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墨書 Inktalez
If you were born in the countryside, you might have heard the elders talk about the Drought Demon, but hearing about it doesn't mean you've seen it.
To ensure safety, Xing Ruyi had Si Niang and Bell stay outside the village, with Li Mao responsible for looking after them. She entered the village with the fox and the Sun Siblings.
From the layout of the village, it looked no different from the one where Sun the Shopkeeper lived, except that due to the drought, a layer of dust was raised everywhere. The doors of each household were almost all open, but there was no one moving around in the village or in the yards.
Sister Sun followed behind the fox, occasionally stealing glances. Each time she did, her face would flush a little more. By the time they reached Sun Sister's Home, her face was nearly as red as a guava.
Xing Ruyi secretly nudged the fox, who smiled helplessly and leaned down to whisper in Fox Demon's ear, "Once this matter is settled, I'll change my appearance to something more ordinary, alright?"
Xing Ruyi shook her head, "No good!"
"Why not?"
"If you're going to change, make it something uglier so that others won't get any strange ideas!"
The fox laughed and leaned down again to whisper in Fox Demon's ear, "If I change to an ugly face, people will pity you when they see me. At that point, they won't dare to have any inappropriate thoughts about you."
"And so what? Not everyone can take advantage of me, Xing Ruyi! Besides, if an ugly fox can win me over, it just shows how remarkable you are!" Xing Ruyi flattered while her eyes sparkled with calculation.
The fox did not argue and simply replied with one word: "Alright!"
Just as they were secretly talking, a voice came from ahead.
"Ah! You're back! Something big has happened at your home!"
The speaker was a middle-aged man, probably in his early forties. He had an ordinary appearance and wore a satin outer garment with a common fabric inner shirt, clearly someone who cared about appearances. His eyes darted towards Sister Sun as soon as he saw her and then shifted to Xing Ruyi when she looked up, even sneaking a few glances at the fox beside her.
"What big thing happened at home?" Sister Sun heard the middle-aged man's words and immediately forgot her other thoughts. She rushed out from behind the fox and grabbed the man's arm anxiously, asking, "Is it my child... No! It can't be! I clearly left him in Aunt Wang's care before I left; he shouldn't be in any danger."
"Don't worry; it's not about your child; it's your guard dog!" said the middle-aged man while taking advantage of the situation to touch Sister Sun's hand. Then he looked at Xing Ruyi and the fox and asked, "Who are these two?"
"This is Miss Xing; the young gentleman beside her is her future husband. Miss Xing and this gentleman are both here at my request to help solve our village's drought issue," Sister Sun managed to calm herself slightly and released her grip while stepping back a couple of paces. She introduced Xing Ruyi and the fox: "This is our Village Chief!"
"Is that the village chief? I didn't expect him to be so young!"
"Not at all, I'm just here to serve the villagers. It's rare for them to think highly of me," the village chief said with a smile, awkwardly returning a bow. "Looking at how you're dressed, you two must not be from our countryside. Could it be that you've come from Luoyang?"
"Indeed, we are from Luoyang!" Xing Ruyi noticed that the village chief was not only looking at her but also at the fox, realizing that this village chief was not someone to be trifled with. She shifted slightly to block the fox from view and said, "I just heard that something significant happened at your sister's home, and it involves her dog. I'm quite curious; could you tell us more about it?"
"You both have seen it; the climate here has indeed been abnormal, especially with such a long drought. If the wind picks up again, it will be even worse. Although you two were invited by my sister as masters, I don't think this village's matters are something you can handle. How about this: I invite you both to my home for a while. After a simple meal, I'll have my sister send you back to avoid any troubles or fears as night falls."
"We appreciate your kindness, but we still need to fulfill our promise to your sister," Xing Ruyi observed that the village chief did not seem entirely ill-intentioned. She walked over to Sister Sun and pointed to a nearby house, asking, "Is this your home? I faintly smell blood; it's not human, so it must be related to the large dog you mentioned."
"That's right! This is my home," Sister Sun replied hurriedly as she pushed open the wooden door. As soon as she opened it, a scream escaped her lips, and she instinctively lunged toward the fox. Seeing the fox's fierce expression, she turned around and fell onto the shopkeeper Sun's body instead, mumbling, "You scared me! How terrifying!"
Xing Ruyi caught a whiff of the increasingly pungent smell of blood and took a step inside. The village chief quickly moved in front of her to block her view. "Miss, it's better if you don't look; what’s inside is quite horrifying. Even I took a long time to muster the courage to take a glance."
Xing Ruyi said nothing but sidestepped him and entered the courtyard from his side. The village chief was taken aback; his expression was a mix of embarrassment and displeasure, but he did not show it due to the presence of others.
Not far from the wooden door lay a native dog, known scientifically as the Chinese Rural Dog, which is quite common in rural areas. They are loyal and protective of their homes, unlike those delicate foreign breeds. From the strong smell of blood alone, one could tell that this loyal watchdog had been dead for some time; signs of decay were already evident on its body. Its belly appeared to have been slashed open by some sharp object, with entrails spilling out onto the ground. Beneath the dog lay a pool of nearly dried blood. The dog's head was almost completely bitten off, with only a thin layer of skin barely holding it together. Even for someone as well-versed as Xing Ruyi, witnessing such a gruesome sight left her feeling unsettled.
