Wenn die Liebe naht, ist es wie Schnee

Kapitel 16

Chen Lian slammed the rice bowl down in front of Li Youcai. "You're just trying to make me angry, aren't you? If nothing happens tonight, see how I deal with you."

Li Youcai didn't say anything. The two finished their dinner. Chen Lian was clearing the table when Li Youcai took her hand and said, "Let's go to the chicken coop first. We can clean up these things when we get back."

"You can clean up when you get back; I'm not going to bother with that."

"Okay, as long as nothing happens when I come back, I'll do housework for a week."

Before leaving, Li Youcai remembered to take the bow and arrows he kept by the door; the arrowheads had been sharpened to a blade-like edge. Holding the bow and arrows, Li Youcai felt a surge of power throughout his body. He could easily pierce a bull's head with these arrows. Whatever happened tonight, he was capable of handling it.

Li Youcai looked quite comical carrying a bow and arrows, and Chen Lian couldn't help but ask, "Are you really going to take a bow and arrows out? You look really strange. What will we say if the neighbors see you?"

Li Youcai had already prepared an excuse: "If the neighbors ask, we'll say we went hunting. There are wild rabbits near the village. If there's really nothing to do in the chicken coop, we'll go hunt one. Wild rabbits taste good."

Chen Lian laughed again; she loved to laugh. "It's almost dark. You can still see a rabbit with your presbyopia? Even if you could, could you catch it? You weren't as fast as a rabbit when you were young."

"I don't need to chase it. My archery skills are excellent. Once I see the rabbit, it won't be able to escape. We'll definitely have wild rabbit to eat tomorrow. Of course, that is, if nothing happens in the chicken coop tonight."

Chen Lian was a little angry. "Can you please stop saying that something will happen tonight?"

"Don't be angry, I won't say anything more. We've never argued in over twenty years, not in the past, and not in the future." Li Youcai, holding a bow and arrow in one hand and Chen Lian's hand in the other, led her out of the house. Villagers taking their evening stroll in the street saw Li Youcai with his bow and arrow but said nothing. Everyone in the village knew that Li Youcai had been an excellent hunter in his youth, so his sudden desire to hunt wasn't surprising.

As Li Youcai walked down the street, he thought to himself, "Something really is going to happen tonight."

002 Bloodshed Disaster

Chenguan Village is far from the hustle and bustle of the city, and there is basically no nightlife. After nightfall, people either watch TV at home or gather in groups of three or four to play cards or mahjong. The villagers still maintain ancient customs, working at sunrise and resting at sunset.

Around ten o'clock, three-quarters of the villagers would be asleep, and the whole village would be shrouded in darkness. Although it was still more than two hours until ten o'clock, apart from a few villagers taking a stroll, there were hardly any people to be seen on the streets.

Before Li Youcai and Chen Lian even reached the village entrance, they could no longer see any villagers; the streets were deserted. A cold wind blew through the poplar trees lining the road, making the leaves rustle like waves. Normally, this sound wouldn't be anything special, but now it sounded terrifying to Li Youcai. He looked up at the horizon again; the cloud that Old Man Chen had called the Blood Cloud was still there. The wind hadn't been able to blow it away, and without sunlight, the cloud had turned into a dark mass, looking even more like an ominous sign.

Chen Lian wrapped her clothes tighter around herself, crossed her arms over her chest, and shivered as the cold wind made her hair stand on end. She complained, "What kind of weather is this? How can the wind be so cold in July?"

Li Youcai hugged Chen Lian with one arm, warming her with his body. "It looks like the weather is about to change. Why don't you go back first? I can go to the chicken coop by myself. Don't catch a cold."

Chen Lian hugged Li Youcai tightly, "What storms haven't I weathered? This little breeze can't make me catch a cold, can it? You have a heart problem, I'll stay by your side."

Li Youcai protested, "I'm not sick, I really am not sick, I just feel..."

Chen Lian continued for him, "I just feel like something bad is going to happen tonight. You've said it countless times tonight. We're almost at the chicken coop, and then you'll know you were wrong."

"I hope so." The chicken coop was something he and Chen Lian had worked very hard to build, and it would be a real problem if something went wrong with it. It was their hope for a better life.

