Chapter 55 People from the Qian Family?

The woman's shout was shrill and drawn out in a bizarre, unnatural tone, making the hair stand up on the arms of everyone present!

Zhao Dong instinctively raised his muzzle-loader again. "Something's not right with her! I'm afraid she's been possessed by some unclean spirit!"

Zhang Yang held him back. "Even so, she's still a human being!"

Gao Wen had sharp eyes. "Why do I feel like this girl looks a bit familiar?"

Prompted by his remark, the others couldn't help but look closely at the girl's face.

As they stared, they too began to feel that... she really did look familiar!

"Doesn't she look a bit like Qian Weiguo?" Zhao Dong exclaimed.

Zhang Yang suddenly remembered as well.

Qian Weiguo indeed had two sons and two daughters. When Zhang Yan married into the Wang family previously, Zhang Yang had attended the wedding procession and seen them.

Both daughters looked quite a bit like him!

The eldest daughter, Qian Xiumei, was already married, had a child, and was broad-shouldered and as robust as a man.

The younger daughter, Qian Xiuwen, had been unmarried at the time, delicate, introverted, and rather quiet.

However, in Zhang Yang's memory, the last time he had seen Qian Weiguo's younger daughter was more than two years ago.

He hadn't paid much attention to her appearance back then, and now, in the pitch-black darkness, he wasn't entirely certain whether the girl before him was truly Qian Xiuwen.

Still, he decided to test the waters and called out twice, "Xiuwen? Qian Xiuwen?"

The girl, who had just been staring fixedly only at Zhao Dong, suddenly turned her head to lock her gaze on Zhang Yang.

The muscles in her face twitched violently; she looked as though she wanted to cry and laugh at the same time, yet was desperately trying to suppress it.

Then, adopting that same shrill, thin voice once more, she asked, "Take a look at me... do I look like a human?"

The piercing theatrical intonation sounded exceptionally eerie in the empty, silent depths of the mountain.

Gao Wu wanted to tell her to shut up and opened his mouth, "There's no such thing as looking like—"

Before he could finish, Gao Wen clamped a hand firmly over his mouth.

Gao Wen hissed, "I'm afraid she's been bewitched by a yellow weasel! She's asking this on behalf of that creature!"

The villagers had all heard legends of the yellow fairy to varying degrees.

Rumor had it that these yellow weasels hid in the mountains to cultivate for many years, only venturing out to undergo their heavenly tribulation when they were on the verge of attaining the Dao and becoming immortals.

How did they undergo this tribulation?

They merely needed to find a fated passerby and ask a single question: "Do I look like a human?"

If the passerby answered that it looked like a human, the creature's wish would be granted, and it would attain a place among the immortals.

If the passerby answered that it did not, all its previous efforts would be wasted, and its spiritual cultivation would scatter completely!

Therefore, this question was extremely fatal and could not be answered casually!

Gao Wen whispered, "I've heard that if a passerby simply says it looks like a human, even though the yellow weasel gets its wish, the passerby's good fortune will be sucked away by it, and their remaining years will never know peace!"

"But if you say it doesn't, preventing the yellow weasel from attaining immortality, it won't let the passerby off easily either. It will go to great lengths to take revenge, and the passerby's household will still be thrown into perpetual turmoil!"

Hearing this, Gao Wu felt as though his head had swelled to twice its size!

"It won't work either way... How are we supposed to answer then? Does running into this thing mean we're doomed?"

Fearing they would only frighten themselves more, Zhang Yang forced a bright smile. "What yellow weasels? This girl is probably just having a nightmare, sleepwalking, or suffering from a hysterical fit."

"But we really did see a yellow weasel in the mountain the other day! And didn't its leg get hit..." Zhao Dong bit his tongue right as he said it, yelping in pain.

Zhang Yang shot him a withering glare.

Why was his mouth so fast?!

Fortunately, he hadn't blurted out that one of their own team members had stabbed the yellow weasel.

