Chapter 470: Catching the Demon in the Liao Family Residence

The sky gradually darkened.

At first, the torches were only meant to bolster courage, ward off evil, and dispel darkness. But as night fell, they became necessary for illumination.

Tonight, the Liao family’s courtyard was livelier than ever.

Everyone searched patiently, leaving no corner unchecked—not even mouse holes, which they pried open just to make sure the golden toad wasn’t hiding inside.

Not only did they have to be cautious while searching, but even walking required care.

They remembered what the immortal master had said earlier—if the golden toad wasn’t simply hiding somewhere, it might have used some illusion or invisibility technique. After much discussion, they decided to counter this by sprinkling a thin layer of flour all over the courtyard, inside and out. Now, whenever they moved around, they had to be extremely careful, stepping only in existing footprints.

It wasn’t too difficult during the day, but once night fell, each time they entered or exited a room, they had to lower their torches or lanterns to closely examine the footprints on the ground.

“Have you found it?”

“No!”

“Where could that thing be hiding?”

“Search more thoroughly! That thing doesn’t move easily. Whenever it needed to be moved before, it always had to ask us to carry it. It couldn’t have gone far!”

“We’ve searched everywhere...”

Anxiety and frustration spread among the group.

As time passed, despite their relentless efforts yielding no results, the determination and courage they had initially mustered gradually began to fade. Some people started to feel uneasy and uncertain in their hearts.

Meanwhile, Lady Calico remained seated on the courtyard wall, expressionless. She silently watched the people moving in and out below, observing everything without uttering a word.

An old man, his hair and beard completely white, sat in a chair nearby. He had been watching his descendants search tirelessly for a long time. When they still found nothing, he fell silent for a moment.

Then, he suddenly raised an eyebrow, struck his staff against the ground, and barked angrily, “Keep searching! No one is allowed to slack off! That thing cannot have left this house! Second son, bring me firewood! Eldest son, go gather all the valuables in the house—take everything out! If we don’t find it by tonight, I’ll burn this whole place down! I’d rather lose this house than let that thing torment us any longer!”

“Father...”

“Patriarch!”

Everyone was stunned. They rushed forward, trying to dissuade him.

Even the neighbors who had been watching from the doorway, too afraid to step inside, were shocked.

Even the young girl sitting on the courtyard wall’s eaves couldn’t help but be startled. She lowered her head and stared intently at the old man.

“No more nonsense!” The old man’s voice, though hoarse and weary, was resolute. “Compared to the entire family, being tormented to death by that thing, what is a house worth? If worse comes to worst, we can build another house! The river is right behind our home, and we’re a fair distance from the neighboring houses. The fire won’t spread to others. So what are you afraid of?”

Although the old man's voice was hoarse and weathered, and his speech somewhat muddled, his words still echoed throughout the courtyard, reaching everyone's ears. The determination and strength in his words commanded even greater respect.

Chaos erupted once more.

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The search became even more frantic and meticulous. Some people carried out gold, silver, and expensive furniture, while others began hauling in dry firewood.

Up on the tiled eaves of the courtyard, Lady Calico was starting to get a little bored. She shifted her sitting posture—from sitting upright to resting her chin on one hand. She continued watching, but now she was yawning and blinking sleepily.

And then—

Suddenly, she froze.

With a sudden

swish

, the little girl snapped her head around, staring intently at an empty patch of ground in the courtyard. Though there was nothing there, she didn’t blink once.

She studied it for a few moments, then cast a glance at the old man, deep in thought. Then, she returned her gaze to the courtyard, her eyes slowly shifting.

Yet, everywhere she looked, there was still nothing.

The old man remained seated, occasionally glancing her way. Meanwhile, the rest of the household continued their meticulous search, coming and going, yet no one noticed anything unusual.

Lady Calico continued her slow scan of the courtyard, her head lowering as her focus drifted toward the entrance. She lowered it further and further until her eyes landed near the doorway. Only then did she raise her head, exchange a glance with the old man, look around at the others, and finally said, “Don’t let it escape!”

