Huaiyin Village Rules

Introduction to the work Chen Mo received a call from his hometown that his distant uncle Chen Shougen had passed away in a strange way - the corners of his mouth were sutured with thick threads. Returning to his hometown for the funeral, he found that everything was wrong in Huaiyin Village: absurd rules notes were posted on the doors of every house, old locust trees were wrapped with red cloth, the villagers were silent collectively, and no one dared to approach the coffin. The legacy left behind by my uncle: a handwritten "Code of Daily Behavior of Huaiyin Village" - "Don't look in the mirror after a while", "Don't water the locust tree", "Don't look back when you hear the call"... Every one of them has been verified by someone's life. At the wake, the sound of fingernails scraping could be heard in the coffin. When Zishi went to the appointment, the old man who kept the temple told him: the rules are not set by people, but by "that thing" under the village. If you want to take over, you have to go into the ancestral hall and take a look at the truth reflected in the coffin. Chen Mo closed the door at the last moment, but heard his uncle's words from the coffin: "You are right not to come in..." At a funeral, four nails seal the coffin: the mouth, the eyes, the ears, and the soul. Deep in the soil beneath my feet, something turned over. Grandma Zhou advised him to leave quickly: "If you stay for one more day, you will run the risk of being recognized. You are from outside, and you are still clean." But my uncle left another note in the old house: The truth is in the dry well in the east of the village, and the key is in your hand. Chen Mo opened the note. He chose to stay. This is a story about cognitive pollution, rule protection and civilization cycle. When indescribable things sleep under the soil, when daily taboos become life-saving rules - the more you know, the closer you are to madness. And he was already standing on the edge of the cliff.