Before he even reached the chicken coop, Li Youcai's expression changed; his fears had come true. He heard strange noises coming from the coop, and the cows around it were mooing mournfully. He was very familiar with this sound; the animals he hunted would make similar noises when they were dying.

"Something really happened!" Chen Lian's expression froze; she still couldn't quite believe it.

Li Youcai abandoned Chen Lian and ran quickly towards the chicken coop, as fast as a cheetah. Chen Lian realized what was happening and followed closely behind.

The two men ran breathlessly to the chicken coop, but the iron gate was still tightly locked. The sounds coming from inside were getting quieter and quieter. There was only one reason for this: their chickens were almost all dead.

Li Youcai took out his key to open the door, but his hands were trembling and he couldn't get the key into the lock.

Chen Lian urged, "Hurry up!" Her voice was strained.

With a soft click, the key was inserted into the lock. Li Youcai turned the key, and with a whoosh, the door opened.

The chicken coop was pitch black, and the open door looked like a monster with its mouth agape, ready to devour the two of them.

The chicken coop was completely silent, deathly silent.

Li Youcai nocked an arrow, took a deep breath, and stepped into the chicken coop. The unknown fear made his heart pound, as if it were about to burst. Chen Lian tugged at his clothes and followed behind, terrified.

Suddenly, a chill ran down their spines; it felt as if a pair of eyes were staring intently at them from the darkness. "Ah..." Chen Lian couldn't help but cry out. Her voice carried far in the darkness.

"Go turn on the light." Li Youcai pretended to be calm, but a bead of cold sweat slid from his forehead into his eye, blurring his vision. He dared not wipe it away, fearing that if his hand left the bowstring, the strange beast that would leap out of the darkness would tear him and Chen Lian to shreds and take their lives.

Chen Lian's hand touched the switch and pressed it.

The switch made a crisp sound, and Li Youcai felt a cold breath brush past him. He turned around to look, but he saw nothing.

"Our chickens!" Chen Lian screamed in despair and collapsed to the ground.

Li Youcai turned his head and saw that all the chickens in the coop were dead. His hand loosened, and the bow and arrow fell to the ground.

All of Li Youcai's chickens died, and the deaths were quite bizarre. The news spread like wildfire throughout Chenguan Village that very night. Upon hearing the news, villagers rushed to Li Youcai's chicken coop to witness the strange deaths.

The chickens at Li Youcai's house died in a very strange way. All the blood in the chickens had been drained, but there was not a trace on the chickens' bodies, not even... not even a pinhole.

Old Chen was invited over by the villagers. It was the first time he'd received such hospitality, and he felt a little smug. However, upon seeing the dead chickens at Li Youcai's house, a look of horror crossed Old Chen's face. He had never seen, let alone heard of, such a bizarre death. Who could drain the blood from two thousand chickens in such a short time? The answer was already clear: no human could do that.

All the villagers had the same question in their minds: Was the bloody disaster that Old Man Chen had predicted about about going to come true?

Old Chen was terrified. He didn't want to stay in Li Youcai's chicken coop for another second, so he pretended to walk around it. The villagers followed behind, curious to see what Old Chen was up to. Behind the chicken coop was a river. Old Chen looked at the water for a while, then glanced at the distant Yishi Academy along the river's surface, sighed, shook his head, and limped away.

As the villagers watched Old Man Chen's retreating figure, they began to speculate about the meaning behind his actions. Some curious villagers chased after him to ask, but Old Man Chen simply said that it was a secret that could not be revealed, thus silencing them.

Chen Lian was heartbroken and cried so hard she almost fainted. Li Youcai stood by the chicken coop, expressionless, without saying a word.

After being persuaded by the villagers, the two returned home. That night, many people in Chenguan Village slept poorly, having the same dream: all their livestock had died mysteriously, their bodies without a drop of blood!

The following morning, many villagers, without even having breakfast, gathered at the entrance of Li Youcai's chicken coop to discuss what to do with the more than two thousand dead chickens. The villagers believed the chickens' deaths were strange and an ominous sign, and that to prevent the spread to nearby livestock, they should be burned and then buried. Li Youcai naturally disagreed; although the chickens were dead, they hadn't died of disease and could still be sold for a price to recoup his losses. Finally, the two sides agreed that the dead chickens must be burned and buried, and that the village committee would compensate Li Youcai ten yuan per chicken.

