荒墟牧神 - 第1章 暮色封村，莫入荒夜 - 錦書坊

"When dark falls, do not leave the house." This saying had circulated in Hidden Remnant Village for many years; exactly when it had been handed down could no longer be traced, but it was a truth beyond doubt. Watching the setting sun hide itself little by little behind the mountains, Granny Zhu's heart grew frantic again. As the sun sank and the last ray of light vanished, heaven and earth abruptly became utterly still and silent, without a single sound; darkness was seen slowly flooding in from the west, swallowing mountains, rivers, roads, and trees along the way, then reaching Hidden Remnant Village and drowning it. At the four corners of Hidden Remnant Village stood four ancient stone statues, mottled and weatherworn; even Granny Zhu did not know who had carved them or when they had been erected there. When darkness came, the four statues emitted a faint glimmer in the dark, still glowing, which made Granny Zhu and the village elders breathe a sigh of relief. Outside the village the darkness grew thicker still, but with the statues' light, Hidden Remnant Village could still be considered safe. Suddenly Granny Zhu's ears twitched; she froze for a moment, then cried out in alarm, "Listen! Outside there's the sound of a child crying!" Old Ma beside her shook his head. "Impossible, you misheard... Eh, there really is a baby's cry!" From the darkness outside the village came the crying of an infant; all the other elders in the village except the deaf heard it too. The elders exchanged baffled looks—Hidden Remnant Village was remote and desolate; how could a baby have appeared nearby? "I'll go look!" Granny Zhu grew excited and, tiptoeing on her small bound feet, ran to one of the village's stone statues. Old Ma hurried after her. "Old hag, are you crazy? It's dark; leave the village and you're dead!" "Carry this statue out of the village—the things in the dark are afraid of it; I won't die for a while yet!" Granny Zhu bent down, trying to lift the statue onto her back, but she was a hunchback and could not get it up. Old Ma shook his head. "Let me do it. I'll carry the statue and go with you!" Another elder came hobbling over and said, "Master Huo, with only one arm you won't be able to hold out long under that statue. I have both hands—better let me carry it." Old Ma shot him a glare. "Damned Lame Weng, with your one leg missing, can you even walk? I may have only one arm, but this arm has tremendous strength!" With his single arm he lifted the statue and steadied his stance; the statue was unimaginably heavy. "Old hag, let's go!" "Don't call me old hag! Lame Weng, Silent Craftsman, all of you be on your guard—the village is one statue short now; don't let anything from the darkness creep in!" ... Old Ma and Granny Zhu walked out of Hidden Remnant Village. In the darkness, strange things of unknown shape circled the pair, but when caught by the statue's glow, they squealed and withdrew into the dark. The two followed the crying, and after a hundred or so paces came to a great river; the baby's cry came from the riverbank. The statue's faint light did not shine far; they listened carefully to fix the direction of the sound, then walked upstream. After a few dozen steps the crying was close at hand, and Old Ma's single arm could hardly bear the weight. Granny Zhu's eyes brightened as she spotted a faint fluorescence: a basket rested on the bank; the glow came from within the basket, and the crying came from within it too. "There really is a child!" Granny Zhu went forward and lifted the basket, but paused in surprise—she could not raise it. Beneath the basket was an arm bleached white by the river water; it was this arm that had held the basket, and the child inside it, aloft and carried them all the way to the bank. "Don't worry; the child is safe now," Granny Zhu said softly to the woman under the water. The corpse seemed to hear her; the hand opened, was swept away by the river, and vanished into the dark. Granny Zhu lifted t