Chapter 147: Butterfly Village
The young man shrank cautiously toward the wall. If not for the fear of what Li Zhi had just done, he would’ve already jumped up and fled. “W-what do you want to talk about?”
“We’re not enemies,” Li Zhi made her stance clear, her smiling eyes filled with gentle sincerity. “See? I’m not here to fight you over Yin Fu, am I? I just want to find my missing friend. By the way, I don’t know your name yet. I’m Li Zhi.”
She reached out her hand, her affectionate gaze disarming and confusing. After a brief hesitation, the man slowly shook her hand. “I’m Le Yan.”
Li Zhi softened her tone. “The girl you saw last night was called Tao Tao. She hasn’t returned since she left. I spoke with her boyfriend on the phone this morning. When he heard she was missing, he panicked. He’s already booked a flight overnight and is on his way here.”
As expected, Le Yan’s expression changed at these words, the guarded look in his eyes easing a little.
“I… I don’t know much,” he swallowed nervously, his words stumbling, “but I do know there’s something wrong with this village! Yin Fu only broke up with me after visiting this place! We were about to get married!”
Li Zhi was surprised. “Yin Fu isn’t from here?”
“Of course not! We’re from the same place—we’ve known each other since high school, even went to the same university.” When reminiscing about their past, Le Yan’s previously tense demeanor softened. “She was popular in school—everyone liked her—but she only loved me. After her parents divorced, neither of them wanted to take care of her. She almost dropped out, but I worked part-time with her after school to help her earn tuition.”
“We both got into an arts school. She studied dance, I studied painting. Lots of guys more talented than me tried to pursue her, but she rejected them all! She said she’d never love anyone else, that she’d always be with me!”
“I proposed right after graduation, personally put the ring on her finger.” Le Yan’s nostalgic expression twisted into pain. He buried his head in his hands, gripping his hair tightly, his whole body trembling. “We were about to get married… but after she came here for a trip, everything changed. She came back saying she’d found the true meaning of life!”
“She closed her dance studio, moved here to run that shabby inn, and insisted on settling here! I’ve come here to find her so many times, but she refuses to come back with me. She said she loves it here and even tried to convince me to stay. But… but we studied so hard, spent so much money on art school—what was it all for? To open some rundown inn in a remote place? I don’t agree! I won’t agree!”
Le Yan clenched his teeth, years of bitterness making him manic. Whenever he recalled these things, he lost control of his emotions.
Li Zhi pressed his shoulder again. Le Yan took a deep breath, deflating as he slumped back into his seat. “After that, she ignored me completely, treating me colder and colder. She didn’t want to talk to me, didn’t want to see me. She’s not the Yin Fu I knew anymore… No! That’s not Yin Fu! My Yin Fu would never treat me like this!”
It sounded like a typical story of a couple parting ways due to different life goals: one preferring the peaceful mountains and streams, the other wanting to shine in the big city. With such different ideals, breaking up seemed inevitable.
Li Zhi voiced that thought, but Le Yan became agitated, slamming the table. “No way! It’s this village’s fault! Everyone here is weird! They’re involved in some ancient cult ritual! Yin Fu keeps sneaking into the mountains late at night and doesn’t come back until the next morning! She’s been possessed! That’s the only explanation!”
Li Zhi’s eyes narrowed slightly. “She sneaks into the mountains regularly?”
“Yes! Others in the village do too! They all have different schedules. I calculated it—Yin Fu goes into the mountains every forty-nine days, right at dusk! The back mountain is off-limits, guarded by locals. I always get stopped before I can go any further!”
As he spoke, Le Yan counted on his fingers. “It’s almost time again! She’s supposed to go tomorrow night! This time, I’ll follow her no matter what and find out what she’s really doing!”
“She’s got a lot of butterfly tattoos,” Li Zhi asked softly, “Did she get those after coming here?”
Le Yan hesitated, a dazed look in his eyes. “Yeah… After her first trip here, she came back with a butterfly tattoo on her back. Beautiful, really beautiful…” Suddenly, he stood up, excitement flickering across his face. “It’s her! Yin Fu’s coming out!”
