Journey to the End of the Night-Chapter 1247 - 816: Beiliao Town (Part 2)

But Baili An heard the tired snorts from beneath him, from his exhausted horse, and decided to first find an inn, where he could place the horse in a comfortable stable and feed it some fodder.

He himself also took a refreshing hot bath, changed into clean clothes, then went downstairs and ordered some food.

Eating his first dinner in the Mortal World, Baili An placed a silver ingot on the table, signaling the waiter to take it.

Indeed, the originally weary waiter, who couldn’t muster any energy, suddenly had his eyes lit up and swiftly picked up the silver ingot.

His face was filled with smiles as he said, "From the moment the young master entered the door, I noticed the extraordinary nature of the young master. So young yet able to tame such a fierce horse to be obedient. I imagine the young master’s riding skills are exceptional. I admire, I admire.

Is the young master inquiring about someone or something? I promise to speak freely and fully."

Arriving for the first time, Baili An looked up at the suddenly energetic waiter and felt a great admiration in his heart.

He thought this person was an expert at communicating so easily and smoothly even with strangers.

He gave a slight cough, somewhat nervously said, "That... um... I am Baili Ming’an, styled Cang Feng. It’s my first time visiting this esteemed place, and there are many things I’m unclear about. I hope the waiter can enlighten me."

This time it was the waiter’s turn to be a bit stunned, because it was the first time he’d seen someone reward with silver coin, and then speak so politely without putting on the airs of a lord.

But this made the waiter even more fond of this youth, so he responded with a smile, "What questions does the young master have? Feel free to ask."

Baili An grew up in the sect, and often received sarcasm and ridicule in secret from the disciples within the sect. Even facing his father, he mostly received a cold face, and seldom would anyone speak to him so kindly.

Of course, at this time, Baili An still didn’t know that the waiter’s kindness largely came from the silver ingot he had given.

"Well, when I first entered Beiliao Town, why did I see everyone with a sad expression, yet there is no white cloth hanging anywhere, indicating nothing heartbreaking has occurred?

Why is everyone in the town so depressed, even you, waiter... a moment ago you were listless, has something happened in the town?"

The smile on the waiter’s face twitched, as if recalling some sad event, his forced smile fell away, and he sighed for quite a while.

"This matter is a long story. Would the young master mind if I sat down and explained in detail?"

Baili An quickly nodded and moved the chair beside the table for him.

After sitting down, the waiter, very naturally, poured himself a cup of tea, gulping it down as if to swallow up the malicious resentment in his chest.

His face was full of indignation as he said, "The young master doesn’t know, our town has been troubled by an Evil Spirit recently..."

Baili An was startled and asked, "An Evil Spirit? How did this come about?"

He couldn’t help but be curious because he was a cultivator and could sense demon energy, ghost qi, and even evil energy.

But since entering the town, he hasn’t noticed anything unusual.

The waiter sighed and said, "Just a month ago, the wives in various households of our town started mysteriously disappearing.

Baili An’s eyes deepened: "Please, continue, waiter."

"Initially, it was the daughter-in-law of Wu the pig seller who disappeared at night, and at that time, we didn’t take it seriously. After all, Wu’s daughter-in-law was notoriously flirtatious... ahem."

This waiter was obviously a talkative person, once he started talking, it was hard to stop.

When he mentioned the word ’flirtatious’, he suddenly realized that sitting next to him was still a child; it seemed somewhat inappropriate.

But Baili An’s face remained calm, as if those words meant nothing, and he calmly said, "And then? Has Wu’s daughter-in-law returned?"

What a pure child.

Looking into those clear eyes, the waiter smiled awkwardly and continued, "Wu’s daughter-in-law has always been flirtatious and promiscuous, frequently seducing men.

Unfortunately, her husband has a weak character and doesn’t even dare to kill pigs.

It’s said to pass on from father to son, but he seems to idle away all day, shirking his duties altogether, leaving the pig killing work to his wife.

Regarding his wife’s little scandal, he tolerates it and never mentions it. Initially, when his wife Wang Chunhua disappeared, we didn’t pay much mind, assuming it was her usual affair, off to another town for some days, and she would return.

Who could have known, she never appeared again. Now, all the pigs of the Wu family are strong yet without anyone to slaughter them, and the elderly Wu can’t do such labor-intensive work anymore. He has the will, but not the strength."

Uh... how did talking about the Evil Spirit turn to pig slaughtering, Baili An coughed slightly and asked, "And then? Has Wu’s wife never returned?"

"Indeed not, it’s been two months and she’s yet to return. The Wu family then realized something was amiss and then told everyone.

That’s how we learned that within these two months, besides his daughter-in-law, there have been frequent disappearances of married women from other families."

Baili An frowned, "So, it seems a case of missing persons, but why are only married women disappearing, how can you be certain this is caused by an Evil Spirit?"

"Yes, initially, everyone thought we had filthy traffickers coming to our town, so we reported it.

But on closer thought, something felt off, like why would these damned traffickers only kidnap married women?

There are so many maidens in town, yet none of them are missing, all untouched."

Saying this, the waiter’s tone suddenly dropped, "Until one night, the foolish scholar from the Zhang family awakened to relieve himself and witnessed an astonishing scene."

Baili An unconsciously leaned in and lowered his voice to ask, "What did he see?"

The waiter had fear in his eyes, mixed with a hint of anger, trembling as he said, "That night, Zhang saw a towering, powerful creature with a human body and pig’s head silently entering his home. He was so frightened he hid in the toilet all night, not daring to return to his room. That very night, his wife also disappeared."

Baili An pondered and said, "You’re saying... it’s a pig demon causing trouble?"

The waiter nodded, "Yes, the next day Zhang told everyone in town what he saw with his own eyes. The pig demon wasn’t cautious about its abductions.

Upon hearing this, many people claimed to have seen the pig demon, and then things spiraled out of control.

The pig demon, aware that its identity was exposed, became increasingly reckless, coming out to harm people even during the day.

Though it doesn’t kill, it forcibly abducts married women.

Over two months, our town’s widows, whether longtime married women or newlywed young ladies, have been taken away without return... not even..."

At this point, the seven-foot-tall waiter had tears rolling in his eyes, "Not even my own newly married wife was spared by the pig demon."

Baili An saw him deeply saddened, and comforted him attentively.

No wonder, no wonder everyone in this town seemed so downhearted, and aside from young girls, there truly was a scarcity of adult female town residents.

Nonetheless, the pig demon’s behavior is truly distorted, indiscriminately abducting any married woman.

Whether it’s an elderly woman of seventy or eighty, or a young lady newly wed, this disparity is substantial.

Baili An came to a conclusion that the pig demon was exceptionally ravenous.

"That pig demon is truly vile!" exclaimed Baili An in indignation.

The waiter clenched his fist, "Indeed! It’s already atrocious to abduct women, but even those who have just given birth and are still in postpartum confinement have been taken.

So many infants in town are left without milk, forced to drink goat’s milk, cow’s milk, and for the slightly poorer families, even dog milk, it’s truly tragic and lamentable!" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Baili An’s expression shifted, "I recall beyond the hill outside our town, moving three hundred miles further, you’ll arrive at Bai Tuo Mountain, where there’s an Immortal Sect. Why haven’t you sought their help?"

The waiter, discouraged, said, "We have thought of that, but the pig demon is too cunning, knowing its identity was exposed, it placed a curse on each townsperson.

As soon as we attempt to leave Beiliao Town, we suffer from splitting headaches, nausea, dizziness, unable to venture far."