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Before the Clay Buddha Temple, Yi Qing dragged the bodies of Ye Shisan and You Long’er from inside. She set up a makeshift radio,...

For a moment, Ye Shisan wished the You Long’er beside him, gentle as a lamb, was real. Otherwise, those hours with “her” would’ve been a...

In pitch darkness, Ye Shisan snapped awake. A sickening churn and his ragged breaths echoed in his ears. Groping about, he found his gear...

Qian Dani, Chief Dong’s daughter-in-law, was sharp. After Ye Shisan and the crew napped past sunset, the dining hall brimmed with...

Qian Dani, Chief Dong’s daughter-in-law, thirty-eight, loves coin but spends generously. This farm lunch—chicken, fish, a pot of beef—was...

Over seventy years ago, when Dong Laosan was still “Little Three,” a Clay Buddha was unearthed in Touxiang Village’s copper mine....

Touxiang Village’s chief, Dong Laosan, third son as his name implies, now lives with just his daughter-in-law and granddaughter. Five...