Soon, a dozen huge piles of firewood were erected next to the chicken coop. Before lighting them, the lame old man Chen arrived again, saying he wanted to perform a ritual to send the dead chickens' souls to the afterlife. Although the souls of livestock were weak, the souls of two thousand chickens gathered together were a force not to be underestimated, so performing a ritual was the safest course of action. The villagers agreed, but performing rituals required money, and old man Chen had none. The villagers each contributed a little; one gave ten yuan, another twenty, and those with better financial means fifty. In less than the time it takes to eat a meal, old man Chen's front was piled high with colorful banknotes. He had never seen so much money before, and his smile was almost unbearable. After stuffing all the banknotes into his pocket, old man Chen set up an altar next to the chicken coop, burning incense and candles, filling the air with smoke. Wearing a patched Taoist robe and holding a broken wooden sword, he limped around the altar, chanting something, but no one could understand him. Old Chen looked quite comical, but no one could laugh at that moment. Some villagers even looked at him with awe and wonder. The scene was extremely quiet; not a single person, young or old, male or female, whispered. This was the first time such a situation had occurred in the history of Chenguan Village.

Old Chen circled the pile of firewood for half an hour. He must have been tired. After returning to the altar and burning a few talismans, he shouted, "Light the fire!" The villagers waiting nearby threw their torches at the firewood. Flames shot into the sky, and a nauseating smell of burning emanated from the raging fire. Li Youcai, who had been watching from a distance, burst into tears. His and Chen Lian's years of hard work had been reduced to ashes.

Chen Lian didn't come to see them. She hid in her own courtyard. When she saw the fire, she collapsed to the ground. She treated each chicken like a treasure and took great care of them. She never expected that they would die so inexplicably.

The fire burned brighter and brighter, billowing black smoke and crackling intermittently. The villagers instinctively took a few steps back. Only Old Chen remained still; the firelight reflected on his face, giving him an air of otherworldly wisdom.

Li Youcai couldn't bear to watch any longer. He didn't want to go home, and seeing Chen Lian's heartbroken eyes felt like a knife was cutting into his heart. He walked alone behind the chicken coop, grieving. Years of hard work had vanished overnight; no one could bear that. Li Youcai sat down by the stream, watching the water flow quietly. His blood boiled, and he had an impulse to jump into the river. All the pain would disappear, and everything would be over.

Suddenly, an icy aura enveloped him, and he shivered. He had felt the same way last night in the chicken coop. Was it coming to kill him? Facing imminent death, he suddenly didn't want to die anymore. He glanced up at the sun in the sky. What kind of monster would dare to commit such atrocities in broad daylight?

Someone was spying on him. Li Youcai looked around but didn't see anyone.

His eyes inadvertently swept across the river; there was something in the river!

Li Youcai took a deep breath, mustered his courage, and walked step by step towards the riverbank. He wanted to find out what had killed his chickens. When he reached the riverbank, he saw a pair of blood-red eyes staring intently into the water.

"Ah!" Li Youcai's vision went black and he fainted.

Villagers nearby heard the screams and rushed over immediately. They found Li Youcai lying on the riverbank, with everything around him seemingly normal.

A villager whispered, "Could Li Youcai have fainted from excessive grief?"

Another villager retorted, "Nonsense, would someone who faints from grief scream? That scream just now was clearly terrified. Li Youcai must have seen something."

Another villager asked in a low voice, "What did he see? I just don't understand. What could possibly scare a grown man so much that he fainted? Besides, Li Youcai isn't exactly timid. When he was young, he was the kind of guy who would risk his life going up the mountain alone to fight bears."

Old Chen cleared his throat. He smelled a strange odor in the air, though it was masked by the smell of burning, he could still detect it. "A demon! Li Youcai has seen a demon!"

The villagers were in an uproar.

Old Chen dared not stay there for even a minute longer, and turned to leave. No matter how the villagers pressed him for answers, he refused to utter a single word about the demon.

Chen Lian waited at home for a long time, but Li Youcai did not return. She was secretly worried. When she went out of the house, she saw Li Youcai being carried back. She almost fainted.

