Whether they are willing or not, in the end, death is inevitable.
When the time comes, she will still die.
The old woman’s words caused Li Zhi to gradually piece together the information she had gathered over the past few days. An unclear idea emerged in her mind, but she didn’t voice it. It was evident that the old woman was afraid of something. If she asked rashly, it would only make her more tight-lipped.
Li Zhi subtly changed the topic. “Grandma, what about your husband?”
The old woman’s expression softened, no longer as fearful as before, and her tone carried a hint of nostalgia. “I am different from them. Three years after I married into the family, I remained childless. My in-laws blamed me for being unable to bear children, and they sent me away with a divorce letter. No one wanted to marry a barren woman. My family was slaughtered by the Japanese invaders, so I stayed here and lived alone. Later, Zhen Zhen’s parents were killed by bandits, leaving her and her newborn sister behind. I raised both of them myself.”
“Times were tough back then. There was war outside, and I was just a woman raising two children. There was nowhere else for me to go but to settle in this village,” the old woman said, patting Li Zhi’s hand.
Unable to hold back any longer, she finally confided, “I raised Zhen Zhen as if she were my own daughter. Do you think I could bear to see her die? But there’s nothing I can do. She was just born with bad luck.”
“I didn’t want her to follow in the footsteps of those other women. I carefully chose a healthy, strong man for her, hoping they would live a long life together. Who would have thought, on the third day after their wedding, the man fell from the mountain while chopping wood and died. That’s fate!”
The old woman wiped away her tears, her expression gradually hardening again. Gritting her teeth, she said, “Dead is dead. The sooner you die, the sooner you can be reincarnated as a man in the next life, and things will be better.”
She slowly glanced at the group of kind-hearted young people, her voice old and weary, yet it sounded like both a warning and a reminder. “What happens here has nothing to do with you outsiders. Don’t meddle anymore. Once the festival ends in three days, leave quickly. This Lie Nu Village is not a good place. Do not come back.
“Grandma, what kind of festival is happening in three days?” Chi Yi asked with innocent curiosity. “I’ve never heard of any festival at this time of year.”
An odd expression appeared on the old woman’s face. After a long pause, she softly replied, “It’s the Staged Death Festival.” She smiled a strange smile, one that looked like she was forcing herself to be pleased, but also seemed on the verge of tears, as if she were suppressing great sorrow. “It’s a festival we’ve prepared especially for Zhen Zhen. After your performance, she’ll also go on stage to perform.”
The players harvesting wheat gradually stopped what they were doing, looking at the old woman in disbelief. Chi Yi swallowed hard and asked dryly, “What kind of performance?”
The old woman chuckled strangely. “Of course, it’s a performance of suicide. Everyone will applaud and cheer for her as she’s sent off on her way.”
It was a warm evening, but at that moment, everyone present felt a chill of horror.
Li Zhi quietly asked, “Just like our opera troupe’s Fang Lin?”
The old woman’s face filled again with that same terror. She shook her head, trembling, “No, not the same. It’s not the same.”
She mumbled a few more words before becoming irrational again. “You mustn’t see Zhen Zhen anymore! Just let her go peacefully! The end is the same, the end is always the same!”
She grabbed the little girl beside her, roughly pulling her away. “Go! Go!”
The harvested wheat was neatly stacked on the ground.
The group fell into silence for a long time, until even the usually brash Pink Hair couldn’t help but curse. “This village is full of lunatics, aren’t they?! They actually enjoy watching people commit suicide? And they’ve even created a festival to celebrate it? What kind of nonsense is this?”
The village chief’s excited words from that day echoed in their ears.
He would spend money to invite an opera troupe, allowing the villagers to happily celebrate the festival.
So, the joyous festival he spoke of referred to watching an innocent woman perform her own suicide on stage.
Chi Yi clenched her teeth. “Before we leave, I swear I’ll burn this place to the ground!”
Wen Qianxue, usually known for her sweet and gentle demeanor, made a shocking suggestion: “Since killing isn’t a crime in this instance, how about we set the place on fire tonight and burn these people to death?”
For a moment, the rivals, who had been at each other’s throats for years, exchanged a glance of understanding.
“Let’s get the wheat back first,” Li Zhi interrupted their murderous plan. “If it rains tonight, it’ll all rot in the field.”
Pink Hair, visibly frustrated, asked, “Sister Zhi, aren’t you angry after hearing all this?”
Li Zhi shot her a quick glance. “We clear the instance first, then we set the fire. We can’t mix up the steps.”
“Right! Right!” Chi Yi nodded eagerly, patting her chest in relief. “We can’t let these people drag us down with them. It’s not worth it! Stay calm!”
The group loaded the wheat into baskets and carried them back to the old woman’s house. The elderly lady didn’t show herself, but Zhen Zhen’s younger sister kept coming in and out, bringing them water. By the time they had brought all the wheat back, the sun had set. After working the whole day, their bodies ached as they returned to their lodging in the courtyard, only to encounter the village chief coming to invite their troupe leader.
“Fang Lin’s funeral has been arranged. After the vigil tonight, she will be taken to the shrine of virtuous women tomorrow and buried in the maiden’s tomb. It’s a big event. We’ve set up a white banquet in the main courtyard, and you should all come to send Fang Lin off.”
The troupe leader nodded in agreement.
Upon hearing there was going to be a banquet, the members of the troupe brightened up. They rarely had the opportunity to eat meat throughout the year, but this village was surprisingly generous, offering a feast and inviting both the villagers and the entire troupe.
