"Is the person outside the newly appointed Magistrate of New Township County, Magistrate Geng Chun?"
Chen Shi was slightly taken aback. "He's buying geese? And he's bought them all?"
Something seemed off to him.
This was the Eastern Market. Recently, the moon had been showing up during the day, and there were rumors of evil spirits causing trouble nearby. Few people came to set up stalls, and even fewer came to buy things. The goose-selling old man was turning students into geese here, and now Magistrate Geng Chun was buying them all in this deserted market.
It was very strange.
From inside the sack, the geese were honking. Chen Shi looked over and saw several geese pecking at one, blaming her for making a wrong judgment.
The goose being pecked and honking pitifully was probably Hu Feifei.
Strangely enough, even though everyone had turned into geese and could only make goose sounds, they could still understand each other.
It was as if they had become fluent in goose language.
At this moment, Chen Shi heard goose honking from outside, indicating someone was moving the goose cages.
The sack was lifted and swayed as someone carried it.
They were entering the city.
Outside, the geese were crying and making a fuss. Judging by the sounds, other missing students had also been turned into geese.
"Is the magistrate in cahoots with the goose-selling old man? Are they really going to eat the students turned into geese? Isn't that like eating people?"
Chen Shi felt a shiver run down his spine, while inside the sack, the other students-turned-geese continued to attack Hu Feifei.
Chen Shi shook his head, thinking, "Childish behavior, but wait, aren't I a child too?"
So he flapped his wings, honking as he ran over to join his classmates, forming a circle to peck at Hu Feifei and pluck the feathers on her head.
Hu Feifei honked miserably as they attacked her.
After getting tired, Chen Shi and the others stopped to rest, planning to resume their attack later.
"What is this sack exactly, that it can turn us into geese? It feels like some kind of spirit realm."
Chen Shi waddled around on his short legs, his tail wagging as he moved inside the sack.
The sack was pitch black inside, like a small room that could hold a hundred or so geese without a problem.
"Chen Shi, Chen Shi, don't run around."
The other geese honked.
Chen Shi ignored them and continued to look around. The eyes of a goose were peculiar, allowing them to see in the dark. Even though the sack was pitch black, it looked like daylight to them.
He found that by standing still, he could twist his neck around to see behind him, feeling surprisingly agile and filled with a sense of novelty.
At this moment, a large white goose, transformed from Shen Yusheng, walked up to him and said, "This isn't a spirit realm. A spirit realm would have a larger influence, capable of altering structures and species. I can still feel my meridians inside, and my blood and energy flow as they would in a human body. I think this is some kind of creation technique that only changes our outward appearance, not our internal structure."
Chen Shi gave him a deep look. This student named Shen Yusheng was very clever, making Chen Shi see him in a new light.
"If only our cultivation could advance further, we might be able to break the sack's hold and turn back into humans."
Shen Yusheng said regretfully, "Unfortunately, I'm stuck at the Spirit Shrine Realm and haven't reached the Divine Fetus Stage. Otherwise, I might have been able to try. I think the goose-selling old man targets students and not scholars because his sack can only trap those at the Spirit Shrine Realm."
Chen Shi raised his head, looking around, and said, "The sack can be considered a kind of spirit realm, but its range is very small. Moreover, breaking it doesn't require a Divine Fetus; it's constructed with talisman scripts."
He attempted to activate his golden core, channeling it to his right foot, which turned back into a human foot from a goose foot.
Chen Shi remained calm, retracting his golden core, and his right foot reverted to a goose foot. He lightly stomped with his goose foot, causing True Qi to surge out and activate hidden black lines on the sack.
The black lines brightened under the stimulation of True Qi, forming one talisman pattern after another.
The talisman patterns surrounded them, creating a space the size of a room.
The other geese, having rested, were about to start a second round of attacking Hu Feifei when they saw this scene and froze.
Chen Shi retracted his goose foot, and the talisman patterns gradually dimmed, disappearing.
Shen Yusheng looked at him in surprise and whispered, "Chen Shi, your True Qi is strong. Have you reached the Divine Fetus Stage?"
Chen Shi shook his head, thinking, "I haven't reached the Divine Fetus Stage, but I've formed my golden core."
With his current cultivation, breaking the sack's hold wasn't difficult. The talisman patterns on the sack were shapeshifting talismans, which his grandfather had taught him.
Some of the runes even had slight flaws, making them easy to break.
