Chapter 21: A Frenzied Dance of Demons (14)

Her elder sister was left speechless.

She could never have imagined that her own little sister had, unbeknownst to all, come to admire her husband! If it had been any other woman, she could have scolded and cursed her, but the one before her was her own flesh and blood, the youngest daughter cherished by their parents.

With heartfelt sincerity, the elder sister tried to reason with her. “You’re still young. You’re blinded by romantic fantasies. Marrying a peddler, at least you’d have food and clothes, wouldn’t that be better than your brother-in-law who can only recite a few useless verses? Don’t be foolish!”

Her younger sister shouted, “Since you think the peddler is so good, why don’t you marry him yourself?!”

After their argument, she ran straight to her brother-in-law, crying and complaining on his behalf. In her eyes, her brother-in-law was perfect, and yet her sister had the audacity to say that he was inferior to a country peddler. She embellished the story, claiming her sister thought her husband was a useless invalid, who spent all their money on medicine and only knew how to recite pretentious poetry.

If her brother-in-law didn’t believe her the first time, she would complain a second, third, even a fifth time! Eventually, he would believe her.

When her sister went out to buy medicine, she played in the courtyard with little Aji. The nosy neighbor woman passed by and greeted her with a smile, “Still playing? You’d better hurry with your wedding dress, auntie’s waiting for your wedding feast.”

Her face darkened. “What are you talking about, auntie? I haven’t promised myself to anyone!”

The woman was surprised. “But I’ve seen the peddler come here many times. Your sister even asked about his family, whether he had siblings or had married. Isn’t she clearly matchmaking for you?”

She sneered, “Who knows who’s matchmaking for whom? It certainly won’t be me! I think that peddler has ulterior motives. Out of ten visits to the village, at least eight, he comes to see my sister. If he was interested in me, why doesn’t he talk to me? Instead, he chats happily with my sister! I’d never marry someone like him!”

Resentment clouded her judgment and loosened her tongue. She never considered that the peddler often sought out her sister because few other village women bought cosmetics, and he didn’t approach her directly because she was unmarried, while her sister was already a wife.

But blinded by jealousy, she found fault with everything her sister did and turned those barbs on others—

“Brother-in-law, you need proper medicine for your health, so why does she care about buying powder and rouge? Does she resent the smell of medicine in the house?”

“Aji, did you see? Your mother is laughing at the peddler again. It’s just a few words—what’s worth being so happy about?”

“Auntie, what did you say? My sister is matchmaking for me? Nonsense! That peddler clearly has his eyes on my sister! You don’t believe me? She told me herself—the peddler is well-off, and if she married him, she’d never worry about food and clothes again!”

The gossip grew more and more outrageous. When the peddler heard of it, he was baffled. He was just a small-time merchant and didn’t want to offend anyone. After considering that, apart from her sister, he had few customers in the village, he simply changed his route and started trading elsewhere.

The peddler’s absence became another topic of rumor: people said he was too guilty to return.

Quarrels became common at home. Gradually, little Aji was filled with resentment as well—he hated the peddler, hated his mother, and forgot that the first time his mother spoke to the peddler was because he wanted the colored figurines the peddler sold.

One day, husband and wife quarreled again. A scholar’s words, when used to wound, cut sharper and deeper than any blade. The elder sister, unable to retort, trembled with anger and stormed out, slamming the door. “If you don’t believe me, I’ll bring him here to confront us!”

Her husband shouted, “Go ahead! Go be your young mistress somewhere else, and don’t come back!”

Not long after she left, her husband packed up in a fury, saying he’d take the child to stay with a great-uncle for a few days. He left that day, taking Aji with him.

Her sister returned after her fruitless search for the peddler. Seeing her child gone, she anxiously demanded to know what happened. The younger sister, sulking because her brother-in-law hadn’t taken her along, replied impatiently, “Isn’t it because of you? Everyone says you ran off with the peddler!”

Her sister shook her head, pale as death. “I didn’t! Where did they go? Did they go looking for me?”

She wanted to say, They’ll never look for you! They wish you’d never come back! But at the last moment, she changed her mind, choosing a crueler lie. “Aji was crying for you yesterday. He ran off, and your husband went to look for him. They haven’t come back.”

“What?! Aji didn’t go into the forest, did he?!”

“Perhaps. Otherwise, why haven’t they been found…”

…

Lady Wan writhed in agony on her bed. At first her throat had only tickled, but now it was numb, and she could no longer utter a sound.

She dragged herself from bed, forced her body to the table, and with trembling hands poured herself a cup of tea.

