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"What time did this strange occurrence start?"
"The old man isn't sure exactly when it began, but by the time we noticed, the village was already in a state of panic, with everyone feeling uneasy."
The flickering candlelight illuminated the troubled brow of the Village Chief.
"At first, no one paid attention to this matter; it didn't weigh on anyone's mind. The gentleman saw it too; our village only has a few dozen households, all familiar with each other. We know everything, from major events to minor ones like who spilled vinegar or whose child wet the bed."
The speaker was also an elderly man, his hair and beard gray. His brows were furrowed like those of the Village Chief. With every sentence, he would sigh lightly. Under the candlelight, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes seemed to multiply.
"Which family first noticed this strange occurrence?"
Chang Tai adjusted the position of the candle to cast more light on the people present. In the dim light, he saw a middle-aged man hesitantly stand up.
"It was... my family!" The middle-aged man slowly raised a hand. "I am the third child in my family; everyone in the village calls me Wang San. This strange event started in my household."
Chang Tai raised his eyebrows and asked, "Do you remember what happened?"
"My chickens were stolen!"
As soon as Wang San finished speaking, Yin Yuan, who was munching on a drumstick, paused her actions. She blinked her beautiful eyes and quietly lowered her head. After taking two hearty bites of the drumstick, she found a dark corner and tossed it away.
Pouting and resting her chin on her hand, she immediately adopted an attentive expression while looking at Chang Tai.
Chang Tai shook his head and turned his gaze back to Wang San.
"Just one chicken was lost?"
"If it were just one chicken, that would be fine."
Wang San looked utterly devastated, as if he had lost not just a chicken but a beloved child he had raised with great care. He extended all ten fingers toward Chang Tai.
"It was ten! A whole ten chickens! My mother bought these chickens from the market, intending to raise them for eggs for my pregnant wife. In this place, we are poor; my wife has nothing good to nourish her during her pregnancy. These ten chickens nearly drained our family's savings.
This wouldn't have been too bad; after all, my wife and her unborn child are important. We have strength; we could work harder and earn more silver. We could endure and get through it. But then, overnight, all ten of my chickens were stolen clean away! My poor mother couldn't handle the shock and fell ill; even my wife had a miscarriage and is still lying in bed now. Sir, isn't this infuriating? Sigh!"
"It's not just Wang San's family; my sheep were also attacked and left bloodied by that thing."
As soon as Wang San finished speaking, a timid voice emerged from the crowd. Chang Tai could tell that the speaker, though lacking in courage, expressed a sense of indignation that was not much less than Wang San's.
"It’s like this!" the Village Chief spoke again, taking a couple of puffs from his pipe. He looked up at Chang Tai and continued, "First, it was the chickens from Wang San's family, then the sheep from Guangmao's family, and next it was the village's cows and dogs. At first, we didn’t think much of it; we assumed that with the New Year approaching, thieves had entered the village or some wild beasts had come down from the nearby mountains, like wolves or something.
So that night, we advised everyone to secure their doors and windows tightly and organized the young men in the village to patrol along the streets. For two consecutive nights, everything was peaceful; nothing happened. But on the third night, that thing appeared."
"That thing?" Chang Tai exchanged glances with Yin Yuan. Yin Yuan shrugged, indicating that he had stolen a chicken but had no interest in cows or sheep; it was none of his concern.
"Actually, it can't just be called a thing," the Village Chief seemed somewhat troubled. After a moment of hesitation, he continued, "That night, around midnight, after two nights of patrolling, everyone was feeling a bit drowsy. Seeing that the village was quiet, we gathered in front of Guangmao's house to chat, planning to stay awake until midnight before heading home to sleep."
"It was like this: right in front of my house, I was there too." The timid voice spoke again. Chang Tai finally saw that the speaker was a thin young man in his early twenties. When their eyes met, he quickly looked away but hesitated for a moment before resolutely returning his gaze. "The cow is like my brother to me; although I’m a bit timid, I didn’t want to let that thing get away. Because we raise cows at home, there’s a shed outside my door where we usually tie up the cow during summer. After it got cold, we stopped using it and just stored some fodder there.
During our night patrols, everyone was feeling cold and gathered around my haystack to keep warm. I remember at that time I was talking to A-Kun about going inside to boil some hot water for everyone to warm their stomachs when I stepped out and suddenly saw something dark. Then a gust of cold wind swept by, making me shiver uncontrollably."
