Chapter 100: It Turns Out to Be a Panda?

Wealthy people, especially those getting on in years, tend to favor elegant pastimes. The old man of this household loved keeping fish, while his wife doted on birds. In the sprawling courtyard behind their villa—covering several hundred square meters—they had constructed a series of interconnected ponds and a glass greenhouse aviary. It was nothing short of extravagant.

Lately, however, strange things had been happening.

It began when the old man discovered that several of his prized ornamental fish had vanished without a trace. He was so distressed that he had his butler and servants search for an entire day, scouring every hidden nook, from the rockeries to the aquatic plants, but they found nothing. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and buy replacements; each of those fish cost tens of thousands! The old man didn't care about the money—he was simply anxious because the things he loved had disappeared.

To his shock, the very next day, several of his wife’s birds went missing as well. This was truly bizarre. While the ponds were in an open environment, the birds were kept in a simulated forest enclosure made of tempered glass. Once the door was locked, no one could get in.

Was it a professional thief specializing in stealing high-value fish and birds? The elderly couple panicked. They began tightening security, installing surveillance cameras, stringing electric wire along the courtyard walls, and even setting mouse traps in hidden corners of the grounds.

That was when things took a turn for the worse.

The intruder seemed deeply displeased and began a campaign of frantic retaliation. First, the rate at which the fish and birds disappeared accelerated, and the thief even deliberately left behind the picked-clean bones of their prey. Then, the interior of the villa began to suffer; the carpets, sofas, and tables were left in a chaotic mess. Every bit of food stored in the refrigerator, raw or cooked, was devoured clean, as if a starving ghost had moved in.

Even more eerie was that every night at a certain hour, all the surveillance cameras would shut down on their own. If the system had been forced to run, the equipment was simply destroyed, the lenses smashed to smithereens.

Finally, they began to terrorize the old couple. At night, someone would knock on their bedroom door with a rhythmic "thump, thump, thump." When they got up to open it, there was nothing there! This happened repeatedly until the couple was nearly driven to heart failure.

When their son, who managed the family corporation, finally returned home and heard the story, he concluded this was no ordinary thief. He suspected they were dealing with some kind of sinister, supernatural entity. Realizing the police would be useless, he sought out a "master" to resolve the issue and eventually found A-Huang.

"It’s likely just a small spirit that has just gained sentience. What’s the big deal?"

This was what A-Huang said to Fu Yang in private, speaking with nonchalance. But when facing the client, he made sure to paint the situation in the most dire terms possible. True to his reputation as a professional charlatan, he spun a tale of malevolent demons and ghosts running rampant, scaring the old couple so badly they were nearly ready to kneel and hug his legs, begging for salvation.

"Don't worry, you two. When it comes to exorcising demons and catching ghosts, we are the professionals! Tonight, just go stay at a hotel and leave the villa to us. By early tomorrow morning, everything will be perfectly resolved."

The couple was skeptical, but they had no other choice. They complied. Before leaving, the old woman reminded them, "Master, please be careful. If it’s too much to handle, your own lives come first."

Watching them leave, A-Huang sighed, "Such kind-hearted rich people—they are the real role models!"

"Then why did you scam them? Don't you feel guilty for scaring an old man and woman like that?" Fu Yang rolled his eyes at him.

"Heh, I’ll get the job done once I’ve taken the money. Come on, let’s go check the pond and the aviary. I’ve pretty much guessed what kind of small spirit we’re dealing with..."

"I’ve guessed it too! Stealing birds and fish, and being agile enough to destroy cameras—it has to be that creature, having cultivated into a spirit."

The two bantered as they walked toward the backyard. Near the pond, A-Huang sniffed the air like a dog. "A scent of demonic energy."

Fu Yang spotted it instantly: a long, thin black hair caught on the rocks stacked by the pond. He walked over, picked it up, and smiled. "The police search was hardly thorough to miss such an important clue. Look, it’s cat fur."

"Indeed! This is clearly the behavioral pattern of a cat spirit. A cat gaining sentience—how interesting."

"But it looks like this is mostly mischief; it doesn't seem to have any intention of harming the old couple. Otherwise, it wouldn't have just used the 'ghost knocking' trick to scare them..."

They carefully inspected the pond and the aviary, finding faint, inconspicuous paw prints in both locations. Finally, at the base of the wall on the east side of the courtyard, hidden by tall grass, they found the smoking gun.

Fu Yang analyzed, "These paw prints are deep and formed in a single strike. This is where the cat spirit jumped over the wall and landed. Because the impact couldn't be entirely neutralized, they’re deeper here than elsewhere."

"Damn, you’re good! How about I call you Sherlock Fu from now on?"

"Get lost! Less yapping, more working. Let’s set up the containment array so we can wait for our prey tonight."

And so, the two began their work. Taoist formations are vast and profound.

There are many types of "containment" arrays, varying in complexity and power. Fu Yang and A-Huang judged that the cat spirit was not particularly strong, nor was its personality violent or cruel. It was likely a stray cat from the neighborhood that had gained sentience through some stroke of luck. In that case, they didn't need anything too elaborate.

A-Huang pulled several long copper spikes from his cloth bag and drove them into the ground following the layout of a Taiji Bagua diagram. He then had Fu Yang assist him in stretching ink-dyed lines between the heads of the spikes, creating a large Bagua shape. In the very center, he placed a copper coin with a square hole. Finally, he drew a talisman in cinnabar and chanted an incantation, connecting the power of the talisman to the formation.

A simple containment array was complete.

"Done! Let's go inside and have a drink. The owners aren't here, so we might as well enjoy the life of the wealthy." A-Huang clapped his hands nonchalantly and grabbed his bag, ready to head back inside.

"But we didn't bring any wine."

"Are you stupid, Little Yang? We’re the masters hired by the client; what’s wrong with having a drink from the fridge?"

"Fine, I truly underestimated the extent of your shamelessness."

"What do you want to drink? I saw some RIO in the fridge earlier; that brand has been advertising heavily lately."

"Hmm... compared to drinking RIO, I’d rather play with a 'rio'..." (Those who get the joke, face the wall.)

"Fine, I truly underestimated the extent of your lewdness."

The two shameless guys bantered as they opened the fridge, eating and drinking happily.

Midnight. The world was deathly silent.

The dark sky was studded with stars, promising a clear night. Fu Yang and A-Huang, having applied invisibility and night-vision talismans, hid cautiously in the grass near the containment array, eyes fixed on the wall.

"Hey, do you think that cat spirit will come back tonight?"

"Who knows! We’ll wait until one o'clock, and if it doesn't show, we’re going to sleep."

Just then, a dark shadow appeared on the wall. Both were startled and fell instantly silent.

There, on the top of the wall, appeared a chubby, round... giant panda!!!