Chapter 79: Chapter 62: Xuan Yu’s Contribution

Black Mountain Village, the scorching sun blazes.

Under the shade of a tree, Xuan Yu shakes off the ’Saintly Battle Robe’ and flicks his fur, licking his paws to wash his face.

The wind rustles the leaves, emitting a soft sound.

Xuan Yu pauses his face-washing, lifting his head to gaze at the thick and lush old pagoda tree beside him, a strange glimmer erupting from his emerald eyes.

“Cat! There’s a black cat here!”

A child’s voice echoes from outside the courtyard, prompting Xuan Yu to swiftly lower his body and flee.

He Shou’an hears his friend’s voice and runs to the entrance of the Liu Family Courtyard, now adorned with numerous red threads that barricade the gate, forbidding entry.

“Where’s the cat?”

The little boy beside him points towards the courtyard and shouts, “There was really a black cat just now, with a red string around its neck.”

He Shou’an notices the strange scattered pages and the paper lantern pierced with three holes, quickly pulling his friend back.

“Weird things have appeared again in the Liu Family Courtyard, let’s run.”

The two children turn and flee, while a black cat quietly leaps onto the courtyard wall, glancing at the old pagoda tree before vanishing into the shadow beneath the wall.

*

At the village entrance, in the village head’s house.

An old man with a scholarly air sits properly on the left side of the square table, gazing at Kou Yushan, He Baosheng, and Skinny in front of him.

The village head, Du Enfu, sighs, “Forget it, let’s not trouble ourselves this year. The incident ten days ago with Kongkong’er Mulan has just passed, Yan Daozi’s evil spirits are out of control, and many villagers have died. The Wheat Evil has only just been dealt with, the grain is still unharvested, where’s the time for a Nuo dance?”

Skinny and He Baosheng exchange glances, nudging Kou Yushan under the table.

Kou Yushan argues, “Precisely because there have been so many events this year, everyone has had a hard time, so we need to perform the Nuo dance at the Mid-Autumn Festival to liven things up, also to repel evil and to pray for blessings.”

He Baosheng hurriedly concurs, “Right, right! We should have a bit of festivity. Perhaps things will improve in the latter half of the year; last year we didn’t dance, and if we don’t dance again this year, the children will be disappointed.”

Skinny nods, emboldened to say, “Maybe it’s because we didn’t dance last year that this year has been so unfortunate.”

Kou Yushan kicks Skinny under the table, while Du Enfu lets out a melancholy sigh.

“Last year it was because there weren’t many families responding, and it was ultimately canceled. Truthfully, this Nuo dance was passed down by Witch Lady; after the Witch Temple was abolished, though the tradition of the Mid-Autumn Nuo dance continued in various regions including Shengjing, people’s hearts had already scattered, turning the Nuo dance into a merchant tactic to attract customers.”

“Twenty years ago, in our village, every household revered Witch Lady; before Mid-Autumn Festival, every house and courtyard was decorated, and children ran everywhere in Nuo costumes. But now look at it, it’s unrecognizably desolate. Among our old generation, few remain alive, and how many of your younger generation truly venerate Witch Lady?”

“Even given tenfold courage, you dare not worship Witch Lady again. Without sincerity, performing the Nuo dance becomes mere play. Now look at each household, everyone worships different ghost gods, with varying ceremonial rites; some don’t even want to perform the Nuo dance, fearing it would disturb the ghost gods they worship.”

“I’m old and have nothing left to fear. To say something outrageous, when the present Prime Minister abolished the Witch Temple, it was a sign of turmoil, a path to destruction. This Xuan Dynasty will eventually collapse because of it!”

Du Enfu forcefully taps the table, his emotions somewhat stirred.

Kou Yushan quickly peers outside, wary of eavesdroppers. Suddenly, he notices a green-eyed black cat standing outside the courtyard, locking eyes with him, and even nods human-like, as if saying, ’Come out, let me tell you something.’

Skinny turns curiously, but the black cat darts away in an instant.

Kou Yushan feels as if he’s seeing things; he’s only seen wildcats, but never a jet-black, small-sized cat like this before.

After reassuring the old village head, the three ultimately fail to persuade the old village head to lead everyone in performing the Nuo dance.

Don’t be fooled by the old village head being a scholar; he was once the head of the village’s Nuo dance troupe, and it must be him playing the role of Great Nuo and chanting the sacrificial words for the dance to be considered authentic.

Skinny, being in his early twenties, hasn’t witnessed it, but Kou Yushan and He Baosheng, both over forty, have experienced such grandeur. Back when the Witch Temple hadn’t been abolished, the Nuo dance of Black Mountain Village always attracted people from nearby villages to participate.

Tangyuan County once invited the village’s Nuo dance troupe to perform, from three days before Mid-Autumn Festival until nightfall on the day itself.

After leaving the village head’s house, Kou Yushan sends He Baosheng and Skinny home to rest.

