Chapter 54: The Truth Comes to Light

Indeed, the murder of Sun Peng’s father was entirely masterminded by Mayu’s father. If pig blood wasn’t enough to lure a tiger, it would certainly bring a pack of wolves.

Animals were scarce in the mountains during winter, and the large beasts were all starving. Had it not been for the bears hibernating, the scent of blood would have even drawn them out.

Sure enough, Mayu’s father’s scheme succeeded. The bloody scent attracted a tiger that mauled Sun’s father to death.

Initially, Mayu’s father intended for tigers, bears, and whatever else was out there to finish off both Sun Peng and his father. He never expected that Sun Peng would escape with only minor surface scratches and run all the way back home.

Still, that worked out just as well. Once authorities were involved, there was an official record of a tiger attack, and the rest would naturally fall into place.

Mayu’s father ran a veterinary clinic. He mixed ephedrine with various other drugs to concoct a potion that could drive a person mad. Being a veterinarian meant he was a doctor of sorts, and he told Sun Peng and his mother that he was giving them two shots to boost their immunity and prevent colds.

Suspecting nothing, the mother and son readily agreed. They were relatives, after all; surely he wouldn’t harm them. A shot it was.

By the time the first injection was administered, the mother and son were practically on the brink of madness. With the recent trauma of the father’s death combined with the drugs, the mental states of both individuals deteriorated rapidly.

That paved the way for the events that followed. That fateful night, Sun’s mother went outside, and Mayu’s father—draped in a tiger skin—jumped out, frightened his own daughter into fainting, and dragged Sun’s mother deep into the mountains to kill her.

The murder method was ruthlessly clever: he used a dog’s skull to hollow out her abdomen bit by bit, leaving tooth marks that made it look genuinely as though she had been mauled by a tiger.

Sun Peng met the exact same fate, with the sole difference being that Mayu’s father carried him into the mountains on his back while Meiling was not paying attention.

With a vicious snarl, Mayu’s father finished his confession. Meiyu, Meiling, and I were all utterly stunned, momentarily struck dumb and unable to utter a single word.

I had always thought ghosts and monsters were the most terrifying things in existence, but I never imagined the depths of human malice.

Court-seeking to the bitter end, Mayu’s father snarled fiercely, "Dayong, you punk, you've got good fortune. Otherwise, you’d be the next one to die."

Brother Dayong dialed the police emergency number without the slightest hesitation.

It was a little past one in the morning on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month.

The wail of police sirens shattered the tranquility of the mountain village. Red and blue lights flashed across the courtyard, accompanied by endless weeping and shouting.

Master Ma drove his donkey cart, guiding me forward along the snowy road under the shroud of night.

Perhaps from that day onward, my true reverence for Master Ma was born. In my heart, he was as formidable as Guiguji.

He was truly awe-inspiring.

Upon returning to Master Ma’s house, we moved as quietly as possible, yet we still managed to wake the mistress.

Perhaps because Master Ma was away, her sleep was exceptionally light.

The mistress cooked us a large pot of hand-rolled noodles. Being a foodie, Master Ma also had her reheat some leftover dishes from the banquet held during their wedding—the food that the guests hadn't finished.

Normally, when villagers attended a banquet, they would bring plastic bags and pack up leftovers to take home.

However, most of the attendees at Master Ma’s wedding were grown men, and none of them bothered to pack leftovers. Whatever was left after sharing some with the villagers had to be consumed by us. Waste was strictly forbidden.

Truth be told, I loved those kinds of mixed dishes; combining several different foods together created a uniquely delightful flavor.

Master Ma didn't mention what had happened to the mistress, likely because the New Year was fast approaching and he didn't want to cast a pall over her heart.

After eating, Master Ma headed to the side room as usual to sleep with me.

I told him there was no need, saying the mistress had waited up for him all night.

I had expected Master Ma to hold his ground, or at least make a token gesture of sharing the room with me.

Instead, he simply grunted an affirmation and walked right out.

Having spent over three months with him, I still couldn't figure out which sect or school Master Ma belonged to.

Aside from not reading the Bible to perform exorcisms, he had practically done everything else.

To say Master Ma lacked genuine skill would fly in the face of the dozen or so village women who praised him to the heavens every single day.

