Madam Dian looked to be in her mid thirties, her long hair tied up in a bun. She boasted a rather slim figure, along with pale lips and eyes that were big and bright.
It was not difficult to guess that she had cried the night before, evident from how those bright eyes were slightly red and swollen.
As for the child whose hand she was holding, it was a little girl whose facial features bore a close resemblance to those of Madam Dian.
The little girl was holding a wooden duck with her other hand, hugging it close to her chest as though it were a precious treasure that she had to protect with her life.
“That’s Madam Dian and her daughter Xin’er,” the villager who brought Zhao Yunxiao here informed him before waving to Madam Dian. “Madam Dian! The great cultivator sir is here to speak to you!”
“Eh?” Madam Dian let out a look of surprise before hurrying over. “What may I do for you, great cultivator sir?”
“Don’t worry, I’m not here for any specific reason, just passing by so I thought I would check on you,” Zhao Yunxiao tried to ease her into it. “Are you feeling all right these days?”
“Me? Oh...” Madam Dian did not expect the question initially, but quickly understood why she was a person of interest. “What can I do? I still have to work hard to take care of Xin’er, so I don’t exactly have the luxury to keep on wallowing in grief.”
“You are a strong woman,” Zhao Yunxiao praised.
“Mama, who is this?” Xin’er pointed at Zhao Yunxiao and asked.
“Xin’er, don’t be rude!” Madam Dian hurriedly pulled in the little girl’s arm. “This is the great cultivator sir who is here to help the village!”
“Help the village?” Xin’er blinked her eyes repeatedly in confusion. “How is he going to help the village?”
“Well, there are some important things that are troubling the adults right now, so the great cultivator sir will be helping us to solve those problems,” Madam Dian answered vaguely.
“Then what about the important things troubling me? Can he help me solve those problems too?” Xin’er continued asking.
“What important things can you have troubling you? The great cultivator sir is busy, so don’t bother him with trivial matters,” Madam Dian chided.
“Okay...” Xin’er hung her head low in response.
“Haha, feel free to tell me your troubles, Xin’er,” Zhao Yunxiao stepped forward and squatted down in front of her. “What is it that you need help with? If I can help you with it, I will try to do so.”
“Really?” Xin’er asked after retreating to hide behind Madam Dian’s legs.
“No promises, but I will try my best,” Zhao Yunxiao nodded.
“Then, can you tell Papa that I miss him? And that I want him to come back and visit every week?” Xin’er asked hesitantly.
“This...” Zhao Yunxiao looked up towards Madam Dian.
He did say that he would try to help, but how could he ever get a dead person to return every week?
Then again, they did not know if those who had been taken by the monkey demon were truly dead, so there really might be a chance.
A slim chance, that is...
Madam Dian let out an awkward smile before responding to Xin’er. “Didn’t I tell you that Papa has gone somewhere very far away to work so that he can provide us with a better life? It is going to be very tiring for him to come back every week. Do you want Papa to be tired?”
“No...” Xin’er hung her head low again. “Okay, I won’t ask Papa to come back every week anymore. I will be a good girl and wait patiently for his return.”
“You are such a good girl,” Zhao Yunxiao patted Xin’er on the head. “Don’t worry, I will at least let your Papa know that you miss him.”
“Really?” Xin’er’s face lit up once more before handing over the wooden duck in her hand. “Thank you, big brother, both for helping me and the village. I will give this to you as a reward!”
“Xin’er! Don’t be rude!” Madam Dian quickly tried to stop her. “Why would the great cultivator sir want your toy as a rewa-”
“No, this is good,” Zhao Yunxiao interjected before carefully receiving the wooden duck from the little girl. “Thank you, Xin’er. I will definitely try my best to help out everyone, all so that I can live up to your reward.”
“Okay!” Xin’er beamed widely in response.
“All right, Xin’er, come with me,” the villager who brought Zhao Yunxiao here said. “Your mama has something to talk to the great cultivator sir about.”
Xin’er followed the villager away while Madam Dian did not even bat an eye. It would appear that they were all well acquainted.
“Thank you for playing along with the kid, I apologise for her rudeness,” Madam Dian said gratefully. “Is there anything else that you need from me, great cultivator sir?”
Even though Zhao Yunxiao had said earlier that he was not here for any specific reason, the fact that the villager was bringing Xin’er away to buy them time for a conversation proved otherwise.
“This might not be the best time to ask, but I’m wondering if you would be able to provide some information about the demon?” Zhao Yunxiao said frankly. “If it is too hard on you, that’s fine as well. I can always find the information elsewhere.”
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“No, I’m all right,” Madam Dian shook her head. “I might not know much, but if what little information I do know can help by even the slightest bit, then that’s good enough for me. That way, at least I can take pride in knowing that I have helped to prevent someone else from ending up like me.”
“Mm,” Zhao Yunxiao nodded in a sombre manner. “In that case, do tell me everything you know about this demon.”
“Definitely. Three weeks ago was when I saw the demon for both the first and last time,” Madam Dian said. “My husband and I were at the river when it swooped down from the trees to grab him without warning...”
Madam Dian started to recount exactly what happened back then.
Both of them had been part of the fishing team, and had gone to the river along with a group of other villagers.
But as many as they were, numbers alone proved insufficient to scare off the monkey demon that came straight for her husband.
