Coming out of Xiao Zhang and Mei Ling's shabby house filled with despair, I felt as heavy as if I were filled with lead. The rapid deterioration of their mental state, especially Xiao Zhang's auditory hallucinations and extreme panic, was like a mirror, reflecting the future I might also face. Once the seeds of fear are planted, they will only grow and spread wildly until they completely devour a person's sanity.

  I can't just sit there and wait, I have to do something.

  Although I was filled with fear and dread of the skinny and weird old man, my mind told me that he was still the only breakthrough. He mentioned "night wandering ghosts" and "white snake grandmother", so. maybe he also knew some clues about other abnormal phenomena? For example. the cold childlike laughter that Xiao Zhang heard? Or the motionless black shadow outside the window?

  Moreover, I had a vague feeling that the conversation with the old man yesterday did not seem to be completely over. His extreme warning about the "water source in the back mountain" and his description of the "White Snake Grandma" full of ancient awe seemed to have only revealed the tip of the iceberg. Deep in his turbid and empty eyes, there must be more unknown secrets hidden.

  Maybe. looking for him again and asking him in a different way can pry open his tightly shut mouth?

  This thought, with an almost masochistic obsession, once again led me to the dilapidated ancestral hall in the center of the village.

  On the road, the thick fog still permeated the dead silence, like an invisible net covering everything. The broken walls and ruins were twisted and deformed in the fog, like sleeping monsters. I held the trekking pole tightly and vigilantly paid attention to every corner around me, my heart beating heavily in my chest.

  This time I didn't stay too long in front of the ancestral hall. The stone wall covered with evil carvings still exuded an unsettling atmosphere, as if those twisted symbols were silently whispering curses. I walked around to the corner behind the ancestral hall where the old man sharpened his knife yesterday.

  The grindstone was still there, with some dark brown stains that looked like rust or. dried blood. But the old man was no longer there.

  Where did he go?

  My eyes turned to the shabby house with the wooden door tightly closed not far away. Could he have hidden in there again?

  I hesitated whether to knock on the door. His cold rejection yesterday was still fresh in my mind.

  Just as I was hesitating, an extremely subtle sound, like a dry cough or a sigh, suddenly came from the direction of the main entrance of the ancestral hall.

  My nerves were instantly tense!

  I moved quietly, hid behind a half-collapsed low wall, and carefully poked my head out.

  I saw the skinny and hunchbacked old man appear in front of the tightly closed vermilion door of the ancestral hall.

  He didn't stand like he did yesterday, but knelt on the ground covered with mud and rubble with his back to me!

  His body was almost curled up into a ball, his forehead deeply pressed against the cold ground, his gray hair scattered like a bunch of dry grass. He put his hands together and raised them above his head, maintaining an extremely pious and humble posture, as if he was performing some ancient and heavy confession or prayer.

  His body was trembling slightly, and he was mumbling in a very low voice. The voice was too soft and the thick fog blocked my hearing. But the fear, despair and a hint of. pleading in his voice were clearly conveyed to me, like a cold needle piercing my heart.

  The scene in front of me was strange and filled with an inexplicable sadness. What was this old man who was guarding this cursed village afraid of? And to whom was he praying and what was he praying?

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  I held my breath, not daring to make any sound, for fear of disturbing him. I just hid behind the low wall and watched silently.

  The old man knelt for a long time, so long that my legs began to feel numb. His murmuring finally stopped, leaving only a slight tremor in his body.

  He slowly and with great difficulty propped himself up and stood up again. His movements were stiff and slow, like an old mummy.

  He did not leave immediately but turned around, his cloudy eyes once again falling on the stone wall covered with evil marks. He stared at the twisted symbols with a hollow and complicated look, as if he was looking at a piece of history that he could not bear to look back on, or as if he was staring at his own inescapable fate.

  Seeing him so distraught, I felt something in my heart. Maybe. at this moment, his defenses would be loosened?

  I took a deep breath, walked out from behind the low wall and approached slowly.

  "Uncle." I called softly again.