But the water did nothing; even her tongue was numb, unable to swallow. Water dribbled from the corner of her mouth. She reached to wipe it away, only to find sticky white threads clinging to her fingers…

Bewildered, she touched her lips again and found similar white threads oozing from her nose—strand after strand, spreading over her body. At last, even her eyes were veiled in white filaments; she could see nothing.

“Someone… help me, please, help me…”

Her mouth opened and closed in vain, not a sound escaping. By memory alone, she groped her way to the door, pounding on it, trying to summon help.

No matter how she pounded or screamed, no one came.

Her body grew heavier, weaker, suffocated as if drowning. The white threads invaded every crevice—eyes, throat, organs—spreading ever deeper…

Terror consumed her. Pain and despair of impending death overwhelmed her. Then, faintly, she heard a familiar voice—

“My child… where is my Aji…”

She knew that voice. If only her eyes were not blocked by the filaments, she would have wept.

“Sister! I was wrong, forgive me! I was wrong… I didn’t mean it, I never thought you’d really go into the forest! I never thought you’d never return…”

She could see nothing, only cower in terror on the floor, her body trembling violently.

Suddenly, a cool sensation brushed her cheek, as if slender, gentle hands were caressing her skin, softly, delicately, again and again. Her jaw chattered, her whole body was cold as ice! Terror surged like a tidal wave, and at last she could bear it no more. She screamed hoarsely:

“No… don’t! Go away! Why did you come back, why did you come back! You shouldn’t have come back!!!…”

Even as she screamed herself hoarse, her voice was as futile as a fish out of water—her mouth gaping silently, unable to make a sound.

She tore great clumps of filaments from her throat, clawed desperately at her face!

Her ten fingers sank deep, and to her horror, it was not skin but endless filaments beneath. Her flesh, her blood, her eyes and throat—her entire being had become those white threads!

“Ahhhhhhh!!!…”

…

Shi Xianyu awoke with a start, blinking in confusion.

Had she heard something—a woman screaming?

She looked around. The night was thick and silent beneath the tranquil stars. Only the distant stream murmured softly.

“Was it just a nightmare?” Shi Xianyu murmured. Who could say? Since coming to this world, her dreams each night had been strange and fantastical; nothing surprised her now.

The spring night’s breeze was a bit chilly. She rubbed her nose, feeling a sneeze coming on.

Lin Yuan, who was keeping watch, leapt down from a boulder, picked up a blanket, and draped it over her shoulders. “Not sleeping?”

“I’m just about to.” She pulled the blanket closer and yawned.

On the other side of the fire, Shen Xiao opened his eyes and spoke gently, “Sleeping rough under the stars, of course it’s hard for Little Fish to rest well. Just two more nights, and we’ll be past this forest and reach the next village.”

Shi Xianyu shook her head. “It’s not hard. Sleeping outdoors is rather novel. Besides, with the trouble in the village resolved, it feels as if a weight’s been lifted from my heart. I feel much lighter now and sleep well enough.”

Shen Xiao smiled. “It’s thanks to your sharp eyes, Little Fish, that we discovered the true cause of the attacks on the village. If not, once we’d left, the villagers would have continued to suffer.”

Shi Xianyu smiled sheepishly, tilting her head toward Lin Yuan. “…But it was really thanks to Lin Yuan. I couldn’t have even entered the forest alone.”

Lin Yuan shook his head and said, “It was you who heard it first.”

Shen Xiao, seeing them both so modest, laughed heartily. “Enough. Passing through the village was fate for the three of us. Banishing the monster and restoring peace is our good deed. Let’s not be so humble.”

Thinking back, Shi Xianyu’s face brightened with a smile. “How wonderful. The villagers must be living happily and peacefully now.”

Lin Yuan, looking at her smile, could not help but nod. “…Yes, they surely are.”

The villagers must be living happily and peacefully.

…

The next day, the three continued their journey.

They did not venture deeper into the forest, but followed the river downstream. By evening, they spotted a group of scouts.

Fortunately, Lin Yuan was alert, and the scouts did not see them.

Scouts were usually swift soldiers tasked with reconnaissance, meaning a military force was likely nearby. Although Shen Daoren knew some spells, he dared not confront an army. To avoid trouble, he decided to change their route.

Originally, they would have reached a village in two days, but now they had to trek through desolate forest for seven or eight, a place with wild beasts—Lin Yuan could handle those—and poisonous insects—Shen Daoren could ward them off. But soon, Shi Xianyu encountered a real problem.

She had run out of food.

Bread, biscuits, instant noodles, canned goods… all gone.