Night shrouded the quiet little mountain village.
The wild grass was withered, the vegetable fields dried up, and the few large trees swayed with their remaining yellow leaves, barely clinging to life.
Lu Fei and Hus stepped on the cracked earth, walking into the village.
Usually, when strangers enter the village, there would be barking dogs.
But at this moment, the village was eerily quiet, with no dogs barking, not even the chirping of insects or the singing of birds.
It was deathly still.
Dry and stifling.
Usually, the mountainous areas, because of their abundance of vegetation, are cooler and more humid than other places.
But the air here seemed to have been sucked dry, devoid of any moisture.
After just a few steps, Lu Fei felt parched.
Even the small black dog held in Hu Zi's arms was panting, sticking out its little black tongue from the heat.
Lu Fei opened a bottle of water, taking a few gulps before he felt a bit better.
Staying here for the whole night, who knows how much water would be needed; fortunately, they had bought several large boxes of mineral water and placed them in the car before setting out.
"The village has been in drought for over two months, and even that old well that's been here for decades has dried up. Now, the villagers have to go outside to fetch water, which is very frustrating."
Hu Zi sighed, his face clouded with worry.
This drought is indeed abnormal. Usually, it takes about a year of drought for the groundwater to dry up.
"Those dogs were eaten by the droughtbone?" Lu Fei wiped his sweat as he walked and asked.
"Definitely! They died in a terrible way. Their bellies were torn open, their insides ripped apart, and much of their organs and flesh were eaten..." Hu Zi couldn't bear to say more.
"The first to die was the dog at Old Gen's house, followed by the chickens and ducks, and then even Old Gen's wife disappeared."
"At that time, the village didn't know about the droughtbone, and they thought the village had been raided by thieves. Old Gen's wife had gone back to her parents' home, and since she wasn't around, no one thought too much of it."
"Now, everyone says that Old Gen's wife must have... also been eaten."
Hu Zi looked around, fear evident in his eyes.
"This does fit the characteristics of the droughtbone! The droughtbone usually starts by eating its own livestock, then its family members!" Lu Fei said solemnly, "After it finishes off all the living things in its own home, it moves on to other households in the village."
"But Uncle Old Gen is still alive, and the livestock of other families in the village have also suffered. Also, what's with the fever in the village?" Hu Zi's eyes widened, a series of questions spilling out.
"Don't worry, we're here to figure these things out." Lu Fei patted his shoulder, he took a deep breath and calmed his anxious mood.
The two of them went to Hu Zi's house first.
The small courtyard was tidied up very neatly, firewood and farming tools were arranged in order. Behind the house, there was a vegetable garden and a chicken coop, and some flowers were planted in front of the house.
Unfortunately, they had all withered.
There wasn't a single chicken in the coop, only feathers and some dried bloodstains scattered on the ground.
"These chickens and ducks were my mother's pride and joy. She worked so hard every day feeding them, and now they're all gone! That damned old Daoist must be a fraud!" Hu Zi shouted angrily, his eyes filled with sorrow.
"Taking money is one thing, but harming so many people in our village is another!"
"From what you've told me, he might not necessarily be a fraud." Lu Fei shone a flashlight around for a while and found some claw marks on the walls and floor of the chicken coop.
"If he's not a fraud, why did things go wrong in the village after performing the dry bone burial?" Hu Zi gritted his teeth.
"Maybe besides the dry bone burial, there's something else." Lu Fei waved his hand, "Come, let's go to your Uncle Gen's place and take a look."
The dry bone burial was the result of Old Gen's mother's body mutating, which means that their family is the source of this disaster, so we definitely need to go and ask for clarity.
Huzi immediately led Lu Fei there.
The village is not large, and the houses are close to each other.
It only took a few steps to get there.
There were no lights on at Old Gen's house, and Huzi knocked on the door for quite a while without anyone coming out.
"Something must have gone wrong?"
Huzi's heart tightened, and without further hesitation, he lifted his foot to kick open the courtyard door, but Lu Fei held him back.
"Don't be rash! A drought burial is almost as fierce as a zombie. We need to sneak in and try to capture it without alarming it."
"Okay."
Huzi swallowed nervously.
The two of them tiptoed over the wall and headed towards the slightly ajar door.
They pushed open the door.
Huzi first peered inside, then cautiously stepped in.
After taking just a couple of steps.
A figure silently emerged from behind the door, wielding a hoe, and struck at Huzi viciously.
This scene was just seen by Lu Fei, who was behind.
"Huzi, be careful!"
Sensing something amiss, Huzi nimbly dodged with a twist of his body, then kicked back at the shadow with a swift kick.
"Ouch!"
The hoe clattered to the ground, and the shadow crashed heavily into the wall, letting out a cry of pain.
Huzi hurriedly shone the flashlight over, seeing an old face contorted in pain.
"Uncle Laogen!"
Huzi was extremely surprised and quickly went forward to check on the other person's condition.
"Uncle Laogen, are you okay? Why didn't you make a sound and hide behind the door?"
Uncle Laogen clutched his chest, staring at Huzi in shock: "Huzi?! I heard a noise at the door late at night, I thought it was that thing..."
"Oh, this is a misunderstanding. We saw no lights in your house and thought something had happened to you..." It was a false alarm. Huzi scratched his head and helped Uncle Laogen up.
"Uncle, are you alright?"
"How about I give you a kick to test it? Hurry, go get me some medicated oil!"
Lu Fei found the switch on the wall and turned on the light.
A dim yellow glow illuminated the room.
Lu Fei looked at the side of the house, where there was a posthumous photo of an old lady on display.
"Who is he?"
"Uncle Lao Gen, this is my boss! He heard that something happened in our village and came specifically to help." Hu Zi helped Uncle Lao Gen sit down, introduced him briefly, and hurried off to find some medicinal oil.
"Uncle Lao Gen, hello, my name is Lu Fei." Lu Fei smiled and nodded at Uncle Lao Gen.
Uncle Lao Gen had a scruffy beard, was in his fifties or sixties, with dry and dark skin, and deep worry lines on his forehead, making him look very troubled.
"Such a young boss?!"
He looked at Lu Fei with surprise and suspicion.
"I heard that Hu Zi made a fortune in the city, I thought it would be some big boss... What kind of business are you in?"
"Antique business."
"No wonder you can make big money."
Uncle Lao Gen showed a look of relief, but then he frowned and shook his head.
"Huzi, really! At a time like this in the village, what's the point of bringing the boss here? Do you want to make things even more chaotic?"
As he spoke.
Huzi came running back with the medicine oil.
Uncle Lao Gen opened his shirt, revealing a slightly red footprint on his sunken chest. Huzi's kick was no light one; it was lucky that his ribs weren't broken.
He frowned and applied the medicine oil to the swollen area.
Huzi felt very embarrassed.
"Huzi, how are your parents?" Uncle Lao Gen looked at him.
"They still have a fever."
"Then why aren't you at the hospital watching over them? Why did you run back to the village? Running around outside at night like that, and even bringing your boss... You're not thinking about your own safety?"
Uncle Laogen looked at Huzi obliquely.
"Uncle Laogen, there's no need to hide this from my boss! He already knows. He's not an ordinary person; he came here to save our village!" Huzi said, waving his hand.
"Him?" Uncle Laogen's eyes widened.