The bizarre and uncanny situation before them demanded caution: better to believe it existed than to dismiss it entirely.

Although they hadn't seen the actual yellow weasel with their own eyes, certain folk phenomena truly defied scientific explanation.

Not daring to lower his guard, Zhang Yang glared at the men, signaling them to stop talking nonsense in front of this unhinged girl.

He then turned his attention back to Qian Xiuwen.

"Do you remember your name? Where is your home? Let me take you back first. It's too freezing in the mountains; if you catch a chill, you'll be in big trouble."

Qian Xiuwen suddenly struck a coy pose, covering her mouth as she let out a weird, cackling laugh.

"My home is right here in the mountains, and I have three older brothers at home..."

It was bad enough that she spoke in that high-pitched, thin voice, but this laughter sounded even stranger!

It was simply not a sound a human being could produce!

The members of the mountain-patrolling team huddled closely together, unsure whether to advance or retreat.

Yet Zhang Yang acted as though he felt nothing at all. Far from being afraid, he stepped closer and pulled her cotton-padded jacket tighter around her.

"Your name is Qian Xiuwen, and you are the daughter of the Qian family in Wulipu. You only have two older brothers, don't remember it wrong."

He said it with complete solemnity, but Qian Xiuwen suddenly flew into a rage, thrusting out both hands to claw at his face!

"You're talking nonsense, I am not Qian Xiuwen!"

Gao Wen hurriedly grabbed Gao Wu to help, each of them catching one of the girl's hands and pulling them back.

With Qian Xiuwen temporarily restrained, Gao Wu took a hemp rope out of his back basket and tied her securely to a tree.

Zhang Yang picked up the padded jacket that had been shaken to the ground and draped it over Qian Xiuwen once more.

Zhao Dong asked, "Yangzi, what should we do now? This person is clearly out of her mind; no matter what you say to her, she won't listen! Should we go notify the people in Wulipu to come get her?"

Zhang Yang frowned.

He was rapidly pondering how to handle the situation.

If they simply sent her directly to Wulipu, it was highly likely that instead of receiving a single word of thanks, they would be slandered. The Qian family might accuse the Zhangjia Tun villagers of harboring malicious intentions and using underhanded tricks to lure an unmarried maiden from the Qian family deep into the mountains...

Once that happened, the matter would only grow more complicated, and they wouldn't even be able to clear their names!

Moreover, Qian Xiuwen was raving and violent; taking her straight to the village health clinic was inappropriate either.

Bringing her to the Zhang family home was even less possible.

She was now entangled with a yellow weasel—who knew what subsequent disasters might follow?

Zhang Yang had no choice but to dispatch Zhao Dong again. "Dongzi, you and the others head down the mountain first and fetch the team captain!"

Zhao Dong was stunned. "If I go knock on the captain's door at this hour, won't he curse me to death?"

Zhang Yang replied, "Then I'll go find the captain, and you stay here to watch Qian Xiuwen!"

Zhao Dong looked on the verge of tears. "Th-then I'll go!"

Zhang Yang instructed, "Just tell him straight that it's a matter of life and death! We have no way to resolve this and need him to come make the decision!"

"Fine..."

Zhao Dong cast another look at Qian Xiuwen.

Her face was twisted in a horrifying smile; she looked nothing like someone about to die!

Yet her frail frame wasn't faking it—she was trembling like a sieve, clearly unable to withstand the freezing cold...

If they delayed any longer, she really might freeze to death in these mountains!

"Hah! I'm going right now!" Zhao Dong spun around and bolted, taking the three temporary team members down the mountain ahead of them.

After they left, Zhang Yang steadied his nerves and called Qian Xiuwen's name several times again.

Qian Xiuwen bared her teeth and struggled unceasingly. "I told you! I am your Third Aunt Huang! I am no Qian Xiuwen!"

Frowning, Zhang Yang pressed on, "What on earth do you want by possessing Qian Xiuwen?"

This time, the answer coming from Qian Xiuwen's mouth finally shifted.