A woman passing by overheard and complimented with a cheerful smile, “Washing clothes for the young master for a month is worth as much as doing embroidery for three months. Next time, young master, why not give me a chance too?”

George Foster said, “Go on, Aunt Harris, why are you meddling? Do you really think the young master lacks someone to wash his clothes? It’s just that the young master is kind-hearted and wants to help out a few struggling families in the village. Your Wang family isn’t struggling. If you take someone else’s job, you’ll make it impossible for Widow Du and several other villagers to survive. Let’s see if you’d still have the nerve then.”

“I was just saying, just saying.” Aunt Harris replied with an embarrassed laugh.

“Something’s wrong, something’s wrong! Widow Du, who was washing clothes by the river, has been taken by a shanxiao!”

At that moment, a young woman came running frantically into the village, exclaiming in alarm.

Chapter Three: Shanxiao Abducts a Person.

“What? Shanxiao?”

George Foster and Aunt Harris were instantly shocked, their faces immediately showing fear.

Ryan Thompson, who happened to hear the news, frowned, his expression turning grave.

He had lived in Guobei County for over a decade. Although he often heard his cheap master talk about all sorts of supernatural tales, he had never actually encountered any ghosts or monsters, which made him doubt whether he had really come to a world of Daoist arts and rampant demons like in Liaozhai. He hadn’t expected to be so lucky today as to hear of the existence of a shanxiao.

Shanxiao, as Ryan Thompson had learned from his cheap master, was an ape that had become a spirit in the mountains.

Because apes are naturally active and wild, once such a beast gains intelligence and becomes a spirit, it often commits all kinds of evil and brings harm to the area. Among the common folk, such a harmful spirit is called a shanxiao, and its status is equal to that of a graveyard demon.

No wonder the villagers’ faces changed drastically and filled with terror upon hearing news of a shanxiao.

The village woman, fleeing for her life, ran back into the village, not even caring about the clothes she had been washing by the river. At this moment, however, Ryan Thompson strode forward and stopped her.

“Shanxiao? What exactly happened? Tell me in detail.” Ryan Thompson asked calmly.

Perhaps Ryan Thompson’s composure calmed the woman. She caught her breath and, still shaken, said, “Y-Young master, just now I was washing clothes by the river with the other women from the village, when suddenly a monster with a face like a demon burst out of the woods by the river and snatched Widow Du away in one grab. That must have been a shanxiao, I’m sure of it. Over ten years ago, the Wang family’s daughter-in-law, who had just married into Lower River Village, was also taken by a shanxiao…”

At this point, the woman glanced at Aunt Harris beside her.

Aunt Harris’s face grew even more fearful, because the Wang family’s daughter-in-law who was taken more than ten years ago was her husband’s first wife. It was only because of that incident that she later married into the Wang family.

“I see…”

Ryan Thompson frowned. It seemed that the villagers had been terrified back then as well, and what they knew was very limited.

They probably didn’t even know for sure if it was a shanxiao.

“Such a serious matter as a shanxiao abducting someone—I can’t just ignore it. I’ll go to the river to check things out. George Foster, you go up the mountain and inform my master. Aunt Harris, you go tell the village chief and have him call everyone near the village back. Try not to let anyone go out. The shanxiao might still be lurking nearby and hasn’t gone far.”

Ryan Thompson gave his instructions, and at the same time, he shouldered his Tiger’s Maw Golden Spear and prepared to head to the river to investigate.

George Foster hurriedly said, “Young master, that’s a shanxiao! If you run into it, someone could get killed. Young master, you’d better not go.”

“It’s fine. Just do as I say. It’s just a beast that preys on women. If I run into it, I’ll kill it.”

Without another word, Ryan Thompson strode off.

He had practiced martial arts with his cheap master for so many years, and he himself deeply despised those evil spirits that harmed people. If he encountered one today, how could he let it go?

Even if it was a bit dangerous, so what? His master had said his martial arts lacked real experience, and if he went through some trials, he could definitely become a martial arts grandmaster. There’s no time like the present—today would be his trial.

Ryan Thompson, as the eldest son of the Li family, was the master of the village, and the villagers of Lower River Village were all tenant farmers of the Li family. His words were like orders, and these honest, simple villagers could only obey. Still, George Foster was worried that his young master might lose his life to the shanxiao, so after Ryan Thompson left, he immediately ran up the mountain toward the Daoist temple. In the eyes of these villagers, Ryan Thompson’s master, the Blind Daoist, was a figure of great spiritual power, surely able to handle this matter.

“Isn’t that the young master? Young master, don’t go! There’s a shanxiao by the river—it took Widow Du. You mustn’t go to the river now!”

On the way, another villager who had fled back saw Ryan Thompson, paused in surprise, and then hurriedly shouted.

But Ryan Thompson paid no attention and continued striding toward the river.

The villager, having given his warning, didn’t try to persuade him further and ran off in a panic.

“Young master, don’t go that way! I heard there’s a shanxiao out there—it could kill someone. Young master, stay away from there, hurry!”

Another villager, who had been working in the fields and seemed to have heard the news about the shanxiao, was also running back to the village in a panic. When he saw Ryan Thompson, he shouted urgently.

Ryan Thompson laughed and said, “If the shanxiao were really that fierce, it would have stormed into the village long ago. Why bother sneaking around to abduct people?”