“Zhen Zhen said she’s worried that without her, this year’s autumn harvest will be hard on you and your sister,” Li Zhi said as he approached the old woman, noticing the tremor in her eyes. “Grandma, is there anything we can help you with?”
The old woman’s expression was complicated. “You’ve seen Zhen Zhen?”
Before Li Zhi could respond, she snarled, “You’ll only bring trouble to her! I don’t need your help. If you really want to help, then stop going to see her!”
A player from the group couldn’t help but shout, “Old lady! She’s your own granddaughter! How can you just stand by and watch her die like this?”
The wrinkles on the old woman’s face trembled slightly. Suddenly, she picked up a broom from the corner and swung it fiercely at them. “Go! Get out! Don’t come back looking for us! Zhen Zhen’s matters are none of your business, and you can’t help her! If you don’t want to die, stay far away!”
Dust rose from the dirt floor as the players covered their faces, backing away. With a loud bang, the old woman slammed the door shut, and the sounds of a little girl crying and the old woman’s scolding echoed from inside the courtyard.
Having been turned away, the group felt helpless. If Zhen Zhen’s wish was tied to this stubborn old woman, fulfilling it was going to be tough.
Li Zhi said, “Let’s go to the Shrine of Virtuous Women.”
The Shrine of Virtuous Women was a landmark in Lie Nu Village, built on high ground in the east. Passing through the village, there was a short flight of stairs leading up to the shrine—only about fifty or sixty steps—and at the top stood a memorial arch.
The arch was made of blue bricks, with four pillars, three openings, and three floors. Stone lions rested atop the square pillars. The structure was grand, with stone drums placed before and behind the pillars. The carvings on the arch were exquisite. The central beam of the arch was engraved with the words “Chastity and Virtue,” while the left side bore the date, and the right side had names engraved.
The years had weathered the stone, and the carvings were no longer very clear. On the right side of the arch, the only discernible characters were “erected in honor of the chaste wife, Lady Zhen.”
Li Zhi recalled that on their first night here, the village chief had mentioned that the court had bestowed a chastity memorial arch for Lady Zhen, and it must be this one.
This stone structure, though small in history’s grand scope, was like a mountain that crushed generations of women, stripping them of their freedom and their lives.
Beyond the memorial arch was the grand and imposing Shrine of Virtuous Women. At the entrance stood two burly men with weapons, who, upon seeing the players approach, looked on guard. “What do you want?”
Li Zhi bowed respectfully. “Brothers, we’ve long heard of your village’s famous shrine and would like to pay our respects.”
Their expressions softened but remained stern. “You can pay your respects, but this is sacred ground. Be cautious in what you do and say, and leave immediately after you’re done. Don’t wander or look around.”
The group quickly agreed and, under the guidance of one of the men, entered the shrine.
Inside, it didn’t look much different from other ancestral halls. The altar was packed with memorial tablets, all arranged neatly, staring down at the worshippers. The incense smoke was thick, illuminating the names on the tablets.
No, those weren’t names.
Wife of Ke Hong – Lady Li, Wife of Zhang Juncai – Lady Du, Wife of Lu Xingteng – Lady Liu…
One by one, the names followed the same pattern. These women had all died to remain chaste for their husbands. Even in death, their tablets did not bear their own names. In life or death, they were nothing more than their husbands’ appendages.
The dates of birth and death on the tablets varied, some showing women as young as seventeen.
At the highest point on the altar stood a tablet that was different from the others. The name engraved there matched the one on the chastity memorial outside. This time, Li Zhi saw the full inscription: Wife of Zhou Shaoyuan – Lady Zhen.
Li Zhi calculated Lady Zhen’s birth and death dates. Based on the current timeline in Lie Nu Village, it had been over a hundred years since she passed.
In that century, the tablets in the Shrine of Virtuous Women had increased one by one and had never ceased.
The female players in the group looked furious.
Taking advantage of the villager’s momentary distraction, Chi Yi spat secretly on the ground.
They all gave a token bow before leaving. Once they had descended the steps, Chi Yi couldn’t hold back and began cursing. “What a Shrine of Virtuous Women! It should be called a Murder Shrine! A bunch of early-dead men who couldn’t even rest in peace, dragging their wives to die with them—worse than pigs and dogs!”
Wen Qianxue nodded vigorously beside her. “Insulting pigs and dogs is too kind! Pigs are delicious, and dogs are adorable!”
Pink Hair looked nervous. “Sisters, please lower your voices. If the villagers hear us, we’re doomed.”
Chi Yi shot him a glare. “Don’t talk to me right now! I have serious issues with you men!”
Feeling wronged, Pink Hair protested, “Why are you indiscriminately targeting everyone? I hate these people too!”
There weren’t any useful clues in the Shrine of Virtuous Women, but it was clear that the village held it in high regard, even assigning guards to it. In this era, able-bodied men were valuable labor, so pulling them away for guard duty wasn’t something done lightly.
The weather was good, and many villagers were already harvesting wheat. Li Zhi stood by the roadside, glancing towards the fields, and said to the others, “Let’s borrow some sickles and help Zhen Zhen’s grandma harvest the wheat.”
One of the players grumbled, “She won’t tell us anything, so it’ll just be wasted effort.”
Li Zhi was resolute. “A smiling face won’t get hit. Let’s just work without asking anything. Even if she tries to chase us away, we’ll keep our heads down and get on with it.”