At this moment, there was a commotion outside, and a woman's voice exclaimed, "So many geese? The lady will be happy now."
Another woman laughed, "The lady has been craving goose meat lately, always saying her meals are too bland."
Magistrate Geng's voice came through, "Take the goose cages to the backyard, set the table, prepare the knives and axes. Tonight, my wife and I will dine alone. You don't need to serve us, and no one should enter."
The maids agreed and carried the goose cages to the backyard.
"Sir, there are still some fresh white geese in the sack!"
The goose-selling old man said.
"Please take them to the backyard and put them in the goose cage."
After a while, the sack was opened, and Chen Shi and the others were suddenly bathed in light, causing several students to honk in panic.
At that moment, with a whoosh, a black dog leaped out of the sack, causing the maids to scream, "Dog, dog, a big black dog has gotten in."
The county office was thrown into chaos, with the maids in a panic.
Magistrate Geng quickly called for the constables to catch the dog.
A skinny but strong hand reached into the cage, grabbing Chen Shi by the neck and pulling him out.
The large white goose that Chen Shi had become didn't struggle, allowing the hand to lift him.
The owner of the hand was the goose-selling old man, with white hair and a wrinkled face. He looked at Chen Shi and chuckled, "What a big fat goose. Don't blame me; it's just that the master and his wife have a taste for this."
He stuffed Chen Shi into a goose cage, then used a bamboo pole to hang the cage on a tree in the backyard.
The goose cage was woven from bamboo strips, with holes just big enough for a goose's head to poke out but not its body.
Before long, eighteen goose cages were hanging from the tree, like round lanterns, with white geese pacing anxiously inside.
To others, these geese were just honking non-stop, but to Chen Shi and the other students turned into geese, they were crying for help.
"What's going on? Haven't you caught that dog yet? How are you doing your jobs?"
The county office was still noisy.
Many maids came out to tidy up the backyard, preparing various knives and utensils, as well as onions, ginger, garlic, cilantro, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and other condiments.
The students in the goose cages honked even louder, begging for help.
But no one could understand them.
The maids left the backyard, but the goose-selling old man stayed behind.
Unnoticed, night fell, and the goose-selling old man lit the lanterns one by one, casting a red glow over the backyard.
The goose-selling old man stood respectfully, and a voice said, "Madam, walk slowly, be careful of the slippery ground."
"Alright, alright."
A slightly breathless voice replied, "You can all leave now. I'll dine with the master, and no one is to step into the backyard."
"Yes."
The sound of the maids' footsteps faded away.
Chen Shi stood in the goose cage, noticing that the goose-selling old man seemed tense, staring at the moon gate of the backyard with a hint of fear.
Chen Shi looked towards the moon gate and saw a round, plump magistrate's wife slowly moving towards them in the moonlight and lantern light.
As she walked, she muttered, "It's been so long since I last ate, so long since I tasted something this fresh. Old Wu, where's the master?"
The goose-selling old man quickly bowed and said, "The master is still outside and hasn't returned."
His voice trembled slightly, as if he was very afraid, and he said, "Madam, if you're hungry, you can start eating first."
The plump magistrate's wife waddled towards the dining table, laughing, "No rush, no rush, I'll wait for him. He's newly appointed, the parent official of New Township, with many affairs to attend to. He needs to be nourished."
As she moved her body, there was a thud from her dress, and something seemed to extend from her body.
The magistrate's wife took another step, and there was another thud, her body extending further, her dress struggling to contain her.
She continued towards the dining table, with thuds echoing as her body grew longer and lighter.
From her dress emerged a body, more and more of it, with thick legs extending from underneath, supporting the long body.
Her body gradually thinned out, her speech becoming more relaxed, and she laughed, "This is much easier."
Her body had grown to three or four zhang long, with new sections continuously emerging.
The body was blood-red, but the legs were milky white, semi-transparent, with thick thighs and thin calves, ending in sharp points like steel.
She resembled a centipede four or five zhang long, with a thick shell on the outside. But the front part of her body was human-shaped, and as more sections grew, she became slimmer, more charming, and graceful.
Her once clumsy body became incredibly agile, no longer as cumbersome as before.
The white geese in the cages stopped honking, staring blankly at the scene.
Chen Shi was also stunned. "Didn't they say there were no evil spirits in the county? Now not only is there one, but it's also the magistrate's wife, enslaving cultivators to capture children for her to eat."