Because Old Man Chen refused to speak, the villagers spent a day filled with speculation and anxiety.

After sunset, a figure emerged from the river, this time his target being the sheepfold not far from the riverbank.

003 The Death of Old Man Chen

The next morning, as dawn broke, Li Youcai slowly woke up. Chen Lian, who had stayed by his side all night without sleeping, said happily, "Honey, you're finally awake! It's good that you're awake. You have no idea how scared I was when they carried you back. If something had really happened to you, how could I live?"

Before she could finish speaking, tears started flowing again.

Li Youcai felt his hands and feet were a little cold and said, "Don't cry, what's wrong with me?"

Chen Lian wiped away her tears and said, "Yesterday you went to our chicken coop and saw them burning our old hens. I saw a fire at the village entrance from home, and a little while later, you were carried back. You were ashen-faced and barely breathing. Old Man Chen said you saw a demon and were so frightened you fainted. I felt like the sky had collapsed. Thankfully, you woke up. As long as you're alright, a few old hens are nothing." After comforting her for a while, Chen Lian couldn't help but ask curiously, "Old man, weren't you very brave in your younger days? What did you see that could scare you so much you fainted?"

“I saw it…” Li Youcai recalled the scene he saw before he lost consciousness, a chill ran through him, and every hair on his body stood on end. “I saw…I saw…a pair of eyes, just…just…floating…on the water…they were…alive…eyes! And…and…” It seemed he saw something else, but he couldn’t remember it.

"May Amitabha Buddha bless you, and may Guanyin Bodhisattva protect you."

Chen Lian, believing her husband's assessment, gasped and said, "There really is a demon at work. It seems Old Man Chen was right."

Meanwhile, at the entrance of Chenguan Village, villager Chen Mu got up early. He hadn't slept well the night before, dreaming that something had happened to his sheep. Just as dawn was breaking, he crawled out of bed, threw on a coat, and went to check on his sheep. Before he even reached the sheepfold, he had a bad feeling; it was too quiet, as if there wasn't a single sheep in sight.

"Ah...a monster!" The villagers of Chenguan Village, who were still asleep, were awakened by a scream.

A group of villagers, having heard the news, quickly gathered near the sheepfold, pointing and talking about the dead sheep. Chen Mu and a few bolder villagers had already examined the dead sheep; the cause of death was easily determined. Like Li Youcai's chickens, all the sheep had died from having their blood drained. Cutting open the dead sheep revealed no blood at all. Old Man Chen arrived soon after hearing the news. Looking at the dead sheep scattered everywhere, he kept repeating three words, "A monster! A monster!" Fear began to spread among the villagers.

The dead sheep was disposed of in the same way as Li Youcai's chickens. Old Chen also performed a so-called ritual for the deceased. This time, he was too embarrassed to ask for money. After all, they were neighbors and they would run into each other again. He still had some conscience and knew that he couldn't profit from someone in distress.

As soon as the ritual ended, Old Man Chen was swarmed by villagers. One family would be followed by another, and so on. It seemed the evil spirit had taken a liking to Chenguan Village, this auspicious place, and intended to stay. Faced with this strange event, Old Man Chen's status rose dramatically. He seemed to know more about the supernatural than others, and coupled with his prediction of impending bloodshed in the village, he instantly became a semi-divine being in the villagers' eyes. Those who cultivate the Tao often have eccentric thinking, defying conventional wisdom; the villagers interpreted his previous actions as part of his worldly cultivation. Every family in the village relied on animal husbandry for a living, and no one wanted their livestock to become cold corpses overnight. They clung to Old Man Chen as a lifeline. Especially the village's large-scale livestock farmers, who treated him more like their own father. Normally, they would at most greet him.

Chen Ermei said with a smile, "Master Chen, your magic power is boundless. We can't let this demon run rampant any longer. Why don't you perform a ritual to subdue it?"

"Chen Er is one of the richest people in the village, and he has the most dairy cows in the village. If something happens to his dairy cows, the loss will be enormous."