Considering that Zhen Zhen was such a cheerful and kind girl, Li Zhi believed her grandmother wasn’t as heartless as she seemed on the surface.
Three players decided to split off and gather more clues in the village, while the remaining five agreed to go with Li Zhi and help Zhen Zhen’s grandma harvest the wheat.
They borrowed sickles from a nearby farmhouse and walked along the path by the sweet osmanthus tree. Before long, they spotted Zhen Zhen’s grandmother, hunched over and wearing a straw hat, working slowly in the field.
She was old, her hands and feet clumsy. At her pace, the wheat would fall off the stalks before she could finish. Zhen Zhen’s worries were not unfounded.
Li Zhi waved his hand, signaling everyone to proceed according to plan. The five of them nodded in unison and, without saying a word, jumped into the field and started cutting the wheat. Zhen Zhen’s grandmother was startled by the sudden appearance of the group.
When she realized who they were, she angrily shouted, “What are you doing here again? Get out! I don’t need your help!”
No one paid her any mind.
They kept their heads down and worked, treating her scolding as nothing more than background noise.
After scolding them for quite a while with no effect, the old woman realized it was futile. These people were acting like they were deaf, and her expression became quite complex.
Eventually, she seemed to tire of scolding, placed her hands on her hips, and glared at them for a while. Then, she simply picked up her sickle and resumed her own work, ignoring them altogether.
For a time, the only sounds in the field were the swishing of sickles cutting through the wheat.
Around noon, the old woman tossed aside her sickle and left. After she was far enough away, Pink Hair stretched his aching back and asked, “Sister Zhi, she left. Should we keep working?”
Li Zhi replied, “Keep going. Who knows, maybe she went back to cook lunch for us.”
As if! She’s not going to cook for you, Pink Hair thought to himself, but didn’t dare say it out loud. After all, he considered himself Li Zhi’s sidekick now, and a sidekick shouldn’t question the boss.
But surprisingly, the boss wasn’t just daydreaming.
An hour later, the old woman really did return with lunch!
Her face was still stern as she set down the bamboo basket on the edge of the field and barked, “Come eat.”
Li Zhi smiled as she approached, picked up a bowl of water, and took a sip. “Thank you, Grandma. You’re so kind.”
The old woman snorted coldly in response.
There wasn’t any luxurious food, but from the white rice in the bowls, it was clear the old woman was genuinely grateful to them.
After lunch, they continued working, determined to finish harvesting the wheat in the field before sunset. During this time, Zhen Zhen’s younger sister came by twice to deliver water. She crouched by the edge of the field, curiously watching the strangers, and eventually couldn’t resist asking Li Zhi, who had intentionally sidled up to her, “Are you really my sister’s friend?”
Li Zhi’s eyes curved into a gentle smile. “Of course it’s true. Your sister loves reading, doesn’t she?”
The younger sister nodded eagerly. “Yes! My sister loves reading and writing, but she couldn’t attend school. She used to take me to eavesdrop outside, but we got caught by the teacher and were beaten.”
Li Zhi took out some rock candy she had prepared earlier that morning and handed it to the girl. “What else does your sister like?”
The little girl was delighted by the sweet candy and began to talk more. “My sister loves doing chores. She always tries to do all the housework. She also loves going up the mountain with everyone. She said that standing at the highest point on the mountain, she could see beyond the village. She always said she would go outside the village one day.”
Her clear eyes blinked as she asked Li Zhi, “Sister, you’re from outside. What’s it like outside the village?”
Li Zhi patted her head. “The outside world is very different from here. When you grow up, you can see it for yourself.”
The little girl’s eyes filled with a bit of hope for the outside world, but then her expression turned sad again. “Too bad my sister won’t be able to see it.”
She bit her lip and whispered softly, “Sister, can you help my sister? I don’t want her to die.”
Li Zhi knelt down to meet her eyes, supporting herself with her hands on her knees. “Alright, I promise you, I will help save your sister.”
The little girl beamed. “Really? You’re not lying?”
Li Zhi smiled and extended her pinky finger. “Let’s make a pinky promise.”
The little girl eagerly locked pinkies with her.
From nearby, the old woman watched the scene unfold. Her cloudy eyes suddenly reddened, and in a raspy, choked voice tinged with resignation, she said, “Why are you giving her false hope? You’ll only leave her disappointed.”
Li Zhi stood up straight, her expression calm as she looked at the old woman. “I’m not lying.”
The old woman, seeing the determination in Li Zhi’s eyes, suddenly became flustered. “Girl, this old woman thanks you for your kindness, but it’s really no use. There’s nothing you can do to save her. Even if…”
She bit her lip, her voice lowering, as if she were terrified of something. “Even if you take her and run away from here, when the time comes, she will still die.”
Li Zhi’s expression didn’t waver, and she lowered her voice to match the old woman’s. “What do you mean?”
Fear flickered in the old woman’s eyes. Her dry lips trembled as if she wanted to say something but was too scared. In the end, she only hinted, “That woman in your troupe who committed suicide—don’t you think her death was strange?”
Of course it was strange.
Why commit suicide on the first night after arriving in Lie Nu Village, of all times? She had barely hung herself for two minutes before she was dead, and even in death, her ghost lingered, haunting those nearby.
The old woman closed her eyes, her voice trembling with age and fear. “In Lie Nu Village, a widow can never escape death, whether she wants to or not.”