Li Zhi turned to look. At the entrance of the inn, Yin Fu stepped out. Gone was her usual seductive grace—her face was cold and faintly angry. She strode quickly toward a certain direction.
Li Zhi stopped Le Yan from calling out. “Don’t shout! We’ll follow quietly.”
Le Yan nodded repeatedly, eyes bright with excitement. “Right, right, you’re right! If she sees me, she’ll hide again!”
The two of them left the teahouse and followed after Yin Fu.
People bustled through the streets, and with Li Zhi’s guidance, they blended in like ordinary tourists, attracting no attention. In the past, Le Yan would be caught by Yin Fu before he’d followed her even a hundred meters. But with Li Zhi’s help this time, they remained undetected.
After winding through several streets, Yin Fu entered a courtyard that was noticeably grander than the surrounding buildings.
“That’s the village chief’s house,” Le Yan whispered.
There was no way to follow her inside, so they hid nearby, waiting. After about half an hour, Yin Fu finally came out, accompanied by a stunningly beautiful young woman. The two held hands and whispered something, but soon Yin Fu angrily shook her hand off, clearly in the middle of an argument.
“That’s A’tai’s sister!” Le Yan said softly. “I saw Tao Tao follow her last night!”
Li Zhi observed the girl. “Are she and A’tai biological siblings? They don’t look alike at all.”
“No idea. I’ve never heard of their mom. I’ve only ever seen the village chief.”
A’tai’s sister looked nothing like him. If Tao Tao didn’t know her identity, it would be easy to see how she might let her guard down when lured out by a pretty young woman with a reasonable excuse.
From Yin Fu’s current demeanor, Tao Tao’s fate didn’t look promising. But if A’tai had just abducted Tao Tao out of lust, surely he couldn’t keep her locked up forever, right? Even though the village was remote, it wasn’t completely cut off from the modern world.
Would Tao Tao’s family really not call the police if she disappeared?
Then Li Zhi suddenly recalled something the tour guide had said on the bus—Butterfly Village lost tourists every year. They all “ignored the warnings” and entered undeveloped mountain areas, never to be seen again. If they framed Tao Tao’s disappearance the same way, they might just get away with it.
After finishing her argument, Yin Fu shook off A’tai’s sister and walked briskly back toward the inn.
Le Yan couldn’t hold back anymore. “Yin Fu! Yin Fu!”
Li Zhi tried to grab him but missed. She could only duck out of sight as Yin Fu looked back. Seeing Le Yan, her face twisted with disgust and irritation. She quickened her pace, with Le Yan chasing after her, calling her name until they both disappeared from sight.
There was still plenty of time before nightfall. Li Zhi wasn’t in a rush to leave. She found a spot nearby where she could watch the entrance to the village chief’s house, pretending to admire the scenery while actually keeping watch.
People came and went from the courtyard, including the chief and A’tai’s sister. But even after monitoring them from morning to afternoon, there was still no sign of A’tai himself.
Li Zhi didn’t head back to the inn until late afternoon.
Xu Yan, waiting anxiously outside, let out a sigh of relief when she saw her. “Where did you go? I’ve been looking for you everywhere. I was so worried!”
Li Zhi ignored her question and asked instead, “Did you see A’tai during your group tour today?”
“No, not once. Why?”
Li Zhi frowned in thought. “If he abducted Tao Tao, why would he vanish too? He’s not seriously holding a wedding ceremony in there, is he?”
“Seriously? Still worrying about an NPC at a time like this?” a player nearby muttered unhappily. “Third day and still no progress—what kind of team leader is this? I’ve learned a lot, I guess. Ow! Who hit me with that bottle?!”
Not far off, Han Wenlin was holding up his middle finger, glaring at the player who was rubbing the back of his head.
It had been another fruitless day. Even Jiao Shen was starting to get restless. After dinner, Li Zhi called him, Xu Yan, and Han Wenlin aside to share what she had learned from Le Yan. “Yin Fu will go up the mountain tomorrow night. We have to find a way to follow her. The secret of this village must be hidden up there.”
Finally, some progress. Jiao Shen was practically itching to fight something. “I already scouted the back mountain this afternoon. No guards at the entrance, but I counted about four hidden sentries. I can handle them myself.”
