Chapter 238 The Reason for Choosing a Hunt

"A bat?"

The expressions of those in the room shifted.

Wan Chongshan turned his head abruptly, staring fixedly at the night-luminous sand on the wedding dress, his gaze as sharp as a blade, as if he intended to see through those few grains.

Ling Xiaoning opened his mouth, subconsciously looking up at the rafters and the corners of the ceiling, as if a black shadow might swoop down from there at any moment.

"The doors and windows are all shut..."

Ling Xiaoning murmured, then, as if realizing something, he hurried to the window and, using the last remnants of light from outside, carefully inspected the gaps in the window lattice.

In the old wooden window, there were inevitably tiny gaps between the lattices; while not large enough for a person to pass through, but...

"I've got it! Bats have hollow bones and collapsible ribcages; as long as the gap is larger than their head, they can squeeze in!"

Ling Xiaoning turned back, his voice tinged with the excitement of discovering a clue.

"I've seen it in the countryside before; bats can crawl in and out of tiny cracks in walls and roof tiles!"

Feng Qing also walked to the door, checking the gaps between the door panel and the frame, then crouched down to examine the space beneath the threshold.

"Indeed. These places have gaps large enough for a bat to enter and exit. In the bright light of day, it's easy for us to overlook these minute details."

Wan Chongshan looked at the wedding dress, then back at the doors and windows, his fists clenched so tightly they creaked.

"So that black shadow really is a bat demon. It can squeeze through these gaps, and then..."

Ling Xiaoning turned pale as he listened, unable to help but hug his arms tightly, and asked, stuttering.

"But... even if it can get in, how does it take someone out? The doors and windows are all latched from the inside."

This was precisely the greatest mystery in everyone's minds.

Shen Suning walked to the window and pushed on the sash. The wooden window let out a faint creak, but the latch was firmly locked in its slot, not moving at all. She then checked the door bolt, which was also perfectly intact.

"Unless..."

Shen Suning mused, "Unless that demon has some means unknown to us to control the latches from the outside, or..."

She looked at the unfinished wedding dress on the bed, her gaze falling upon the night-luminous sand.

"Or, it doesn't need to take the person away at all."

Ling Xiaoning immediately broke out in goosebumps and shuddered. If it didn't take the person away, yet the person left no trace, everyone knew what that meant.

Wan Chongshan's eyes were bloodshot; clearly, he had considered that possibility too.

The room fell into silence for a moment, with only the occasional sound of barking dogs in the distance.

Ling Xiaoning scratched his head, looking at one person and then another, when suddenly a flash of inspiration struck him, and he whispered.

"Since we know this demon specifically targets unmarried girls of sixteen or seventeen with a 'yin' fate, can't we... can't we find a girl like that and lure it out?"

The more he spoke, the more feasible it seemed, and his eyes began to brighten.

"When the time comes, we can lay an ambush nearby. As soon as that bat demon shows itself, we can all rush in and capture it. That would not only eliminate the demonic threat but might even save the missing people."

This idea was simple and direct, and it was one of the methods commonly used by the Demon Suppression Division in their investigations.

Wan Chongshan's eyes suddenly erupted with a glimmer of hope, but it was immediately extinguished by the practical difficulties, and he shook his head.

"Xiao Ning, it's a good idea, but where are we going to find such a girl? We can't just go door-to-door asking, 'Is your daughter sixteen or seventeen, unmarried, and does she have a 'yin' fate?'"

"Not to mention that they wouldn't be willing to say, even if they were, we wouldn't be able to get any answers in a short time, and it would easily alert the enemy."

The Eight Characters, especially for a woman about to be married, were an extremely private matter; apart from close relatives, the matchmaker, and the fortune teller, they were rarely revealed to outsiders.

They were only able to find out about those three families during the day by relying on the grief of the victims' families, their expectations of the Demon Suppression Division, and by trading on the Face of the village chief and Wan Chongshan.

Trying to find another bait that perfectly met the criteria in such a short time was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Ling Xiaoning was stumped and sheepishly lowered his head.

Just as everyone was at a loss, Feng Qing, who had been silently examining the details of the wedding dress, suddenly stopped. He straightened up slowly, shifted his gaze from the dress to Chen Mu, his brows furrowed tightly.

"Something's not right."

He uttered these two words; his voice was not loud, but it instantly drew the attention of everyone in the room to him.

Chen Mu met his gaze, his eyes narrowing slightly. Almost the instant Feng Qing spoke, a sharp question emerged in his mind.

"What's not right?"

Wan Chongshan asked eagerly, but Feng Qing did not answer immediately, instead looking at Chen Mu again, as if confirming something.

Chen Mu met his gaze and spoke slowly.

"We can't get the girls' Eight Characters, so we can't set a trap, but then..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the room.

"How did the demon know? How could it precisely find four girls who perfectly met the criteria?"

"There are hundreds of households in Kaoshan Village, and there are more than four girls of the appropriate age. Why is it able to snatch them with such accuracy, as if it were ticking names off our case files?"

"Could it be sneaking into every household, grabbing each girl to check her birth date, and then putting back the ones that don't meet the criteria?"

This question left Ling Xiaoning and Wan Chongshan speechless; they opened their mouths but couldn't answer. Shen Suning also fell into deep thought.

Seeing that Chen Mu had asked the key question, Feng Qing nodded and let his gaze fall back onto the unfinished wedding dress, especially the patterns of twin lotuses and mandarin ducks playing in water on the lapel, which symbolized joy.

"The wedding dress."

Feng Qing uttered these two words, his voice dry.

"Before a woman gets married, her Eight Characters must be matched to determine fortune."

He raised his head and looked at Chen Mu.

"That's why those who went missing were all girls who were betrothed but had not yet married."

Matching the Eight Characters.

These three words were like a key, instantly opening a door to another path.

According to folk customs, after a man and woman become betrothed, in order to ensure a harmonious marriage, they often hand over both parties' birth dates to a matchmaker or invite a fortune teller to perform a horoscope match, calculate fortune, and choose a wedding date. In this process, someone inevitably handles the birth date slips of both parties.

If... the person handling them had a problem?

What if that seemingly ordinary matchmaker, fortune teller, or some seemingly respectable temple keeper or nun was actually an accomplice of the demon, or perhaps the demon itself in disguise?

Then wouldn't obtaining the birth dates of specific targets be as easy as turning over their hands? They wouldn't even need to search painstakingly; they would only need to silently note down the Eight Characters that met the requirements during the matchmaking process.

Then, taking advantage of the deep night, they could find the addresses they had already scouted out and slip in through the gaps...

Ling Xiaoning gasped.

"Then... what do we do now? Go investigate those matchmakers and fortune tellers?"

"We must investigate, of course."

Chen Mu walked to the table and tapped his fingers lightly on it.

"Our previous line of thinking has been concentrated on how the demon commits its crimes; perhaps we should change direction and start by looking at how it selects its prey."

"Or, we could... be more proactive."