit angry and followed me in.

  The courtyard wasn't big, a small path led directly to the inner house. On the left side of the path was a millstone, and on the right were two peach trees that had withered at this time. The old lady took us into the inner house, which was very low and humble, its layout almost identical to Old Jin's home. She led us into the room on the left, which wasn't large but was spotlessly clean. After we sat down, the old lady busied herself pouring two cups of hot water for us.

  The conditions here seem much better than those in Nangua Village, at least there is a TV and electric lighting. I drank water while sizing up the room.