Yet to say he possessed true mystical prowess left me completely baffled as to whether he was a Taoist priest or a shamanic spirit medium. He was a thoroughly enigmatic person.

As I lay in bed letting my imagination run wild, I was suddenly struck by a wave of chills.

I bolted upright and pulled the cord of the overhead light. There stood Hu Xiaozui, clad entirely in a furry outfit.

A fox fairy wearing a fox-fur coat?

"Why are you here?" I asked, somewhat excitedly.

"The New Year is coming soon, so I dropped by to see you."

"Come, come, get up on the kang and crawl under the covers."

Hu Xiaozui shot me a glare.

Even so, she climbed onto the kang and draped a cotton quilt over herself.

"You must be freezing up in the mountains."

"There are caves. It's tolerable."

Hu Xiaozui and I exchanged desultory remarks. Our conversation was tepid—we spoke when we had something to say and lapsed into silence when we didn't.

Hu Xiaozui peppered me with questions. I answered the ones I knew and made things up for the ones I didn't.

Gradually, the atmosphere warmed up just a fraction.

Hu Xiaozui asked, "New Year is here. Do you have any wishes?"

As I pondered her question, Hu Xiaozui immediately cursed, "Damn your grandmother's little brat, can't you think about something else for once?"

Sticking my neck out defiantly, I asked, "What am I thinking about?"

"I can read your mind like an open book. Cut the crap."

"Oh."

Looking somewhat exasperated, Hu Xiaozui said, "If that monster weren't lurking in the mountains, I wouldn't be caught dead teaming up with you. It's completely ruinous to my spiritual cultivation."

"Then leave."

"Hmph, within a radius of several hundred miles, Master Ma is the only one with any real cultivation. I still can't fathom why Master Ma took a liking to you. Do you think I actually enjoy dealing with you? It's purely for Master Ma's sake."

Hu Xiaozui was truly a bully of the highest order, sitting right on my kang and cursing me out. Could I possibly stand for that?

Well, I did stand for it, simply because I couldn't beat her in a fight.

Hu Xiaozui possessed freakish strength and could easily pin me down on the kang and throttle me.

After testing each other out, I, your humble servant, suffered a crushing defeat.

Acting like a resentful wife, Hu Xiaozui unleashed a barrage of complaints, implying from start to finish that I was utterly devoid of learning and agonizingly slow in making progress.

A profound sense of inferiority washed over me.

I had carried out every single task Master Ma assigned, yet some outcomes were completely beyond my imagination.

Take the affair with Mayu’s family, for instance: even if I had grown an extra brain, I never could have foreseen that kind of ending.

Of course, I wasn't someone who thought exclusively with my lower instincts.

After ranting for a good long while, Hu Xiaozui finally stormed off in a huff.

I must be the only person alive capable of picking a physical fight with a fox fairy.

Every single word Hu Xiaozui uttered pierced straight to the heart, but fortunately, my skin was thick enough that none of it affected me in the least. I pulled the quilt over my head and went right to sleep.

If I had any sense of shame, I wouldn't have lived to this age; I would have starved to death in the Earth God temple long ago.

The twenty-ninth passed without incident. The mistress boiled a massive cauldron of water, and the mother-and-son duo bathed in the main room, while Master Ma and I washed up in the side room.

Suffice it to say that after bathing, I felt lighter by at least two pounds.

At last, the Lunar New Year arrived—the festive day I had been yearning for.

The villagers woke up early. Before dawn even broke, they began setting off loud double-bang firecrackers. The mountainous terrain amplified the sound, creating rolling echoes. The old-style firecrackers had a higher powder charge, making them deafeningly loud and wonderfully lively.

Before I even emerged from the bedding, the mistress delivered a brand-new set of clothes—every layer from the inside out was fresh—along with a two-hundred-yuan red envelope. Those crisp red bills looked even more celebratory than the packet itself.

Eating leftovers was taboo on New Year's Day. After a quick, simple breakfast, the villagers began making the rounds to offer New Year greetings. Many people whom Master Ma had cured also brought gifts that day; refusing payment, Master Ma accepted only edible offerings like wild chickens, hares, and pork hocks.

Visitors arrived in a continuous stream. Master Ma received them all with joyful hospitality, while the mistress and Qiuyue bustled about in the kitchen.