In the middle of the night, the sudden sound of a woman sobbing in the woods was enough to make anyone's blood run cold.
Zhou Dalang felt a sudden tightening in his lower abdomen, nearly wetting himself again.
He forced himself to stay upright, pushing aside the branches to look toward the source of the sound.
The moonlight was like shimmering water. There, sitting on a stone platform in a clearing, was a mountain woman dressed in coarse hemp clothes.
She sat cross-legged on the ground, a bamboo basket by her feet, with large red jujubes scattered all over the earth around her.
The woman seemed to have sprained her ankle. she kept her face buried in her hands, weeping mournfully. Her voice was long and melodious, like the song of a mountain oriole.
“Sob, sob... sob, sob...”
So it was a person.
“Dammit! Scared the life out of me.”
Zhou Dalang breathed a faint sigh of relief and spoke to the woman in a harsh, aggressive tone:
“You there! Why are you out here in this desolate place crying like a ghost? Are there bandits hiding in the woods, using you as bait for travelers?!”
The woman jumped in surprise at the sight of Zhou Dalang, quickly wiping the tears from her face to explain.
“Officer, my husband’s family is named Ma. He is a stonemason from Changhuai Village in Wen County.
“I married into his family, and our days were peaceful enough. But who could have known? In the eight years since I married him, I have been unable to bear a child.
“My mother-in-law is cruel. In this eighth month, she insisted on eating the large red jujubes that grow on the trees in these mountains. She sent me up here to gather them and told me that if I didn't fill the entire basket, she wouldn't let me return.
“Poor me. I’ve been married to them for eight years, filial to my parents-in-law and kind to my sister-in-law. I have never been disobedient, yet I was driven into the mountains for such a grueling task.
“My mother-in-law even said the dates must be large and round—larger than a human eyeball—before she would grant me even a mouthful of food.”
The woman lifted her face and couldn't help but break into another fit of sobbing.
“Just now, I finally managed to find a jujube tree, but I sprained my ankle while picking them. Now, I can neither finish gathering the basket nor go back down the mountain.
“My heart was filled with such grief and indignation that I could only sit here and weep. I didn't mean to disturb you, Officer. I truly deserve to die for my intrusion.”
By the moonlight, Zhou Dalang finally saw the woman’s face clearly.
She was quite beautiful, with fair, tender skin. Even in her coarse hemp clothes, her graceful figure was evident.
Zhou Dalang was a frequent visitor to the red-light districts. He had several favorites in the brothels and had even seduced a few women from decent families.
Seeing the woman’s appearance in the middle of this deep, dark forest, a wicked thought immediately crossed his mind.
“They're just some dates. To think she would make things so difficult for a lovely thing like you. That mother-in-law of yours must be a meddling old hag.”
Lust rose within him. Zhou Dalang couldn't resist moving a few steps closer. Ignoring the fact that he had just lost two front teeth, he spoke to the woman in a soothing, gentle voice.
“Good sister, I’ll pick those jujubes for you. There’s no one else here; why don't we use the sky as our blanket and the earth as our mat and have ourselves a bit of fun?
“Don't worry, I'm not the kind of scoundrel who loves the new and tires of the old, or someone who would trick you just for your body.
“I am the cousin young master of the Wang Family Distillery in Dingyuan, called Zhou Silang. Once we’ve shared our joy here in the wild, you’ll be the cousin young mistress of the Wang family. What would you have to fear from the Zhaos or the Lis then?!”
As he spoke, fearing she wouldn't believe him, he unfastened a jade pendant hanging from his waist to show her.
“Good sister, the moment I saw you, my heart started thumping like crazy! It must be destiny that we met here.
“Just show me some love and let me have a taste of your sweetness. Tomorrow, I’ll personally carry you down the mountain on my back. What do you say?”
Lust-addled and muddled, Zhou Dalang didn't stop to wonder why a woman would appear out of thin air in this deep, primeval forest.
He only thought about having his way with her as soon as possible. As for those promises he had just made?
How could they possibly be true? They were nothing but lies to coax her.
If she didn't agree, he would simply take her by force. This place was secluded, after all; no one would hear her cries for help.
The woman hesitated for a moment, her pearly teeth lightly biting her lip. She seemed to consider it for a while before blushing and nodding shyly.
“You look so brave and powerful, sir. I felt a flutter of joy when I saw you too. It’s just that... I’ve been afraid of blades since I was a child. With that large saber on your back, my heart—
“Thump, thump... it’s truly scaring me to death.”