There was absolutely nothing that her husband could do to resist.
Despite the guard team’s attempts to stop it, the monkey demon simply shrugged off their blades and arrows as though they were mere toys.
After it made its way back into the trees, it even stopped to shoot a glare towards them with an arm clasped tightly around Madam Dian’s husband’s neck, almost as though it was taunting them and their meaningless struggles.
The entire process had been over in the blink of an eye, but Madam Dian vividly remembered every single detail as though it had happened just a moment ago.
Still, she managed to fight back the tears welling up in her eyes in order to continue describing the details of the demon, wanting to provide Zhao Yunxiao with whatever information she had.
Through her actions, she was truly showing her earlier determination to help prevent there from being another victim like her.
However, their conversation only filled Zhao Yunxiao with more questions.
Why did the monkey demon only grab one person out of the entire fishing and guard team when it was clearly capable of more?
How did it choose its target? Or was it completely random?
There was still much more to find out about this monkey demon’s behavioural patterns if they wanted to come up with an effective countermeasure against it!
After speaking to Madam Dian, Zhao Yunxiao did not have a particular person in mind, so he simply went around making casual conversations with the villagers.
The villagers were as respectful as ever, many offering him multiple gifts like food and accessories, but Zhao Yunxiao politely declined them all.
It felt good to be treated like an idol, but he definitely did not feel good accepting gifts from these poor villagers when he had yet to do anything to help them out.
On top of that, all these gifts were useless to him anyway.
In the end, the only thing that he accepted was the wooden duck toy from Xin’er, though it was really more for the sake of making the poor girl feel better.
When he turned a corner, Zhao Yunxiao’s attention was caught by a familiar voice that instantly stood out from the others.
“This is our fate! It is karma! It is inevitable! We are all going to die!”
These words were in huge contrast to the optimistic conversations that everyone had been exchanging ever since the Mystic Cavalry arrived, and it was not the first time that Zhao Yunxiao had heard them either.
Zhao Yunxiao turned his attention to the source of these negative words – an old lady with slightly dishevelled hair who was sitting on a bamboo chair by the side of the path.
She was there yesterday when they first arrived at the village as well, speaking the exact same words while facing the sky.
Madam Xie, was it?
He still remembered what the other villagers said back then.
Apparently, she had witnessed her son and daughter-in-law die to wild beasts decades ago, and that trauma had been exacerbated upon hearing of the recent demon problem.
Just like Madam Dian, she was someone who had been left behind by her loved ones.
Perhaps Madam Dian was still fortunate that she could find a mental support in her daughter Xin’er.
As for this Madam Xie, she lost both her son and daughter-in-law at the same time, so it was unclear if she even had any relatives remaining in this world.
Zhao Yunxiao let out a helpless sigh before walking over to her.
“How are you feeling, Madam Xie?” Zhao Yunxiao asked in a gentle tone.
Madam Xie turned her unfocused eyes over towards Zhao Yunxiao before continuing to speak, “This is karma. This is inevitable...”
“Hmm? What is this?” Zhao Yunxiao spotted a small rattle toy in her hands.
Madam Xie fell silent as she turned her attention to the rattle toy as well.
“We are a poor village, great cultivator sir,” another villager came up to them and explained. “This kind of toy is all that we can afford, so almost everyone had something like that when we were young. This one is probably her son’s, which would explain why she is holding onto it as a memento.”
“Is that it, Madam Xie?” Zhao Yunxiao asked.
However, Madam Xie remained silent while staring at the rattle toy, her eyes glazing over as though she had been reminded of the distant past.
Zhao Yunxiao let out another helpless sigh upon seeing this.
He could only imagine how difficult it was for those who had been left behind by their loved ones.
Perhaps they were the real victims of any tragedy, forced to live on while being tortured daily by the memories of those who were gone.
“Isn’t it uncomfortable to be constantly out here in the sun? Why don’t I help you back to your house for a short rest?” Zhao Yunxiao suggested.
It took a few moments before Madam Xie finally responded with a slight nod.
“How can we bother you with something like that, great cultivator sir?” the villager beside him hurriedly said. “I can bring Madam Xie back instead.”
“Don’t worry about it and leave this to me. This doesn’t take much effort anyway,” Zhao Yunxiao shook his head with a smile before helping the elderly Madam Xie stand up from her bamboo chair. “Which way is your home, Madam Xie?”
“This...” the villager was hesitant, but was unable to say anything further since Zhao Yunxiao had already insisted.
Madam Xie pointed in one direction and started walking.
Zhao Yunxiao followed her lead, supporting her by the arm as they slowly made their way back to Madam Xie’s residence.
The villager had a deep frown on his face as he simply stood there and silently watched Zhao Yunxiao slowly leave with Madam Xie.
“Will that be all right?” another villager walked up to ask him after Zhao Yunxiao and Madam Xie had left. “Will Madam Xie say anything to the great cultivator sir?”
“It should be fine,” the first villager answered solemnly. “The current Madam Xie is no longer capable of words, so there is no way that she can tell the great cultivator sir anything. We just have to make sure we don’t slip up ourselves.”
“You’re right,” the second villager agreed after thinking for a moment. “We have already searched and cleaned out her house anyway. Since Madam Xie can’t speak, there shouldn’t be any way for the great cultivator sir to find out...”