Journey to the West 014

The deep autumn wind, swirling with withered yellow leaves, danced in a vortex at the entrance of Chen Family Village. Fang Zhiyi stood beneath the old locust tree, his over-two-meter-tall black bear form like an iron tower. A black gale, laced with a biting demonic force, made the earthen walls at the village entrance crumble and shed dust, even stirring the gravel on the ground.

"A d-demon! The demon is here!" By the threshing ground at the village entrance, a man sunning grain was the first to see the black whirlwind. The wooden rake in his hand clattered to the ground as he turned and ran for home, abandoning the grain he had been sunning all afternoon.

Chaos spread instantly. A woman rushed into her house clutching her son, completely ignoring her daughter who was left outside crying in terror. A white-haired old man, his legs giving way in fear, collapsed to the ground, unable to crawl, and could only wave his cane, trembling as he shouted "Help!" No one paid him any mind. A couple pushed and shoved each other to get through their doorway first.

In mere moments, the village entrance was deserted, save for the old man slumped on the ground and the child forgotten outside, weeping her heart out.

"You people are as... entertaining as ever," Fang Zhiyi laughed.

After a long while, perhaps unable to bear the pressure any longer, the village chief, leaning on his well-polished cane, emerged once more, trembling unsteadily. A fawning smile was plastered on his face, but his legs shook like a sieve. "G-grand demon sir, to what do we owe this great honor of your visit?" He seemed to suddenly remember something. "Could it be about the maiden offering? We have one prepared this year, it's just not quite the time yet. I'll go fetch her immediately!"

Fang Zhiyi looked at him. After a moment, he said, "I remember you. As the village chief, not only did you fail to protect the villagers, but to secure your own position, you had the villagers offer up their children to die, isn't that right?"

The chief began to tremble violently. "I, I, I didn't..."

"And if I'm not mistaken, the sacrifices were all unwanted baby girls, weren't they?"

The chief's entire body shook. His mind raced frantically, searching for a perfect excuse.

But before he could think of one, a massive paw slowly settled on top of his head. The chief didn't even have time to scream before Fang Zhiyi gave his neck a casual, effortless twist. A crisp crack sounded, his head rolled to the ground, and blood sprayed, staining the earth red.

The black gale surged again, spreading like a vast dark net to envelop the entire Chen Family Village. Fang Zhiyi did not enter the village but stood quietly at its entrance. The demonic power within the black wind continuously seeped into the village, coiling around every villager.

They feared the demon and were terrified by the chief's sudden, violent death, but... as night fell, an overwhelming drowsiness came over them. Even the threat of imminent death couldn't stop them from falling asleep.

The terrified villagers all had the same dream that night. In the dream, their selfishness and ignorance were laid completely bare. They also saw the black bear demon blocking the village entrance.

Like bystanders, they watched a figure identical to themselves push Chen A Cui out to the demon. The demon took Chen A Cui away, and they breathed a sigh of relief.

Some fought over wanting to seize Chen A Cui's family fields. The chief stepped in to divide them, satisfying everyone. As for that Old Blind Woman, she didn't dare utter a peep.

Spring passed and winter came. A Cui returned, but they were afraid of her, cursed her behind her back, and in the end... burned her to death.

They watched their other selves, faces full of excitement as they burned Chen A Cui.

Many woke with a start, their bodies drenched in cold sweat.

As dawn broke, Fang Zhiyi opened his eyes. The black wind gradually dissipated somewhat. He looked at the fish-belly white light rising in the east and muttered to himself, "The time is about right."

He took a step forward into the village. With the first step, the ground trembled slightly. With the second, a few leaves fell from the old locust tree at the entrance.

As the footsteps drew nearer, Chen Erzhu, who lived at the village entrance, braced himself tightly against his door. It was useless. Fang Zhiyi merely applied a little force, and the old wooden door was ripped clean off its hinges, splinters flying. Next door, Third Zhang collapsed in fright. Seeing Fang Zhiyi's exposed fangs, he was too terrified to speak.

By evening, half the villagers of Chen Family Village were dead, their blood staining the stone-paved paths red. Fang Zhiyi stopped and sat on a stone block in front of the village ancestral hall, his massive frame blocking the last rays of the setting sun.

The survivors hid in their homes, not daring to breathe loudly. Only when they saw the bear demon remained motionless did they dare whisper to each other across windows. In their exchanges, they discovered they had all had a dream, but the events in it held no place in their memories.

The familiar drowsiness washed over them once more.

That night, the villagers dreamed again. In the dream, they saw some familiar faces, and the content was just as cruel and horrifying.

A band of bandits raided the village, saying they were looking for a concubine for their leader. The villagers suddenly thought of Chen A Cui. A Cui had no parents and was of the right age. So, led by the chief, they coaxed and pressured her. Though reluctant, A Cui tearfully agreed to offer herself.

It was just that the Old Blind Woman was truly ungrateful, actually stepping forward to block the bandits as they left. The lead bandit killed her with an axe blow.

A Cui was taken away. They hastily buried the Old Blind Woman and immediately set about dividing up A Cui's house and land among themselves.

Dawn broke again. Fang Zhiyi stood up and brushed the dust from his body.

Chen Xiaohua's entire family was killed by him, along with all the other villagers who had appeared in the dream.

Having done this, Fang Zhiyi stopped again, seating himself on the large millstone. This sense of oppression was driving the surviving villagers to the brink of collapse.

They also realized something: the bear demon was killing people based on those who committed evil in the dreams! But, but those things never happened!

"I think this demon came because of Chen A Cui!" someone said. "We all had nightmares, and that jinx was in all of them! It must have been that jinx A Cui who attracted it!"

"Right! It's all Chen A Cui's fault!" another echoed. "If we just hand Chen A Cui over to the demon, he'll let us go, right?"

The others nodded in agreement. They were terrified, desperate to find a scapegoat to save their own skins.

What they didn't know was that A Cui and her grandmother were the only two people in the entire Chen Family Village who hadn't dreamed. A Cui had slept peacefully the night before, even dreaming that the vegetable seedlings she planted had grown taller, with her grandmother smiling and praising her beside her.

On the third night, another, even more bizarre dream unfolded. In the dream, an evil spirit infiltrated the village. Feeding on the villagers' malice, the spirit grew powerful. The villagers, their malice drawn out, became insane. A Cui became the spirit's target, and the villagers forcibly stripped her of flesh and blood.