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.

 H

e 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 scen

ery

 a gentle touch. 

We 

acted

 like kids

. W

e 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

. A

t 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 h

appy 

times

don't

 last long. However, I thought 

that t

hey 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 

o

n 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

. M

y father-in-law screamed, “Get lost

, o

r 

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. H

er voice was panic-stricken. “Hubby, d

id 

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

. I

t 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 use

d 

some

“

h

uo 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’ li

ves

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 wa

s 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

. Hi

s 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 

a

s she had already asked him, I proceeded to tell him 

about t

he 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

. 

“

W

ith Chuyi’s help, I

’m sure 

we can solve the problem! 

W

e 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 conge

e and asked

, “Can I feed my parents some congee?” 

I nodded

. S

he went to the room. In the next second, she screamed 

at the top

 of her 

lungs, followed by th

e 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

. F

rom its bright red color, I guessed it was written 

in

 blood. 

This word hadn’t been there before. 

S

omething 

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. 

W

ould 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 t

hat thing was really afraid of me. 

“I

nteresting

…” 

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

. I

f 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 i

f I 

couldn't even do what he’d asked of me, I would be truly useless

.