CHAPTER 75: CHAPTER 74: STRANGE SHADOWS IN THE DEEP NIGHT

"No way, you all made a fuss and even brought us over to the old shopkeeper, just because someone was stealing pig feed?"

Hu Ma found the whole situation simultaneously irritating and amusing.

"Yes, it was quite terrifying."

However, the village elder had a worried look. He pulled Hu Ma aside and whispered mysteriously, "This Dong Family, they’re renowned for raising pigs. They used to keep a good number back in the day. Their pigs were always fatter than anyone else’s. But now they’ve sold all but one breeding pig."

"And that’s because some person comes every night to steal feed, and isn’t Dong Family’s Stupid frightened sick by it?"

"This..." Hu Ma murmured, listening closely. He finally understood what was happening.

The family in question was surnamed Dong. They were among the well-regarded families in the village, sending several fat pigs to the city for sale every year. The head of the house, known as Dong Family’s Stupid for his straightforward nature, was the one affected.

The issue began about ten days ago. During that period, Dong Family’s Stupid noticed their pigs weren’t gaining weight. With the end of the year approaching, he grew anxious. He decided to check on the pigs after feeding them one night. Unexpectedly, when he looked in, he saw an old lady, as black as night, crouching by the trough, fighting with the pigs for food. The sight scared him so much that he fell ill. The next day, he called the villagers to come and take a look, and they were all equally frightened.

With no other recourse, they then went to the Red Lantern Lady’s Club to ask the old shopkeeper to take a look.

"Hearing it like this, it does sound a bit supernatural..." Hu Ma pondered. "Did anyone clearly see what it looked like? Could it have been a stray dog from outside the village fighting for food?"

"Absolutely not! It was an old lady!" the elder said seriously, while a few strong young men beside him nodded in agreement. "Though it was pitch dark at night, it was clear it was an old lady. She was crawling for food inside the pen. She was so fast, four or five pigs couldn’t compete with her..."

Someone whispered, "Honestly, she looked a bit like Aunt Li from the front house, didn’t she?"

"Watch your mouth! It’s your mother who fights with pigs for food..."

This remark angered another man, leading to an immediate fight. The onlookers quickly rushed in to break them apart. Hu Ma couldn’t be bothered with them. He asked an old man leaning on a cane, who seemed eager to step in, about Aunt Li’s situation. Only then did he understand.

Aunt Li was the old lady from Li Youyin’s household in the front. She had been dead for several months and was properly buried outside the village. If you claimed someone’s mother crawled out of her grave and returned to the village to fight with pigs for food, wasn’t that asking for a beating? Besides, they had checked, and the grave was intact.

After figuring out the matter, Hu Ma looked around but couldn’t find any clues. Glancing at the top of the wall, Little Hongtang stared with wide eyes at the pen, sharing the same look of confusion.

Looks like I’ll have to stay and see for myself, Hu Ma thought. Since the incident occurred at night, it seemed likely they would only witness something after dark, even if it meant more effort.

Just as he was thinking this, he saw a pale-faced man emerging from the Dong Family house. The man carried a plate of tobacco and invited Hu Ma and the village elder inside to rest. This was the house owner who had been frightened sick, now forcing himself up to host his guests.

Following the village elder’s arrangements, Hu Ma drank some tea and asked for more details.

As dusk fell, the elder told the Dong Family to prepare a few dishes and brought out a pot of liquor to entertain Hu Ma and his group. This was the village custom: when inviting someone to exorcise something, they must be treated well.

After the meal, Hu Ma had the elder send away the unrelated people who had gathered to watch the excitement. His purpose in coming was to see what was happening and to eliminate any real evil spirit if it existed. With so many people crowded into the small house, anything might be deterred from approaching. If nothing happened throughout the night, he would have wasted his trip and would have to spend another day waiting here.

As the night deepened, only a small oil lamp, its flame the size of a pea, was lit in the house. The dim light didn’t even reach the door. Everyone sat silently inside, too afraid to speak. Outside, the courtyard was deathly still, as quiet as if time had frozen.

After waiting for a long time with no movement, Hu Ma suddenly asked, "Shouldn’t we be feeding them? If there’s no feed in the trough, there’s nothing to snatch, right?"

"Y-yes..." Mrs. Dong’s hesitant voice broke the silence. "It must be fed at night, but I’m too scared to do it..."

Hu Ma found it both amusing and vexing.

The Dong Family raised pigs well and was always willing to feed them generously. Feeding them even late at night was typical. However, ever since that thing appeared, Dong Family’s Stupid had been scared sick, and Mrs. Dong was too terrified to feed them again. Fearing the pigs would lose weight, they had rushed to sell them.

Exchanging a few glances, Zhou Datong volunteered, "I’ll go!"

Hu Ma instructed him to go to the pigpen without practicing his skills and to avoid lingering before letting him leave.

Zhou Datong agreed eagerly. Upon reaching the stove, he began preparing the feed, scooping bran, corn, and other grains into the bucket, adding chopped dried vegetables and a pinch of coarse salt.

Listening to the sounds, Mrs. Dong felt a pang of regret. "That’s too much..." she muttered, but dared not go out to intervene.

They watched Zhou Datong pour the entire bucket of pig feed into the trough and then quickly dart back.

