Baby Serendipity: The Whole World Fell In Love With Me-Chapter 674 - 673: The Daoist Master Agrees to Exorcise the Demon
Chapter 674: Chapter 673: The Daoist Master Agrees to Exorcise the Demon
In the Mountain River Sheji Map, there was a very natural Little World.
Time flowed much faster here than outside.
Mianmian became the smallest baby in a village.
She grew up drinking her mother’s milk, gradually becoming a freewheeling little toddler of 3 years old, able to run and jump.
The little toddler played in the mountains and rivers every day with children her own age from the village, not at all like the other quiet and well-behaved girls.
But while playing, the adults in the village stopped letting the children go out.
"I heard that in the next village, a child who played at the foot of Back Mountain for just a while was taken by a Fox Demon, heart and all."
"Oh, heavens, why would God allow such a thing? We ordinary folks toil in our fields just to feed ourselves, why must we suffer these Demons coming down to eat people?"
"Have you sought help from a Daoist Master? The master of Bi Xian Temple is very good at capturing Demons. Please, have him come to exorcise our village."
The adults discussed fervently as Mianmian stood on a chair, peeping through a window to eavesdrop on their conversation.
The houses in the village were humble thatched mud homes belonging to farming families. Every day they faced the loess and turned their backs to the sky in labor, hoping for a good harvest so that after paying the crop tax, there would be enough left to fill their bellies.
Such poor families could not afford to hire a Daoist Master from the temple on their own.
The Daoist Masters also needed money to be persuaded to help.
The village chief banged the gong and declared, "Here’s what we’ll do, we combine efforts with the other villages, each household will contribute some silver. This is for our own good. If the Demon continues its rampage, none of our mountain villages will have peace."
As soon as the village chief made his suggestion, everyone agreed.
The usual meeting place for village affairs was right next to Mianmian’s home, so she heard another terrifying tale.
In another village, a Tiger Demon appeared, demanding to eat three children a day. At first, the villagers offered children, with three children to last a year.
Later, the Tiger Demon’s appetite grew, and three children would only last half a year.
No one was willing to sacrifice their children so frequently. What difference did it make from killing them themselves, leaving no descendants? They tried to flee, but the Tiger Demon started killing people directly.
There was no escape, and no one came to their aid.
In desperation, the youths of the village decided to fight the Tiger Demon, arming themselves with farming tools to confront the beast.
But how could they fight? Against even an ordinary tiger, the villagers already had their hands full, let alone a Demon that could scale walls and leap over roofs! Ordinary folk were no match for the Tiger Demon; it slaughtered the entire village.
This Tiger Demon, having overeaten, moved on to another village.
As luck would have it, this village was closer to Bi Xian Temple and was swiftly dealt with by the Daoist Masters there. To this day, the Demon’s body is displayed at the temple, a caution for travelers who come and go.
A Tiger Demon true to its name, it was twice the size of a regular tiger even in death.
Every visiting pilgrim was frightened by the sight of the Demon’s corpse, praying devoutly that such monsters would never come near their own homes.
When Little Mianmian heard that the Tiger Demon could flatten a child’s head with one swipe of its hand, she touched her own head, ran to her mother, and clung to her waist, "Mother, Demons are so scary, Mianmian doesn’t want to see Demons, doesn’t want her head to become flat."
The young woman sewing, dressed in coarse clothes, smiled gently, "It’s alright. The villagers are discussing how to deal with the Demon. It’s just a matter of raising some silver. Don’t be scared, Little Mianmian, everything will be fine."
Comforted by her mother, Little Mianmian felt her fear slowly dissipate.
She obediently stayed at home, waiting for the problem to be resolved.
There was a distance between the three villages, and it required messengers to keep each other informed.
Once the money was raised, the able-bodied men from the village joined those from other villages and set out for Bi Xian Temple. The journey took them three days.
Three days later, when people returned with news that the Daoist Master had agreed to exorcise the Demon, the oppressive atmosphere in the village lifted.
Everyone was relieved and happy, feeling confident that the exorcism would be a success, and they no longer confined their children inside. They allowed them to play freely around the village, just keeping them away from the mountain.
Mianmian too went out. She wore a red dress that her mother made to cheer her up, tying her hair in little buns, and joyfully resumed her roughhousing with the older children.
One evening, while they were being wild, a villager brought in half-good news.
Why only half-good? The Daoist Master had intervened to catch the Fox Demon, encountered it as well, but failed to capture it, though the Demon was severely injured and fled.
No matter what, an injured Fox Demon was good news!
"The Daoist Masters said that since the Fox Demon is hurt, we don’t need to be too afraid. Just go on about our daily affairs as usual."
With this, it was as though a ban had been lifted.
The children could continue to be wild, and the adults no longer had to worry incessantly.
Mianmian could play hide-and-seek with her friends again, a game at which she excelled, especially with her tree-climbing ability. She quickly scaled the Big Tree, hiding exceptionally well.
When she found a good hiding spot, she quietly peeked through the leaves, watching the seeking child walk around below.
The children’s play area was vast, and as the seeking child approached Mianmian’s hiding spot and failed to find her, he thought about leaving.
But Mianmian saw a man with strange circles painted on his body coming down from the mountain.
This man saw the seeking child and without a word, grabbed him. With his other hand, he reached for the child’s heart and brutally extracted it.
Mianmian witnessed this bloody scene for the first time, and the victim was one of her playmates.
Her eyes wide open, she trembled all over, too frightened to make any sound.
The heart-stealing man placed the heart in a wooden box and left without lingering.
With tears blurring her vision, Mianmian numbly climbed down from the tree, not daring to look at Ermao’s corpse, and dashed back home.
At home, her mother, Jiang Yao, was washing clothes.
Mianmian walked into the house in a daze and lay down on the small bed, uttering not a word.
Jiang Yao noticed something was off with her child and, wiping her hands, came into the room to softly inquire, "Little Mian Bao, what’s wrong?"
Mianmian looked at her mother wanting to speak, but could only utter "ah ah ah" sounds.
Jiang Yao was terrified, and taking Mianmian in her arms, she stepped outside to call for Mianmian’s father to come home.
Mianmian’s father did come home, but the village was already in turmoil!
An adult had found Ermao’s body, causing an uproar among the villagers.
Ermao’s family was wailing and crying terribly.
Everyone cursed the Fox Demon, gripping their own children tightly, anxious about how to live through the days to come.
Mianmian clung to her mother’s neck, her large eyes full of panic.
Could that have been the work of a Fox Demon? Why didn’t it look like one?
