Zhang Yuanchao's words instantly darkened Li Bai's expression. She shook off his arm. "Who are you calling your daughter?!"
Zhang Yuanchao wasn't offended. He still looked as honest and guileless as ever. He lowered his head to look at Li Bai's ankle, and when he saw she wasn't hurt, the slight furrow in his brow finally eased.
"How are you? Want me to help you walk?" Yao Shunyu stepped forward.
Li Bai first shot Zhang Yuanchao a wary glance, then shook her head at Yao Shunyu. "I'm fine. Let's keep going."
They were on their way to the village's old temple. According to the villagers, it had stood for many years—so long that no one knew exactly when it was built. They only knew that it housed a Buddha statue. The villagers were kindhearted, and every year on the Zhusheng Festival, they went to offer the statue a stick of incense so the temple wouldn't feel too deserted.
Of course, that was all just talk. Their most important task tonight wasn't to offer incense to the statue, but to scrape the gold from its face with a sickle used for cutting pigweed. Scraping gold from a Buddha's face—just hearing it sounded blasphemous.
Night in Heishui Village wasn't completely dark. Instead, it was a strange gray, as though thick fog had enveloped the entire village.
There were two tasks tonight, and they had both been assigned. Yao Shunyu would carry out the first: scraping gold from the Buddha's face. Li Bai and Zhang Yuanchao would work together on the second: bowing before the demon.
Yao Shunyu had initially disagreed with assigning Li Bai that task. He didn't trust Zhang Yuanchao, whose identity was unclear, to be left alone with her. But Li Bai had solid reasons. First, Zhang Yuanchao had been