The shaman came quickly and left just as quickly, like a gust of wind carrying incense ash and mumbled incantations.
She left behind a village full of uneasy, suspicious villagers, each with their own thoughts.
"Offending the Mountain God... Even the Immortal Aunt said so. It must be true!"
"What are we supposed to do? We really can't go into the mountains these next few days?"
"What else? Do you want to end up like Wang Laowu's family?"
"But... but we're nearly out of food at home..."
"Ah, we'll take it one step at a time. Better than losing our lives!"
The hunting ban left the hunters who lived off the mountains frowning with worry,
but another, more specific and more closely everyday horror story spread even faster through the women's whispered conversations—
"Lighting a lamp invites evil"!
A woman who did not understand asked softly, "Auntie, what does 'lighting a lamp invites evil' mean?"
The woman being asked immediately put on the frightened expression of someone privy to a secret. Lowering her voice, she explained mysteriously,
"Oh my! You don't even know that? Lord Mountain God... his old lordship has poor eyesight.
At night, it can't see a thing, almost like a blind man! But if you light a lamp and brighten up the house,
isn't that like raising a torch in the middle of the night? The Mountain God will spot you right away!
It'll think you're provoking it, so won't it come to your door? Wang Laowu's family probably lit a lamp at night, and that was why..."
The explanation sounded absurd, yet at that moment, it seemed entirely reasonable in Fang Family Village.
When people were afraid, they always liked to find a reason, for themselves or others, that could put their minds at ease. If