Moonlit Reunion

Three days had passed, and Wu Zhen still hadn't found the slightest trace of her cousin Pei. It was as if he had vanished from the face of the earth—no clues remained beneath the cliff or along the nearby official roads. Given the time that had elapsed since the incident, many potential leads had already disappeared. With no leads to follow and various tracking methods proving ineffective, the situation had reached an impasse.

However, Wu Zhen didn't seem particularly concerned. After all, as the saying goes, "The good die young, while the wicked live long." Her cousin Pei didn't strike her as someone who would die so easily. Before leaving, she had given him a small gift—one that could turn him into a mouse, a state that would last for at least a few months. So, it was entirely possible he was hiding in some mouse hole somewhere.

Wu Zhen had witnessed his hiding skills firsthand. If he didn't want to be found, she doubted she could locate him easily.

In contrast, Mei Zhuyu appeared far more anxious. Observing this, Wu Zhen pondered for two days before bringing it up one night as they prepared to sleep.

"Husband, are you keeping something from me?" she asked bluntly.

Mei Zhuyu looked at her, his mouth bitter from the prenatal medicine he had just taken before bed. He remained silent.

Wu Zhen knew him well—when he didn't want to talk, he would clam up, refusing to utter a word no matter how she teased him. If their bodies hadn't been swapped, she might have tried seducing him, but now, using his own body to tempt himself? That was out of the question.

"Ah, so you really won't tell me?" Wu Zhen pressed, unwilling to give up.

Mei Zhuyu finally spoke, though he still avoided answering directly. "We need to leave this place as soon as possible."

Seeing that she wouldn't get a straight answer, Wu Zhen didn't relent. Her curiosity was insatiable, and if Mei Zhuyu wouldn't talk, she would probe herself. "Last time, at the mountain stream beneath the cliff, did you sense something?"

"Do you know what it was?"

"I rarely see you so serious. I'm guessing—do you recognize it? Is it a demon or something? An enemy of yours?"

Though Mei Zhuyu didn't respond, his expression said it all. Wu Zhen raised her hands in understanding. "Alright, I get it."

Mei Zhuyu sighed and pulled her hands down. "Sleep. If we still can't find him tomorrow, we'll try other methods. We'll find him."

Wu Zhen wasn't tired. She was used to going out at night, and while she could usually sleep when exhausted, she wasn't now. Still, glancing at the belly of her current body, she restrained herself from disturbing her husband's rest and lay there, idly pondering.

It wasn't until midnight that drowsiness finally crept in. Just as she was about to drift off, she felt the person beside her sit bolt upright without a sound.

Wu Zhen snapped awake. She was about to ask what was wrong when she, too, sensed something amiss. Reaching out to grab her husband's hand, she met his halfway, their fingers intertwining as they both rose, alert and scanning the room.This was an inn within the city. Though not located in a particularly bustling area, the nights here were usually filled with the sounds of barking dogs and night watchmen's calls. But now, the surroundings were eerily silent—so quiet it felt unnatural, as if even the wind had vanished.

Not only was it silent, but it was also unusually dark. Wu Zhen's gaze shifted toward the window, where moonlight should have cast its glow. Before sleeping, she had stared at that very spot for quite some time. But now, the moonlight was gone, everything submerged in darkness—a darkness deeper than the night itself.

Mei Zhuyu's expression was cold as he tilted his head slightly, listening intently to something. Wu Zhen noticed his demeanor and was surprised. Such coldness, with a gaze that seemed laced with disgust—she had never seen him like this before.

Had something he despised arrived?

Tap, tap, tap —the sound echoed outside their door. It didn’t sound like human footsteps but rather like the hoofbeats of some animal. Not the heavy, dull thuds of Niu Yi or Niu Er, but something lighter, more agile.

Wu Zhen could feel the oppressive presence of the thing as it drew closer. She even caught a faint whiff of decay in the air.

A shadow appeared outside their door, and the tapping abruptly stopped. Wu Zhen watched as two scaly hooves passed through the locked wooden door, followed by a pair of mottled antlers... The creature emerged from the door as if stepping through a vortex. After the hooves and antlers, the front half of its body appeared.

But this half of its body, now visible to them, was far from normal—unlike the hooves and antlers, it was something one could hardly bear to look at. A rotting mass, with bones exposed beneath the decay.

It was hideous.

Only a small portion of its body had entered, while the rest remained outside. Wu Zhen glimpsed the enormous shadow lurking beyond, realizing the creature’s full form was bloated and disproportionate to its light, agile steps.

Silently, two flickering points of light glowed beneath the rotting flesh and bone, fixed on Wu Zhen—or rather, on Mei Zhuyu’s body that Wu Zhen now inhabited.

"I found you," it said, its voice muffled, as if speaking from beneath the earth.

The gaze of those two glowing points—likely its eyes—sent a chill down Wu Zhen’s spine. For the first time, she felt sheer terror from nothing more than a creature’s stare. But she suppressed it, her eyes flashing briefly before she suddenly leaned forward, intending to shield Mei Zhuyu.