"Was this dog still fine when you left home?"
Sister Sun lifted her head from Shopkeeper Sun's shoulder and replied tearfully, "It was fine! It even saw me off when I left. Originally, I planned to take this dog along with my child to Aunt Wang's house, but there were still some things at home that I worried might be taken if I left it behind; that's why I left it to guard the house. I never expected... I never thought those villains wouldn't spare even it."
As Sister Sun spoke, she began to cry softly; however, her sobs seemed somewhat exaggerated this time, causing Xing Ruyi to feel a sense of aversion. She turned her gaze back to the village chief and asked, "And when did you discover that Sister Sun's dog had died?"
"It was last night. In fact, I wasn't the only one who saw it; many people in the village witnessed it too. However, they lacked courage while I am the village chief; that's why I'm here today regarding this matter and also checking if there's anything I can do to help. Since you're acquainted with Sister Sun, you should know that aside from her young child, there’s no one else in her family. We're all villagers here; if I don’t help her, who will? Don’t you agree?"
The village chief leaned in closer toward Xing Ruyi deliberately. The fox raised an eyebrow slightly at this action; suddenly, the village chief slipped and fell beside the dog, getting dirty in the process. He stood up with an expression of disgust and began cursing.
Xing Ruyi understood that this was the fox teaching the village chief a lesson; although she found it amusing internally, she still asked with concern on her face: "Did you hurt yourself in your fall? You're quite grown up yet can't even stand steadily? That outfit you're wearing is made from silk produced by Jinxiufang in Luoyang, right? Although it's last year's design, it's still quite expensive; if it gets stained with these filthy things and can't be cleaned off properly later on..."
"That's right! This outfit was given to me by my nephew from the city. It's my only one and cost quite a bit of silver! Sister Sun, you saw me get dirty in your yard; if it doesn't wash clean later on, you'll have to compensate me!"
Sister Sun, upon hearing this, became anxious and started to cry. She was genuinely frightened and, while tugging at Shopkeeper Sun's clothing, looked at the Village Chief and said, "Brother, what should we do? I can't afford to pay for this dress."
Shopkeeper Sun's expression was also not very pleasant. Although his family was relatively well-off, they were by no means wealthy. A dress from the Embroidered Workshop, even if it was from last year, would cost nearly a hundred taels of silver. If he had to compensate the Village Chief for this, even his own family would hesitate to buy a single piece.
Xing Ruyi rubbed her forehead. She had originally intended to take the opportunity to mock the Village Chief a bit, but unexpectedly, he was not an easy target and had shifted the blame for the dirty dress onto Sister Sun. At that moment, Xing Ruyi felt particularly annoyed by Sister Sun's pretentious display of pity and couldn't stand her sobbing. So she said to the Village Chief, "The owner of the Embroidered Workshop has some acquaintance with me. Before leaving the city, he even gifted me several bolts of fabric. If you are interested, Village Chief, I can give you a bolt to make a dress. However, could you please elaborate on what happened last night?"
"Miss really has fabric from the Embroidered Workshop? And it's not just a few pieces but a whole bolt?" The Village Chief's eyes lit up like a wildcat spotting meat.
"Yes, a whole bolt! If you can thoroughly explain what happened last night without further questioning Sister Sun about this dirty dress, I will give you a bolt of fabric from the Embroidered Workshop. As for its authenticity, you can verify it; I doubt any workshop would dare to casually replicate fabric from the Embroidered Workshop."
"Miss is joking; it's just an old dress. Why would I make things difficult for this orphaned woman?" The Village Chief said with a flattering smile. "Here's how it is: since the drought began, our village has been quite unsettled. First, we lost chickens, cats, and rabbits; then there were deaths. However, these deaths are unrelated to the strange happenings in the village; they all died of illness or a few from hunger and thirst. Although I am the Village Chief and feel pained by this situation, my family's circumstances are not good either; we barely manage to get by and even have to borrow food from relatives in the city."
The Village Chief glanced at Xing Ruyi and continued, "As winter approached, I instructed the villagers to gather their valuables and organized strong laborers in the village to trade for some food and water. While we managed to get some provisions, livestock still goes missing from time to time. So I organized these strong laborers to patrol the village in hopes of catching the thief.
Last night, while patrolling near Sister Sun's home, we heard a noise—what kind of noise? It sounded like someone walking on the roof; the tiles and wood creaked underfoot. I immediately had someone hold up a lantern to look above but found nothing. After a while, we heard barking dogs and followed the sound to Sister Sun's house where we saw this situation.
In the dead of night, seeing this made everyone quite scared; no one spoke and hurried back home. When entering the village today, Miss should have noticed that no one dared come out of their houses. Only I—being the Village Chief—heard that Sister Sun had returned and rushed out to see her. For now, it’s best not to stay here; you should stay with relatives or temporarily at my place. After all, as Village Chief, I have some responsibility for looking after my fellow villagers."
The Village Chief shot a suggestive glance at Sister Sun, but she lowered her head and hid behind Shopkeeper Sun.
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