Her voice was soft and clear—not loud, but enough to instantly command everyone's attention.

This was the first thing she had said since entering the courtyard and perching on the wall.

The old man, who had been watching her closely all along, immediately struck his staff against the ground and shouted, “Check the footprints on the ground!”

His authority was absolute. The moment he spoke, everyone obeyed.

Torches were lowered, lanterns dipped closer to the ground. People bent down, their eyes scanning every inch of the flour-covered courtyard.

“Something’s wrong!”

Suddenly, a sharp-eyed man spotted something unusual.

It wasn’t that extra footprints had suddenly appeared on the empty ground.

Rather, in places where people had already stepped, faint footprints remained in the flour. While the flour wasn’t completely erased, some areas looked more disturbed—except in one set of unclear, overlapping footprints, where tiny new imprints had appeared, as if small fingers had pressed into the ground.

The marks were faint, broken, and scattered. In the dim light, they were barely noticeable unless one looked very closely.

Just as the man focused on them, he saw more tiny footprints suddenly appear within the larger ones—short, unevenly spaced, as if something small and invisible was walking right there.

“Ah!” The man stumbled back in fear, pointing ahead and shouting, “It’s here!”

His cry sent a ripple of tension through the crowd.

“Where?!”

“Right here! Can’t you see it?!”

“

Whoosh

...”

Someone immediately swept a torch over the area.

Though it should have simply passed through thin air, when it crossed over one of the larger footprints, it suddenly struck something heavy and solid—

“

Thud

!”

A dull thud echoed through the courtyard as sparks scattered in all directions.

“

Clang, clang, clang

...”

A metallic object rolled across the ground, spinning several times before coming to a stop. The thin layer of flour on the floor revealed its erratic path—it didn’t roll smoothly, as if it wasn’t perfectly round.

“It's here!”

“I still can’t see it!”

“Throw flour!”

“Flour! Quickly!”

“It's running!”

The creature panicked. It no longer bothered to carefully follow human footprints to conceal itself—it bolted straight for the courtyard entrance.

The thin layer of flour on the ground was disturbed by countless tiny footprints—each only the size of a fingernail, as if pressed by small fingers. The movement barely displaced the flour, making the tracks faint but unmistakable.

“It's getting away!”

“Bring the flour!”

“It just ran into my foot!”

Someone rushed over, carrying a basin full of flour.

At the same time, others hurriedly shut the courtyard gates, while the neighbors who had been spectating outside had long since fled in terror, scattering like frightened birds.

“

Whoosh

...”

A sudden, eerie wind swept through the courtyard.

Those who had lived in the Liao family residence for some time immediately felt a sharp pain in their stomachs, as if something inside them was twisting violently. Unable to hold it back, they doubled over, and with a choked gag, they vomited a foul, black liquid.

“

Splash

...”

The putrid substance was thick and rancid, reeking like rotting meat that had been left to fester in summer heat. The moment it hit the ground, it splattered in all directions, and as the wind carried the stench, the entire courtyard was filled with a nauseating odor.

Then, an excruciating pain shot through their stomachs, as if knives were carving through their insides.

Even the person carrying the flour was affected. Their hands trembled as all strength drained from their limbs, and with a crash, the basin of flour slipped from their grasp, spilling onto the ground.

However, the distant relatives and hired martial artists—those who had not lived in the house—remained largely unaffected. At most, they felt a chilling sensation creeping over them.

One middle-aged man reacted quickly, rushing forward to retrieve the fallen basin and hurling its remaining contents ahead. A nearby martial artist also caught on and began scooping up handfuls of the spilled flour, tossing it forward as well.

The afflicted household members continued to retch and writhe in pain.

And yet—the flour had already begun to settle on the ground. The flour, mixed with the black liquid, became sticky and began outlining the shape of a crawling figure.

Palm-sized—vaguely recognizable as a toad.

But it was moving slowly, its movements stiff and unnatural.

“There it is!”

A group of people lunged at it.

