Yu Lin looked around before knocking on the door. The door opened and she saw Chief Chu standing there. She quickly entered inside and shut the doors behind her. Chief Chu looked at her confused.

“Didn’t you leave with your parents?” he asked.

“I told them I forgot about something and they went on ahead.” she replied as she took a seat.

“Did you get what you came back for?” Chief Chu took a seat across from her.

“No, I lied to them.”

“Lied?”

“I have something to ask about? I heard you talking to Sen Feng earlier, what was that about?”

“Oh… that,” Chief Chu nodded “well it seems like there’s been a lot going on since we left.”

“Like?”

“If you heard what we talked about earlier then you must know about the bodies.”

“Yes. Has there been any other things going on?”

“Well, according to Sen Feng there has been many villagers who have said they’ve seen Mr. Du lurking around suspiciously.”

“What? That can’t be. My father’s a deep sleeper. If he’s out, then he would be out for a while.”

“I know about that, but others don’t know and with the dead bodies, a lot of people have been showing hostility upon your parents. Not only that, but many has said they have also seen your mother during other nights. One child even cried, claiming to have been kidnapped by your mother. Things are very difficult right now.”

“What going on? My parents would never do something like that. Is it perhaps… Lu Tou Ling?” Yu Lin was careful in the way she asked.

“That’s what I think to, but… without proof we can’t do anything.”

“But,” Yu Lin was cautious, “what was that incident you were talking about?”

“That… just an unfortunate incident that occurred in the past. It’s similar to Xiao Lan’s situation…” Chief Chu had a conflicted look on his face.

“I see… I won’t ask anymore. Then, have a good night.” Yu Lin said as she sensed Chief Chu did not want to talk about it anymore. She bowed and left the residence.

-

When she almost reached her home, she saw people at the bottom of the hill. She leapt behind the trees and observed.

“The monsters live up there.” one of the men blurted out. “They are the ones eating and trying to take away our children. Kill them! Kill them!” he started to chant.

“But how do you know for sure? They have been helping us out all along. Why would they suddenly change?” one of the old ladies asked.

“Shut your mouth old lady! What do you know about monsters?! It’s in their instincts to kill and eat us! We must protect ourselves.” he yelled back. Yu Lin clenched her fist and narrowed her eyes at them. Just as she was about to go out and warn her parents, she saw a figure walking towards the group. She leaned back behind the tree.

“Now, now ladies and gentlemen. We should calm down. We have no proof that they are the ones doing this, so we shouldn’t act like this. Besides, our great ex chief Chu Hong Hu is back and he will take care of this.” Yu Lin heard a familiar voice said. She squinted her eyes to see Lu Tou Ling standing there.

“Psh,” the man scoffed, “that man is a monster lover himself. Do you guys really think he will take care of problems like this?!”

“What? Chu Hong Hu is a monster lover?” another person in the crow asked.

“Of course! Do you think a sensible person will allow these human eating monsters to stay in the same village as us?!”

“Everyone please calm down. We do not know the causes of these deaths, so we must not rush into a conclusion.” Lu Tou Ling tried to calm everyone down, yet he had a bright glint in his eyes.

“Who else other than those damn beasts will dare to hurt us?!”

“Let’s not do anything rash for now until things are confirmed. Everyone head back home and rest. My guards are on the watch so no one worry. If anything suspicious happens then we will be right on track to lock it down.” Lu Tou Ling smiled. The rest of the crowd looked at each other before nodding. There was a few whispering here and there before they scattered back down the village. Yu Lin narrowed her eyes as she watched Lu Tou Ling still standing there, staring at her home. His eyes had a dark intention, and his smile was evil.

“Hehehe… just a bit more and all of you guys will be gone for good.” he laughed under his breath. Yu Lin swallowed hard as she felt a cold shiver travel up her spine. After a while Lu Tou Ling and his guards finally left. She swallowed hard before returning back to her place. She knocked on the door and it quickly opened, revealing her mother with a concerned face. Her mother glanced around before pulling her inside.

“Where did you go?” Yo Mei asked, her face flushed red with anger. Yu Lin looked down.

“I’m sorry. I forgot something so I went back to grab it without telling you two.” she said. Yo Mei bit her lips before bending down and hugging her daughter tightly.

“Yu Lin… please don’t leave us without telling us. Times… have change. Things here aren’t the same before.” Yo Mei said. She pulled away and looked Yu Lin in the eyes.

“Do you understand?” she asked. Yu Lin nodded her head, giving her mother the best innocent eyes she could. Yo Mei nodded as she pulled Yu Lin in for another.