The creature moved almost simultaneously. It was incredibly fast, appearing at the bedside in an instant.

Yet Mei Zhuyu was faster. Anticipating both their actions, he stopped Wu Zhen with one hand, pushing her behind him, while his other hand formed a seal and struck at the creature’s throat beneath its antlers.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Wu Zhen, unprepared for Mei Zhuyu’s sudden movement, was flung onto the bed. She watched as he drove his hand into the creature’s "throat" and tore violently, sending rotting flesh and blood splattering before her eyes.

But the creature showed no sign of injury. Instead, it abruptly opened a pitch-black void and swallowed Mei Zhuyu whole.

Wu Zhen’s pupils constricted. Pushing herself up, she swiftly reached out to grab him—but grasped only air as a spray of blood and flesh slapped against her face.

After devouring Mei Zhuyu, the creature vanished quickly, its form fading into nothingness.Wu Zhen heard it still speaking to her in that same genderless, muffled voice: "Young man surnamed Mei, you know what to exchange for this person. I'll be waiting for you at the place where you first killed me to make the trade."

Watching it vanish before her eyes, Wu Zhen couldn't help but curse aloud.

This thing truly had no eyes. 'Young man surnamed Mei'? The one surnamed Mei had already been kidnapped by it—what remained here was the wife of that young man surnamed Mei.

Wu Zhen had no idea what expression to wear in the face of this sudden development. It seemed this thing wanted her to exchange something for the person, but only her husband would know what that something was. She knew absolutely nothing—what could she possibly exchange? Even if she were willing to trade without knowing what to give, where would she even go to make the exchange?

Wu Zhen grabbed a blanket to wipe the blood from her hands, thinking how much better her own body would have been in this situation. Had it been her original form, she definitely could have moved faster than that thing—she wouldn't have just let it disappear like that.

But there was no use dwelling on it—the person had already been taken.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Wu Zhen massaged her temples as she considered what to do next.

Should she track down this thing's lair and storm in directly? Or seek help from others? Or perhaps... quickly find Cousin Pei and have him switch her and her husband back immediately?

Wu Zhen decided on the last option. No matter what, she'd feel more at ease being the one who was 'kidnapped.'

Abandoning her previous calm demeanor, Wu Zhen scowled darkly as she frantically directed a swarm of summoned minor demons. "Search everywhere! Not just this city—look further afield. I refuse to believe we can't find a single Pei Ji Ya!"

Wu Zhen personally joined the search as well, but before she could locate the person she sought, someone else found her first.

A young man in Daoist robes followed a paper bird to Wu Zhen's location. Smiling at her, he bowed respectfully and said, "Junior Uncle, I've finally found you."

Wu Zhen: Who is this?

The young Daoist had delicate, almost girlish features but carried himself with remarkable composure. When his 'Junior Uncle' remained silent, he patiently explained, "Our Grandmaster said you would face a trial soon and sent me to find you. He requests your return to the mountain to see him."

Wu Zhen: Ah, another case of mistaken identity.

The young Daoist didn't seem perturbed by Wu Zhen's silence—in fact, he appeared quite accustomed to it. With a relieved smile, he continued, "I was worried that my delay on the road might have caused you some trouble. Seeing you safe and well puts my mind at ease. Junior Uncle, shall we return to the mountain together now? The Grandmaster is already waiting for you."

Wu Zhen studied him carefully, still uncertain of his identity, then suddenly asked, "Has Shuangjiang returned to the temple?"

The young Daoist seemed puzzled by her sudden question about Daoist Shuangjiang but answered dutifully, "Senior Brother Shuangjiang has been away for a long time and hasn't returned. He was supposed to come back after his recent trip to Chang'an, but he encountered some trouble along the way and changed his route. He still hasn't returned."

Hearing this delicate-looking young Daoist refer to Shuangjiang as 'Senior Brother,' and remembering how Daoist Shuangjiang called her husband 'Junior Uncle Guyu,' Wu Zhen tentatively asked, "Xiaoxue?"

The young Daoist replied, "Junior Brother Xiaoxue is still on the mountain."

Ah, now she knew his name.Wu Zhen: "Li Dong." Judging by the name, you must indeed be a fellow disciple of Changxi Temple.

The young Taoist smiled as expected. "What instructions do you have, Junior Uncle?"

Wu Zhen suddenly reached out and draped an arm over the young Taoist Li Dong's shoulder. With a grin, she met his stunned gaze and said frankly, "Actually, I'm not your Junior Uncle."

"To be honest, I'm your Junior Uncle's wife."

Young Taoist Li Dong had yet to recover from the shock of seeing his Junior Uncle smile. Upon hearing this, he trembled and, after a long pause, sighed in amazement. "I never thought that after descending the mountain, Junior Uncle would even learn to joke. As Master said, the mortal world below truly has a way of changing people."