Chapter Eleven: Giggling

Master Chen... what did you see?

What could have caused such an expression on his face? Feeling helpless, I swallowed hard with a gulp.

“Master... Master Chen?” I wanted to say something, but my whole body was trembling so violently that I couldn’t bring the words out.

Noticing Master Chen’s temples slightly trembling, I slowly turned my head and looked behind me.

The moment I turned, I was stunned.

My entire body felt like I was in a sauna, drenched in sweat.

Because behind us lay a yellow weasel, roughly the size of a wolf, its fur sleek and shining, positioned about three or four meters away from me, its eyes glowing a greenish hue.

The faint moonlight cast an eerie glow over its body, making it look even more uncanny.

Then, to my shock, the weasel, which had been crouching low on the ground, suddenly stood upright on two legs like a human. It tilted its head slightly, its gaze fixed intently on me.

Abruptly, the corners of its mouth slowly curled up into an extremely sinister smile.

It opened its mouth and let out a strange, eerie sound: “Glo... glo glo... glo... da!”

Hearing that noise, I felt my hair stand on end, my spine stiffen, and I nearly fainted.

Damn it! I cursed silently.

Has this weasel turned into some sort of spirit?

As a competent hunter, especially being from Inner Mongolia, I had at least heard stories about the yellow weasel, or the Yellow Spirit.

Back when I was four or five, villagers would warn me that the Yellow Spirit was dark magic personified—and if you wanted to catch one, you had to get the entire nest at once.

Otherwise...

The Yellow Spirit would cast spells.

For example, it could exchange its own life for another’s, tormenting people to death...

And now, this weasel was standing rigidly before me, upright like a human, and even speaking like one.

Though its words were strange and jarring, they still resembled vocal sounds.

Of course, what frightened me most wasn’t that the weasel spoke, but what we had just done.

The ice cellar trap we had set was a method used by hunters in the Northeast to catch yellow weasels.

Those six slanted holes might seem unremarkable now, but after a week or two when the weather turned cold, water would be slowly poured along the walls of the holes, and within an hour or two, the water would freeze, turning each hole into an ice chamber.

Then, a dead chicken or rabbit would be thrown inside, and when the weasel tried to eat, it would have to enter...

Once inside, it would be trapped, with no way out.

Eventually, it would become our clothing, our meal.

...

But now, this was terrifyingly strange!

This weasel suddenly appeared before us and behaved so oddly. My heart trembled as I wondered if it had seen us building the trap.

If it had realized we were trying to catch it, wouldn’t we be in big trouble?

As my legs shook uncontrollably, Master Chen’s deep voice slowly sounded: “Sanqi, don’t panic yet.”

Hearing him speak, for some reason, I felt my heart calm swiftly.

Yet my eyes remained fixed on the yellow weasel standing before me. The moonlight was dim, and I couldn’t see it clearly, so I just stared at its silhouette.

Unconsciously, I asked, “Master Chen, what... what should we do now?”

Master Chen quickly replied, “Sanqi, don’t panic. This weasel hasn’t noticed the trap. Take the wild chicken from the pot and offer it to him.”

Wild chicken?

I was puzzled. What did Master Chen mean?

While I was pondering, the weasel’s voice began again, its tone even stranger.

“Want... glo glo... glo! Want... glo...”

I even saw it take a few steps toward me.

“Sanqi! Don’t just stand there! Hurry up!” Master Chen muttered sharply.

I snapped out of my daze and stopped hesitating.

Without a word, I grabbed the pot and, trembling, approached the weasel.

I placed the pot filled with fresh wild chicken and mushrooms in front of it, then quickly stepped back.

After doing this, Master Chen and I stood one behind the other, silently watching the weasel.

The deep forest at night was extraordinarily quiet. Apart from the wind, there was nothing else.

If I had to say, the only sound was... my own heartbeat.

Thump, thump!

“Master Chen... what exactly is going on?” I exhaled deeply and asked the man beside me.

“Look. Don’t speak. You’ll understand soon enough,” Master Chen said coldly.

I pursed my lips and said nothing.

...

When I brought the pot of chicken over, the weasel first sniffed inside with its nose.

After about ten seconds, it opened its mouth and bit into the chicken.

Crunch, crunch!

The sound of chewing rang out. Watching the weasel eat with such relish, I swallowed hard.

A whole wild chicken! It finished it all in just a few minutes.

Yet even while eating, the weasel remained cautious, its green eyes locked tightly on us.

After finishing, it lapped up a few sips of broth, let out a satisfied burp, then wobbled off into the depths of the forest.

Master Chen and I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the ordeal was over.

But,

No sooner had we relaxed than the weasel suddenly returned from the deep woods, staring intently at us.

After a few seconds, it once again showed us that eerie smile — like a human.

Then it turned and quickly disappeared into the forest.

Silence fell once more.

Three minutes later, I collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath, drenched as if soaked in water.

“Master Chen... is this... the Yellow Spirit?” I sat panting, looking up at him.

With trembling fingers, Master Chen lit a cigarette and nodded gravely.

I glanced at him and saw his face was deathly pale, sweat pouring down like rain.

“Master Chen... are you alright?” I hurried to comfort him.

“I’m... fine!” he answered with a heavy drag on his cigarette.

“Master Chen, what’s really going on? That weasel just now...” I asked, puzzled.

Before I could finish, Master Chen interrupted swiftly and looked at me strangely.

“Sanqi, didn’t you feel... that the weasel just now... was very strange?”