The little princess was torn, and the demon emperor patched her up

Chapter 7 The Evil Spirit Was Herself

The little maid was equally frightened and turned around and ran into the house.

Xiao Baojing grabbed her and couldn't believe it: "You...you are alive?!"

The little maid hugged the broom tightly: "You found me!"

Xiao Baojing was shocked, she met a monster!
But then again, although this painted puppet is a spirit, strictly speaking she herself is also a spirit. Since they are of the same kind, what is there for her to be afraid of?

She said openly, "My name is Xiao Baojing."

"Greetings to Her Royal Highness the Princess." The little maid raised her orchid finger and bowed obediently, "I am Yaoyao."

Xiao Baojing felt embarrassed.

It would have been fine if the peddler called her little princess, but he didn't expect that the little maid would also follow suit and call her Your Highness.

It's easy for girls to form friendships with each other.

After Xiao Baojing praised Yaoyao for her beautiful double-ring bun, Yaoyao was so happy that she took Xiao Baojing's hand affectionately and wanted to take her to visit the town.

Yaoyao brought Xiao Baojing into a dilapidated and mottled house.

There is a locust tree with lush branches and leaves planted in the yard. Under the tree is an old wooden table with faded paint. On the table are four sets of bowls and chopsticks and several wooden carved plates of stir-fried dishes. The bowl in the middle is obviously braised pork.

Yaoyao said happily: "Dad, Mom, I'm back!"

Xiao Baojing looked around curiously.

So this is Yaoyao’s home?

Through the rotten wooden window covered with cobwebs, Xiao Baojing saw a thin wooden puppet that looked like a middle-aged man lying in the room, with pale and thick paint on his face, as if he was seriously ill.

A middle-aged woman puppet wearing an apron sat at the kitchen door with a sad face, and it seemed that she was wiping tears.

There is also a child puppet holding a small wooden sword and posing in a playful posture. The painted childish face is smiling and looks carefree and innocent, as if welcoming his sister to bring her friends home to play.

"This is my father and mother, and this is my brother." Yaoyao introduced them and asked Xiao Baojing to sit down. "Your Highness, please try the braised pork made by my mother. My family can only eat a bowl of braised pork during the Chinese New Year. My mother's cooking skills are really good!"

She picked up a piece of wood-carved braised pork and put it into the bowl in front of Xiao Baojing.

Xiao Baojing looked at Yaoyao chewing wood with a happy look on her face and couldn't help but feel goosebumps all over.

She thought she had met a fellow creature, but unexpectedly, this "fellow creature" turned around and started chewing wood.

Are all of them so eccentric when they are monsters?
As Yaoyao was chewing, two lines of white paint suddenly flowed down her painted little face.

Xiao Baojing guessed that the white paint was roughly equivalent to human tears.

She hesitantly handed over the handkerchief: "Why are you crying?"

"Red-braised pork...is not tasty at all..." Yaoyao clutched her handkerchief and cried loudly, still holding the unfinished piece of meat in her mouth, "Wow, Daddy, Mommy, I don't want to eat red-braised pork anymore. I won't eat red-braised pork anymore!"

Xiao Baojing was embarrassed.

Braised pork cooked with wood must not taste good.

The mountain wind blows off the leaves of the locust trees.

Outside, the earth-shaking sound of horse hooves could be heard faintly.

The soldiers' shouts came from far away and approached: "According to the order of the county governor, there is an evil spirit causing harm in Furong Town. We have specially ordered the demon-killer to exorcise the demon, protect the way, burn away the evil spirit, and protect the peace!"

Xiao Baojing ran to the door and peeked in.

Soldiers in armor rode on horseback, dropping barrels of tung oil all over the town. Demon-slayers wearing jade hairpin Taoist robes held peach wood swords and pasted talismans to suppress demons and exorcise evil spirits on the doors of shops and houses.

As they chanted the spell, a raging fire broke out and quickly spread to the entire town.

The puppet townspeople fell into the sea of fire one by one, their painted faces gradually twisted into painful expressions. "Well done! This is the price you pay for harming me! I'll burn you to pieces, and I'll see how you evil ghosts can continue to cause trouble! You couldn't defeat me when you were alive, so how can you defeat me when you're dead?!"

An arrogant voice came from the end of the street.

Xiao Baojing looked secretly and saw that it was Qiu Yuejian who came to look for the peddler a few days ago.

She was lying on a stretcher. Although she had lost both legs, her eyes and eyebrows were full of viciousness.

Xiao Baojing suddenly understood.

It turned out that they were trapped in the town a few days ago and left after cutting off their legs.

Yaoyao was still crying over the bowl of braised pork.

Xiao Baojing was afraid that her crying would attract soldiers, so he quickly covered her mouth and slipped out the back door.

He wanted to go back to the Banana Courtyard to hide, but he saw that even this courtyard had been burned down.

The fire burned for a whole day, and the entire Furong town turned into a sea of fire.

The fire gradually died down as the sun set.

Qiu Yuejian and the government officials have already left.

The air was filled with the smell of burning kerosene and wood. The puppet residents of the town had long since been burned to white ashes, which, when blown by the wind, looked like silver butterflies fluttering in the sky.

Xiao Baojing sat blankly in front of the ruins holding Yaoyao.

She remembered that in this world there was a profession called demon hunter, who specialized in dealing with ghosts and monsters.

The evil spirit turned out to be herself!
“Braised pork…”

Yaoyao sobbed and hiccuped, looking around blankly, then realized belatedly: "What... happened?"

Xiao Baojing recounted the story of the burning town.

Yaoyao stood up suddenly: "We didn't harm her! Later, the grandparents in the town specially carried lanterns to show them the way. They made a fuss and said that we deliberately teased them and wanted to keep them in the town to be puppets. Later, they yelled and screamed as if they had seen a ghost, and suddenly cut off their own feet!"

Xiao Baojing: "Ah?"

Yaoyao looked at the ruined Furong Town in despair, and white paint burst out of her eyes: "They destroyed my home, I will fight them!"

She rushed out like an arrow.

Xiao Baojing was extremely anxious: "Yaoyao, wait for me!"

But she couldn't catch up with Yaoyao at all.

She supported her body which was almost falling apart from running, and watched Yaoyao disappear at the end of the mountain road.

She could only comfort herself that Yaoyao was different from those lifeless puppets in the town.

Maybe they have some unique skills or life-saving skills?
As dusk fell, the sound of bells could be heard from far away on the mountain path.

The peddler carried his load and slowly returned to the town.

As far as the fox's eyes could see, it saw the charred desolation after the fire.

His banana garden turned into a pile of ruins. The ashes of the burnt puppet swayed in the evening mountain breeze and fell on his dark blue lapels and shoulders like millions of falling silver butterflies.

His little princess was lying alone on the ground, with red eyes, as if she had been bullied by someone.

Was it done by the Julu County Magistrate?
The boy's thin lips curved into an arc that seemed like a smile, and his long eyelashes cast dangerous shadows at the corners of his eyes.

(End of this chapter)