Free Web NovelChapter 124: Chapter 91: Successive Capture of Spirit Monsters
That day was supposed to be their last in the city.
So, Xu Lei took Mu Yao to a well-known local restaurant, planning to enjoy the regional cuisine one last time before they left.
Unexpectedly, they overheard a conversation from the diners at a nearby table.
One of them, a beautiful young woman dressed in fine clothes, mentioned that she didn’t have much of an appetite. She added that she didn’t want to go back to her husband’s hometown with him anymore.
She explained that every time she went back, she felt drained of energy, and for the past two days, even the skin on her face had felt irritated.
The young man, also in fine clothes, could only offer a placating smile and try to soothe the beautiful young woman, without promising they would stop going in the future.
He said that he was moved by her willingness to go back to his hometown with him, knowing she only did it out of consideration for him.
However, another couple at the table gestured toward the beautiful young woman who had been complaining.
They said she was just too pampered, unable to handle a few days in the countryside without having trouble adjusting to the new environment.
The beautiful young woman retorted indignantly that it wasn’t as if she had never been to the countryside before, but she had never felt like this on previous trips.
She suspected the village had poor sanitation or that something was wrong with the water.
At this, her husband’s expression soured. He looked embarrassed but offered no rebuttal, giving the impression that he had married into her family.
The beautiful young woman must have noticed her husband’s discomfort, because she then tried to smooth over her earlier bluntness.
She added that from what she’d gathered, the elderly in her husband’s village rarely lived long. In fact, the oldest person was only fifty, which she insisted must be due to a lack of hygiene.
She went on, adding that even the young people in the village looked much older than others their age!
In any case, she was trying to use these facts to prove her point—that her concerns were based on reason and evidence, and she wasn’t just trying to cause trouble.
When she mentioned the short lifespans of the elderly, her husband and the other couple were taken aback and listened more intently.
But when she claimed the young people looked older, they started to argue with her again.
They argued that since she had been pampered since childhood, how could she possibly understand the daily life of country folk?
They braved the elements day in and day out, toiling in the fields under a harsh sun. Of course they were going to look older than their peers!
The beautiful young woman grew angry, her face flushing red.
After all, while it was true she came from a wealthy family and had rarely done manual labor,
she didn’t consider herself pampered. She handled plenty of responsibilities, from managing family business affairs to cooking.
She had even traveled to the countryside on family business before.
"I believe the lady has a point."
Just then, Xu Lei interjected. "Hello, everyone. I’m a local myself.
Since fate has brought us together, I was wondering if we might join your table for a chat?"
And so, with that pretext, he smoothly joined their table to talk.
The group saw that both Xu Lei and Mu Yao were dressed in expensive clothes and carried themselves with a distinguished air.
Seeing as they were also accompanied by several guards and maids, the diners naturally showed them deference.
Before long, Xu Lei had learned the village’s location and some basic details about the situation there.
With Xu Lei’s support, the beautiful young woman finally felt vindicated.
"This gentleman is a reasonable man,"
she said. "I’m not just some pampered young lady!
My conclusions are based on logical deduction!
There must be something wrong with the living conditions in that village to cause the people to be this way."
The others at the table remained skeptical.
Of course, Xu Lei didn’t linger for long. Once he had the information he needed, he bade them farewell and departed.
As he left, Xu Lei generously paid for their meal as well.
"Living Buddha, why did you go out of your way to get close to those people and extract information from them?"
As they left the restaurant, Mu Yao whispered, "Is there something wrong with that village?"
"There might be."
Xu Lei said, "It’s either as the lady suggested—a problem with the village’s air, water, or general environment—or there’s a Demon at work!"
"A Demon?"
Mu Yao’s pupils constricted. "Are you saying a Demon has been secretly draining the villagers’ Essence Qi?"
Her expression quickly turned to one of excitement. "What kind of Demon do you think it is? Yaoyao has never seen a Demon before! What do they look like?"
"Amitabha Buddha."
Xu Lei replied, "We don’t know yet. We’ll have to go there and see for ourselves."
「A few hours later.」
Xu Lei and Mu Yao headed into the countryside, bringing with them two Human Puppets, along with several of Mu Yao’s guards and maids.
They arrived at the village they had heard about earlier.
This village wasn’t far from the one where Xu Lei had been born in this lifetime.
They had even passed his own home village on the way, but Xu Lei didn’t go in to see his family.
He merely lifted the carriage curtain for a single glance before continuing toward their destination.
Upon entering the village, they found it looked completely ordinary.
There appeared to be nothing out of the ordinary.
Villagers milled about, coming and going.
Some carried hoes, others had firewood on their backs, and still others balanced buckets of night soil or baskets of vegetables to sell on poles.
At the head of the village, a few idle elders were chatting or smoking long-stemmed pipes.
A few young men were up on ladders, mending rooftops.
But when they stopped a few young people to ask their age, they found that they indeed looked much older than they claimed to be.
"Living Buddha, if, as you say, a Demon is draining their Essence Qi and imperceptibly shortening their lifespans!"
Mu Yao said at that moment, "Then why did that visiting wife feel dizzy and nauseous when she was being drained, thinking she just couldn’t acclimate to the new place.