Naturally, the players followed along. When they arrived at the courtyard, they saw a mourning tent already set up with a coffin inside. Fang Lin’s body lay within, while in the spacious yard outside, there were more than a dozen tables, and the villagers were busy serving dishes.
As Fang Lin’s “family,” the opera troupe was seated at the main table. Tao Yu and her group looked around at the cheerful villagers. Despite it being a funeral, the atmosphere felt more like a festive celebration than a solemn occasion. They exchanged glances but said nothing, simply focusing on their food.
Only the players who knew the truth felt as if they were being force-fed dirt, with no appetite for the feast.
Li Zhi ate a few bites to fill her stomach, then quietly slipped away while no one was paying attention. Since all the villagers were busy at the banquet, now was the perfect time to visit Zhen Zhen. The sun hadn’t completely set yet, so she returned to the courtyard to grab a few items before heading to Zhen Zhen’s in-laws’ house.
This time, without Pink Hair’s help to lift her, she backed up a few steps and tried the wall-climbing technique that Li Feng had taught her. With her muscle strength, it wasn’t difficult, and she easily scaled the wall.
In the yard, the few chickens pecking at the ground glanced at Li Zhi like they were familiar with her and didn’t even bother to run.
Li Zhi walked over to the window, which was lit with a dim yellow light, and called inside, “Zhen Zhen.”
“Li Zhi! You came again?” Zhen Zhen jumped up excitedly, but upon seeing her, she became a little nervous. “You climb in every day. Won’t you be caught?”
“If I get caught, I won’t come anymore,” Li Zhi replied with a smile. “What are you doing?”
Zhen Zhen said, “I’m looking at the comic you gave me! The drawings are so good, and the story is really interesting. It’s about a female general going to war, right? I see them wearing armor and riding horses!”
Li Zhi nodded. “Yes, it’s the story of the Yang family’s female generals. Have you heard of them?”
Zhen Zhen shook her head, her eyes wide. “So, they’re called the Yang family generals? That’s such a powerful name!”
Li Zhi chuckled and, through the window, began to tell Zhen Zhen the story of the Yang family’s female warriors. With her excellent storytelling skills, she made the tale even more thrilling than the comic itself. Zhen Zhen was utterly captivated, her eyes fixed on Li Zhi without blinking.
“They really existed? I thought it was just a made-up story,” Zhen Zhen muttered in awe. “I didn’t know women could fight in wars too.”
“Anything men can do, women can do too,” Li Zhi said casually, as she took out the paper and pen she had brought from the courtyard. “Zhen Zhen, I visited your grandmother and sister today. Your sister said you like writing, so I brought this for you.”
Zhen Zhen’s eyes reddened a bit as she looked at the paper and pen Li Zhi handed her. “Li Zhi, you’re so kind to me. But I can’t write. I only know how to copy drawings from books.”
Li Zhi smiled. “I’ll teach you. Let’s start with your name.”
She leaned in closer, positioning herself so Zhen Zhen could see the strokes clearly, and wrote the characters for “Zhen Zhen” on the paper.
Zhen Zhen watched intently, trying her best to memorize how to write her own name. When Li Zhi finished, she asked, a bit puzzled, “Why do both characters look the same?”
Li Zhi was momentarily taken aback. “The character for ‘treasure,’ zhēn (珍), aren’t you called Zhen Zhen?”
Zhen Zhen looked at her and replied, “My mother said my name means ‘to treasure chastity,’ and it was given to me by the teacher at the village school.”
Li Zhi fell silent for a couple of seconds, choosing not to say much more. Instead, she rewrote the name “珍贞” (Zhen Zhen) on the paper. Zhen Zhen compared the two names for a moment, then suddenly said, “I think the first one looks nicer.”
Li Zhi smiled softly. “If you ever want to change your name, you can go with the first one. It has a wonderful meaning—’precious treasure.'”
“Precious treasure…” Zhen Zhen repeated the words, her eyelashes trembling slightly. Gathering her courage, she asked in a low voice, “Li Zhi, what’s the world outside like?”
“The world outside…” Li Zhi leaned against the window, her soft, beautiful eyes reflecting the fading sunset behind her. It was as if Zhen Zhen could glimpse that outside world—where girls lived freely.
“Out there, there’s everything you could imagine. You can do anything, and every person, every girl, has many choices and a life of her own.”
“A different… life.” Zhen Zhen repeated the words quietly, as though asking herself, “Can I have that too?”
“Of course,” Li Zhi answered, looking at her steadily. “If you want it.”
Zhen Zhen held her gaze for a long time before whispering, almost too quietly to hear, “Li Zhi, did you know? I’ve always felt that something about all of this is wrong. When I was little, I saw a woman in the village hang herself during the Staged Death Festival after her husband died. Everyone around her was clapping, praising her. But it looked so painful. Her neck was broken by the white silk rope—it must have hurt so much, right?”
She was puzzled and continued to question, “But it seemed like I was the only one who thought it was wrong. I didn’t dare tell anyone. I didn’t even know why I felt it was wrong. Li Zhi, if I had read as many books as you, would I understand why it’s wrong?”
She felt deeply that something was wrong, but she couldn’t articulate why.
Because she hadn’t read many books, she had lived in an informational cocoon woven by the village, day after day, subdued by the decaying and cruel feudal traditions. Eventually, she had numbly accepted it.
But human thought is resilient, like wild grass. Even when covered by concrete, it finds a way to grow through the cracks.
The moment young Zhen Zhen felt something was wrong, that seed had already taken root in her heart.
It would be suppressed, obscured, perhaps unable to thrive. But once it had taken hold, it would never vanish.