“If anything happens to you or father… then I will die.” Yo Mei bit her lips. Yu Lin pursed her lips, but did not say anything back.

-

A month went by without much havoc. Despite this, Yu Lin noticed many changes with her family. The beautiful robes that her parents wore before, were now worn out and holes had started to form. The food they were eating were not as great as they used to be. It was only rice and vegetables.

It seemed that the people in the village had stopped selling things to them, or the things they sold were at a high price. Her father was also struggling to find a job to support the family. No one called him anymore for repairs. They all went to Lu Tou Ling instead for help.

Not only this, but her parents seemed who always seemed loving towards each other were arguing more. They would argue upon the smallest thing, and the times they sigh grew more and more. Yu Lin stayed mostly in her home, despite the invites from Chief Chu and He Lan. She didn’t want her parents to worry about her, or she didn’t want them to feel that she was ashamed of them. She made sure to stay bright around the two of them, and each time they fought she would be the mediator. She didn’t want her family relationship to be torn apart. The only time she went out was when she needed to train. Other than that she stayed inside with her parents.

“Yu Lin,” her mother said one day, “are you sure you don’t want to go play at Chief Chu’s house?” Yu Lin nodded her head.

“I would rather stay here with the both of you.” she said as she leaned back into her mother’s embrace. Her mother smiled as she rocked the two of them back and forth.

-

A few days later, her parents wore their out clothes. She stared at them with her eyebrows up, wondering what they were doing. They both smiled at her.

“Let’s go.” her father said as her father grabbed her hand.

“Where?”

“You’ve been cooped up at home with us for far too long,” her mother grabbed her other hand, “let’s go visit Chief Chu.” she said. Yu Lin smiled.

“Let’s go!” she said, excited. Her parents laughed as they left the home together.

The family traveled to the Chu residence by the most outskirts of town. They didn’t want to attract any unnecessary attention. They reached the Chu residence twice the time they would take had they just walked through town. Yu Lin smiled as she saw Chief Chu’s back at the entrance. She left her parents and leapt up behind him.

“What’s go…” she couldn’t finish her sentence as she saw a body on the ground. The limbs were torn off. Chunks of skin seemed to have been bitten off, and the body had a horrified face.

“Yu Lin,” Chief Chu said when he noticed her, “what are yo…”

“Hong Hu,” Yu Lin whispered with a low voice, “what is this?” she asked. Chief Chu looked down at the ground complicated.

“I don’t know… we woke up this morning and it was here.” he replied.

“I thought these killings had stopped.”

“I thought so too. Nothing has happened until today.”

“Was this here all night?”

“No. Just today, only two hours ago did this show up.” Chief Chu said.

“What? Two hours?!” Yu Lin bit her lips.

“Why?”

“Just... who has seen this?”

“Just me, Sen Feng, and the guards.”

“Clean it up. I will come back later tonight to help with the inspection of the body. For now I will go back home. I don’t want my parents to see this.”

“I understand.” Chief Chu said. Yu Lin nodded as she leapt back to her parents who were still a bit behind. They smile when they saw her. She put on a sad face as she walked up to them. They frowned.

“What’s wrong Yu Lin?” Yo Mei asked.

“Chief Chu is busy today so he told us to come back another day.” Yu Lin said. Her parents gave her a sad look before nodding.

“Well we can come back later then. Let’s go home Yu Lin. Don’t be too sad.” her dad said as he held out his hand. Yu Lin slung her shoulders and nodded as she grabbed onto her father’s hand. The family headed back home.

-

Later that night when her parents were deep asleep, she sneaked out. She arrived back at the Chu residence and swiftly entered Chief Chu’s room without anyone noticing. When she entered inside she saw Chief Chu standing there with a familiar face. Her jaw dropped.

“You,” she pointed her finger at the man, “when did you get back?” The man gave her grin.

“Why? Did you miss me?” he winked at her.

“Wang Pei,” Chief Chu side eyed him, “behave yourself.” he said.

“Eyyy, Hong Hu don’t spoil the fun for me.” he said as he poked Chief Chu. Chief Chu just glared at him, which made him cower a bit back. Yu Lin cocked her head and frowned.

“Wang Pei? Why does that sounds so familiar? Is that your name?” Yu Lin asked.

“That’s right. You’ve been thinking about me huh?” he beamed a smile at her. She rolled her eyes which made him laugh.

