A Cry in the Middle of the Night

The existence of a water ghost in Dragon Gate Village was something Daoist Mu had mentioned while performing his ritual.

At the Universal Cloud Daoist Temple, Daoist Mu had told everyone about the water ghost.

Zhang Xuezhou and the others had likewise focused their investigation on the Dragon Gate River.

Before that, however, the rumor in Dragon Gate Village was that the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons had passed through, causing a great many pigs and cattle to disappear.

The key reason the story had changed was Daoist Mu, who had come to Dragon Gate Village to perform a ritual.

Zhang Xuezhou and Jia Zhiyuan chatted aimlessly all over Dragon Gate Village, learning more and more about the matter.

The story of the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons had originated with the jumbled footprints some villagers had found in the wetlands. There had been over a hundred of them, and together with the missing pigs and cattle, they had given rise to the original rumor.

But ghosts were spirit bodies, without the weight of flesh, so it was difficult for them to leave footprints when they walked.

Daoist Mu had directly refuted the story of the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. Only after performing a ritual and sensing for nearly half a day had he roughly concluded that there might be a water ghost near Dragon Gate Village.

"That water ghost can swallow sixteen pigs and three cattle in one go. Are we even enough to fill the gaps between its teeth?" Jia Zhiyuan asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, Uncle. That water ghost only eats livestock, not people. Wang Fu'an is an example. Even at worst, our corpses will be left whole," Zhang Xuezhou said reassuringly.

"That's made me a little more afraid," Jia Zhiyuan said.

"Are you afraid of ghosts, Uncle?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

When Daoist Mu had played his ghostly trick, Jia Zhiyuan had held the lantern, and neither Rong Li nor Rong Tianding had shown any fear on their faces.

In the eyes of the Rong Household, illusory things like ghosts and gods were not as formidable as the pig-slaughtering knife in Rong Li's hand.

As a lineage of butchers, the Rong Household firmly believed that their long years of slaughtering protected them, making it difficult for all manner of demons and monsters to approach them.

That was also why Li Erlang and the others were worried and afraid, while the Rong Household remained calm.

Zhang Xuezhou had made a joke, but Jia Zhiyuan felt a little more apprehensive and uneasy.

He paced back and forth in the room, looking flustered.

"What will we do if the water ghost really harms them?"

There was no doubt that the Rong Household had fallen on hard times. Even after Jia Zhiyuan had married into the family and fathered Rong Tianding, Rong Li was still the mainstay of the household.

Jia Zhiyuan dared not imagine the consequences of losing either of them.

He was not afraid of ghosts, but he feared an accident he could hardly bear.

"Your aunt still hasn't come back. Should we go out and look for them?"

Jia Zhiyuan had paced back and forth many times, but Rong Li still had not returned, so he could not help asking Zhang Xuezhou to come with him.

But Zhang Xuezhou did not respond for a long time. When Jia Zhiyuan opened his eyes wide and looked over, he saw Zhang Xuezhou lying straight on the bed, his eyes tightly shut. He was clearly already asleep.

"He can sleep soundly even now?"

Jia Zhiyuan shook his head.

He gave Zhang Xuezhou a push, but Zhang Xuezhou did not move in the slightest. Clearly, waking him would be difficult.

Jia Zhiyuan paced a few more steps, growing increasingly anxious. He pulled the door open and heard a bird's whimpering cries from far away.

The bird's cries were full of sorrow and sounded rather like weeping.

"What bad luck!"

Listening to the cries of what might have been a crow or some other bird, Jia Zhiyuan muttered under his breath.

He looked around several times and saw that after nightfall, hardly a light could be seen in the entire village. Every house was tightly shut, and not a trace of a human voice could be heard.

For no apparent reason, this made him panic for a few seconds.

A few barks gave Jia Zhiyuan courage. He set out on somewhat aching legs, but before he had gone a hundred meters, he saw Rong Li hurrying back with Rong Tianding.

"There's mud in the river channel over there. I stepped in it and fell several times. It hurts like hell!"

Rong Tianding shook his arms and peeled off his filthy outer robe.

It was the cool autumn season, and the temperature dropped noticeably at night. Rong Tianding could not help sneezing several times.

