I was so concentrated that I didn’t sleep for the whole night. When I heard the roosters crow in the village, I knew it was almost dawn. I exhaled and relaxed. However, I didn’t dare to sleep now. I had to endure for a little longer! 

After the sky had turned completely bright, I saw my father-in-law walk out of his room. I went to him. “Father, did you sleep well? How do you feel now?” 

“Son, you’ve been out here watching the whole night?” My father-in-law looked at me in awe. He was touched. 

Before I answered him, he pulled up his shirt. I could see more and more soft skin on his belly. Although there would be some scars, people would never know that he used to have scales there. It seemed Senior Shu’s secret ointment worked well. 

I went to my room and slept without having breakfast. 

I woke up in the afternoon. Yin Xinyue took me to see the wheat field. The snow was melting. I saw the white and green in the fields. The magnificent horizon in the far distance gave the scenery a gentle touch. 

We acted like kids. We scattered some corn kernels on the ground and set up a simple trap with a basket and a stick in hopes of catching some birds. At around twilight, we got seven or eight birds. After they had eaten up all the kernels, we released them. 

The weather during the day was pretty good. At twilight, there was a red afterglow on the horizon. I didn’t mind the dirty ground and pulled Yin Xinyue to lie on the ground with me. Yin Xinyue giggled continuously. I had never seen her so happy before, which sweetened my heart. 

People say that happy times don't last long. However, I thought that they were being too greedy, which is why they thought it was too short. The world keeps moving. How could we ask for eternity? 

For the next two days, I watched outside our parents’ room. Nothing had happened during the nights. My in-laws recovered quickly. They didn’t feel the pain from the scales anymore, and they had regained colors on their faces. 

However, as I had stayed up a few nights in a row, my body couldn’t put up with it. On the fourth night, the whole family told me not to watch tonight. I thought that they were all right now, so I went to our room to sleep. Unexpectedly, something happened while I was sleeping. 

At around midnight, I heard a shrill. My father-in-law screamed, “Get lost, or I will hack you to death!” 

I realized that something foul had come to our house since my gentle father-in-law was screaming like that. I jolted up, grabbed the Holy Mother Scepter, and rushed out. However, when I came to their room, the door was closed. The inside of the room was completely quiet. 

I lowered my voice and called them. No one answered me. Instead, I heard vague snoring. 

I was doubtful. Was I dreaming just now? 

Yin Xinyue put on a coat and walked to me. “Hubby, what’s wrong?” 

“Did you hear anything?” I asked. 

Yin Xinyue shook her head. “No, I didn’t hear anything.” 

Yin Xinyue always had fast reflexes. If she didn’t hear anything, it should be just a dream. I shook my head and went back to our room to sleep. 

When I woke up in the morning, Yin Xinyue smiled at me. When we were about to leave the room, her eyes opened wide. Her voice was panic-stricken. “Hubby, did something happen last night?” 

I followed her line of sight and saw the Holy Mother Scepter. Last night, I had tensed up, so I kept holding onto the Holy Mother Scepter. 

When I was about to explain to her, I realized that she had seen me bring the Holy Mother Scepter to the bed last night. Why did she have such a strong reaction this morning?

Indeed, when I asked her, Yin Xinyue paled and shook her head. “No, I didn’t wake up last night.” 

My mind went blank. I immediately rushed toward our parents’ room. I gritted my teeth and kicked the door open. A strong stench welcomed me. I saw our parents on the ground. They had dark blood all over their bodies. It was even more frightening to see that they had grown scales again! 

Moreover, there were more scales this time, and the colors of the scales looked even darker and sharper; they had almost pierced through our parents’ pajamas. When Yin Xinyue saw that, she screamed and fainted. 

She had fainted because she was worried, so I didn’t mind her and rushed to my father-in-law. I brought my shaky finger to his nose…

From the time I had heard the scream until now, it had been six or seven hours. Our parents had been on the ground for a long time and had lost a lot of blood. I was really afraid that they had already left this world. If so, I couldn’t forgive myself for my whole life. 

It was good that both of them were still breathing feebly. I hurriedly used talismans to block some of their vital acupoints to stop the bleeding. I then applied the ointment I made yesterday on them again. I had to grit my teeth while cutting off all the scales on their bodies. 

