"Sounds to me like thieves got in. What's that got to do with ghosts or demons?" Wei Zhao shook his head, unimpressed.

"That's what everyone figured at first. Our village is full of folk who know each other inside out, but you can't rule out some outsider sneaking in, can you? And then guess what—before many days passed, someone found a pile of dead chickens and ducks up in the hills. Everyone went up to look, and sure enough, they were the very birds our village had lost!" Aunt Wang said, all breathless drama.

"Now that is a bit odd." Wei Zhao frowned slightly. If it were merely thieves, the birds would have been taken off to be eaten or sold. Dead chickens and ducks dumped in the hills, though—that made no sense. Unless someone was deliberately getting revenge, or playing a nasty prank.

"That's not even the scariest part. The scariest part is that those dead chickens and ducks were all there, every last feather—except all the blood had been sucked right out of them!" Aunt Wang clutched at her chest, still spooked.

"Really? The blood was drained?" Wei Zhao started at that.

"You think I'd make it up? Half the village went up there that day and saw it plain as day. I can't even tell you how creepy the sight was—nobody dared go close!" Aunt Wang said, all nerves.

"If nobody went close, how do you know the blood was drained?" Wei Zhao couldn't help asking.

"Ergoudan told us, didn't he? He's the one who found them. Big fellow, big nerve on him too—bold as brass, he'd stick his nose into anything." Aunt Wang curled her lip.

"I see." Wei Zhao laughed at once. Ordinary folk would get the shivers from something that uncanny, but Ergoudan had nothing to fear. A few dead chickens and ducks were nothing—even if there really were a ghost, one punch from him would knock it senseless. With his strength, he had essentially no rivals in the secular world; even a Foundation Establishment expert from the Ancient Alliance might not come out ahead against him.

"And that was only the start of it. At first it was just chickens and ducks going missing, but lately even the cattle and sheep have vanished. Seems like only a few days ago, Ergoudan's family cow just up and disappeared. No need to guess—it must have been carried off by that wicked, unclean thing!" Aunt Wang declared with certainty.

"Well… it's a bit early to be drawing conclusions, isn't it? Could be someone playing pranks…" Wei Zhao shook his head dismissively. Strange as these tales sounded, to pronounce it a haunting on that alone was stretching things too far.

"Pranks? How could a thing like this be a prank? Chickens and ducks and cattle and sheep are pranks, is that it? So if someone ends up dead, that's a prank too?" Aunt Wang snorted.

"What? Someone's died? Whose family?" Wei Zhao was startled. Livestock was one thing, but once a life was lost it was a serious matter—especially for ordinary folk, a matter of enormous consequence!

"Not from our village. Some hiking club or other, I think. A few university students came camping near our West Star Mountain, and two of them died overnight. Police came around asking questions just a couple of mornings ago, saying the two dead had their blood drained too. Same state as our chickens and ducks. The rumors going around are awful—creepy as anything!" Aunt Wang couldn't help shrinking her neck as she spoke.

"It's gotten that big?" Wei Zhao's brows knitted tight. A moment ago he'd written Aunt Wang and the rest off as superstitious worriers, but hearing this, even he felt something was off. Could there really be some unclean thing out there that fed on blood?

"Isn't it just! Everyone's on edge now—folk hardly dare leave their homes unless they have to, and look, even my business here has fallen off badly." Aunt Wang grumbled a couple of lines, then urged: "You get on home too. Our village may only be losing livestock so far, but who knows whether it'll come to lives lost—best be careful."

"Mm, thanks, Aunt Wang. I'll head back now." Wei Zhao nodded and made for his own house. Before he'd even reached the door, he heard Old Man Wei and Aunt Qing talking inside, and the corner of his mouth curved as he came to a halt.

"Are you really not going to help Xiaoyi? If this Ancient Alliance is full of Heaven Dao stage experts, then even if Xiaoyi's been to Cloud Terrace Island, they won't be easy to handle. You're truly not worried at all?" Aunt Qing's voice carried both worry and a measure of reproach.

"Stop fretting over nothing. That boy's got a hard life—he won't die," Old Man Wei said, utterly unconcerned.

"What do you mean, a hard life? However hard his life is, you can't just push him into the fire, can you? What if something goes wrong?" Aunt Qing said, displeased.

"What do you know? I raised that boy this way from the time he was small, and now he's spent three years on Cloud Terrace Island besides. If he can't handle even this much, then he's good for nothing. How could a boy I trained with my own hands turn out to be that kind of worthless trash?" Old Man Wei was as unmoved as ever.

"You call that training? That's not training, that's letting him run wild! It's only because Xiaoyi's got luck and a strong constitution that he's still around. Raise anyone else that way and the white-haired would be burying the black-haired. And you've got the nerve to brag about it!" Aunt Qing didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"…" Old Man Wei was stumped for a while, and only after a good pause managed: "Anyway, stop worrying about it. The boy's no fool. If he really couldn't hold out, he'd have phoned for help long ago."

"I don't think so. Xiaoyi usually seems so mild and easygoing, but deep down he's every bit as stubborn as you. Asking you for help is probably not even a thought that would cross his mind. And by the time it came to that, it'd be too late. I say we pack up and make the trip down the mountain." Aunt Qing kept up her earnest persuasion.

"I already told you, there's no need to go. The boy will manage on his own. Stop borrowing trouble," Old Man Wei scoffed.

"You're really not going? Then I'm not making the mapo tofu. You can cook it yourself," Aunt Qing said, threatening to walk off the job on the spot.

"Now, don't be like that—that's the one dish I truly love. How can you not make it? Wouldn't that be a shame, wasting cooking skill like yours?" Old Man Wei was all at once anxious.

Wei Zhao stood outside the door, his stomach aching from holding back laughter. These two were famous figures in the outside world, renowned far and wide—who would ever imagine their conversation would be so full of hearth-and-home bickering, exactly like any ordinary old married couple! (To be continued.)