Old Chen sighed and said, "We all share the same surname, Chen, and we all have the same ancestor. We're all related by blood. It's not that I don't want to help you, but my magic is limited, and I'm no match for this demon. As you all saw, this demon can suck the blood out of fifty or sixty sheep without leaving a single drop. Even if there were three more of it, I wouldn't be a match for it. If it had been discovered when the demon first took shape, I could have dealt with it, but now it's too late." Old Chen's heart was pounding. The talk of the bloodshed was because he saw blood-red clouds on the horizon and thought about how dead fish had been floating up in Chen Guo's fishpond near the village entrance lately. He made it up on the spot to trick a fish into eating, but it had actually come true.

With his old bones, let alone fighting demons, he'd be terrified just by seeing one. He kept praying in his heart that the villagers wouldn't make him exorcise the demon.

Another villager asked, "Master, what kind of evil spirit is causing this? Could it be a zombie?" As soon as these words were spoken, all the villagers felt a chill run down their spines, as if they saw a blue-faced, fanged demon with its blood-red maw snapping at their necks. Everyone instinctively shrank back and shivered.

"It's not caused by zombies." To convince everyone that he wasn't a charlatan spreading alarmist rumors, Old Chen said in a deliberately profound tone, "The causes of zombies are extremely complex, and the magical community still hasn't reached a conclusion."

It is generally believed that the formation of a zombie requires the following: First, the person must have died unjustly, with a complete body and resentment, commonly known as an "unnamed death." Second, the body must be buried in an extremely yin place or a sheep carcass site to prevent decay. Third, time is crucial; even if the above two conditions are met, it takes hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years for a zombie to form. I have already examined the feng shui of Chenguan Village and the surrounding area. Apart from the somewhat strange feng shui of the nearby Yishi Academy, there is no evidence of the necessary conditions for a zombie to form. Finally, and most importantly, even a zombie cannot suck blood without leaving a trace. Everyone knows how zombies suck blood; it's been shown countless times on television.

Old Chen's words had the effect he had hoped for. The villagers looked at him with even more fervor. Life in the village would be better from now on, at least they would have wine and meat at every meal.

Another villager asked, "Master, you said it's not a zombie, then what do you think this haunting monster is?"

This stumped Old Chen. He had only read a few books related to Taoism; how could he know what kind of demon was causing the trouble? Even the term "demon" was just something he'd casually mentioned. But that didn't faze him. Having spent his life as a charlatan, deception was his forte. Without a second thought, he blurted out, "We Taoists have a saying: 'Those nearing a hundred years old become demons.' This means that anything that exists for a hundred years can potentially become a demon. The demon haunting our village isn't an ordinary one. It can wash blood from its body without leaving any wounds. I estimate this demon has at least a thousand years of cultivation. My Taoist techniques can't harm it at all. Judging from the current situation, this demon doesn't want to kill anyone. Since it can suck the blood of livestock, it can also suck the blood of humans, because killing would incur karma, hindering its cultivation. Don't anger it. If it becomes ferocious, it will drain the blood of everyone in the village, and then no one will escape."

Old Chen had intended to find an excuse to stop the villagers from pestering him to exorcise the demon, but he hadn't expected the villagers to be so terrified by his words. The thought of having all the blood drained from their bodies sent a chill down everyone's spine. Old Chen hadn't anticipated the effect of his words. Taking advantage of the moment when everyone was stunned, Old Chen used his lame leg to trot all the way home, and once he closed the door, he wouldn't open it even if the Heavenly King himself came.

Old Chen ran away, and the villagers who had gathered together dispersed. Old Chen's words were deeply imprinted in the villagers' minds. Some villagers were afraid and thought about going outside to hide for a while.

Some villagers went to Li Youcai's house to hear him tell the story of the strange eye in the water. More villagers went to their own farms, trying every means to save the lives of their livestock, which were their economic pillars and practically their only lifeline.

The villagers of Chenguan were filled with panic, but there was nothing they could do. They could only pray that the demon had drunk its fill of blood and left, and that disaster would not befall them.

Night falls, and darkness once again reigns over the world.

Chenguan Village was shrouded in darkness, without a single light or sound. An ominous atmosphere permeated the village, making it seem like a deserted village. Dark clouds obscured the moon, and not a single star could be seen. A cold wind swirled and howled through the village, sweeping away a few withered leaves from the trees. The streets were deserted, and the fireflies dancing in the night sky resembled will-o'-the-wisps from the underworld, adding to the eerie atmosphere.