Chapter 6

Most rural houses are built with blue bricks and black tiles, with walls made of earth. From an overall perspective, Guiyi Village looks much like the countryside of the seventies or eighties, with no trace of modern technology— even the doors are made of wood.

“Coalball, wait for me at the door for a moment,” Xia Lingze instructed, then pushed open his own wooden door and stepped inside.

Xiong Gui felt the terrifying pressure radiating from the Great Gui inside the house. Not only was Xia Lingze forbidding it to move, but even if allowed, it couldn’t stir.

—There is a clear hierarchy among Gui; the powerful naturally exert an oppressive presence over the weak.

“Dad, Mom, I’m home!” Xia Lingze called out.

On the kang bed sat a pale-faced woman. Hearing the noise, she turned her head toward the door. Her eyes were hollow, dull, with a gray film over the eyeballs; no clear image could be formed in their depths... she was obviously blind.

The woman instinctively stood up. Seeing this, Xia Lingze hurried over and gently helped her sit down again.

“Mom, don’t move, be careful not to bump yourself. I’ll go get you some water.” After speaking, Xia Lingze picked up a cup from the table, walked to a large jar in the corner of the room, lifted the lid, and used a gourd dipper hanging nearby to scoop water, filling it halfway to avoid spilling. He then carried the cup back to the woman and placed it in her hands.

She was silent for a moment before drinking the water.

Taking the empty cup and placing it back on the table, Xia Lingze sat beside her and asked, “Mom, where’s Dad? Where did he go?”

“It’s almost Qin Jinhua’s wedding day. Your father went to make a dressing table for her.”

Xia’s father was a carpenter with excellent skills; villagers usually came to him whenever they needed anything made.

The dressing table—known in ancient times by that name, now simply called a vanity.

Xia’s mother always spoke with refined elegance, as if she were a noble lady transported from ancient times. She looked delicate and soft like a jade flower, her figure graceful and slender, her manners refined. In every way, she didn’t resemble a rural woman—especially in the poor Guiyi Village, such an air was an anomaly.

“Where is Qin Jie’s husband from?” Xia Lingze asked curiously.

“From outside.”

“Why have I never heard about him before?”

Xia’s mother replied calmly, “Qin Jinhua and her fiancé got engaged early on. This time, it’s just the wedding.”

“Ah? When did this happen? I didn’t know at all.”

Qin Jinhua was five years older than Xia Lingze. In his memory, she was a shy, introverted girl who didn’t talk much but liked to smile. They rarely played together—her quiet nature clashed with Xia Lingze’s boisterous, tree-climbing, river-jumping energy—so it was strange that he hadn’t heard about such an important event as her engagement.

“Such matters aren’t something to announce everywhere; engagement isn’t marriage after all.”

Though that made sense, Xia Lingze still felt a twinge of frustration at being overlooked by his peers. He quickly shook it off, stood up, and unsealed a snakeskin bag lying on the floor. From inside, he took out a plastic bag containing neatly folded clothes.

“Mom, I got you a new dress from Sister She.”

The woman, though blind, accurately focused her gaze on the boy’s hands. She paused.

“Sister She—the sister I mentioned before—said that the pure and innocent style is popular now. Although I don’t understand it, I think the clothes are quite nice, very beautiful...”

Before he could finish, a sudden weight pressed down on his head—it was his mother’s hand.

“Mom?” Xia Lingze hesitated, puzzled.

“Thank you.” The woman smiled faintly, a gentle curve of her lips dispelling the lingering gloom that usually clouded her expression.

Unlike the ever-smiling Qin Jinhua, Xia’s mother’s brows were delicately arched, as if perpetually worried, her eyes full of ambiguous affection—neither fully happy nor sad.

Xia Lingze scratched the back of his head, embarrassed, and smiled sheepishly.

The woman looked at the blush blooming on the boy’s nose, then lowered her gaze to the plastic bag resting on his lap, her emotions complex.

She was not Xia Lingze’s biological mother. The man Xia called father was only her husband in name, and moreover, he was not Xia’s biological father, nor did he share the surname Xia.

—To be precise, Xia Lingze was found by them. At that time, he was barely a month old, naked, and somehow appeared in the Gui Domain.

Even adults barely survived there; how could a helpless infant?

Normally, Xia Lingze would have been devoured. Yet all the Gui near him inexplicably regained their reason.

The stronger the Gui, the more frenzied and bloodthirsty they usually were.

The Gui Domain, known as the Forbidden Zone, was populated by a host of great Gui—rated 3S by human standards.

Like raising poisonous insects, they fought fiercely here until the arrival of this human infant, whose presence suppressed their fury and soothed their constant torment... They gathered peacefully around the baby, unusually harmonious and not fighting.

“Is it human?”

“I think so.”

“Doesn’t seem like a Gui, anyway.”

“Human aura.”

The Gui whispered among themselves, finally reaching a reluctant consensus: to raise this child.

If at first it was for their own benefit, then seeing the child learn about the sun, moon, and village from the loquacious Water Gui, the desolate, dark Gui Domain gradually gained day and night, sky, towering mountains, and a village that appeared out of nowhere...

It was no longer just about self-interest.

All the Gui were shocked.

The child, unaware of the magnitude of what he had done, giggled softly.

Fear—none of the Gui felt this was a good thing. Instead, a shudder welled up from the depths of their souls.

The child could not be human.

Nor was he a Gui.

One word rolled on the tongues of all the Gui, but none dared speak it aloud.

[God]

The most experienced Gui, now serving as village chief, gave the nameless child a name.

Xia—his hair’s tips were golden, dazzling like summer.

Lingze—he possessed the power of creation out of nothing, like rain nourishing all things.

Then came plans for the future.

The child grew day by day, and during this time they discovered that if he did something bad, punishment would rebound on them.

The penalty was being struck by lightning.

For reasons unknown, this strange punishment made them speculate it might be tied to cause and effect... They resolved to raise the child well and prevent him from doing evil. As long as he wasn’t born wicked, this was manageable.

After discussion, the Gui decided on a simple, honest upbringing.

The outside world was dazzling and easily corrupted him. So they told the child their village was very remote, with no one around for miles. All the Gui acted kindly and humbly in front of him.

With their path set, they assigned roles according to shape-changing abilities and personality. Sha Gui was chosen as the mother figure, and Ming Gui as the father.

The market had been revealed half a year earlier by Iron Egg, a Water Gui, during a chat with Xia Lingze.

That day, Xia Lingze asked Iron Egg about the world beyond the village. During the talk, Iron Egg accidentally mentioned trading, introducing the concept of a market.

Xia Lingze thought there should be one near their village as well.

Even though Water Gui later frantically tried to deny it, saying the situation was different and that there was no one nearby to trade with, his explanation failed utterly.

“By the way, Mom.” Xia Lingze’s voice brought the woman back from her wandering thoughts.

“I want to raise a bear. Actually, I’ve already brought it back.”

The woman, who had long sensed the presence of the Bear Gui, nodded gently. “If you want to raise it, then raise it.”

At the same time, outside the door, the Bear Gui’s mind echoed with a chilling female voice: [Don’t corrupt my child. You must set a good example and be a good Gui, or... hehe. I will be watching you closely.]

Seeing his mother’s spirits low, Xia Lingze told her to rest well, then quietly picked up the snakeskin bag and left the room, closing the door behind him. Just as he was about to call the black bear to follow, he noticed a patch of white fur on its forehead that looked remarkably like an eye and joked, “I hadn’t noticed before—this patch of fur on your forehead is pretty interesting.”

The Bear Gui was speechless.