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"He's just a man, what's there to be scared of?" Xing Ruyi pointed at Wang Peng. "Aren't you and your cousin also out in the forest catching live animals? Maybe he's up in a tree catching something, like an owl or a hawk."
"Miss, please stop joking. Wang Peng is known as the Brave Wang in our village. But look at him now; he doesn't seem brave at all—he's completely terrified." A voice came from the crowd. Looking up, they saw a man around forty years old. However, people in this era often looked older, so his actual age was probably just over thirty.
Wang Peng shakily stood up and pointed at himself. "Yes, I am the Brave Wang, but that night, I was scared out of my wits. I've never seen a man lying on a tree in such a strange position, making sounds like an animal, especially his eyes—they were green and looked like..."
Wang Peng struggled to find the right words and finally said, "Like wheat seedlings growing in the ground."
This description was indeed very down-to-earth. Xing Ruyi thought for a moment and truly couldn't imagine what color eyes resembling wheat seedlings would be. Before she could come to a conclusion, Wang Peng continued speaking.
"That man was covered in wounds, his clothes were tattered, and it was hard to find a piece of decent fabric on him. His face was also injured; I couldn't tell if it was from branches or if he had scratched himself. In any case, there were bloodstains everywhere, and some places were still bleeding. At first, I wasn't that scared; I mustered up my courage and took a glance at him. Those eerie green eyes had nothing in them."
After finishing, Wang Peng took a deep breath. "Later on, my cousin heard the noise and rushed over. Perhaps seeing another person made that man suddenly alert; he started yelling and howling like a mad beast. My cousin didn't look closely into his eyes, so he wasn't too frightened and managed to recognize him after taking a closer look."
"A familiar face?"
"Not someone I'm close with; we just live in the same village and see each other occasionally. His name is Ma Tao; he enjoys taking care of donkeys and horses. He usually doesn't talk much when he sees people and tends to keep to himself, so not many know him well. We only see him more during the Harvest Season because handling livestock can be difficult; when they misbehave in the fields, we call Ma Tao to help out."
"Oh~" Xing Ruyi elongated her tone as she reached her conclusion. "Ma Tao is a veterinarian!"
"A veterinarian? That's quite fitting; Ma Tao does treat animals, but he also likes to eat live ones."
"What happened next?" Xing Ruyi asked, finally awake and alert again after fighting off sleepiness.
"Later, my cousin and I teamed up to bring him back home. Ma Tao lives alone, and there’s no one to take care of him. After he returned, he fell into a coma. Since we are from the same village, the villagers took turns watching over him. Who would have thought that by doing so, they would end up in trouble? One by one, the villagers started to look like Ma Tao." Wang Peng paused here, worried that Xing Ruyi might not understand, and quickly explained, "It's not that they turned into Ma Tao's appearance; rather, they became like him—regardless of day or night, they were jumping on the rooftops and in the forest. At night, the whole village was filled with green glowing eyes. Those whose families were affected couldn't sleep a wink, worrying about their loved ones. Those who weren't affected were also anxious, fearing that misfortune would soon befall their own families. We heard that Si Niang sells a talisman wine here, and someone from the neighboring village had tried it with good results. So we pooled our money to buy the wine. But who knew that Si Niang absolutely refused to sell it to us?"
"It's not that I don't want to sell it to you; it's just that this wine won't help you," Li Siniang said, shrugging her shoulders. "This Medicinal Wine is provided by our Shopkeeper Xing. When it was given to us, it was made very clear that this wine is for relaxing muscles and joints; it's useful for older men and Aunt Shengs for treating ailments. I run the Li Family Tavern, not a place for exorcisms. What you want simply isn't available here."
"What are we supposed to do? We can't just watch as everyone in Sister-in-law Village turns into beasts!"
"This is terrible! Truly terrible! Even the creatures in the forest have spirits; catching a couple occasionally is one thing, but what you’re doing—catching and killing—will surely bring retribution. Now look at this; the entire village has turned into beasts! Are we supposed to have others come and hunt them down?"
"Uncle Wang, please don’t make things worse here. We still haven’t figured out what happened with Ma Tao. It might not even be related to our capturing of living creatures," Wang Peng said nervously, glancing at Xing Ruyi afterward. "Shopkeeper Xing, as Si Niang just mentioned, if we can clarify this matter, could you help us with an exorcism? Please consider it a good deed and help our village."
"Alright then, since I'm free anyway, I'll go with you all to Sister-in-law Village to see what's going on," Xing Ruyi said as she stretched lazily and called out to Li Siniang. "Si Niang should come along too; we can chat on the way. You have no idea how many frustrating things have happened recently."
