Chapter 10 The Monster in the Middle

The old man of Changshan'an likes farming. In this autumn, the buckwheat is ripe in the field, and the harvest is gathered in piles.

Sometimes there are thieves from neighboring villages who steal wheat. In order to prevent thieves, old man An ordered tenants to transport the wheat back to the threshing field overnight. Because there was a lot of wheat, it could not be finished for a while. To be safe, the old man held a steel fork, slept in the field and stayed on patrol in person.

When I slept until midnight, I suddenly heard a click. It was the movement of the leather boots stepping on the buckwheat, and I was suspicious in my heart, "No, the wheat thief is coming." Thinking of this, I sat up, pulled the steel fork tightly, and visited on all sides.

I saw a big ghost standing not far away, more than ten feet tall, with red hair, messy beard, many and long, only a few feet away from him. He was shocked and didn't have time to think about it. The steel fork in his hand made a move like electricity and stabbed the devil in the chest.

The evil spirit screamed like thunder, fled in panic, and disappeared in a blink of an eye. Old An was lucky enough to force the strong enemy back. He was worried that the evil spirits would return. He didn't dare to stay longer and hurried home. On the way back, I met a tenant who came to transport grain and quickly warned, "There are ghosts in the field. Don't go there." The tenants didn't think so, but the boss had instructions and didn't have to work. Naturally, he was happy to rest and turn back with Old An.

At noon on the second day, the tenants were drying buckwheat in the threshing floor. Suddenly, there was a rumble in the air. Old An's face changed greatly and he shouted, "Bad luck, the evil spirit is coming." Before he finished, he turned around and ran away, and the tenants ran for their lives together.

When he arrived at a safe place, the old man An said, "Listen to my orders: Prepare more crossbows, and the evil spirits will definitely come again tomorrow. At that time, ten thousand arrows will be fired together. Give it some color and have a look."

The next day, the devil really went to the appointment on time. With an order from the old man An, the arrows flew all over the sky. The evil spirits were afraid and went away in confusion. In the next two or three days, the devil was scared and dared not appear. Old An seized the time to dry the buckwheat, and soon finished the farm work. There were a lot of straw left, and I didn't know how to deal with it.

An's old man meditated slightly and ordered the tenants to pile up wheat and build them into haystacks, leaving them for winter to feed horses, cows, and make a fire to cook. He climbed to the top, steadfastly the wheat straw one by one, and did everything. The old man An sat on the haystack to rest, climbed high and looked into the distance, enjoyed the scenery, and smoked two puffs of cigarettes by the way.

He was happy, and the evil spirit came again. He stepped like flying and rushed at him like lightning. The old man An was so scared that he shouted, "Put the arrow, shoot the arrow!"

The tenants panicked and looked for the crossbow. The evil spirit had already grabbed the collar of the old man An, bit it on his forehead, and then sneered and floated away.

The tenants were afraid and panicked. Several boldly climbed up the haystack to check. They saw a huge hole in the palm of the old man An's forehead. The bones were deeply visible, the blood flowed out, his eyes were wide open, and his eyes were not alive.