I raise furry animals and fly them to my motherland.

Chapter 161 Strange Phenomena

Xu Ying's first impression of the village chief was that he was honest and frugal, and she felt respect for him: "There is nothing I need to help with right now. I also brought an assistant with me, and he should be enough."

Xu Ying showed the village chief and other villagers a photo of Liu Kai's work ID, saying, "He hasn't arrived yet. When you all see it, please tell him my location."

"Alright!" Village Chief Miao nodded with a smile. "Would you like to go to the village committee for a cup of tea before you start working? It must be tiring for a young lady like you to come all this way."

"It's not hard work. I'll get right to work and finish early." Xu Ying smiled and asked everyone, "Does anyone have sick poultry or livestock at home? You can take me to see them and I'll prescribe some medicine."

However, after Xu Ying asked these questions, the villagers did not respond to her immediately. Instead, they looked at each other and exchanged glances.

A group of more than ten people were here, and none of them complained about any problems or discomfort their livestock had.

Xu Ying clearly remembered that a boy had just said that his family's cow had a problem; it was walking strangely, like it was drunk.

Xu Ying immediately sensed that something was wrong.

Do these villagers distrust her medical skills?
Xu Ying also wanted to check if the sick poultry and livestock in the village were related to fertilizer pollution.
Xu Ying took the initiative to ask, "Whose family was that boy in the blue jacket just now?"

All eyes turned to a thin, middle-aged couple.

The middle-aged couple exchanged a glance and said hesitantly to Xu Ying, "He is our child, named Yin An."

"What's wrong, veterinarian?"

"Your child said your cow is sick, is that right? Can you take me to see a doctor?"

Seeing that the middle-aged couple still had concerns, Xu Ying added, "What if it's some kind of infectious disease? That could affect your other livestock."

Upon hearing that it was an infectious disease, the other villagers panicked and added fuel to the fire, urging, "Let this veterinarian take a look. It won't cost you any money anyway."

"Yes, Master Wu hasn't visited your home yet. Why don't you let this young man take a look at you first, and then we'll see what both sides say."

Upon hearing the name Mr. Wu, Xu Ying narrowed her eyes, her face showing curiosity: "Folks, who is Mr. Wu?"

"He's the master who helps us invite the Earth God."

An older woman then offered some words of explanation to Xu Ying: "Our village's grain production has declined, so we've invited a master to come and perform a ritual."

"This master can not only interpret land, but also interpret animals—"

The older sister wanted to continue speaking, but was interrupted by the village chief.

"Alright, alright, why are you telling this girl all this? Young people don't understand our traditions. We do these things just to put our minds at ease. If you go into such detail, this girl will definitely think we're old-fashioned feudal superstitions."

The village chief wore a simple, honest smile. "Right, young lady? You all value science, don't you?"

"Yin Anjia, this way I'll show you the way."

Xu Ying met Village Chief Miao's warm gaze and nodded politely: "Thank you for your trouble."

She sensed that Village Chief Miao didn't really want her to know about the village's hiring of a master to perform rituals.

Village Chief Miao chuckled and said, "It's just showing you the way, no big deal."

Xu Ying followed the village chief and the Yin family couple toward the Yin family's cowshed.

Crescent Oasis truly lives up to its reputation as an ancient oasis with thriving agriculture; the village infrastructure and residents' housing conditions here are much better than those of Populus euphratica village.

The houses here are mostly built with sun-dried mud bricks, and the walls are painted with grayish-white clay, which gleams softly in the sunlight.

Some well-maintained courtyards are even decorated with geometric patterns made of broken pottery shards, which are both beautiful and attractive.

The most luxurious feature is the water source: a shallow, man-made canal winds around the village, its banks lined with bluish-gray slate. This is all thanks to the bounty of the ancient Crescent Lake and the sophisticated exploitation of groundwater.

As Xu Ying entered the cowshed, she exclaimed in admiration. "The large-scale farming villages are truly different! Your houses are so beautiful and tidy!"

"Of course! Our village chief helped us find people to build it. And when our village had good harvests, the dividends were huge. We could use a portion of that to build these beautiful houses. Unlike now... sigh."

The villagers shook their heads as they spoke.

Yin An's parents were talking to Xu Ying about their cows: "Our cows have been producing significantly less milk lately, and the way they walk when plowing the fields is very strange..."

As they spoke, they arrived at the cowshed.

At this moment, many cows in the cowshed were doing something puzzling—licking the wall with their tongues, as if the wall had some grass juice or honey on it.

A noticeable damp patch has formed on the plaster wall.

The cows seemed oblivious to everything, mechanically scraping the mud off the wall with their tongues.

The villagers frowned when they saw so many cattle exhibiting this symptom.

"Are these cows possessed?"

"Yeah, the sudden act of licking the wall, does it imply that something is going to happen to the Yin family's house?"

"Mr. Yin, why don't you ask Master Wu to come and take a look?"

……

Yin An's parents looked apprehensive upon hearing the villagers' discussion, and they hesitated, unable to make up their minds.

Some of the cows mooed.

Xu Ying exchanged with the system for the skill to master cow language. After the skill took effect, the mooing sounds became easy to understand for Xu Ying.

[Burning... My stomach is on fire...]
[The wall...the wall can relieve the pain...but it's so salty and bitter...]
Their eyes were unfocused, and hot breath was coming out of their nostrils, giving the impression that they were in a state of anxiety.

[I can't stop myself from licking the wall, moo... I feel so uncomfortable all over.]
Although the cattle's behavior was comical and bizarre, Xu Ying could sense their pain from their cries.

"Are they trying to lick the Yin family's house down?"

"Farmland is land, and houses are also on land. Could it be that the Yin family has offended the land god?"

"Old Yin, you'd better hurry up and invite Master Wu over!"

These words made the conflicted Yin couple decide: "We'll go find Master Wu to take a look now."

"This phenomenon is terrifying!"

--"etc!"

Seeing the villagers discussing this mystical phenomenon in a noisy manner, and even successfully frightening Yin An's parents, Xu Ying quickly stopped Yin An's father and explained to the villagers, "No! It's not possessed by an evil spirit."

"The cows' pica is most likely an attempt to supplement their mineral intake."

"They're sick; they'll be fine after taking medicine."

"Will milk produced after taking medication be unhealthy?"

"And after the oxen that plow the fields have taken medicine, won't their mouths pollute the soil?"

Upon hearing Xu Ying's words, the villagers immediately bombarded him with questions, their faces filled with distrust.