The woman pulled open her collar, revealing a glimpse of her pale chest that made Zhou Dalang’s eyes bulge.
He didn't care about anything else now. He quickly unbuckled his official saber and tossed it aside, preparing to step forward.
The woman furrowed her brows again and said coquettishly:
“No~ I won't have it. That uniform of yours smells foul. If you want to touch me, take it off first.”
Without needing another word, Zhou Dalang stripped off his runner’s uniform entirely, leaving only his white undergarments. Rubbing his hands together, he leaned in.
“My darling, you’re making me so impatient. Come, let me feel those little feet...”
He reached under the woman’s skirt, but his hand found nothing. It was completely empty.
Just as he was filled with confusion, the woman reached out and hooked her arms around his neck. Two fingers slid slowly down from his eye sockets.
“Fool, fool. Once you’ve discarded your saber and stripped off your uniform, you’re nothing but a naked lamb.
“Though your vitality is severely depleted, you’re still better than nothing.”
The woman gave a sweet, honeyed laugh.
“This pair of large, round ‘jujubes’ is just right. The Mountain Lord will surely love them. Perhaps he will even reward me!”
Before Zhou Dalang could react, the world began to spin.
He felt as though he had shrunk, held in the palm of someone’s hand.
He saw the woman’s fair face transform into that of a soul-snatching demon. A long tongue probed into his brain through the eye socket, holding his corpse and sucking his brain matter in large gulps.
Oh.
It wasn't that he had shrunk.
His eyeballs had been gouged out. The perspective he was seeing had changed.
—This was the final thought Zhou Dalang had before he died.
...
Zhou Dalang had been gone for nearly an hour, and some of the runners began to notice something was wrong.
Two runners who were on good terms with Zhou Dalang and often went drinking with him were the first to go out and look for him.
Unexpectedly, those two also vanished without a trace.
With Zhang Long, who had gone out to hunt, still not back, panic began to spread around the campfire.
The wounded were especially terrified, fearing they would be abandoned.
“What should we do? Should we go look for them?”
“Could Constable Zhang have been taken by the tiger?!”
“Or did those few take advantage of our situation and abandon us to run away?”
The remaining eight men were barely holding it together, their eyes filled with suspicion as they looked at one another.
Just as the group was falling into chaos, a figure came stumbling out of the bushes to the west. It was Chunsheng, the hunter who had been carried off by the tiger during the day.
Everyone was stunned to see him still alive.
Before he could even explain, Chunsheng began to shout in a raspy voice:
“Run! Run! That tiger has become a demon! It has raised countless chang ghosts to clear the path and kill for it! If we stay in these mountains, none of us will survive!
“I played dead and managed to escape. I only just woke up by the stream and found you by following the firelight.
“That beast had its chang ghosts devour Zhou Dalang and the others. Then it took on Constable Zhang’s form to trick me, tearing a huge chunk of meat right off my leg!
“Run! Run! That beast hasn't had its fill! If we don't leave now, it’ll be too late! I know the way down the mountain, follow me!”
On Chunsheng’s leg, a large piece of flesh was indeed missing, looking as though it had been torn away by a wild beast. His face, neck, and forearms were covered in scratches from branches.
Everyone believed more than half of what he said immediately.
—Though Chunsheng was small in stature, he was famous for his skill in navigating these mountains. Otherwise, Zhang Long wouldn't have asked him to lead the way.
Moreover, hearing about ghosts and that Zhou Silang and the others had been eaten made them lose all composure. They began packing their things in a frantic rush to flee.
Suddenly, another familiar figure leapt out from the bushes to the east.
“Don't go! He’s the chang ghost raised by that tiger!”
Constable Zhang appeared from the thicket, his face flushed red.
“I was hunting when I found the tracks of a tiger nearby. I followed them and saw the beast lying wounded in the forest.
“That beast has eaten countless people. It was breathing out mists, and from its mouth, it spat out three chang ghosts!
“Chunsheng is one of them! The tiger is afraid of fire; it wants to lure you into the woods so the chang ghosts can strike! You must not believe him!”
Constable Zhang's hair and beard were soaked in blood. Under the flickering firelight, he looked increasingly fierce and terrifying.
To the west was the mountain hunter who claimed to have escaped the tiger's maw and knew the way down.
To the east was Constable Zhang, the man they had lived and worked with, known for his righteousness and courage.
Which one should they believe?
The group stood frozen in place, not daring to move an inch.
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