Chapter 23: The Night Crying of the Second Aunt

  It's already late, and half of the sky has been dyed with dusk colors.

  The sound of dongdongdang came from the wall of a shipyard in Qinglong Town, and under Yu's tearful gaze, the last iron nail was nailed into the coffin lid. As the weather had entered summer, it was not suitable to leave the body for too long, so several strong men discussed and decided that they would carry Xiaobao's coffin to the forest outside the town tomorrow to bury him.

  Xuan Zhen handed over a few pills of nourishing and calming medicine to Yu Shi, then turned around and walked towards Xiang San: "Brother Xiang San, I have something to ask you."

  He puffed on his pipe, but there was no fire in the bowl. He sighed and said, "I know what you want to ask. Just now Big Cow told me that Xiaobao's body was found on the beach where we usually dry our nets. When it was discovered, half of the body was buried in the sand... Tomorrow I'll take you to see it. Alas, who would have thought that as soon as we returned, we'd encounter such a tragic event."

  Xuan Zhen shook his head: "No need to trouble, I have been practicing the sect's Dao Gong since childhood, my footwork is still good, and I will go take a look now. I'll be back within half an hour."

  He saw how determined Sanzi was, so he didn't stop him anymore. He pointed out the direction of his own home and let him go.

  He then rushed eastward, his body moving extremely fast. In just a few leaps, he had already jumped onto the rooftops of a row of houses in the alley, his clothes fluttering and his jade belt flying horizontally. He was truly as swift as a startled swan and as agile as a swimming dragon. After a short while, he had already exited the eastern gate of the town.

  The town of Qinglong faces the sea to the east, and after walking for just over a mile, you can see the seawall. On top of the seawall made of green bricks is a sparse forest. The salty sea breeze hits your face, but looking down, you see a soft yellow-orange expanse, with waves rolling in and covering the sandy beach with white foam. Looking further out to sea, the sky gradually darkens, and a few scattered stars twinkle faintly on the horizon.

  Xuan Zhen called out to Chun Shui, borrowing the sword light to search around, and indeed found a spot of bloodstains on the sandy beach. There were also many chaotic footprints on the sand, which seemed to be left by the big men from the town. He squatted down, and Chun Shui's sword let out a clear ring as it lay horizontally in front of him. Xuan Zhen merely flipped through the sand grains and found several bird feathers, with bright red plumage, purple roots, and long, narrow shapes, identical to those held by Xiao Bao.

  Xuan Zhen took a look and felt even more suspicious. If this child died on the beach, it wasn't just a wild elephant that killed him, could it be some kind of fierce bird?

  Xuan Zhen looked around again and found no other clues, so he returned to Qinglong Town with doubts.

  As he entered the shipyard, it was already night, and everywhere was very quiet, even the sound of insects could not be heard. Xuān Zhèn's footsteps were light and quick, walking silently between the rows of wooden houses. Even though his Taoist skills were accomplished and his hearing was sufficient, he could only hear faint voices from within the wooden houses. It seemed that since the strange events in town these days, people didn't dare to speak loudly even in their own homes, fearing they would attract monsters.

  Xuan Zhen remembered that San Zeng had pointed out to him his own home, which was a three-room wooden house connected together, with a fence outside and a flower rack at the door. It was located just behind the Yu family's house, slightly to the west. He walked past the wall of the Yu family's fence, only to see that the doors were tightly locked, the windows were pitch black, and there was only a faint sound of mournful crying drifting out from inside the window.

  Xuan Zhen let out a soft sigh, turned around and walked past the fence wall towards the back. At this moment, he suddenly heard a sharp cry, the voice was shrill and hoarse, like an old woman's eerie laughter, or the hooting of a night owl, echoing from afar in the dark night, making it even more terrifying, sending chills down one's spine.

  Xuan Zhen heard the voice, and his heart skipped a beat. He quickly turned around and ran in the direction of the sound, coincidentally towards the same direction as San Jia's residence. As soon as he arrived at a fence outside, he heard a creaking sound, and a door opened slightly. The light from inside the house cast onto the steps, and a thin figure rushed out like the wind, stopping in front of a cluster of flowers in the courtyard. He saw that the person had a head of black hair tied up in a loose bun at the back of their head, revealing a young woman.

  The woman tiptoed in front of the flowers, picked up something from the ground and held it in her hand. She took a look, suddenly gasped, then retreated several steps, turned around and rushed back into the house. Immediately afterwards, there were continuous cries of "ah yo" coming from inside the house, which was a familiar voice, belonging to Xiang San.

  Xuan Zhen looked at her with a hint of surprise, thinking to himself: So this is Brother San's wife. She looks so slender and small, but unexpectedly she has a fiery personality. When speaking in front of those brothers, Brother San had an air of authority, yet at home, he often gets beaten up by his wife. It seems that every family has its own unsolvable problems indeed?

  He thought to himself as he walked through the door, only to see the thin woman grasping Zhang San's ear with one hand and hitting him on the head and face with a coarse cloth in the other, scolding angrily: "You good-for-nothing, why didn't you die outside? I told you to bring back Xi'er's clothes, but you just knew how to agree! Now look what's happened, our daughter is going to die!"

  "Hey, let's talk this out properly. First, release my ears, hurry up and let go!" Towards San's eyebrows and eyes were all scrunched up, his teeth clenched in pain as he jumped around on tiptoes. His tall stature was being held captive by his wife's grip on his vital spot, forcing him to bend his waist and hunch his back as he spun around the room. He also had to dodge the loud, flapping cloth that was being wielded about, yet he didn't dare push his wife away for fear of hurting her. It was truly a miserable situation.

