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Chapter 1: Don’t Go Outside When It’s Dark

Translator: Ninetales Editor: Ninetales

‘Don’t go outside when it’s dark’

This phrase had been circulating through Disabled Elderly Village for years, but exactly when it started doing so was never figured out In spite of that, the truth of this phrase was never in doubt

In Disabled Elderly Village, Granny Si started getting anxious as she watches the setting sun slowly hide behind the mountains As the sun set, the last of its rays disappeared, suddenly leaving the entire world in absolute silence No sound could be heard The only thing that could be seen was the darkness that slowly approached fro everyat Disabled Elderly Village and engulfing it

Four ancient stone statues had been erected at the four corners of Disabled Elderly Village These statues were so old and mottled that even Granny Si didn’t knoho sculpted them or when they had been constructed there

As darkness fell, the four statues eht up as usual, Granny Si and the rest of the elderly in the village let out sighs of relief

The darkness outside began growing thicker and thicker, but with the light of the statues, Disabled Elderly Village was still considered safe

Suddenly, Granny Si’s ears twitched as she let out a cry of astonish outside!"

Beside her, Old Ma shook his head and replied, "Is Eh, there really is a baby crying!"

Except for Deaf, the rest of the elderly looked at one another upon hearing the cries of a baby echo through the darkness froe How could a baby appear nearby when Disabled Elderly Village was located in such a rerew excited as she tiptoed then ran to the side of one of the statues in the village Old Ma ione e when it’s dark s in the dark are afraid of the stone statue I won’t die so quickly if I carry this statue out of the village!"

Granny Si bent over as she attempted to carry the stone statue However, since she was a hunchback, she was unable to carry it on her back

Old Ma shook his head "Let me do it I’ll help you carry the statue!"

Another elderly person to the side walked over with a limp and said, "Old Ma, you won’t be able to carry that stone statue for long with just that re arm of yours With both my arms intact, it’ll be better to let me do it"

Old Ma just stared at hi, Damned Cripple? I h strength in it!"

He stabilized his footing as he carried the impossibly heavy stone statue with his only ar ilant Since the village will be short one stone statue, be sure not to let the things in the darkness slip in!"

…

As Old Ma and Granny Si walked out of Disabled Elderly Village, strange and unknown things floated through the darkness around theht, all of theely and retreated back into the darkness

After following the baby’s cries for a few hundred steps, Old Ma and Granny Si e river bank This here the baby’s cries were colow froh, so both of them had to intently listen to the direction that the sound ca upstream After dozens of steps, the cry could be heard nearby At the same time, Old Ma’s only arht eyes and spotted a slow came from a basket which had stopped at the river bank It was also where the cries had been co from

"It really was a child!"

Granny Si moved forward to pick the basket up, but she was startled upon realizing she couldn’t Under the basket was a pair of pale white hands had beco up the basket and the child inside of it, pushing them all the way to the river bed

"Don’t worry The child is safe now," Granny gently said to the woman under the water

As if the ferasp She disappeared into the darkness as she got swept away by the river

Granny Si lifted the basket up, and inside of it was a baby swaddled in cloth A jade pendant that gave off a fluorescent glow rested atop the clothing Both the glow of the jade pendant and the glow of the stone stature were very silow of the jade pendant was much weaker It was this jade pendant that had protected the child in the basket fros in the darkness

Since the glow of the jade pendant eak, it was only able to protect the child and not the woe, all the villagers that gathered were old, weak, sick, and disabled Granny Si peeled away the swaddling cloth to take a look at the baby, and the rerin "There is finally a healthy person in our Disabled Elderly Village!"

Cripple, who only had one leg re him, Old Woman Si? We can’t even take care of ourselves! I think we should give hier "I, an old woive hiers became submissive and did not dare to oppose her Carried on a stretcher, the village chief cahtly worse than the rest of the elderly; at least the others had limbs, even if they were lesser than those of a normal human He, on the other hand, had no limbs at all However, everyone was very respectful of him Even the fiend-like Granny Si did not dare to be iive hie Chief replied, "Old wo else in the basket?"

Granny Si went through the basket and shook her head "There isn’t anything in here other than this jade pendant The word "Qin" is on the pendant The jade does not have any ie power It definitely isn’t an ordinary object… could it be from a rich family?"

"Should he be called Qin, or should his surnaht before saying, "Let his surnarows up, let hih for him to survive at least"

"Qin Mu" Granny Si looked at the swaddled baby asn’t afraid of her and was unexpectedly giggling without a care

The sound of a flute echoed across the river bank A herder boy sat on a cow, playing a melodious tune on his flute The herder boy looked to be eleven to twelve years of age, and he had delicate features, such as his red lips and white teeth With his shirt half-open, a jade pendant dangled in front of his chest

This young boy was indeed the baby that Granny Si had picked up froe had painstakingly raised the boy over the years Granny Si had found a cow so that, when Qin Mu was still a baby, he could have h the period in which babies would die young However, no one knehere she got it froe were all fiendish, all of the most days, Qin Mu would learn how to tailor froather and refine herbs fro skills from Grandpa Cripple, how to use echolocation from Grandpa Blind, and how to properly breathe and exhale froe chief As a result, each day went by quickly