Xu Yan frowned. “It’s one thing to follow her around the village, but once we go into the mountains, it’ll be easy to get exposed. If Yin Fu catches on and deliberately leads us into a trap, it’s going to be dangerous.”
Han Wenlin said, “Then just kidnap her. If she’s going up there every forty-nine days, she must have a reason. If she refuses to lead the way, we don’t let her go.”
Brutal, but practical.
Li Zhi nodded. “We’ll play it by ear when the time comes. Either way, we have to get into that mountain.”
They discussed several contingency plans. As night fell and the streets emptied, everyone returned to their rooms to rest.
Perhaps because of Tao Tao’s disappearance, Yin Fu seemed to be making an effort to appease the tourists. Not long after they returned, she began delivering late-night desserts to every room.
“This is made from our local floral honey,” she said, smiling sweetly, her earlier anger nowhere to be seen. “If you like it, I’ll bring more tomorrow.”
Li Zhi took the butterfly-shaped tray. “Thanks.”
As she closed the door, Xu Yan came out of the bathroom, drying her face. “What’s that?”
Li Zhi lifted the lid on the tray. “Dessert from Yin Fu—made with local honey, apparently.”
Xu Yan glanced at it casually. “Oh, that’s green berries with fresh flowers and milk—kind of like a fruity custard.”
She froze mid-sentence. Both of them stared at each other.
After a long moment, Xu Yan’s expression shifted. “Wait… how would I even know that?”
A local specialty—and yet she knew the ingredients. Why?
Li Zhi stared at her. “What were you thinking about just now?”
Xu Yan’s breathing quickened. “Nothing! It just popped into my head naturally—I didn’t even think. I… am I…”
Li Zhi held her cold hand. “It’s okay. Don’t panic.” Her voice was steady, soothing. “It’s only the fourth day. We still have time. Whatever secret this place is hiding, we’ll solve it.”
Xu Yan took a deep breath, calming herself, and nodded.
Outside, patrols were still circling the streets, but there seemed to be fewer footsteps than the night before. Xu Yan locked the windows, checked the baseball bat on the nightstand, and finally lay down, trying to sleep.
The night deepened, and the world grew quieter.
Sometime later, Xu Yan suddenly felt a cold breeze brush against her cheek.
Her eyes flew open.
In the darkness above, a massive butterfly was fluttering, its wingbeats stirring the air and sending chilling drafts across her face.
The window was wide open, the curtains billowing in the breeze, streetlights casting a dim glow over the semi-human, semi-butterfly creature as it swooped toward Li Zhi’s bed.
Xu Yan reacted before her thoughts could catch up, grabbing the bat and swinging it at the creature’s abdomen.
The monster was fast. Her swing barely grazed its tail. Xu Yan gripped the bat with both hands and charged again, shouting, “Li Zhi!!”
The creature let out a guttural screech.
Its massive wings flapped violently, sending Xu Yan tumbling to the floor. As she struggled to rise, sticky silk shot from the creature’s body, pinning her down like a spider’s prey. She thrashed, shouting, “Li Zhi! Wake up!”
Li Zhi finally snapped awake from her fevered daze.
Her head was spinning, her vision blurry, but she could just make out a giant black shape lunging toward her. She rolled off the bed, narrowly dodging the first strike, but the fever left her weak and slow. The monster leapt down, several tendrils extending from its body, seizing her tightly and dragging her close.
Dim light from the street illuminated its face—and Li Zhi’s hand froze on the teleportation charm she’d been gripping.
Suddenly, footsteps thundered outside. The patrolling villagers had heard the commotion and came running.
With a loud crash, the flimsy bamboo door was kicked open.
Several villagers burst in wielding tridents.
The butterfly creature glanced sideways. Several limb-like appendages wrapped around Li Zhi, pulling her tightly against its body. With a powerful beat of its wings, it leapt for the window and flew out into the night.
Xu Yan let out a heart-wrenching scream, “Li Zhi!!”
The villagers rushed to the window, but could only watch helplessly as the black silhouette soared beneath the moonlight, massive blue-golden wings shimmering faintly.
With Li Zhi’s fevered body held tightly in its embrace, the creature flew away from the village and into the mountain wilderness.