  Xuan Zhen stood in front of the door and smiled lightly, then hastily shouted to San Ting: "Immortal, save me! This woman has gone mad, I don't know what's wrong with her, you'd better cure her quickly!"

  The woman saw that he still didn't know where he was wrong, and with a surge of grief, she pushed him hard onto the table and burst into loud wailing: "You're so heartless, Third Brother! You've been gone for more than half a year without even sending any news. Now you're back, but you still want to harm my daughter. This time, I'm afraid Xiang'er will have to go keep company with Young Master Yu's little treasure!"

  He was at his wit's end, seeing his wife crying her heart out. He cautiously approached to comfort her: "Don't cry, why take it so hard? You might really summon that monster with your curses."

  Toward the home daughter one listen, even more angry, called out: "The monster just came over, you see for yourself!" Said and then will hand in that piece of coarse cloth thrown to his face, toward three received in hand unfolded, Xuan Zhen this only saw that originally was a child's shirt.

  "Look at the collar of your garment; are there not two drops of blood on it?"

  Toward San bowed his head and looked at him, nodded blankly, still with a puzzled expression.

  The girl going home said: "Then you just heard the owl hooting?"

  Xiang San now somewhat understood, nodded slowly and gradually widened his tiger eyes.

  Xuan Zhen furrowed his brow and inserted a word, saying: "Toward... Madam, you said the monster has been here before. Could it be that the bloodstain was left intentionally by it? Even the wailing cry just now was also..."

  The woman looked at him with tears in her eyes and sobbed, "Isn't it true? The families in the town who lost their children are all like this... First, they hear the bird's cry, then the child's clothes are stained with blood drops, and within a few days the child is stolen away. When they search again... when they search again, it's just a dead body!"

  Listening to San Yi, he suddenly regretted and felt ashamed, and hastily said: "How did I know these things! What's good about this, Xi'er's clothes were forgotten and picked up, and now they have been marked by that monster..." He was anxious in the house, turning around in circles. When he turned his head and saw Xuan Zhen, he quickly grabbed his shoulder and begged: "Immortal, your divine powers are vast, please save our family's Xi'er! You also saw Xiao Bao's dead appearance, just thinking about Xi'er...Xi'er will become like that too, I, I'm afraid to even think about it!"

  Xuan Zhen was shaken back and forth, the lamp shadows in front of him were heavy, he felt dizzy for a while, and hurriedly struggled free: "Third Brother Xiang, don't panic yet. I'll ask Madame a few more questions."

  She let go of San and stood up, wiping away her tears. Before Xuan Zhen could speak, she knelt down on the ground and said seriously: "Third brother won't deceive people, he says you can save the children in our town, then you must be able to save them! My daughter's life is a life, and the lives of those children in the town are also lives. I only ask the immortal to have mercy on us common people and help us get rid of the monster. If I can help, I will definitely not decline!"

  Her words were loud and clear, and Xuān Zhèn nodded secretly after hearing them. He and Xiàng Sān quickly helped her up before asking: "Don't worry, Madame Xiàng, I came here to get rid of the demon. However, knowing oneself and knowing one's enemy is crucial for victory. Previously, I thought the demon that hurt people was a Lù Xiàng, but after hearing what you just said, it seems like another kind of monster... Was the child of Yú Shì also taken away in this manner?"

  The woman nodded, her eyes welling up with tears. "It's true. Ever since the children in town started getting hurt, no one dares to let their kids go out, and even old men and women don't dare to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary. But that monster is really cunning. That day, my sister-in-law went with us to wash clothes by the river, and accidentally dropped one of Xiaobao's shirts into the water, which was swept away. Who would have thought that the next day, the shirt would be hanging from her eaves, with two dark red bloodstains on the collar... and then Xiaobao..."

  Xuan Zhen continued, "Then when you found the blood-stained clothes, did you see any red feathers nearby?" As he spoke, he took out the crimson bird feathers from his sleeve and showed them to Madam Xiang.

  The woman furrowed her brow and assumed a thoughtful expression, then said after a while: "It seems I've heard someone say they saw something, but I don't know if it has anything to do with the child's disappearance."

  Xuan Zhen handed the Zhu Yu to Xiang San and his wife, saying: "The 'Dong Ming Guang Ji' also records a kind of demon, which is said to be transformed from the obsession of a dead woman who died in childbirth. It takes the form of a woman with no arms but has wings, with bright feathers, called Gu Huo. The Gu Huo bird loves babies very much and often steals other people's children as its own. If it likes a family's baby, it will wander around their house at night. If that family forgets to take in the clothes they hung outside, the Gu Huo bird will leave two drops of blood on them, and soon after, the baby will be taken away by it."

  San Ni held the feather and sniffed it with his nose, upon hearing this he said: "This 'Gu Gu bird' is truly detestable to the extreme, even people's children are stolen! Our family's Xiao Er absolutely cannot be taught by this wicked bird."

  The woman glared at him and turned to Xuan Zhen, saying: "Since the immortal knows the origin of this demon, you must have a way to save the child, right?"

  Xuan Zhen smiled slightly and said, "It's not difficult to deal with, but I need to ask the lady for a small favor."

  "Ah, I'm so glad! If you can save my daughter and the other children in town, don't mention small troubles, even big troubles I'll definitely help!"

  "That's great." Xuan Zhen smiled and said, "Since the bird left a mark, it should come again in a few days. I have a plan, but Mrs. needs to be ruthless!"

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