"That's right! I felt that wind too. It was freezing—colder than even the coldest days of winter. I was sitting outside the haystack with my back to the street and felt that cold wind creeping up my spine; it made my scalp tingle and feel icy.
I immediately sensed something was wrong and looked up. The bright moonlight was completely obscured by a dark cloud. Oh no! It wasn't entirely black; there was a hint of red in those clouds—blood red. Just as I was about to call everyone’s attention to look up, I heard Dog Egg shout."
"Yes! Yes! That's right! It was me who shouted." A half-grown child stood up from the crowd. He glanced at the Village Chief before pushing through the crowd to stand in front of Chang Tai. "I’m Dog Egg! That’s my name. My mother said it's an easy name to remember. Don’t let my age fool you; among all those people, I'm actually the bravest."
As soon as Dog Egg finished speaking, several people sighed in response. Dog Egg showed some annoyance on his face, stamped his foot, and turned back toward the crowd saying, "What are you sighing about? I really am the bravest! I was the first one to spot Auntie!"
The mention of "Auntie" seemed to cast a spell over the room; it fell silent instantly except for the faint sound of two candles crackling as they burned.
Chang Tai cleared his throat to break the silence and looked into Dog Egg's eyes asking, "Who is this Auntie?"
"She’s Aunt Li from the east end of the village!" Dog Egg's lips were somewhat dry as he licked them nervously. "Aunt Li is a widow; her husband Uncle Li died when they were young. According to my mother, Aunt Li originally had a child—a boy—but when he was about seven or eight years old, he went missing for some reason. No one ever saw him again; Aunt Li searched for years but couldn’t find him and ended up crying her eyes out.
Everyone felt sorry for her and often helped her out; but later on Aunt Li fell seriously ill and passed away."
"She died?" Chang Tai raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, she died!" Dog Egg pointed at the Village Chief. "The Village Chief can confirm this. The plot where Aunt Li was buried was found by him; even the date of her burial was calculated by our village fortune-teller—we all went to see her off. We all watched as Aunt Li was placed into a thin coffin and buried in the ground. But on that strange night when things happened… we all witnessed it with our own eyes…"
Dog Egg couldn't help but swallow hard twice; there was still a hint of childish fear in his eyes.
"Witnessed what?"
Chang Tai pressed further while his gaze remained fixed on the Village Chief.
The Village Chief tapped his hand on the dry tobacco pipe and placed his hand on Dog Egg's shoulder, gently patting him twice.
"Let me finish what needs to be said. At your age, it's better not to remember such terrifying events too clearly. Otherwise, in the days to come, you might find it hard to sleep at night, haunted by nightmares."
Dog Egg pursed his lips, wanting to say something more, but he was pulled back by a Woman who stood up from the crowd. Chang Tai Xin thought that the Woman was probably Dog Egg's mother.
As he sat back down, Dog Egg glanced up at Chang Tai. Chang Tai nodded at him, and Dog Egg gave a faint smile before lowering his head again.
"Then, could the Village Chief tell Chang Tai what exactly you saw that night? What could have frightened the villagers so much?"
"It was Aunt Li!" The Village Chief softly uttered those three words. "I don't know what kind of evil we encountered that night; we actually saw Aunt Li, who had already passed away, chasing a few livestock in the street. Although the moonlight was obscured by dark clouds, with the lantern in front of the door, we still caught a glimpse of her face. That was Aunt Li; although her complexion was pale and her movements were strange, having lived together in this village for most of our lives, there's no way we could mistake her."
"Was it really Aunt Li?"
"Of course it was Aunt Li." After a moment of silence, Wang San spoke up. "My house is right next to Aunt Li's. In her lifetime, my family took care of her the most. Who would have thought that after she died, she would be the first to bring disaster upon us? We were really suffering because of it."
Wang San stomped his feet angrily, looking regretful.
"That night, I was the first one to rush out with a torch. I intended to hold her down in the street and give her a good beating. But when she turned her face towards me, I was frozen in fear. Then I realized it was none other than Aunt Li, who we had just buried not long ago. The tattered clothes she wore were even the funeral garments my mother had bought for her."
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