The ox's cries were heartbreaking and urgent, echoing through the oppressive and silent village.
It seemed to be suffering from some kind of horrific torment.
It made one's scalp tingle with dread.
"It's over, the dry bone burial is here...no! The dry bone burial has already been set on fire..." Tiger's face changed dramatically.
"Don't panic, we'll know what it is when we go and take a look!"
Lu Fei took out the ghost-headed saber and handed it to Tiger.
Holding this familiar and imposing saber in his hand, Tiger immediately felt more confident.
"Let's go!"
The two of them moved quickly, running towards the direction from which the sound of the cow came, and arrived outside a household.
The courtyard gate was hanging open crookedly, as if it had been hit with great force.
The pitiful mooing of the cow filled the entire courtyard, but no lights were on in the house, and no one dared to come out to check.
"This is Aunt Cui's house. She only has one cow left!"
"Be careful."
Lu Fei and Hu Zi exchanged a glance, gripping their magical instruments, and cautiously walked through the open courtyard gate.
The yard was pitch black.
In the corner, there was a simple cattle shed.
A stench of blood spread out from it; a yellow cow lay on the ground, kicking its legs fiercely, its cries growing weaker with each moan.
Lu Fei gestured to Hu Zi.
Hu Zi nodded, holding his large ghost-head saber as he approached the cattle shed first, deliberately making noise by stomping his feet.
Lu Fei, using the cover of the night, quietly crept around from the side.
The small black dog obediently lay on the backpack, its two inky eyes fixed tightly on the struggling yellow cow, not making a sound.
The two of them, one in front and one behind, gradually approached the cattle shed.
The smell of blood became more intense.
Tiger stopped in his tracks and carefully took out his flashlight to shine it forward.
The straw was soaked with blood.
The yellow cow was covered in blood, with large gashes in its neck and belly, its limbs weakly extended. Its moans were almost inaudible, leaving only the sound of painful breathing.
Due to the extreme heat, the blood had already coagulated.
Tiger's heart clenched with anguish.
In the countryside, cattle are very important livestock, cherished by every household.
Aunt Cui had specially built a shed in the yard to protect this cow, but it still couldn't escape this fate.
He shone the flashlight further inside.
In the simple shed, there was only this dying yellow cow, nothing else.
"It ran away?"
Startled, Huzi quickly walked into the cowshed.
Lu Fei also rolled in from the side.
The yellow cow's intestines and organs were scattered all over the ground, its breathing grew weaker, its limbs trembling, with tears sliding down from the corners of its eyes.
"How pitiful!"
Huzi could not bear to see it, and fetched some dry straw to cover the yellow cow.
"There's blood!"
Lu Fei discovered bloodstains dripping behind the cowshed, trailing all the way outside the fence.
"Follow the trail!"
Without hesitation, the two jumped out of the cowshed, climbed over the fence, and followed the bloodstains forward.
The bloodstains were intermittent, passing through the village, and extending all the way to Uncle Lao Gen's house.
"Oh no!"
Both of them immediately felt a sense of dread.
At this moment, Uncle Lao Gen's house was pitch black, the lights had gone out again.
The gate was intact, but there were traces on the low wall that resembled something climbing over it; careful inspection revealed some small bloodstains.
"It's inside!"
Hu Zi, drenched in cold sweat, hurriedly climbed into the courtyard and shone his flashlight on the ground.
One could clearly see the tracks leading towards the house.
The door was open.
"This is bad! Uncle Lao Gen might..."
Hu Zi was in a state of extreme anxiety. Lu Fei, fearing he would act rashly, held his shoulder to make him stay behind, and carefully entered the house with a lightning-struck jujube wood stick in hand.
There was a faint smell of blood in the room.
The tables and chairs had been overturned, and there were many sharp claw marks on the walls and floor.
Following the claw marks, the two chased to the stairwell.
"Upstairs!"
Uncle Laogen's house had a small attic on the second floor, used for storing seldom-used odds and ends and firewood.
Climbing up the old wooden staircase, Lu Fei and Huzi followed one after the other, moving cautiously.
The attic was very low, with a sloping roof.
The lowest point was only half a meter high, and only the highest part allowed a person to stand upright.
Lu Fei climbed into the attic, crouching and turning his flashlight around.
Inside, it was a mess, with miscellaneous items and firewood mixed together.
"Uncle Lao Gen?"
Huzi, at Lu Fei's side, called out in a low voice.
Drip.
In response, a cold droplet of liquid fell from above.
Huzi reached out to touch it.
Blood!
Huzi's body jolted as he looked up.
Hanging from the roof beam was a small, dark figure, with its limbs wrapped around the beam and its head turned towards them.
The light was dim.
Huzi couldn't make out the monster's appearance, only seeing its sharp, almost reflective teeth and the blood dripping from the corners of its mouth.
"Boss, up there!"
As Hu Zi shouted in a trembling voice, his ghosthead saber fiercely slashed at the monster.
The monster moved quickly and retreated into the darkness with a swift movement, crawling quietly along the wall.
Having missed his target, Hu Zi shone his flashlight around the attic frantically.
Lu Fei and Hu Zi stood back to back to avoid being ambushed by the monster.
The small black dog poked its head out of the backpack, its black nose twitched, and it barked loudly in one direction.
Without even looking, Lu Fei swung his jujube wood stick forcefully in that direction.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning shot out.
Blue electric arcs flickered on the elongated black shadow, revealing an old and bizarre face intermittently.
"Grab it!"
The two of them crouched and quickly approached the corner.
The monster retreated in terror, breaking through the roof with its head. Amidst the flying tiles, it jumped straight down from the building and vanished into the night in the blink of an eye.
By the time they went downstairs to chase after it, it would surely be too late.
"If it really is a dry bone burial, it will definitely return to the grave. This thing is much easier to deal with during the day, there's no need to chase it! Let's find Uncle Lao Gen first."
Lu Fei waved his hand.
Huzi nodded and raised his voice, shouting, "Uncle Lao Gen? Are you still there, Uncle Lao Gen? It's Huzi! The monster has been driven away, it's safe now, come out quickly!"
He called out several times, and from the farthest corner, behind a pile of tattered cotton, came the weak voice of Uncle Lao Gen.
"Huzi..."
Huzi hurriedly crouched and ran over, pushing aside the cotton, and was immediately shocked.
Uncle Laogen was huddled in the corner, shivering with eyes full of terror, and there were several bloody scratches on his chest.
"Uncle! We'll take you down to get treated right away!"
Lu Fei and Hu Zi carried Uncle Laogen to the entrance of the attic, and then Hu Zi carried Uncle Laogen downstairs.
After descending the stairs, Hu Zi put Uncle Laogen on the bed.
"Hu Zi, there's a first-aid kit in the car."
"I'll get it!"
Hu Zi, holding the great sabre, ran out quickly.
Lu Fei helped Uncle Laogen take off his bloodstained clothes and rinsed the wounds with clean water.
Although the wounds were deep, fortunately, they did not cut through his belly.
Hu Zi soon returned with the first-aid kit, and Lu Fei deftly bandaged and applied medicine to Uncle Laogen's wounds.
Throughout the entire process, Uncle Laogen was shaking uncontrollably, his expression dazed, as if he had been frightened out of his wits.
"Uncle Laogen, it's okay. We've already chased away that monster," Lu Fei comforted him a few times before asking, "Uncle, did you see what the monster looked like?"
"I, I think..." Uncle Laogen's dry lips trembled, and his aged eyes were filled with great fear: "It seemed to be my old mother..."