Chapter 391: Chapter 248: taphysics Is Essential!
Santong Village
A remote and impoverished small village located deep in the mountains, where young people are seldom seen; it’s filled with elderly villagers.
The village got its na from three naturally connected caves, hence, it’s called Santong Village.
Hu Xi’s parents were not from this village, but he grew up in Santong Village. The reason was that over twenty years ago, the barefoot doctor Old Hu discovered him abandoned by the roadside, on his way back with dicine from the county seat, carrying an oil lamp.
Without a na, Old Hu nad him Hu Xi, and with the help of the villagers, he was barely raised to adulthood...
"But Old Hu has died!"
Chen Ba’s storytelling skill isn’t great, but he managed to let everyone grasp the gist of the story: "Old Hu’s death is the main reason for Hu Xi’s return ho and also the main quest of the ga."
In short, "Mountain Village mories" is a standard Chinese horror ga.
What is Chinese horror?
A ghost bride? A red wedding dress? A tilted Buddha statue? Colorful paper figures?
Exactly!
Unlike the Western style of horror created through gory images and physical effects, Chinese horror largely aims to build a psychological discomfort and impactful feeling.
"Mountain Village mories" tells the story of the protagonist Hu Xi, who upon learning about his adoptive father’s accidental death, returns to his hotown to bury his adoptive father. In the process, he discovers that his adoptive father’s true cause of death may not be as simple, and Santong Village isn’t as simple as it seems, leading him to secretly investigate the truth.
"What exactly is the truth then?"
Though Lu is scared of those ghosts and spirits, he now listens intently, eagerly wanting to know the answer.
Monsters, ghosts, what kind could it be?
"The truth?"
"The truth is that Old Hu actually had cancer and should have died long ago, but since Hu Xi was still young, he didn’t want to just die, so he used a forbidden thod to prolong his life."
Chen Ba smirked and said, "That’s the superficial truth; there’s a deeper truth, which is that everyone in Santong Village, apart from Hu Xi’s adoptive father, Old Hu, is doing this."
"What?!"
Upon hearing this suddenly, Lu was startled and said, "Is everyone doing this? Doesn’t that an that everyone in the village is practically immortal?"
"Nonsense!"
Before Chen Ba could speak, Luo Ji couldn’t help but retort, "If it were that simple, it wouldn’t be called a forbidden thod, and Old Hu wouldn’t have died."
"Exactly!"
"Do you rember what I said at the very beginning? In Santong Village, you hardly see young people; in fact, besides Hu Xi, they’re all elderly!"
Chen Ba repeated the background setting again, and now not only Luo Ji but even Lu felt a chill run down his spine.
How could a normal village only have elderly people, with no young people or children at all?
Do they not have any descendants?
This is obviously impossible!
It’s clearly less likely that the whole village is infertile than that there’s sothing wrong with the villagers. Anyone with sense would know that the absence of young people or children in the village is due to so mystery at play.
So who is it?
Combining the context, Ba had previously introduced the story’s truth, and Lu inferred: "So that’s the price of longevity?"
"Yes!"
Chen Ba nodded: "Not only that, the reason Santong Village has beco such a gloomy place without the breath of living people is also due to backlash."
At this point, the story overview and plot lines are very clear.
Santong Village has issues!
The problem lies with the village’s elderly and those three naturally eerie caves. Hu Xi was kept in the dark by Old Hu, who sent him out for schooling to avoid implicating him.
In fact, Old Hu was already the last ’living person’ in the village!
So his death and Hu Xi’s return signify the complete disappearance of Santong Village from the world; the village has no living people left.
"Wait a minute!"
"Since Old Hu is the last one to die, how did the news of his death spread? How did the protagonist Hu Xi find out?" Lu frowns and asks.
This seems like a plot hole, right?
Is Ba muddle-headed? One mont he says Hu Xi returned to the village for his adoptive father’s burial, and the next, he claims Old Hu is the last living person?
"Wait a minute..."
"I think I get it now!"
Luo Ji said thoughtfully, "What Ba ans by a ’living person’ is from the audience’s perspective, or God’s perspective; Santong Village has no living soul left."
"Yet, from the ordinary people’s perspective in the plot, Santong Village still looks the sa, vibrant, and all the elderly are perfectly healthy, showing no sign of anything amiss."
"Exactly!"
Chen Ba confird Old Luo’s guess.
Indeed, this is the case, the reason Hu Xi could receive the news of his adoptive father’s death and returned ho intending to repay his grateful hotown folks is primarily because: everything in Santong Village appears normal during the day!
Note, this is during the day.
Once night falls, Santong Village reveals its true nature; it’s actually an empty, demonically haunted ’Nether Village’ full of demonic energy!
"Damn, spoilers really ruin it."
Lu scratched his head and said, "Hearing you guys talk about this, it feels like there’s no need to play the ga, all the puzzles are already solved."
"That’s why, when playing such horror gas, it’s best not to look up guides or watch videos; otherwise, once you get spoiled, you lose interest in playing."
Chen Ba chuckled.
Knowing the ga’s storyline, cause, process, and ending before even playing is what’s commonly known as a spoiler, and it indeed is a fatal blow to a horror ga.
Not just "Mountain Village mories."
With any horror ga, if you’re spoiled by others before playing, there’s really not much motivation left, as the most important elent of a horror ga, the ’sense of suspense,’ is already ruined.
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