“Now, now, you two. Let’s get down to business here. Follow me.” Chief Chu said as he started to walk to the corner of the room. They nodded their heads as they followed her. At one of the wall panels he pushed down on one side. The other side then turned over, revealing an entrance to another room. All three of them walked inside. In the center of the room laid the dead body that Yu Lin had saw earlier. His corpse was in a twisted position with both his arms flinging to the side, and his knees bent. It was as if he was held down by the arms as someone tried to eat him. Yu Lin walked up to him and pressed down on his limbs. Wang Pei did the same.

“He seemed to have been dead for some time before I arrived to your house. At least for two hours already,” Yu Lin said, “seeing as his muscles is still stiff and has not began to relax yet.”

“Oooouu. Seems like you know some things too.” Wang Pei said as he opened the victim's eye, well the side of the face that still contained an eye.

“Looking at his eyes… hmm… you are about right. The moisture has decreased compared to when he is alive.” Wang Pei said. Yu Lin flipped the man’s hand around. She saw many scratch marks as if he was dragged across the ground. This was also supported by the stains on his knees. She picked the body up and observed the part of the neck that wasn’t bitten.

“By the way, who is this?” Wang Pei asked as he pointed at the body.

“He’s the son of the village’s blacksmith. Apparently he went out a week ago to go mining in a nearby cave but he hasn’t returned yet, until today that is.” Chief Chu let out a sigh.

“Ooooh… but… he looked like he died recently. If he had died a week ago, his body would be much more decomposed than this.” Wang Pei placed his hand on his chin. Yu Lin’s eyes widened as she noticed something on the back of the victim's neck.

“Hey you.” she blurted out.

“Huh? Me?” Wang Pei asked.

.

“Yea you. Come over here. Have a look at this.” Wang Pei nodded as he went over to Yu Lin’s side. He looked at the spot Yu Lin was pointing at.

“Hmmm… Oh! This, isn’t this a needle prick?” Wang Pei said as he looked at area. It was like a mountain, swollen and purple.

“That’s what I think also.” Yu Lin said as she laid the head back down. She opened the mouth and made a small, bright fireball with her finger. With her chi energy, she moved the fireball into the inside the victim’s mouth.

“Woah! You can do this?!” Wang Pei exclaimed. Yu Lin ignored him as she continued to look into the mouth.

“Look at this,” she pointed to the tongue, “it’s slightly blue and purple at the sides, showing signs of being drugged.”

“That’s right, but it could also be from the muscle tensing up?”

“Then how would you explain the wound on the back of the neck?”

“It could be that he got stinged by an insect.”

“That’s right… but… the thing I can’t make sense of how he was torn apart. It was as if someone torn him apart to make him look like he was being eaten alive.” Yu Lin frowned as she looked at the way the chunks of body was torn apart.

“That is true, but at the same time it just looks like a normal animal attack… just… a bit more like a troll attack.” Wang Pei said carefully. Yu Lin looked up at him. She didn’t want to admit it, but it was true.

“That’s right. But the culprit is not my father. My father has been home this past week. He wouldn’t have time to go and kill someone like this.” Yu Lin firmly said.

“I believe you Yu Lin, I really do… but the other villagers won’t be as kind.” Chief Chu spoke up from the side. Yu Lin clenched her fist but only let out a sigh. She knew what he said to be true. She combed her fingers through her hair and leaned her head back.

“I’m tired.” she said as she let out a sigh.

“You should get going now. We wouldn’t want your parents to wake up in the middle of the night and not find you in bed.” Chief Chu said. “I will escort you home just in case something happens. Wang Pei, you can go ahead and rest first.”

“Thank you Hong Hu.” Yu Lin said. Wang Pei looked at her with a shocked expression before looking away. The three of them exited the room. Wang Pei went to his chambers while Chief Chu and Yu Lin leapt back to her home.

“I don’t know who the culprit is, but we better catch them soon. If we don’t, then more deaths will come upon the village and my parents will be blamed for them.” Yu Lin said.

“That’s right. Sen Feng and I organized a team, but we haven’t found any concrete clues yet at the moment. We are sti-”

“Ahhh!” a deafening scream suddenly bursted out not far from them. The two looked at each other with worried expressions before heading towards the scream together. They were still in the sky when they saw a troll approaching a young woman. “Somebody help!” the woman screamed. The two moved there together. Yu Lin landed next to the woman and Chief Chu landed in front of them. The troll became alerted when he saw Chief Chu. His stature was much taller than Chou’s, but still shorter than Chief Chu. He let out a whiff of air as he turned to run the other way.

“Stop there!” Chief Chu said as he went after the troll. Yu Lin was rubbing the woman’s shoulder to calm her down.

