The Strange New Year Customs of a Mountain Village

Amid the city’s endless traffic, Lin Xiao was an ordinary office worker, living a nine-to-five life. But a letter from a remote mountain village shattered her peaceful routine. It came from a distant relative she hadn’t been in touch with for a long time, inviting her back to her hometown for the New Year. The village was holding an extremely important sacrificial ceremony, and as the representative of the younger generation in her family, she had to attend.

Lin Xiao had intended to refuse, but the letter was so earnest, and it hinted at family history she had never heard before, stirring her curiosity. After much hesitation, she set off for home.

When she arrived at the small village deep in the mountains, an indescribable sense of unease washed over her. Thick fog shrouded the village, and ancient buildings stood scattered about, lending it a gloomy, mysterious air. The villagers all wore traditional clothes, their eyes filled with an indescribable reverence.

Night fell, and the sacrificial ceremony began. The villagers escorted Lin Xiao to an ancient ancestral hall in the center of the village. Candlelight flickered inside, and portraits of ancestors whose faces were impossible to make out hung on the walls, creating a bone-chilling atmosphere.