Everyone remained inside, listening only to the contented sounds of the boar eating. They didn’t know how long they’d have to wait or if the specter might not appear at all. Suddenly, outside, the boar began grunting restlessly.

The group held their breath, collectively feeling a gust of ominous wind sweep through the courtyard. Inside the main room, the oil lamp flickered, its flame shrinking, threatening to go out. The crows in the old tree outside took flight in a startled, chaotic frenzy.

"It’s here!" Hu Ma realized. He spoke quietly, holding back Zhou Datong, who was eager to rush outside, and gave him detailed instructions.

After that, Hu Ma picked up the yellow paper lantern prepared by the Dong Family and cautiously headed for the door. The people of the Red Lantern Lady’s Club usually carried a red lantern when dealing with such matters. However, he hadn’t expected to need it tonight. Furthermore, the Shopkeeper wanted Hu Ma to gain more experience, so he hadn’t advised him to bring a red lantern to handle the evil spirit this time.

The yellow paper lantern’s light didn’t reach far, illuminating just a small area around his feet.

The group followed Hu Ma, tiptoeing toward the courtyard, where they soon spotted a dark, shadowy figure in the pigpen. It was crouched by the trough, devouring the food voraciously. The boar was pushed to one side, unable to eat, grunting in frustration.

The CRUNCHING, GNAWING sounds of the entity tearing into the vegetable roots sent chills down everyone’s spines. Its focus on eating was so intense that it didn’t seem to notice Hu Ma and the others approaching.

Glancing around and seeing everyone was in position, Hu Ma suddenly shouted, his voice booming like thunder, "Where did this evil spirit come from? Such a disgrace!"

The old lady in the pigpen was startled by the shout and, SWOOSH, bolted towards the gate.

Unexpectedly, as she reached the gate, a torch was thrust into her face, revealing Zhou Datong’s grinning, fierce face. He brandished his knife left and right, shouting in a dramatic voice, like lines from an opera, "Where do you think you’re escaping?"

The old lady was terrified and her speed increased. Just as she turned to scramble up the western wall, before she could climb over, Zhou Liang appeared and spat out a True Yang Arrow.

The creature, mid-air, did a somersault and flipped back, trying to head towards the east wall to climb into the neighbor’s yard. However, Zhao Zhu was already there, poised with a dung fork aimed at her face, ready to thrust.

The old-lady-like thing darted recklessly around the yard, unable to find an escape. A frigid wind swept through; the commotion was clearly not human.

Clearly panicked, the being found all paths blocked and rushed toward Hu Ma.

Originally, Hu Ma had emerged from the main house, the owner’s residence. This area typically had the strongest human presence, which evil spirits would instinctively avoid. But with people now blocking every other direction, the only path left led to Hu Ma. Zhou Datong and the others had activated their stove fire, their energies blazing. Unknowingly, in the evil spirit’s eyes, Hu Ma now appeared to be in the direction with the weakest life energy.

"AAGH..."

By the light of the yellow paper lantern in Hu Ma’s hand, the elder and the Dong couple saw a waxen, bluish-green face. It was smeared with pig feed residue. The face didn’t look that old, but its eyes were rolled back, showing only the whites, as it suddenly lunged toward them.

They were so startled they felt their hair stand on end, about to collapse in fear.

But Hu Ma stood firm, directly facing his opponent. The lantern in his hand didn’t even wobble as he abruptly thrust out his left hand. He used his left hand, still wrapped in bandages, and pressed it firmly on the forehead of the rushing creature.

Instantly, a surge of yin qi flowed into his left hand, seemingly intent on invading his body through it. Evil spirits should not be touched, as their yin qi can erode a person’s life force.

However, Hu Ma intended to test his newly learned abilities. He retracted the life force in his left hand. This immediately halted the invading yin qi as it reached his hand, preventing it from passing further into his body.

In the next moment, the stove fire within Hu Ma’s belly subtly stirred. A current of fire qi, channeled through his external power, surged to his left hand. The monstrosity was instantly knocked back, sent flying and tumbling.

"Wow, Brother Hu Ma’s skills have grown so much!"

From a distance, Zhou Datong, who had darted in through the gate, and Zhou Liang and Zhao Zhu, who had jumped down from the wall, were all taken aback. They hadn’t seen Hu Ma use a knife or a wooden sword. Yet, with a simple motion of his hand, he had sent the evil spirit tumbling.

What kind of skill was that?

Though their minds raced with this question, they quickly scrambled forward, further reducing the evil spirit’s escape routes.

Meanwhile, curious neighbors, who had been waiting all night for some action, rushed over with torches at the first sign of the commotion. The concentrated human presence converging from all sides seemed to terrify the evil spirit, causing it to shrink into a ball.

Before the entire courtyard was fully illuminated by the torches, it suddenly uttered a raspy, short, and bizarre cry:

"Oh, God..."

"Even the pigs get fed at night, but I... I get nothing to eat..."

"..."

This cry chilled everyone to the core. After the scream, the being collapsed to the ground, motionless.

Someone, chilled to the bone, stood stunned for a long time before finally shouting to one of the Li Family members, "Head Li, that..."

"That’s not your mother... but that’s your wife!"