Mo Caiwei's eyes were already red as she spoke, but she continued,

"I had no choice! If I didn't scare them away, I'd lose my home.

I knew that scaring them once wouldn't be enough. To survive, I had to keep scaring them.

I even buried my dad in the house, and I would hang around under the willow tree where he hanged himself. When the weather was nice, I'd even climb into the willow tree to sleep, right on the branch where he hanged himself.

The villagers were even more terrified when they saw that.

Some people said that the tree had become a demon.

Others said that my dad was possessing the tree. Why else would I always be talking to the branches?

Still others swore they saw willow branches wrapped around me several times at night, hugging me like a child while I slept…

I knew they were talking about me, but I didn't care. As long as the villagers were afraid, I could survive.

When I was hungry, I'd beg people for food. If they didn't give me any, I'd stand in front of their house and stare at them while they ate until they gave me food.

That's how I became the third of the Three Evils.

On the surface, the villagers were afraid of me and didn't dare to talk to me, but behind my back, they were always trying to find an expert to take me and my dad away.

One morning, the village chief pointed at my house with a group of people and ran away from a distance. I didn't know what was going on, so I went to school as usual. When I walked past them, one of them suddenly slapped me on the head.

I felt a puff of white smoke in front of me and shouted, 'What are you doing?' without thinking.

As soon as I shouted, I knew I was in trouble. I must have run into a paihua (child snatcher). My dad told me that the paihua con men slap children on the forehead, and the child would be dazed by the white smoke in his hand and would follow him, doing whatever he said.

I didn't know what it felt like to be paihua'd, but my head definitely felt heavy at the time, but I woke up after a while.

'Eh!' The middle-aged man in the Taoist robe saw that I hadn't fainted and immediately put on a smiling face, 'Child, come with me, I'll take you to see your dad.'

I pointed to the grave in the yard, 'I don't need you to take me, my dad is right there.'

The old Taoist blinked his triangular eyes and sneered, 'Your tricks might fool others, but they won't work on me. If you don't come with me, I'll take your dad away too. Come with me, and maybe you'll have a chance to see your dad.'

The old Taoist grabbed my wrist, his five fingers almost digging into my flesh. The pain made me sweat, 'I'll go with you! Let go!'

'Let go? What if you run away? Let's go!' The old Taoist dragged me towards the village.

I watched the village chief and the others hiding behind the courtyard wall to watch the situation, and desperately shouted to him, 'Help! Help! Grandpa, he's a paihua… he's going to kidnap me…'

It would have been better if I hadn't shouted. As soon as I shouted, the village chief and the others immediately shrank back, not even daring to show their faces.

The old Taoist simply grabbed my neck and choked me unconscious, then carried me away. When I woke up, it was already dark.

The old Taoist lit a fire in the mountains and sat by the fire drinking. When he saw that I was awake, he threw me a bun, 'Eat it! Don't starve to death.'

I took the bun and took two bites, 'Why did you kidnap me?'

'To sell you!' The old Taoist said cheerfully, 'I didn't expect to find a treasure on this trip. I found someone who can't be knocked down by the confusion smoke. I'll be able to sell him for a good price.'

'Bullshit!' I cursed, 'Who kidnaps kids who are over ten years old?'

'It's different!' The old Taoist wasn't angry at all, 'Your physique is different from others. There are plenty of people who want to use you as a medicinal ingredient…'

'What?' I was immediately scared into a cold sweat.

'Don't you believe me, I am…'

Before the old Taoist could finish speaking, a green flame more than half a meter high suddenly burst out of the fire, and the flames grabbed towards the sky like outstretched fingers.

'Heh-' The old Taoist sneered, grabbed a handful of medicinal powder from his sleeve, and threw it into the fire.

The fire burst into a shower of sparks, and the flames that had soared up were suppressed by several feet, jumping wildly on the wood as if they were about to go out.

The old Taoist casually picked up a branch and poked around in the fire. Before the fire could get going, I heard a sound behind me like wheels crushing grass.

When I turned around, I saw my dad's small four-wheeled tractor. I don't know when it had run behind us.

I couldn't see anyone in the driver's seat, but the car body was shaking violently, as if it was in gear waiting for someone… but the bumper was covered in a sticky bloodstain, as if someone had just been killed.

'Dad!'

I was about to run forward when the Taoist grabbed my neck and pulled me back, 'That's not your dad. Didn't you see that there's a woman in the car?'

'Woman?' There was clearly no one in the car, where did the woman come from?

Before I could speak, the small four-wheeler sputtered forward a little.

There was indeed a woman sitting in the back of the car, just like when my dad had just brought her back. She was sitting in the car with her back to the driver's seat, her body straight against the railing, swaying back and forth with the wind.