The village where Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng lived under house arrest seems a quieter place these days.<br/> <br />Chen is now studying in the U.S. after his dramatic escape.<br/> <br />The surveillance cameras outside the home of his 78-year-old mother are gone.<br/> <br />So are the guards who sat outside, and those who followed her to the market daily.<br/> <br />The guard posts where Chen's family says his supporters were beaten up lie in ruins.<br/> <br />But life in Dongshigu village is far from normal.<br/> <br />Chen's brother says the guards have been replaced by fear.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: CHEN'S BROTHER, CHEN GUANGFU, SAYING (Mandarin):<br/> <br />"It'll take a long time for the shadow cast by this case to disappear because the villagers are scared to their bones. They clearly told the villagers repeatedly that Guangcheng was a traitor so whoever was helping him would also be seen as a traitor."<br/> <br />Chen's old room is one of the few things that's unchanged.<br/> <br />Residents spoken to by Reuters were unwilling to talk about Chen Guangcheng's case.<br/> <br />But his mother says his escape probably saved his life.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: CHEN'S MOTHER, 78-YEAR-OLD WANG JINXIANG, SAYING (Mandarin):<br/> <br />"If he hadn't escaped he would have died from the persecution. He would have died from all that persecution. He couldn't walk and his body wasn't well either."<br/> <br />Chinese authorities are now holding Chen's nephew Kegui whom they accuse of attempted murder.<br/> <br />Kegui's father says he acted in self-defence when local officials barged into their home after Chen's escape was discovered.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: CHEN'S BROTHER, CHEN GUANGFU, SAYING (Mandarin):<br/> <br />"I feel they're just using Kegui as a pawn to restrict Guangcheng. In their words they want Guangcheng to be more low-profile and that, in a way, would help Kegui's case. In that respect it's no longer a criminal but a political case."<br/> <br />An instruction to Reuters reporters to leave the village, and their pursuit from the area by men in a car is, perhaps, an indication of the shadow that still hangs over Dongshigu.<br/> <br />Paul Chapman, Reuters