Perched on the courtyard wall, the little girl wrinkled her nose, her face full of disdain. Yet, she didn’t look away, keeping her sharp gaze fixed below as the crowd tried to catch the golden toad.

But for some reason, no one could seem to grab it properly.

Hands reached for it—but always landed just to its left or right. Some grasped too far ahead, others too far behind. No one could actually touch it.

Instead, people kept bumping heads, colliding with each other in their frantic attempts.

The little girl furrowed her brows in confusion, watching intently, her expression thoughtful. Then, she suddenly called out, “It’s an illusion! Don’t look at it!”

Her voice was soft and clear, but in the chaos below, few people heard her.

The old man, however, immediately slammed his staff against the ground, even as he continued vomiting black water. Fighting through his discomfort, he raised his voice and shouted, “Close your eyes—use your hands to feel for it! Don’t rely on your sight!”

Many were confused by this order, but a few heeded it nonetheless.

And miraculously—

The moment they closed their eyes and reached out blindly, their hands actually touched something cold and metallic.

The timid ones instantly jerked their hands back in shock.

But the bolder ones gripped tightly and refused to let go. As the golden toad struggled, they wrestled with it, calling for others to help.

Even stranger—those who were physically weaker could barely hold onto it at all. The moment they touched it, they felt an unbearable bone-chilling cold, like plunging their hands into icy water in the dead of winter. The frostbitten sensation was razor-sharp, cutting through to their bones. They could only grasp it for a second before instinctively letting go, as if they had been electrocuted.

Even those who were strong and healthy could only hold onto it for a short while before needing to pass it to someone else.

And to make matters worse, the golden toad kept moving. It was surprisingly strong, kicking and squirming in their grasp. No one could keep hold of it for long, forcing them to pass it between different people.

“I’ll take it on!”

A robust martial artist stepped forward.

He snatched the golden toad with both hands, gripping it firmly. No matter how violently it twisted and kicked, he refused to let go.

As he held it tightly, the golden toad’s true form began to fully reveal itself.

It was a palm-sized brass statue, its entire body a dull, tarnished golden hue. Its surface was smeared with flour, its mouth opened and closed, its tongue flicking in and out, while its four limbs continued to struggle.

Then, with a sudden “

puff

!”, black smoke burst from its body.

The smoke was rancid and corrosive, burning the skin of the man holding it, forcing him to nearly drop it.

Lady Calico immediately tensed at the sight. She adjusted the pouch slung across her body and was just about to leap down from the wall when—

The martial artist let out a cold snort, then slammed the golden toad onto the ground. Without hesitation, he grabbed the copper basin that had previously held the flour and flipped it over, trapping the toad beneath it.

Clang

!

At that moment, the people who had been vomiting black water—whether because they had finally purged the evil from their bodies or because the creature had stopped its magic—gradually ceased retching. Their bodies began to recover, and one by one, they turned to stare at the martial artist and the upturned copper basin.

The copper basin, shining like gold, was firmly pinned under the martial artist’s foot.

Faint shuffling and scratching sounds came from within.

The Liao family, being booksellers, all had a similar thought as they watched the scene unfold—if we wrote this down, just a few strokes of the brush could turn this into an extraordinary tale of the mystical and the strange.

“We caught it!”

“A hero! Incredible!”

“Unbelievable!”

“Finally caught it!”

Excitement erupted among the crowd.

Everyone cheered and praised the martial artist, their voices brimming with admiration and relief.

Even Lady Calico was surprised.

She had assumed that once the black smoke started billowing from the golden toad, things would get dangerous—that finally, the creature had shown a power that could truly harm people. She had been preparing to jump down and assist, thinking they wouldn’t be able to handle it.

But to her astonishment, they had simply trapped it under a copper basin, and that was that.

Now, though traces of black smoke still leaked from underneath, they were too faint to cause harm.

“What do we do now?”

Everyone turned their eyes toward the old patriarch in the center of the courtyard.

Then, as the old man’s gaze slowly shifted toward the courtyard wall, so did everyone else—until their eyes landed on the little girl perched atop it.

Lady Calico hesitated for a moment. Then, she leapt down.