  The old man's body trembled slightly when he heard the voice, and he slowly turned his head. When he saw that it was me, a very complicated emotion flashed in his cloudy eyes, with surprise, vigilance, and even. a hint of boredom and impatience?

  ".You.haven't.left.yet?" His voice was hoarse and dry, revealing a strong sense of fatigue.

  "I.we can't leave." I said bitterly, "Last night.we encountered a very bad thing. My friends.they can't hold on any longer."

  I briefly described what happened to Xiao Zhang and Mei Ling last night, especially the cold laughter of the child that Xiao Zhang heard and the dark shadow outside the window. I stared at the old man's eyes, hoping to see some reaction from him.

  After listening to my description, the old man's expression still didn't change much, but his eyes seemed even emptier. He was silent for a while before he spoke slowly in that difficult tone:

  “…Shouldn’t…come…”

  ". now that I'm. here, I can't. leave."

  Such despairing words again.

  "Master!" I said in a pleading tone, "You must know something! Please tell me! What are those laughs. that black shadow.?"

  The old man raised his cloudy eyes and looked at me deeply. His expression was so complicated that I couldn't understand it. After a long time, he seemed to have made up his mind. His lips moved slightly and he uttered a few words that frightened me:

  "…fox…raccoon…spirit…"

  Vixen?!

  My pupils suddenly contracted! Another thing that only exists in ancient Chinese legends!

  "You mean. fox fairy?" I asked uncertainly.

  The old man nodded slowly, and seemed to shake his head, as if he was also confused and fearful about how to call that "thing".

  ".There are.foxes.in the mountains." His voice was intermittent, like a candle in the wind, ".it's been.a long time."

  "…it…becomes…a spirit…"

  ".like.charming.people."

  His description was simple and vague, but it painted an extremely dangerous picture.

  "Charming?" I asked. "Charming in what way?"

  The old man glanced at me with his cloudy eyes, and then. glanced meaningfully in the direction of Xiao Zhang and Meiling.

  "…Change…in…appearance…"

  ".boy.baby.girl.baby."

  ". can all. change."

  "…only…looking…for…young…people…"

  "…especially…those…from…outside…"

  ". a. lively. mind."

  His words were like a bolt of cold lightning that instantly struck me!

  Changing appearance? Looking for young people? Active people? Outsiders?

  This. This is exactly what Xiao Zhang and Meiling are talking about! Especially Xiao Zhang! He is young, impulsive, and curious, and he completely meets the conditions for being seduced!

  "Then. then what will happen after it deceives people?" My voice trembled involuntarily.

  The old man did not answer directly. He just pointed at his chest with his skinny chicken claw-like fingers, and then made a. pulling motion.

  “…absorb…essence…”

  ".The person.is.wasted."

  "…become…stupid…become…crazy…"

  ".finally.die."

  Just a few simple words describe an extremely horrific process! Not only physical death, but also mental destruction and devouring!

  I thought of Xiao Zhang's restless and near-collapse state, and his auditory hallucinations. Could it be. Could it be that he has been targeted by that "fox spirit"?! Or even. has he begun to be affected?!

  A bone-chilling chill rushed from the soles of my feet straight to my head!

  "Then. the dark shadow outside the window last night. and the cold laughter." I asked anxiously, "was it also responsible?"

  The old man nodded slowly, and seemed to shake his head, with a trace of deep fear and confusion in his cloudy eyes.

  ".or.maybe"

  ".or.maybe.not."

  ".This.village."

  ".dirty.things."

  “…Too…much…”

  His words plunged me into a deeper fog. Not only the white snake, not only the fox fairy, but also. "night wandering spirits"? And more unknown "unclean things"? What kind of horror nest is this village?!

  I wanted to ask something else, but the old man seemed to have lost interest in conversation and waved his hand. He walked slowly towards his dilapidated house with a hunched body and heavy steps.

  This time, he didn't even look back at me.

  The wooden door creaked open again and closed with a clang, locking all the secrets and terrors back into the suffocating darkness.

  I stood there in a daze, my mind a mess.

  The fox spirit. changes its appearance. absorbs the essence. becomes stupid and crazy.

  These words, full of Chinese horror, are like cold hammers constantly hitting my nerves.