Qing Ling frowned slightly. "What are you trying to say?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. This Gu Family Village isn't the same one we came from before." Gao Yang stretched, feeling the warm sunlight and gentle breeze. The village looked peaceful and vibrant, an almost surreal contrast to the nightmare they'd just escaped.
"So there are two Gu Family Villages?" Qing Ling was stuck on the literal interpretation.
"Use your imagination a little," Gao Yang suggested, his mind already leaping to bolder theories. "Parallel worlds, alternate dimensions, time reversal—maybe we've gone back 30 years to the Gu Family Village of the past."
Qing Ling shook her head. "You're definitely not right in the head."
"Gao Yang!"
A familiar, headache-inducing voice rang out. Gao Yang turned to see Prince Kai jogging toward him along the muddy path between the pond and the vegetable patch, followed by Officer Huang and Fat Jun.
Prince Kai threw an arm around Gao Yang's shoulders. "Knew you wouldn't kick the bucket that easily!"
"Where were you guys?" Gao Yang asked.
"We landed in the grove," Officer Huang said, scanning their surroundings. His eyes quickly locked onto the stele at the village entrance, and his brow furrowed. "Things just got complicated."
Gao Yang briefly shared his theory with Officer Huang, who listened carefully before making a decision.
"Prince Kai, Fat Jun, take Qing Ling and try another route. Gao Yang, come with me to the grove. There's something I want to show you."
"Got it." Gao Yang had no idea what Officer Huang was planning but followed him anyway.
Soon, they reached the grove. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows that flickered across their bodies. The wind, which had been rustling through the trees earlier, abruptly died as they walked deeper in.
Officer Huang stopped. "Here."
Gao Yang looked ahead. Another twenty meters, and they'd exit the grove onto the rural road leading back to the city.
"I remember the police car was parked right there. It's gone. This really isn't the same place," Gao Yang said.
"It's more than that." Officer Huang pointed toward the exit. "Walk forward."
Gao Yang did—and immediately felt something strange.
The air grew thick, and gravity beneath his feet seemed to warp. He kept walking, but no matter how far he went, the grove's exit remained exactly twenty meters away, like a horizon he could never reach.
Despite the daylight, a chill ran down his spine. He took a deep breath and broke into a sprint, running full tilt for what felt like minutes.
No use.
The exit was still twenty meters ahead. Gao Yang turned back. Officer Huang stood exactly where he'd left him, as if he hadn't moved at all.
"You..."
"I swear, I didn't take a single step," Officer Huang said.
"Then, from your perspective, was I moving?"
"You were... but it's hard to explain." Officer Huang searched for the right words. "You know perspective, like in drawing or photography?"
Gao Yang nodded.
"From my angle, the spatial relationship between you and the scenery ahead was all messed up. You were clearly walking forward, but then—blink—and it was like you hadn't moved at all..."
Gao Yang walked back easily, rejoining Officer Huang with a frown. "Why is this happening?"
"No idea." Officer Huang sighed. "If Fat Jun hadn't thrown a fit about leaving, we wouldn't have even noticed this... 'magic barrier.'"
A few minutes later, they returned to the village entrance. Soon after, Prince Kai, Fat Jun, and Qing Ling reappeared from the west side of the village.
"How'd it go?" Officer Huang asked.
"Can't leave. This is insane!" Prince Kai looked more excited than scared.
"We hit a river. No matter how far we walked, we couldn't cross it," Fat Jun mumbled, his face ashen. "Officer Huang, we've hit a ghost wall."
Officer Huang, ever the atheist, didn't comment.
"I want out," Qing Ling said flatly. She had no patience for things she couldn't understand or control.
"How? You can't escape a ghost wall. We're doomed..." Fat Jun spiraled further into despair. "I told you we should've turned back earlier..."
"Pathetic," Prince Kai sneered. "Whatever this is, if it blocks me, I'll kill it—god or ghost!"
"It's fine," Gao Yang reassured them. "Every space has an exit. The exit is a door. Find the key, and we can open it."
"Exactly." Officer Huang nodded in agreement. "Don't panic. This might still be part of the organization's test."
Gao Yang doubted the Twelve Zodiacs would go to such lengths for a trial, but he kept that thought to himself.
"So... what now?" Fat Jun fidgeted nervously.
"Since we're here, we might as well play along." Gao Yang looked up toward the ancestral hall on the slope. "Let's go pay our respects."
"Let's go!" Prince Kai was the first to agree.
Qing Ling and Officer Huang didn't object. Fat Jun hesitated but eventually nodded.
After a brief check of their gear, the group followed the village path uphill, soon arriving at the funeral canopy outside the ancestral hall.
A table stood at the entrance, manned by two men. One was a thin, scholarly-looking youth in an outdated white shirt from the '80s, a black-framed glasses perched on his nose. A white flower was pinned to his chest, and he held a brush, meticulously recording names in a ledger.
"Gu Guilun, five yuan. Gu Xianfang, ten yuan. Gu Mingxue, six yuan." Beside him sat an elderly man with vitiligo covering half his face. The silver-haired man sorted through white envelopes, calling out names as he opened them.
The old man glanced up, squinting at the group. "You all are... Hua's friends?"
Officer Huang had planned to pose as a mourner, but the money on the table was all decades-old currency. Pulling out modern bills from his wallet would raise suspicion.
Instead, he flashed his badge. "Shanqing District Police Station. Here to investigate."
"Haven't you come enough times already? We're holding the funeral today—can't you let the dead rest in peace?" The old man with vitiligo grumbled but kept his temper in check.
"Uncle Wu, the case isn't solved yet. None of us can rest easy until it is. It's good the police are taking it seriously." The scholarly young man stood, setting down his brush. He extended a hand to Officer Huang. "Hello, I'm Gu Xianzhi—call me Ah Zhi. Whatever you need, just ask."
"Thanks." Officer Huang nodded. "Mind if I pay my respects inside?"
"Of course, of course." Ah Zhi smiled warmly, then glanced at the others. "And these are...?"
"New recruits from the police academy. Interns assigned to me. Brought them along—fresh eyes might help crack the case."
"Understood." Ah Zhi handed Officer Huang a cigarette and ushered the group toward the canopy. "Aunt Fan, five cups of tea, please."