Returning to his own courtyard across the street, Kou Yushan immediately spots the black cat sitting under the eaves in the shade, licking its paws.

Meow?

Xuan Yu lowers its paws after scrutinizing Kou Yushan for a while, confirming him as the person Sang Que mentioned, then raises its head to reveal the paper slip threaded on a red string around its neck.

Kou Yushan looks bewildered but still approaches, attempting to interact with Xuan Yu.

Discovering that Xuan Yu neither dodges nor flinches, allowing him to remove the paper slip, he is quite astonished, “This is indeed a cat with spirit.”

Kou Yushan sat on a nearby tree stump, opened the note, and trembled all over after reading it. He abruptly stood up.

“It’s Yu Niang… Mulan sent you?”

Xuan Yu meowed, nodded, thinking to himself, isn’t the name signed on the note?

Kou Yushan clenched his fists; no wonder he always felt something was off about Yan Daozi coming to Black Mountain Village, since the Evil Suppression Bureau, a place dealing with critical matters, wouldn’t possibly care about the life and death of a small mountain village like theirs.

How could they even dispatch someone specifically to guard the place?

Kou Yushan had originally thought it was because of Sang Que’s mother, whose special identity drew the Evil Suppression Bureau’s attention, and he had been cautious, not daring to expose anything.

Unexpectedly, Yan Daozi turned out to be a cultist, plotting to sacrifice the whole village to an Evil God.

Kou Yushan turned and looked for a knife, wishing to go and chop Yan Daozi to pieces right then and there.

Meow~

Xuan Yu felt Kou Yushan’s blood rush to his head with that impulse and meowed.

Kou Yushan was drenched in cold sweat, a chill running up his spine, and he took a breath to calm himself.

As ordinary villagers facing a Daoist who tames evil spirits, they absolutely had no power to resist, so they had to leave the vicinity of Black Mountain Village before nightfall tomorrow.

However, if so many people were to move together, they’d have to go to Tangyuan County, and since it was already afternoon, they couldn’t reach Tangyuan County before dark. Without shelter, spending the night outdoors was extremely dangerous.

It would be feasible to set off early the next morning, but if all of them left, it would certainly arouse Yan Daozi’s suspicion. He intended to sacrifice everyone and probably wouldn’t let them leave easily.

Kou Yushan pondered for a moment and thought of two solutions: one being to forge a document from the County Magistrate of Tangyuan County, using the pretext of a exorcism play to invite everyone to prepare in Tangyuan County.

There had been such incidents before, and the old village chief still had old official documents that could be imitated. Even in a rush, Yan Daozi might not dare to stop them.

The only concern was that some villagers, unaware of the truth, might refuse to go with them.

The second option was to kill Yan Daozi before the sacrifice began to disrupt the sacrificial ceremony.

It would be best to pursue both solutions in parallel, and now he needed to find Mulan to discuss it.

“Where’s Mulan?”

Kou Yushan asked Xuan Yu, knowing that last time, Sang Que had caused Yan Daozi significant loss, rendering his arm useless, and that killing Yan Daozi would be something only she could achieve.

Meow!

Xuan Yu got up and ran toward the Liu Family Courtyard, and Kou Yushan quickly followed.

Reaching outside the Liu Family Courtyard, Xuan Yu leapt over the wall, but Kou Yushan stopped outside.

Since Sang Que’s disappearance in this courtyard, Yan Daozi had sealed the entrance with a red string and affixed a talisman, prohibiting anyone from entering.

Meow?

Xuan Yu squatted inside the courtyard, puzzled, looking at Kou Yushan, who glanced around and climbed over the side wall.

Under the old pagoda tree, Xuan Yu raised a paw, pointing at the old tree.

Meow!

Kou Yushan frowned, watching Xuan Yu run over to the main house, push the wooden doors open with its head, and look around.

Xuan Yu backed up, squatted, jumped onto a table, raised its paw, and knocked a lamp off the table, looking up at Kou Yushan.

Meow?

Kou Yushan looked at the oil spilt all over the ground, then looked at the old pagoda tree beside him, “You mean, if I burn this tree, Mulan will appear?”

Xuan Yu, contemplating how to dramatize setting the tree on fire, was so moved by Kou Yushan’s words that it wanted to nuzzle him.

Remembering the idiot they encountered last time, Xuan Yu’s claws itched.

Kou Yushan stepped back a couple of steps, looking up at the full-branched old pagoda tree. In reality, he had been constantly thinking these days about what could have caused Sang Que’s disappearance in the Liu Family courtyard.

And Sang Que had mentioned to him that there was a third Liu, Liu Tianyou, who had also disappeared from the courtyard.

Thinking it over, the only unusual thing he could think of was this old pagoda tree, transplanted from the Witch Temple.

“To burn this tree, I need to guard against Yan Daozi coming to investigate — wait here a moment while I prepare.”

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