The Civil Servant's Job is to Raise The Furries!-Chapter 161: Strange Phenomenon

The first impression Village Chief Miao gave Xu Ying was one of sincerity and frugality, and she felt a sense of respect in her heart: "For now, there isn’t anything that requires help. I’ve brought an assistant along as well; with him, it should be enough."

Xu Ying showed Village Chief and the other villagers a photo of Liu Kai’s work ID. "He’s not here yet, but when he arrives, please let him know where I am."

"Alright!" Village Chief Miao nodded with a smile. "Would you like to have a cup of tea at the village committee before starting work? It’s a long way for a young girl like you to come over, it must be tiring."

"It’s not tiring. I’ll dive right into work; the sooner it’s done, the sooner I can wrap up." Xu Ying smiled at everyone: "Does anyone have sick poultry or livestock at home? You can take me to have a look, and I’ll prescribe some medicine."

However, after Xu Ying asked this question, the villagers didn’t immediately respond, but instead, exchanged glances among themselves.

More than ten people were standing there, yet none mentioned that their livestock had any ailments or discomfort.

Xu Ying distinctly remembered a young boy mentioning earlier that his family’s cow was acting strange, walking as if it were drunk.

Xu Ying immediately sensed something was amiss.

Did these villagers not trust her medical skills?

Xu Ying was also curious to see if the illness in the village’s livestock had any connection to fertilizer pollution.

Xu Ying took the initiative to ask, "Who is the boy in the blue jacket just now?"

Everyone’s gaze turned toward a pair of thin-looking middle-aged couple.

The couple exchanged a glance at this moment, then spoke to Xu Ying hesitantly, "He’s our child, named Yin An."

"Veterinarian, is there something wrong?"

"Your child said your cow is sick, right? Could you take me to have a look?"

Seeing that the couple still had concerns, Xu Ying added, "If it’s something contagious, it could affect your other livestock."

On hearing about contagious diseases, the other villagers got nervous and urged, "Let the veterinarian have a look, it doesn’t cost your family anything either."

"Yes, hasn’t Master Wu yet visited your house? Let this young one have a look first; later, see what both sides say."

Upon hearing the name Master Wu, Xu Ying squinted her eyes, curiosity written on her face. "Folks, who is Mr. Wu?"

"He is the master we invited to ask for the Earth God’s blessing."

At this moment, an older sister said a few words to clear up Xu Ying’s confusion: "Our village’s grain yield has decreased, so we invited the master for a ritual."

"This master not only looks at the land but also can check animals—"

The older sister wanted to continue, but the village chief interrupted.

"Alright, alright, what are you telling this girl for? Young people don’t understand our traditions. We do it for peace of mind, and if you explain so in detail, surely, this girl will think we’re old folks superstitious with feudal beliefs."

The village chief wore a sincere smile. "Right, young girl, you young people emphasize science, don’t you?"

"Yin An’s house is over here; I’ll show you the way."

Meeting Village Chief Miao’s eager eyes, Xu Ying nodded politely, "Thank you very much."

She could sense that Village Chief Miao didn’t particularly want her to know about the village inviting a great master for a ritual.

Village Chief Miao chuckled awkwardly, "Just leading the way, it’s no trouble at all."

Xu Ying followed the village chief and the Yin couple towards their cattle shed.

Crescent Oasis, truly deserving of its reputation as an advanced agricultural oasis, had notably better infrastructure and housing conditions than Da Huyang Village.

Houses here were mostly built with sun-dried mud bricks, walls coated with light gray clay, reflecting soft sunlight under the scorching sun.

Some well-off walls even embedded geometric patterns made from ceramic shards, aesthetically pleasing and beautiful.

Most extravagantly, the water source—an artificial shallow channel encircled the settlement, with bluish-gray slate lining its sides.

This all owed itself to the ancient Crescent Lake’s generosity and mature groundwater extraction.

In admiring these views, Xu Ying entered the cattle shed, "The houses here are truly beautiful and neatly arranged!"

"Indeed, they are all built by people our village chief helped us find, and, in the past, when our village yield was good, dividends were abundant so we could afford such pretty houses, unlike now... Sigh."

A villager spoke while shaking his head.

Mr. and Mrs. Yin began talking about their cow with Xu Ying, "Recently, our cow’s milk production has sharply decreased, and the plowing cow’s walking posture is very odd..."

As they spoke, they arrived at the cattle shed.

At this moment, many cows in the shed were performing a puzzling action—licking the wall as if it was covered in some herbaceous juice or honey.

On the adobe wall, a noticeable damp patch had already formed.

The cows, seemingly oblivious, mechanically scraped the mud on the wall with their tongues.

The villagers, seeing so many cows showing this symptom, frowned.

"Could it be that these cows are possessed?"

"Yeah, suddenly licking the wall, is it a sign of something happening to Yin’s house?"

"Yin family, maybe you should have Master Wu take a look?"

...

Mr. and Mrs. Yin, hearing the villagers’ discussions, wore expressions of fear, hesitating and unsure of what to do.

Several cows let out lowing sounds.

After exchanging points in the system for mastering the language of cows, Xu Ying could clearly understand the lowing sounds after the skill took effect.

[Burning... there’s fire burning in the stomach...]

[Wall... the wall can alleviate this... but it’s so salty and bitter...]

Their eyes were unfocused, nostrils flaring with hot air, conveying a sense of being in a state of anxiety.

[Can’t control licking the wall, low... the whole body feels uncomfortable.]

Even though the cows’ behavior was comical and bizarre, Xu Ying could feel their pain through the sounds.

"Are they trying to lick down Yin’s house?"

"Farmland is land; the house is also on land. Could it be Yin’s family offended the Earth God?"

"Old Yin, you better quickly invite Master Wu over!"

These few words made the hesitant Yin couple firm their resolve, "We’ll go find Master Wu right now."

"This phenomenon is too frightening!"

—"Wait!"

Seeing the villagers chattering about this metaphysical phenomenon and scaring Yin An’s parents successfully, Xu Ying hastily stopped Yin An’s father and explained to the villagers, "No, they aren’t possessed!"

"The cows showing this eating disorder are most likely trying to supplement minerals."

"They’re sick, and medication will help."

—"Won’t the milk produced from medicated cows be unhealthy?"

"And will the plowing cows spoil the land after taking medicine?"

Upon hearing Xu Ying’s explanation, the villagers instantly sprang forward with numerous skeptical questions, looking untrusting.