The summer nights in Canglong Village were sweltering with heatwaves.
Erniu, a young villager who had come to the riverside to cool off, was hiding behind some reeds, straining his ears to listen.
Moonlight illuminated the opposite riverbank where a pair of fair, slender legs were swinging to and fro, accompanied by a woman's voice of complaint.
"You really know how to pick a place, you old lecher! Aren't you afraid of being seen by others?"
The woman speaking was Chen Yufeng, thirty-two this year and the owner of the village's small store.
Though she was getting on in years, her presence was none lesser than that of the younger girls in the village.
She had married into the village from the next town over a couple of years ago, always with eyebrows drawn and eyes painted, her peach blossom eyes sending shivers through the hearts of both old and young men in the village.
With an admirable figure, especially those peaks and valleys, and that fine, fair skin, she was dizzyingly attractive.
This woman often joked around with Erniu.
Erniu happily bantered with her since her words always carried a flirtatious undertone, and she enjoyed touching him now and then.
More than once, Erniu had thought about giving her a good seeing to.
But now, he could only watch on with covetous eyes as Chen Yufeng displayed her magnificent scenery amidst the reeds.
With such a delicious dish before him, Erniu was almost drooling profusely, wishing he could go at it himself…
But just as Chen Yufeng's voice fell, a rugged voice followed suit, making Erniu's eyes widen in an instant.
"Who would come here at this late hour? Besides, if someone sees, they see! Wouldn't a live performance be even more thrilling?"
Such a familiar voice! It was the village chief, Zeng Haifeng!
What was he doing here?
Could the two of them have also come for a bath?
Erniu stealthily submerged himself into the water to edge forward; when he surfaced again, he saw an even more shocking scene.
The village chief, at some point, had undressed, revealing a small knife that he had concealed inside, and was thrusting it as he held Chen Yufeng's head.
Chen Yufeng instinctively tried to resist, flailing her arms violently and emitting muffled cries for help.
Erniu, still in the water, was dumbstruck by what he saw, unaware that Zeng Haifeng was getting even more excited.
The villagers of Canglong Village all knew that though Zeng Haifeng was the village chief and a paternal figure above board, he was a tyrant in secret, and no one dared to cross him.
But that wasn't to say the rule was absolute.
Fools, for instance, wouldn't care about such conventions.
Zeng Haifeng thrust for a while, took a deep breath, and then pushed Chen Yufeng down to the ground, stripped off his shirt, and sneered as he threatened her.
"Get ready, you little strumpet! I'm going to finish you off tonight!"
"Murder! The village chief is murdering someone! Someone, help!"
Upon hearing Zeng Haifeng utter those words, Erniu didn't think twice; he immediately began yelling, grabbed the mud from the river, and flung it forward.
"Damn, what the hell is this crap?"
Zeng Haifeng was just about to get to the good part when he was startled by the commotion; his manhood instantly wilted, and he was plastered with the foul mud he'd been hit with.
Chen Yufeng, lying on the ground, did not escape the splatter.
The mud that hit her long legs slowly slid down, but she was too busy to clean it up, frantically scrambling to find her clothes, only to slip and fall back to the ground.
"Bloody hell! I got mud in my mouth!"
Erniu had intended to play the hero and rescue the damsel in distress, but upon hearing that Chen Yufeng was all right, he immediately stopped his assault and submerged to make his escape.
Zeng Haifeng frantically got up and grabbed a nearby rock, hurling it toward the figure disappearing in the water.
There was a loud splash, and the murky river water burst into a cloud of blood mist.
Chen Yufeng stood up, shone her phone's light on the scene, and upon seeing what had unfolded, her face turned as pale as death.
"Is… is the person dead?!"
Zeng Haifeng's arms hung by his sides as his eyes turned bloodshot; the anger in his heart dissipated, and he couldn't help but feel a sudden jolt of shock.
But the woman was right beside him, and he, as the head of the village, had no reason to be afraid.
"Dead is dead! Interrupting me while I'm playing with a woman! Serves him right to die!"
Zeng Haifeng spat into the river, feigning calm, and took Chen Yufeng back to the village along the small path.
On the way back, he warned Chen Yufeng not to spread word of what had happened today, declaring he would handle it personally.
Meanwhile, Erniu drifted along the river to a small pond at the foot of the mountain and eventually washed up on the shore.
The bright moon was enshrouded by dense, ash-grey fog, making the cries of the mountain beasts all the more distinct, as if it were an otherworldly realm devoid of human life.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Erniu lay on the shore, violently coughing up a few mouthfuls of dirty water, then covering his head with his hands as he opened his eyes.
But just as he started to get up, he faintly heard a suppressed panting coming from the thick fog ahead.
"Who's there?"
Erniu instinctively shouted, then quickly got to his feet to look around. The panic-stricken expression on his face gradually changed to one of utter terror.
Directly in front of the pond was a circular area.
Following his discovery, Erniu noticed a large old locust tree that occupied the center of the area, its sprawling branches laden with red ribbons, the ends of which were tied with clumps of white objects.
"What's this now?"
Ignoring the wound on his head, Erniu mustered up the courage to step forward and was startled to find a gigantic, over two-meter-long scroll hanging from the trunk of the locust tree.
But upon looking closer, his gaze went rigid in astonishment.
The painting depicted a young maiden wearing a red gauze dress, her long hair flowing and bare feet hovering midair, surrounded by more than a dozen skeletal dragons intertwined in protection.
"What a pretty girl! If she were my wife, I'd love her every day!"
Erniu, oblivious to the painting's sinister aura, unconsciously reached out to touch the girl in the painting, his gaze growing increasingly vacant.
"Mmm~"
The original panting sound quietly faded away, replaced by a sultry moan from the girl in the painting, conveying an alluring and tender seductiveness.
Suddenly, the dense fog lifted.
To Erniu's amazement, the girl started to step out of the painting while he watched.
First, she stepped forward with one smooth, delicate leg, and as her foot touched the ground, her entire body swiftly emerged, her fair complexion blooming with rosy hues. Yet, she maintained an exquisite air about her, resembling a Heavenly Maiden descending to earth, a Bodhisattva arriving in the mundane world, eliciting both a desire for closeness and a sense of reverence.
Erniu stood there, expression blank, yet as if bewitched, he obediently nodded in response to the girl.
"Young lady, who are you?"
"I am the giver of Karmic Law to you!"
The girl's face was flushed with solemnity, then she moved close to Erniu, their faces so close they could feel each other's breath.
In a moment, the girl gently lifted her hand, and with her slender jade fingers, she touched Erniu's chest, causing his clothes to dissipate.
Erniu, panicked, hastily covered himself.
Meanwhile, the solemn beauty gazed calmly at Erniu.
"Wang Erniu, today is the day of your fortune!"
With those words, the girl's skirt floated down as she leaned toward Erniu…
Erniu immediately felt a rush of blood to his head.
How could he let go of a Bodhisattva, a fairy sent to his doorstep?