Unraveling Fengmen Village’s Secrets

Bai Wanwan’s gaze swept across her surroundings. She could distinctly feel the presence of a memorial tablet enshrined on the second floor.

It was dedicated to a girl, perhaps eleven or twelve years old. Yet, whether due to its placement or the girl’s unwillingness to accept the family’s offerings, the tablet seemed utterly ineffective.

This very uselessness, however, subtly hinted at the homeowners’ guilty conscience.

This family had no daughter, only a missing son. Why would they enshrine a little girl with whom they shared no blood ties or relations?

Even before she stepped through the door, the scent of incense in this restaurant had been unmistakable to Bai Wanwan.

Furthermore, the mindset in this village was profoundly patriarchal, valuing males to an extreme degree.

Even Liu Hanzhi’s stepmother-style dress and Shi Xiangning’s simple dress had drawn their disapproving, furrowed gazes.

“Indeed, most of those who have gone missing are children.”

After struggling for a moment, the middle-aged man finally exhaled, revealing the truth about Fengmen Village to Bai Wanwan.

“Actually, Fengmen Village was originally called Fengmen Village, not some haunted place at all. It was just a rumor that spread, coupled with the belief that a young girl in the village was a calamity reincarnate.”

“Her parents and grandparents were supposedly ‘cursed to death’ by her. People in the surrounding villages, and even within this one, were terrified of her.”

Listening to the middle-aged man’s account, Bai Wanwan instinctively furrowed her brows.

“A calamity reincarnate? Do you actually believe such talk?”

“But she truly did curse her relatives to death! And because of her, all sorts of strange and eerie things kept happening in Fengmen Village. It caused a huge stir online.”

The middle-aged man’s expression was earnest. As he spoke, he pulled out a low-pixel, large-screen phone to show Bai Wanwan.

The screen was filled with records of supernatural events in Fengmen Village, written so convincingly that one might mistake them for official documents.

In reality, however, the publishers were all obscure marketing accounts.

“Ghosts frightening people aren’t truly terrifying; it’s people frightening people that’s the most dreadful.”

Bai Wanwan merely glanced at the phone’s content before looking away. Her sharp gaze then settled on the elderly individuals seated not far off.

For some reason, Bai Wanwan distinctly sensed a hint of unnaturalness on their faces.

“You’ve made quite a fortune, haven’t you, from tourists drawn by these stories of Fengmen Village?”

It wasn’t hard to discern from the moment they arrived: the roadsides were lined with restaurants and inns. In this remote village, every household occupied a two-story building, and the main street was filled with shops.

Who were they serving? The answer was obvious.

The true story behind Fengmen Village was absolutely not as simple as the middle-aged man before her made it out to be.

“In any case, since you’re unwilling to tell me the truth, I’ll have to investigate it myself.”

“Whether I can find your son, however, will depend on luck.”

Bai Wanwan looked at the middle-aged man before her, who still seemed hesitant, on the verge of speaking but holding back.

“Rest assured, if he’s alive, you’ll see him; if he’s dead, you’ll see his corpse.”

“I think you should reflect. Does the child’s current predicament have any connection to you?”

“You are both the beneficiaries of Fengmen Village’s eerie rumors and the knowers of the truth behind them. The karmic ties here, you understand them far better than I do.”

Bai Wanwan picked up the small satchel from the table, deciding there was no longer any need to communicate with this family.

Their own son was on the verge of death, yet they continued to prevaricate, unwilling to reveal the truth.

Bai Wanwan couldn’t be bothered to waste more words. She had come to the Haunted Realm of Fengmen Village primarily for the malevolent artifacts.

Moreover, she had likely pieced together a general idea.

The emergence of this Haunted Realm of Fengmen Village was, in all likelihood, caused by human malice.

Just like that seemingly innocent, yet maliciously charged nursery rhyme, there was undoubtedly a sickening truth hidden beneath the surface.