"The whole riverbank was covered in mist. We nearly lost each other, let alone found a ghost," Rong Li complained. "It looks like this will be difficult!"

"There's no hurry, no hurry," Jia Zhiyuan said repeatedly.

Seeing his wife and child return safely together, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

If we'd let Ding'er slaughter pigs like a good boy, perhaps none of this trouble would have happened!

As he welcomed Rong Li and Rong Tianding inside, Jia Zhiyuan could not help having some lingering thoughts.

Generation after generation of the Rong family had slaughtered pigs, occasionally handling some hunted game. Such a life was comfortable and simple, its whole course visible at a glance.

Jia Zhiyuan had always wanted Rong Tianding to have a different, better life, but now he had to wonder whether he had been right to push for it.

For a time, he fell silent.

Once Rong Li and the others had settled in and lain down, Jia Zhiyuan tossed and turned, unable to sleep, constantly pondering how to resolve their present predicament.

"Give me back my life!"

At the third watch, Jia Zhiyuan heard a man's voice demanding a life, making him shudder.

He pricked up his ears and heard the voice drifting back and forth through the village.

"I died such an unjust death! Give me back my life!"

The voice grew clearer, and Jia Zhiyuan scrambled out of bed.

"The ghost is here! The ghost is here!"

He rolled over and pushed Rong Li awake. Before she could open her mouth to curse him, Jia Zhiyuan clapped a hand over her mouth and pointed outside.

The faint voice reached them, and Rong Li's eyes immediately lit up. The pig-slaughtering knife beneath the bed was soon in her hand.

"I'm going to find the ghost first. Grab the pig blood and follow me, quickly!"

A ghost by the river and a ghost in the village were two entirely different things. Rong Li felt she could not let it escape.

She seized her pig-slaughtering knife, its blade glinting coldly, and took a firestarter before plunging into the boundless night.

"Get up, get up! Your mother's gone to catch a ghost!"

Jia Zhiyuan pushed Rong Tianding again, but Rong Tianding mumbled several times and was difficult to wake, while Zhang Xuezhou slept like a dead pig. Jia Zhiyuan had no choice but to pick up a wooden bucket and hurry out the door himself.

He had run only a few hundred paces with the bucket when he heard the sounds of Rong Li fighting with her knife drawing closer and closer.

By the remaining light of a firestarter on the ground, Jia Zhiyuan saw a dark figure locked in a fierce fight with Rong Li, neither able to gain the upper hand.

"Ghosts use knives too?"

Jia Zhiyuan was taken aback.

But he was quick with his hands and feet, able to act when the moment came.

Without worrying whether he would splash Rong Li, he immediately pulled the cloth cover off the bucket, scooped up a ladleful of half-congealed pig blood, and flung it straight out in every direction.

"Spare me!"

The pig blood Jia Zhiyuan had thrown did nothing to hurt the ghost, but when the clumps landed on the ground, the dark figure stumbled, slipped, and fell.

Seeing a good opportunity, Rong Li thrust with her pig-slaughtering knife.

The clash of metal rang out as the short knife crossed the long blade, and the dark figure cried out in pain, begging for mercy.

"A person?"

Rong Li violently pressed the long blade down with her knife, then stabbed her opponent.

After following up with a slap, she immediately felt the warmth of flesh.

"Is that Lord Li?"

Jia Zhiyuan picked up the firestarter and brought it closer for a look. The constable Lord Li, who had previously told them to go to the yamen, lay on the ground, pinned beneath Rong Li and unable to move.

"Lord Li?" Rong Li said in surprise. Then she asked, "What did you come to Dragon Gate Village and start howling for?"

"I was pretending to be a ghost," Lord Li said painfully.

"Pretending to be a ghost?" Rong Li said, stunned. "What were you pretending to be a ghost for?"

"So I could get beaten up by you!"

The constable gave his reply, feeling that this woman of the Rong Household was a little too violent.

He had intended to put on an act, let Rong Li and the others drive him away, then leave behind a black robe so that Rong Li and the others could be considered to have caught the ghost. But Lord Li had not expected to step on the pig blood and immediately get stabbed by Rong Li.

He felt that carrying out this sort of assignment for the yamen was simply playing with his life.

Fortunately, he had been quick enough to beg for mercy, or Rong Li would have cut him down with a single stroke.