This is the fourth household! Just as I was wondering if this was a coincidence, Wang Jue pointed to the Bagua mirror hanging on the door, identical to the one we saw at the Miao girl’s house in Wuzhuang. For the same object to appear in two places thousands of miles apart was hardly a probable event. Therefore, we were now seventy percent certain this was the courtyard of the Miao girl's ancestral home.

I quickened my pace and stepped forward to knock. Logically, if the Miao girl had returned for a funeral, the courtyard should have been draped with white silk, a coffin placed outside, and the area crowded with people. Yet, standing outside the door, we sensed none of that atmosphere; this courtyard seemed no different from any other ordinary household.

After knocking for quite a while, someone finally answered. The person who opened the door was a hunchbacked old woman, bent so low she was only as tall as a child of thirteen or fourteen. She wore dark blue cross-collared top and trousers, dragging a pair of blue cloth shoes, and her head was bound with a dark blue headband embroidered with a white cross pattern around the edge. Her face was a roadmap of wrinkles, her eye sockets deeply sunken, and the two hands that opened the door were bony and skeletal, resembling a pair of chicken claws.

Just as I hesitated, unsure of what to say, Wang Jue proactively began greeting her. He bent his waist, crouching down to lower his height, and politely said to the old woman, "Hello, Grandma! We're from Wuzhuang. The village chief asked us to come look for Hua Jinlan on his behalf."

"What?" The old woman turned her head, cupping a hand over her ear, and shouted loudly.

It seemed this elder had hearing difficulties.

"The village chief sent us to find Hua Jinlan!" Wang Jue roared, raising his voice.

"What do you want her for?" A man’s voice spoke from behind the old woman.

We quickly straightened up and followed the sound of the voice with our gaze. We saw a man emerge from the main room, dressed in a white cloth shirt and blue cloth shoes, clutching a hoe in his hand, with a diagonal scar running across his left cheek. This posture suggested anything but friendliness.

Wang Jue cupped his hands toward the newcomer, exhibiting the bearing of a seasoned veteran, and said, "A friend of ours is ill and needs Big Sister Hua's assistance."

"Oh," the scarred man looked us up and down, a distinct look of distrust flashing in his pupils, "Where are you from?"

"Wuzhuang. The village chief called before we left."

"She’s gone into the mountains. You can come in and wait." The scarred man coldly dropped the words and turned back into the main room.

The old woman ushered us in, and we followed the scarred man, one after the other, into the main hall. Along the way, the old woman kept her head tilted back, staring at us with those deep-set eyes like a hawk, making us feel extremely uncomfortable.

This was a typical Miao household: flagstone floor, flagstone walls, and a flagstone roof; even the steps leading into the village were built from overlapping flagstones. The interior of the main room was dim; aside from the sunlight filtering in through the doorway and a single light bulb hanging beneath the main beam, there was no other discernible source of light. Considering the room's size, the light from this bulb should have been pathetically weak.

The scarred man led us to the main room but did not invite us to sit; instead, he turned and entered the inner chambers. Wang Jue and I were made awkward by this unconventional behavior, standing awkwardly in the main room—not knowing whether to sit or leave, and feeling even more uneasy about following him in. Meanwhile, the old woman stood in the courtyard the entire time, staring at us, making no move to welcome the guests.

I nudged Wang Jue with my elbow. Wang Jue looked around and said, "Wait a moment, he’s probably gone in to find Hua Jinlan."

We waited for over two hours, until the sun was high in the sky, and still, the scarred man had not reappeared. At some point, the old woman had also vanished from the courtyard. I could no longer endure the wait and pushed open the door to the inner room, intending to see what devilry the scarred man was up to. That single glance terrified me to the core.