“Are you alright?” Yu Lin asked as she looked at the woman. The woman stopped sobbing, however kept her hands on her face. Yu Lin frowned. “What’s wrong?” she asked. The woman turned and smiled.

“Remember me?” the woman said. Her dark hair suddenly turned silvery white, and her pale skin, grey. Yu Lin’s eyes widened but before she could do anything she felt sharp prick at the back of her neck. She took in a sharp breath before darkness engulfed her like flames.

After a while of chasing, Chief Chu suddenly lost the troll. He had followed the troll’s footsteps into the woods, but out of nowhere, the footsteps had disappeared. He frowned. This had never happened before. A disastrous feeling came upon him.

“Yu Lin!” he quickly leapt back to where he left her. When he got there, there was nothing to be found. “Yu Lin! Yu Lin!” he yelled. No answers came back. He looked everywhere, and yet she was nowhere to be found. His chest heaved up and down. ‘Perhaps…’ he thought as he quickly leapt to the Du residence. When he got there he pounded the door. A light illuminated from within the house as the door opened. There stood Yo Mei, rubbing her eyes.

“What’s the matt-”

“There’s not time!” Chief Chu said as he rushed inside.

“Chie-” he zipped passed Chou. He ran to Yu Lin’s room. Her pushed her door open. The bed was empty.

“What’s wrong Chief Chu?!” Yo Mei asked as she reached him. When she saw the empty bed a hand went over her mouth as the whites of her eyes grew. Chief Chu clenched his fist.

“What’s wrong with you two?” Chou said as he pushed through them. “You guys might scar… huh? Yu Lin?! Where is she? Where is Yu Lin?!” he shouted as he ran up to the bed and flipped the blankets over. “Where is she?! Where is my daughter?!” Chou cried out.

“Yu Lin,” Chief Chu said loudly, “I was escorting her home when we heard a scream. We saw a troll and a woman in danger. I went after the troll while Yu Lin stayed with the woman. When I went back to get Yu Lin… she disappeared. I’m sorry Mr. Du an Mrs. Du. I fear that if we don’t… something worse than what we think will come.” Yo Mei gasped as her knees trembled and she fell to the ground.

“Not again… not this again…” she mumbled. Chou grabbed Chief Chu by his robes.

“What do you mean? What happened to my daughter?” he yelled, his spit flying everywhere. Chief Chu could only look away.

“I’m sorry…” he said. Chou’s arms shook but he slowly let go. His teeth chattered against each other as he collapsed onto the ground, trying to grasp the situation.

“Where did you last see her?” Yo Mei’s voice was cold and sharp. “Where was my daughter last before she disappeared?” she stood up. Chief Chu took in a deep breath.

“Please follow me.” he said. The three of them left the residence as they went to search for Yu Lin that night.

----------------

Yu Lin eyelids fluttered open. Light surrounded her from all around. She felt the sharp pricks of grass against her cheeks. She felt all the energy inside of her was drained out. She pushed herself up.

“Where… am… I?” she croaked out. Her body ached from every inch. She glanced around her. Just as she did, a putrid smell entered her nostrils. She covered her nose and grimaced. When she looked to the side she saw a dead body. “Ah!” she let out a yelp and moved back. The looked as if its meat had just been chewed off. Almost all the meat was gone as the bones were all seen cleanly. The organs inside were also gone. There was a sticky puddle of blood beneath the body. Her body trembled. “What… is… this?” Just then she heard some rustling near her. She turned her head to see Sen Feng standing there with his jaw dropped, his body stiffed.

“Yu… Lin?” he looked as if he hadn’t seen her in forever.

“Sen… Feng… what’s… going on? What… is this?” her voice was hoarse. Sen Feng started running towards her.

“Yu Lin, we nee-” before Sen Feng could get any closer a man with a sword came out of the forest. The man pushed Sen Feng away as he pointed the sword towards Yu Lin. His eagle eyes stared her down.

“So it was you… the damn culprit.” he hissed.

“Lu Tou Ling… what are yo-”

“How dare you dare utter my name you savage beast?” Lu Tou Ling brought the sword closer to Yu Lin’s neck. She froze. She looked up and glared at him.

“What are you doing?” she said through clenched. He narrowed his eyes at her.

“Look at yourself you beast. Look at what you’ve done!” Lu Tou Ling screamed.

“Wha…” and that’s when Yu Lin felt it. The stickiness on her arms, fingers, her whole body. Something sticking at the corner of her mouth. She reached her hand to wipe it off and when she brought it back to look at it, she gasped. A piece of entrail hanged from her bloody fingers.