The women finally breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the man in such a state, and they all revealed satisfied smiles. "Good, the third son of the Wu family is cured of his madness!"

At this moment, the crowd was pushed aside, and a burly woman rushed in like a whirlwind. The woman had a face full of橫肉 (hengrou - excess flesh) and looked very difficult to deal with. Approaching the man who had been pulled up, she didn't say a word before delivering two loud slaps to his face. "You scoundrel! You dare to run after entering my Wu family's door? I'll beat you to death!"

The woman was strong and vigorous. After rolling up her sleeves, two slaps caused the man's nose to bleed profusely, and his body tilted, almost falling to the ground again. Finally, an elderly woman at the scene persuaded her to stop.

The old woman leaned on a cane in one hand, while someone else supported her on the other side. "Don't beat him anymore. Beating him to death is a small matter, but you can't harm the inheritance of our Blackwater Village. Otherwise, if the Zhusheng Niangniang (Goddess of Birth) finds out..."

The mention of Zhusheng Niangniang instantly silenced the chaotic scene. Even the most furious stout woman's expression changed, and the hand she had just raised retracted.

The old woman tapped her cane forcefully, staring at the stout woman who had hit him. Her withered face twitched as she slowly spoke in a tone between threat and warning, "Wu family's head, remember this, this is the last time. The year before last, your eldest son went mad and wanted to run out of the village, but he fell into the Blackwater River and drowned. Last year, it was your second son; fortunately, the villagers discovered him in time, broke both his legs, and sent him back to you. This time, it's your third son's turn..."

The old woman's tone grew worse and worse, and her face slowly darkened. "Do you even have the ability to control your men? If you don't, then hand the man over. The other women in the village will take care of him for you."

"Also, this is not my intention; this is the village chief's intention." The old woman sneered. "You know, the village chief's intention... is the Zhusheng Niangniang's intention."

Hearing this, the stout woman trembled like a sieve, her knees softened, and she fell to the ground with a thud, constantly kowtowing to the old woman. "Elder Sun, I know I was wrong. I promise it won't happen again. Please... please put in a good word for me in front of the village chief. I, Wu Damei, will be eternally grateful! Eternally grateful!"

The scene before him made Li Bai frown. The words "Zhusheng Niangniang" were like a mountain pressing down on the entire village, making it hard to breathe. At the same time, this was the first time he had learned the name of the stout woman before him: Wu Damei.

According to the conversation between the two, incidents like men running away were not uncommon in the village, and the women of Blackwater Village were just like the men of the feudal era, taking multiple husbands was commonplace.

More importantly, the mysterious village chief of Blackwater Village seemed to have some inexplicable relationship with the Zhusheng Niangniang, whom the villagers deeply feared.

"I've said what needs to be said. As for what to do next, you should know better." The old woman raised her heavy eyelids, and after dropping the last sentence, she turned and left with the support of those around her.

"Elder Sun is gone, don't just stand there! Quick, change the third son of the Wu family's clothes. What kind of spectacle is this on such an auspicious day?"

Someone shouted a few words, and the previously stagnant crowd became active again. Everyone began to reach out to strip the man's clothes, and someone else brought new clothes and shoes for the man in a large bamboo winnowing basket.

However, these new clothes seemed very mysterious, wrapped tightly in black cloth, and surrounded by people blocking the view. Li Bai couldn't see what was inside.

But the next second, the scene in his peripheral vision refreshed Li Bai's understanding once again. Several women held down the man's legs and forcibly tore off the embroidered shoes from the man's feet. The man's feet were bloody and severely deformed, looking like the bones had been crushed and forced into the shoes.

It was hard to imagine what kind of pain the man had endured to be able to run so fast on such small feet.

However, in stark contrast to Li Bai's disgusted expression was the man's dazed smile.

The man, after being fed the white powder, returned to the standard appearance of a man in the village: obedient, docile, foolish, and of course, an indescribable strangeness.

An astonishing idea emerged in Li Bai's mind: all the men in this village were probably captured. To make it easier to control these men, the women in the village uniformly fed them this strange white powder.

The man, stripped naked, was taken away like livestock, surrounded by women with joyful expressions. The women whispered to each other, congratulating each other, but what they said made Li Bai's hair stand on end.

"The third son of the Wu family's time is coming, how envious."

"Isn't that so? Unlike my two short-lived ghosts, I should have never chosen those two in the first place."

"You can't say that. Men with broad shoulders and big butts are good for bearing children, but it's best to break their legs, or at least sever their hand and foot tendons, so they'll be obedient."

The stout woman, who had been frightened pale by Elder Sun earlier, gradually regained her confidence amid the congratulations, cupping her hands and returning the greetings, "Thank you all for your support. I, Wu Damei, am eternally grateful. I'll treat you all to the full-month celebration in a few days, everyone remember to come!"

Li Bai suddenly realized something even more serious. They had been in this Blackwater Village for a day and a night. During this time, they had seen many villagers, including the elderly, middle-aged people, and young people in their early twenties, but they had not seen a single child.

Not a single one.

Where did the children who had been born in the village go?

After the crowd dispersed, the large courtyard returned to its former tranquility. After closing the door tightly and confirming that no one was eavesdropping, Yao Shun Yu and Li Bai's expressions became extremely ugly. Li Bai quickly told Yao Shun Yu about the abnormalities he had discovered, and the latter was secretly shocked.

This Blackwater Village was like the Blackwater River surrounding the village, terrifying and darkly unfathomable. No one knew how many unspeakable secrets were hidden beneath the black water, in the deepest silt.