Since it wouldn’t be safe for Xing Ruyi to go back alone with so many Masters, Li Siniang agreed to accompany her. Worried about potential trouble, she instructed Bell before leaving to inform Chang Tai at the Yamen and send someone along.
By the time they arrived at Sister-in-law Village, it was already dark outside; a chilling wind made their hands and feet feel icy. Although it wasn’t yet time for lights out, the village was shrouded in darkness with not a single light visible. The air was thick with a peculiar smell typical of animals.
Wang Peng took one look and shouted, "This is bad!" Then he dashed into the village. The others also changed their expressions and scattered nervously in different directions. In an instant, only Xing Ruyi and Li Siniang remained at the entrance of the large village.
"Fox Demon," Li Siniang tugged at Xing Ruyi’s sleeve, indicating her to look at a nearby large tree.
The tree was bare except for a person crouched on it with green eyes resembling those of a cat. Without needing to consciously activate her Ghost Technique, Xing Ruyi could tell at a glance that this person was possessed—something referred to in rural areas as "being haunted" or "evil spirits descending." This person resembled a cat and was clearly possessed by a Cat Spirit; exorcising them wouldn’t be difficult—the challenge lay in how to capture them.
Relying on her Ghost Technique, Xing Ruyi had some skills but felt somewhat inadequate in front of Li Siniang; it would be even worse if Li Siniang mistook her for a monster during an attempt to act. Just as she was troubled by this thought, footsteps approached from behind; turning around revealed Chang Tai and Shengzi rushing over from town.
"Brother Chang, Shengzi, you arrived just in time. Can you help me get that person down from the tree?"
Chang Tai heard this and immediately lifted his robe, leaping up into the tree. The person up there, seeing this, looked at Chang Tai with cat-like vigilance, then retreated while making unclear whimpering sounds. Perhaps it was the first time encountering someone with such strange behavior, Chang Tai frowned slightly.
"Brother Chang, be careful; this person might be possessed!" Xing Ruyi shouted from below, secretly forming a hand sign. If this person suddenly attacked and Chang Tai was caught off guard, she would be ready to assist him. However, the situation seemed to resolve faster than Xing Ruyi had imagined. Before she could finish her sentence, Chang Tai had already caught the person and easily jumped down from the tree. Shengzi did not hesitate either; he quickly removed his outer robe and swiftly tied up the person securely.
"Brother Chang, are you alright?"
"Don't worry, Ruyi; Brother Chang is fine. You don't know, but we servants often face some difficulties when we first enter the Yamen. Instead of investigating cases, they make you catch cats and dogs. Brother Chang here has experience!"
Chang Tai frowned slightly, appearing somewhat unnatural. Seeing that his clothes were intact and there were no signs of being torn or scraped, Xing Ruyi finally breathed a sigh of relief and carefully examined the person. The individual emitted a strong animal odor, and dark energy swirled around his chest and abdomen. If she guessed correctly, this person was Ma Tao, mentioned by Wang Peng—a villager who lived among animals but also had a penchant for eating them.
Gently tapping his forehead with her hand, Ma Tao immediately struggled and let out a sound resembling that of a wildcat.
"What happened to him? A perfectly normal person suddenly sounds like a cat—specifically one in heat!" As Ma Tao struggled fiercely, Shengzi had to exert all his strength to subdue him. Breathing heavily as he spoke, he looked at Ma Tao with confusion: "Ruyi just said he was possessed; do all possessed people start meowing like cats?"
"It's not that he's learning to meow; he thinks he is a cat!" Xing Ruyi pointed toward the village. "Let's go into the village first; I have a feeling there's more to this village than meets the eye."
"Speaking of Sister-in-law Village, I remember someone," Li Siniang said thoughtfully, her tone tinged with pity. "Her name is Hui Niang; she grew up with me. At sixteen, her parents arranged her marriage to someone from Sister-in-law Village. Hui Niang's husband was a scholar who became a top scholar within two years. Back then, we all envied Hui Niang for marrying such an accomplished man at such a young age; we thought she might one day receive honors from the court like in the plays. Who would have thought that her husband turned out to be a heartless man? Within less than a year of their marriage, he wrote Hui Niang divorce papers with all seven reasons listed against her. Poor Hui Niang devoted herself to her husband only to be wrongfully accused. What’s worse is that at that time Hui Niang was already pregnant; her husband even questioned her purity and refused to acknowledge their child. Hui Niang was unwilling to give up and stayed in the village with her child. Unfortunately, kindness can be exploited; their child passed away before reaching one year old. Hui Niang was heartbroken and turned white-haired overnight, becoming quite mad. I saw her once during that time; although she wasn't fully aware of her surroundings, she always wore the pomegranate red skirt she made for her wedding."
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