After I had done everything, their breathing was still weak but stable. It seemed they were unconscious because of blood loss. I hurriedly cooked a pot of jujube, chili, and spinach, which were all good for replenishing blood. I poured a bowl for each of them. 

Watching them breathe normally, I exhaled. I then used some “huo xiang perfume” to wake Yin Xinyue up. 

When she opened her eyes, the first thing she did was look at her parents. When she saw that her parents’ lives weren’t at stake, she slumped again. I had to scoop her up and help her get on her feet. 

“Honey, I was so scared. I almost lost my parents. I was so scared...” Yin Xinyue repeated her words as though her mind was about to crack. 

I didn’t comfort her, but went to take a few photos of the scales and sent them to Chuyi. I then texted him. “Do you know what these are?” 

I thought that he would just send me a message with some instructions. Unexpectedly, he called me. His voice was serious. “Jiulin, where did you get those scales?” 

As I had turned on the speaker of the phone, Yin Xinyue heard our conversation. She cried and asked Chuyi to help us. 

I wanted to talk with him for a while before asking for his help. But as she had already asked him, I proceeded to tell him about the situation. “Can you make time to come here and help me?” 

“Send the address to my phone. Before I arrive, you must try to keep their disease in check!” He curtly asked for the address when he learned that my in-laws were in trouble. After we hung up, I could tell that Yin Xinyue was feeling better. 

“With Chuyi’s help, I’m sure we can solve the problem! We just need to ensure that your parents’ situation won’t worsen at night. Don’t worry, honey!” 

Yin Xinyue nodded. “Husband, I’m sorry. I was so worried that I would lose my parents…”

She cried and apologized. She understood that she didn’t trust me enough as she had directly asked Chuyi for help. 

“Silly girl, I’m your husband. Don’t you ever tell me that!” 

I kissed her tear-covered face and collected all the scales, burning them. 

Our parents still hadn't woken up when night fell. Yin Xinyue was worried and asked, “What’s wrong?” 

“Don’t worry. They are old and have lost a lot of blood. It’s normal for them to sleep for quite a long time. It’s good for their recovery, hon.” 

We had a simple dinner. Yin Xinyue brought a bowl of congee and asked, “Can I feed my parents some congee?” 

I nodded. She went to the room. In the next second, she screamed at the top of her lungs, followed by the clanging noise of the bowl falling to the floor. 

“What’s wrong?” 

I sprinted in. At first glance, I saw the word, “death” written on the ground in front of the bed. The word was around one meter big. From its bright red color, I guessed it was written in blood. 

This word hadn’t been there before. Something had sneaked into our parents’ room while we were cooking. I checked my in-laws. They were still breathing, which made me feel relieved. 

However, that thing had wandered right under my nose, and I didn’t even notice it. I felt restless and worried. Chuyi had asked me to keep it in check until he came. Would I be able to put up with it for any longer?

“Hubby, don’t blame yourself.”

When Yin Xinyue knew that her parents were all right, she soon adjusted her mood. Looking at my perplexed countenance, she encouraged me. “Could it be scared of us? To be exact, could it be scared of you?” 

“What?” I calmed down and thought about it.

She had a point. I thought we had solved it a few days ago, but it seemed that thing was just biding its time.

It couldn't act as I had watched our parents for a few nights in a row. Moreover, I heard the commotion last night and ran to check. At that moment, their room quieted down, which made me think that I had seen an illusion. Perhaps that thing was really afraid of me. 

“Interesting…” 

During the past few years, I had encountered countless spirits, including native and foreign generals, emperors, and common people. However, no matter how strong they were, none had ever shown that they were afraid of me. Moreover, it made me skeptical. If that thing was so cowardly, why would it keep pestering Yin Xinyue’s parents? 

I decided to test the creature one more time. Although I wouldn't put Yin Xinyue’s parents in danger, I needed to discuss it with her first. 

Yin Xinyue asked gingerly, “Will they be okay?” 

“As long as I live, they will be okay.” 

Yin Xinyue bit her lower lip. “I trust you.” 

I was persistent, but it wasn’t because I wanted to show off in front of her. Chuyi had agreed to come to help, and if I couldn't even do what he’d asked of me, I would be truly useless.