Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Nyoi-Bo Studio

  “Is there only one?” Wang Yao asked. “Are there many?”


  The dog thought for a while and then shook its head.

  “Forget it. Look around with me tomorrow,” Wang Yao said.

  Wang Yao had almost trod on every inch of the land on Nanshan Hill. He did not find any signs of snake activity except for Xiao Hei’s.

  In the middle of the night, a sheep’s eyes were a little bright. It stood staring at the wall shaking its head. It then took two steps, opened its mouth, and began to eat.

  A strange cracking sound could be heard.

  “Hey, listen. Do you hear that sound outside?” The woman lying on the stone bed reached out her hand to touch her husband, who was already asleep.

  “No, I don’t hear anything,” the man said.

  He had drank a few cups of wine, so he had fallen asleep easily and did not want to get up.

  The woman listened carefully. She heard the noise again coming from the yard.

  “I really heard something,” she said. “Go out and see!”


  “It was nothing. Just go to sleep,” the man impatiently said.

  Crack! Crack! The sound outside was not very loud, but it was regular.

  After the woman laid down, she turned over and over again. She couldn’t sleep because of the sound. She finally got dressed and walked outside holding a flashlight.

  What! The woman began to scream.

  The man, who was still lying in bed, got up after hearing the shout. He ran out without wearing clothes. “What happened?”


  When he got to the yard, he saw his wife shivering and the flashlight laying on the ground.

  “Sheep, sheep!” Both her body and voice trembled.

  “What happened to the sheep? Did it run away again!” The man raised the flashlight to look. “God, what’s wrong with it!”


  The sheep was biting the wall. There was blood on the sheep and wall. The sheep’s teeth were hard but not as hard as cement and stone. Its teeth were broken, and the gums were ground down. Blood kept flowing from its mouth. The sheep seemed to not feel the pain and kept gnawing the cement wall like it was the most delicious pasture.

  The sheep is crazy! The man swallowed spittle. He had heard of mad dogs and even seen mad dogs, but he had never heard of mad sheep.

  Baa!

  Feeling the light of the flashlight, the sheep stopped gnawing. It turned its head and stared at the couple. The sheep’s mouth was bloody. It licked its tongue and swallowed its own flesh and blood.

  Baa!

  A gust of wind passed by. The man shivered with cold.

  “What should we do?” The woman was scared. When she came out and first saw the scene, she almost wet her pants. “Kill it?”


  “What? Oh. Stay here and wait.” The man quickly fetched a shovel.

  The sheep stood staring at them quietly. Blood continued to drop from the corner of its mouth. It was a frightening scene.

  The man approached the sheep. After hesitating for a while, he picked up the iron shovel and hit it heavily.

  Clunk! The sound was particularly loud and harsh in the dark night.

  The sheep shook its head as if nothing happened.

  Clunk! The man hit it again. The sheep still stood there.

  The man’s arm holding the shovel trembled. He had never encountered such a situation. The feeling was like meeting a ghost when walking at night.

  The sheep was finally killed by the shovel. Shockingly, the sheep had not struggled from beginning to end.

  A gust of wind passed by. The man quivered and found himself in a cold sweat. He felt chilled when the wind blew over.

  “What the hell is going on?” His wife was shocked and still frightened.

  “It must be mad. Go back to sleep,” the man said.

  “You should come back quickly since you are out without clothes,” his wife said.

  The couple entered the house. The dead sheep lay in the sheepfold with its blood flowing out.

  After entering the house and lying on the stone bed, the couple could not sleep. Once they closed their eyes, they seemed to see the sheep with the bleeding corners of the mouth staring at them and still licking its tongue.

  “What the hell is going on?” His wife kept muttering. “It was good a few days ago. Why did it change after coming back?”


  “Oh, stop muttering,” the man impatiently said.

  Even after entering the house and lying on the warm bed, he still felt like both of his body and heart were cold. He was scared.

  “Maybe ate something while it was outside?” The man was trying to comfort his wife and himself at the same time.

  “Maybe,” his wife said.

  Both of them were frightened and didn’t sleep well at night.

  The next day the weather was fine. The man got up early and came to the sheepfold. The blood had dried up. The sheep’s eyes were still open, but they showed a strange dark red.

  “What’s wrong?” His wife had followed him out.

  “I was thinking about how to deal with this sheep,” he said.

  “What do you want to do with it?” she asked.

  “What about selling the meat?” the man asked.

  “You must be crazy. It is a mad sheep,” his wife said. “What if people get sick after eating it?”


  “Then, throw it away,” he said. “It’s quite a pity considering how much it was worth.”


  “Throw it in the garbage pile outside,” the woman said.

  The man carried the dead sheep and threw it outside.

  “What?” A man saw the dead sheep as he passed by in the morning. “Sheep?”


  He stepped forward to take a closer look. His eyes lit up.

  “Who threw it here? He must be foolish!” The man rushed back to his home with the sheep. He didn’t mind that it was dirty.

  He was an old bachelor in the village. He was around 45 years old and lived by himself with two rooms. He was lazy and did not want to do anything. But, he was quite good at cooking chicken and roasting rabbit.

  A dead sheep was enough for him to eat for a few days. He peeled and boned it quickly.

  “Do you think we should have just thrown the sheep outside? Will the dogs in the village be infected if they eat it?” The wife couldn’t stop thinking about the sheep.

  “Why do you think about it so much? You said to throw it away, but now you are worried about it,” the man said impatiently while smoking.” What should we do now?”


  He was shocked last night, so he had not slept well. Plus, since the sheep that could have sold at more than $100 was gone, he was now in angry.

  “Why are you yelling at me?” The woman was annoyed.

  “Then, tell me what we should do!” The man took a deep breath.

  “Pick it back up and burn it or bury it,” the woman said.

  “Fine.” The man threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stepped on it. He then he went out. When he got to the trash pile, he was speechless.

  Hey, where’s the sheep?

  He returned to tell his wife. “It is gone.”


  “It must have been taken by someone,” the woman said. “I hope no one has eaten it.”


  She knew that there were several gluttonous and lazy people in the village.

  “What should we do?” The man was anxious. After thinking, he said, “I will go to the brigade house to use their microphone and notify the villagers.”


  The man strode out of the house. The microphone that had been quiet for a long time in the village began to broadcast.

  “Dear villagers, Wang Yisheng killed a sheep at home and threw it into the garbage dump. Don’t eat it no matter who picked it up. The sheep died from eating a rat poison!”


  “What is he talking about?” a villager asked.

  “Yisheng’s sheep died from eating a rat poison, and someone picked it up from the rubbish heap,” another villager said.

  “Will he die if he eats it?” the first villager asked.

  “Who knows?” the other villager replied.

  In a dilapidated room in the mountain village, a man in his 40s was covered in dirt and holding a pot. He was drinking a delicious mutton soup served with liquor.

  “Oh, that’s good,” the man said to himself. “This sheep is not bad. I can sell the parts for buying some liquor.”


  The village loudspeaker suddenly sounded. “All villagers, may I draw your attention?”


  “What is he talking about?” The man listened carefully.

  He suddenly sprayed the broth from his mouth. Rat poison?

  He had already ate two bowls.

  “Wait. Should it be black blood if it ate rat poison?” He was dumbfounded. Looking back at the cauldron and licking his lips, he felt it had been very delicious, but now it was not tasty. “Forget it. Don’t eat it. I’ll sell the rest of the lamb!”