Upon reaching the village entrance, they saw Dongzi at the Marriage Tree, mouth wide open, shouting at the top of his lungs. Seeing Zhou Huan running over, Dongzi stopped his cries and whispered, "Brother, how's the shouting going? Why hasn't anyone shown up yet?"

"Don't rush it; we'll have news soon enough. Keep shouting. I'm going up the tree for a bit." Zhou Huan immediately climbed the Marriage Tree. Although Zhou Huan had scorched it quite badly, the branches were still dense enough to hide a person, so he settled in to wait and see what developed.

With a gust of night wind, a crowd of wandering souls materialized beneath the Marriage Tree, glaring fiercely at Zhou Huan above.

"Oh dear, why have you come out at this hour? Hurry to the Village Head's house and prepare to ambush him from the rear!"

"Roar, understood!" Another gust of wind whistled past, and the group of lost souls vanished without a trace.

Dongzi continued shouting as planned for nearly an hour, until his throat was raw and burning, before finally stopping. "Brother, it's time. I'm leaving now!"

"Help! Someone come quickly! Master Zhou Huan has shrunk! Quick, someone help him, or he'll be ruined!" With that, Dongzi ran back, and the next to arrive was Da Luobo (Big Radish).

This time, the villagers could finally take no more. Quite a few people, clad in their nightclothes, emerged from their courtyards and converged beneath the Marriage Tree. The first thing they saw were two fierce-looking Door Gods, followed by the brisk presence of Da Luobo.

The two Door Gods paid the crowd no mind whatsoever, but Da Luobo kept repeating his cry, his voice truly grating and bothersome.

"Hey, Da Luobo, what are you shouting about in the middle of the night?" a villager finally asked.

Da Luobo remained unresponsive. The crowd watching grew larger. Da Luobo glanced at his watch, shouted a couple more times, then turned and fled.

The onlookers were left dumbfounded: "What is wrong with this girl? Shouting in the middle of the night, fine, but she managed to draw everyone out and then just runs off? What was that for? Oh well, let's just head back to bed."

Just as the crowd was about to disperse, several beams of light descended from the heavens, encircling everyone. Each figure was a soul, carrying crude weapons, their eyes blazing with the light of sacred duty—they had appeared because Zhou Huan had summoned them.

The villagers had never witnessed such a spectacle, especially not the mythical appearance of these flying spirits. They couldn't handle it; several of the more timid had already sunk to the ground, while the bolder ones stammered, "Esteemed sirs, are you putting on a show? We are all honest folk in this village; we haven't provoked you, have we?"

The spirits remained silent. The only one standing beneath the tree was Yang Xiaoling. Her expression was blank, her demeanor stern as she fixed her gaze on the terrified villagers: "I summoned these souls. I want everyone to listen to my family history, to hear the true reason behind this Marriage Tree, and to see the true culprit behind the sickness afflicting our village children."

"What?" Several elders in the village could make out Yang Xiaoling's features, and seeing her face and bearing suddenly reminded them of Old Man Yang: "Is this young lady the granddaughter of Old Man Yang?"

"Yes. My grandfather died under mysterious circumstances, so I must settle the matters he left unfinished in life here. How many children in the village are currently sick, besides Third Brother Yang?" Yang Xiaoling asked the crowd.

It was the dead of night, and two to three hundred villagers stood there. The air was not warm, but constrained by the power of the encircling spirits, everyone listened intently to Yang Xiaoling's words. After she finished her question, someone replied, "There's Old Country's eldest grandson, Da Cong’s second son, and that Master Zhou Huan you were shouting about earlier."

"So that means there are four sick now? Then this matter is manageable. My grandfather had a prescription for this illness before, but one herb is missing, so I cannot treat everyone right now. However, I dare believe that the Village Head can cure Third Brother Yang; he must possess my grandfather's prescription." Yang Xiaoling spoke the truth.

"Hmph, Little Bell, you're spouting nonsense! Didn't the Village Head say all we needed was to donate money to the Marriage Tree? Besides, haven't people in the village always recovered from this illness this way before?" some villagers challenged.