He felt it was absurd.
He had always envied the city kids, thinking they were incredibly fortunate, but now he realized they faced even greater dangers than the kids in the countryside.
Suddenly, someone started honking, and the other geese joined in, making the county office's backyard a noisy mess.
With a whoosh, the magistrate's wife floated up, her legs propelling her body in front of the goose cages, towering over them.
Her agile body circled the tree, then she shouted, "Quiet! Whoever makes noise will be eaten first."
Silence fell, with each white goose shrinking into the corner of its cage, not daring to move.
The magistrate's wife was satisfied, taking down a goose cage and placing it on the dining table, her eyes gleaming.
"Goose heart, goose liver, goose intestines, goose feet, and goose brain, all my favorite delicacies."
She laughed, her laughter causing her body to tremble, her legs shaking along.
"Don't be afraid, being afraid makes you taste bad. I originally only used the blood of children to refine my golden core. But after tasting it, I grew fond of it. Should I wait for the master, or start eating now?"
At this moment, Magistrate Geng's voice came from outside, "…Mr. Fu, coming at this time, is there something urgent?"
"Magistrate, I'm here for the geese!"
Fu Leisheng's voice came, laughing, "I told the goose-selling old man to save some geese for me. I heard he came to your place and hasn't left, so I came to bother you. Once I get the geese, I'll leave immediately."
Magistrate Geng was displeased, "I've already bought all the geese and paid for them. How can I give them to you? Mr. Fu, you're a scholar, don't push your luck."
Fu Leisheng replied, "I've paid too, and I paid first. Magistrate, even though you're an official, you should be reasonable. Call out the goose-selling old man, and we can confront him. Goose seller, goose seller."
His voice grew closer, as if he intended to force his way into the backyard.
The magistrate's wife's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and she laughed, "Master, let him in. It's just an extra pair of chopsticks."
Her eyes fell on the axe, her body shrinking back to her plump form.
Fu Leisheng and Magistrate Geng walked in one after the other. Fu Leisheng saw the goose cages hanging from the tree and laughed, "Yes, these are my geese. I paid for them. Magistrate Geng, these geese are mine, I'm taking them."
The goose-selling old man appeared behind him, coldly saying, "Mr. Fu, you must be mistaken. You haven't paid a cent for these geese."
Fu Leisheng, smiling, turned to face him and said, "Do you charge for selling geese? Did you charge Magistrate Geng? If you didn't charge him, why charge me?"
He was a middle-aged man with a previously muddled demeanor, like an old man who only cared about money.
But now he was full of energy, smiling, "Selling geese and not leaving, staying in the magistrate's house, are you planning to let the magistrate listen to you eat?"
Magistrate Geng laughed heartily, extending his hand in invitation, "Mr. Fu, you like to joke. Since you're here, have a meal before you go. Please sit."
Fu Leisheng came to the dining table and said, "Magistrate, please."
Magistrate Geng sat down and said, "Old Wu, pick a fat white goose for Mr. Fu."
Fu Leisheng laughed, "I'll pick it myself."
He snatched the bamboo pole from the goose-selling old man, took down one of the goose cages, and brought it to the table.
"Sir, the white goose I picked can speak human language."
Fu Leisheng placed the goose cage on the table and said, "She can even perform tricks, turning from a goose into a human."
"Oh?"
Magistrate Geng and his wife were intrigued. The magistrate's wife laughed, "Let it perform a trick for us."
Fu Leisheng smiled slightly and said to the white goose in the cage, "Hu Feifei, say something for the magistrate and his wife."
The white goose was indeed Hu Feifei. Looking at the magistrate's wife, she laughed, "Madam, you have a big head and big ears, like a pig, and you still want to eat?"
The magistrate's wife trembled with anger, about to explode, but Magistrate Geng held her hand and laughed, "Mr. Fu, what do you intend to do?"
Fu Leisheng replied seriously, "As a mere scholar, I can't change much, but I want to take my students away."
Magistrate Geng said, "You can take the students from the Scholars Academy."
Fu Leisheng laughed, "The students all study Master Confucius' teachings, so they're all classmates. I want to take them all."
"Dream on!"
The magistrate's wife slammed the table, her big head and big ears shaking slightly.
Thud, thud, thud.
Her body expanded, revealing her true form, "Stay here together!"
End of Chapter.