The town always had a Master Ci Yun who specialized in handling such matters, and Ning Wei didn't want to steal his thunder.
The crowd of onlookers pointed and gestured towards the courtyard, their voices a cacophony of speculation, so Ning Wei couldn't immediately ascertain what had happened to the Yu family.
Ning Wei scanned the area but couldn't find Uncle Meng. He was usually present on such occasions. Perhaps the place where Teacher Mei went fishing was too remote, and no one had notified him?
"What exactly is going on?" Since she was here, Ning Wei thought she might as well find out the situation.
Tang Tang quietly explained to her that ever since they had left and Yu Jiansheng's couple moved in, they had started causing trouble.
First, the couple engaged in coitus every night, lasting until late into the night. Fang Fang's moans were loud, forcing the neighbors to listen.
This was not the main issue; it was merely the couple being overly amorous.
However, this morning, when Fang Fang went out to buy groceries as usual, everyone noticed her belly had swollen as if she were five or six months pregnant.
Strangely, Fang Fang seemed oblivious, her eyes vacant and numb.
Someone noticed something was amiss and quickly called out to Yu Jiansheng inside the house. All they heard was the sound of things being smashed.
They rushed in to investigate and found Yu Jiansheng, much like his uncle Pang Tou Yu, skin and bones, looking like a walking skeleton wrapped in parchment.
The first person to discover this was so terrified that they ran into the street screaming, attracting the crowd.
Yu Jiansheng's transformation into a state similar to his uncle's, and Fang Fang's sudden bulging belly, all pointed to something being seriously wrong with the Yu family.
Ning Wei crossed her arms and leaned against something, keeping a distance from the crowd, so naturally, no one noticed her.
However, the discussions from the crowd reached Ning Wei's ears word for word.
Back then, when Pang Tou Yu suddenly became like that, everyone had speculated wildly.
Now, his nephew Yu Jiansheng had met a similar fate, and coupled with the couple's nocturnal activities in the past few nights, it led everyone to suspect that Fang Fang was a demon who absorbed men's vital essence.
It was possible that both uncle and nephew had fallen victim to her, given how swollen her belly was. Perhaps the absorbed essence hadn't been fully digested and was accumulating in her stomach.
People are like that; they always make bold assumptions based on various details, completely disregarding the feelings of those involved.
Ning Wei's expression was unreadable. Since the crowd was too dense, she couldn't see the pregnant Fang Fang, nor the skeletal Yu Jiansheng lying inside the house.
Ning Wei stood there for a long time, but Master Ci Yun was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, Mei Nan and Uncle Meng, one carrying a bucket and the other a fishing rod, hurried towards them.
Uncle Meng spotted Ning Wei at once and nodded slightly in greeting.
He pushed through the crowd to see who was there and was surprised to find Master Ci Yun absent.
"Didn't anyone go to invite Master Ci Yun?" Uncle Meng asked the crowd loudly.
Someone stepped forward and whispered into Uncle Meng's ear. Ning Wei didn't know what was said, but after listening, Uncle Meng immediately looked at Ning Wei, who was standing at the back of the crowd.
With no one in charge of the Yu family at the moment, Uncle Meng had no choice but to step forward. He couldn't just stand by and watch two young juniors be left to their fate.
From Uncle Meng's gaze, Ning Wei could tell he wanted her to intervene.
"Do you need help?" Tang Tang asked quietly beside her.
"Master taught me that one should act when necessary. Since we've entered this line of work, many things are beyond our personal control. The responsibility on our shoulders is constant."
"Then I'll go prepare things for you. What do you need?" Tang Tang knew Ning Wei required tools for such matters.
"I'll go take a look first. Where are the others?" Ning Wei hadn't seen Zhu Yulian and the others yet.
Tang Tang's expression faltered slightly, but she quickly masked it.
"They heard about a fun place and went off together."
Ning Wei cast her a glance, making Tang Tang feel very guilty.
Just then, Uncle Meng approached, his face troubled. "Ning Wei, could you please go inside and take a look?"
"Where is Master Ci Yun?" Ning Wei didn't agree immediately.
"The master went out of town and hasn't returned yet," Uncle Meng replied honestly.
In fact, Master Ci Yun rarely left the area. For some reason, he hadn't been home for the past few days.
No one knew where he had gone.
However, some people had personally seen him leave Bai Xian Town, and he couldn't be found at home, leading them to believe he hadn't returned.
"Then I'll go take a look. Tang Tang, come with me." Ning Wei walked towards the Yu family courtyard, not forgetting to bring her little follower.
Li Ye wasn't with them this time, and Ning Wei indeed needed someone to run errands.
If it turned out to be a possession, she might need a tool to assist her.
Seeing Ning Wei approaching, everyone immediately parted, clearing a path.
Tang Tang's eyes darted around, looking extremely curious.
In the courtyard, Fang Fang sat on a stool. She appeared dazed, her belly significantly swollen.
Ning Wei stepped forward and gently called out to her, "Fang Fang."
Fang Fang's eyes didn't move; she was clearly lost in her own world.
Ning Wei reached out to touch her belly. Fang Fang reacted strongly, pushing Ning Wei away and staggering backward, falling directly from the stool to the ground.
"Oh!" Tang Tang quickly steadied Ning Wei.
Ning Wei regained her balance. She had thought Fang Fang was unresponsive, but it turned out all her attention was focused on her belly.
Uncle Meng was also frightened. A pregnant woman shouldn't fall. Though he didn't know what Fang Fang was carrying inside.
At that moment, Fang Fang suddenly clutched her belly and collapsed on the ground, writhing.
Everyone saw something moving inside her belly, as if a tiny fist was pounding from within.
"Is she having labor pains?" someone whispered to the person next to them.
"What kind of pregnant woman has such a big belly after just a few days?" someone retorted.
Fang Fang also appeared to be in pain. Though she remained silent, sweat dripped profusely from her forehead onto the ground.
"Someone come in and help me hold her down!" Ning Wei shouted towards the entrance.
The onlookers exchanged glances, and finally, a few middle-aged women came in.
"Master Ning Wei, what should we do?"
"Hold down her hands and feet. There's something inside her belly, and I need to examine it," Ning Wei told them.
The women glanced at Fang Fang, who was still rolling on the ground. "Will we hurt her?"
Everyone had a natural empathy for pregnant women, even if it was unclear whether Fang Fang was truly pregnant.
"It's fine. It's not a child inside her. Don't worry."
If the belly had remained still, she wouldn't have been able to determine what was inside.
But Fang Fang's violent movements had disturbed the thing hiding in her belly, and its wriggling allowed Ning Wei to get a clear look.