Yang Xiaoling responded, "This is easy to resolve. There are two options now. First, the Village Head will come here soon to collect the money. Second, if you give the items on the table in Third Brother Yang's broken shack to the other shrunken people, they will certainly recover. Furthermore, you will find the Village Head's fingerprints on the rice bowl and the roof of Third Brother Yang’s house."

"Haha! Miss, are you telling stories? It sounds so real! Who's going to believe you? Where did you learn these lines to deceive us?"

Yang Xiaoling remained composed, sitting down on the ground, quietly waiting.

Suddenly, someone was spotted sprinting towards the Village Head's house from outside the circle of ghosts. However, no sooner had they started than a Soul-Locking Chain from one of the spirits yanked the fleeing figure back and deposited him right in front of Yang Xiaoling.

Yang Xiaoling questioned him directly, "Why are you running? Have you done something shameful?"

"Not at all! I was just sleepy and eager to get home to bed. I have to work in the fields tomorrow!" This young man was known throughout the village as a slippery character; not a word he spoke was true. But one thing was certain: if you gave him money, you would hear the truth. Who would casually give him money, though? Unless they needed someone to watch over something, this sort of person had some use—at least, you wouldn't easily be cheated when asking him to do something; he generally completed any task assigned.

"Then you'll have to hold out here a little longer. Once the Village Head shows up, you can all return to your homes!" As Yang Xiaoling spoke, she pulled a stack of paper ingots from her pocket, set them alight, and scattered the ashes around. Miraculously, as soon as the paper ashes settled, dozens more wandering souls materialized, completely surrounding the villagers and blocking any escape.

Some villagers thought of calling the police, but the moment they pulled out their phones, they discovered every line had lost signal. The biological chill emanating from these wandering spirits made the villagers feel the deep cold of the night and the chill in their hearts.

Occasionally, flying objects could be seen in the sky—likely bats or wild birds. It was night, and it was natural for these creatures to be out, but this only amplified the villagers' internal terror. None of them had ever seen ghosts, and this manifestation was entirely due to Zhou Huan's technique, compelling the spirits to appear in the darkness.

Hiding in the branches, Zhou Huan watched the villagers below, feeling utterly helpless. He wanted to light a cigarette, but remembering his precarious perch, he resisted the urge for fear of being discovered.

Before long, the branches and leaves of the Marriage Tree began to shake violently—the wind had picked up, and it was fierce! Beneath the massive tree's roots, in the otherwise quiet environment, one could clearly hear the echoing sounds of movement. A moment later, a creaking sound, and after waiting a bit longer, several crisp knocking sounds could be distinctly heard near the base of the roots, followed by the sound of a wrench unscrewing bolts.

"Creeeak!" Then, the voice below the tree was perfectly audible: "Hmph, you foolish boy, trying to fight me! I'll leave you with nothing!"

Everyone instantly widened their eyes, as the voice was intensely familiar—everyone recognized it as their Village Head. The crowd exchanged glances, listening as they heard the sound of some panel being moved under the tree, followed by another set of footsteps.

Yang Xiaoling looked at the crowd: "The base of the tree is where donations are placed, right? Then why is there a tunnel underneath this?" Xiaoling watched as everyone fell silent, then continued, "This is a secret passage leading directly to the Village Head's house. If you don't believe me, we can go down and see. Those who wish to go home can wait here. The Village Head will eventually crawl out of the donation hollow soon, and then we can search him; we are certain to find evidence proving he is the mastermind and operator of this entire affair."

When Yang Xiaoling finished speaking this time, the crowd remained silent. They understood it was now impossible to leave; they could only follow Yang Xiaoling's lead, no matter what she proposed. However, the voice they had heard undeniably belonged to the Village Head, which was irrefutable. Therefore, everyone wanted to investigate further, to see if Yang Xiaoling was telling the truth or just speaking utter nonsense.

"Ah! Who... who are you people? I haven't done anything to you, I never do bad things!" The voice was still the Village Head.

"Roar, roar! And what are you doing now? If you haven't done bad things, then we will send you outside so you can see what a good person is and what a bad person is."