Yama-Monkey's Bride

While Tangjia Village fears the flesh-eating Yama-Monkey, Tang Wanning mocks the legends—even as claw-marks shred her daughter Yanni's quilts and blood-ash circles appear at their door. Wanning sends Yanni into dark fields, ignoring younger daughter Nannan's vision of a hairy hand dragging her sister. When Nannan awakens possessed—crawling ceilings, eating raw meat—Grandma's blood-charmed water cures her, only to hear: ""Five nights... then the Monkey takes his bride."" The beast shatters Yanni's shed, snatching her into mountains. Villager Li ""rescues"" Yanni, but Wanning overhears his trafficking deal: ""Sell both sisters to mines."" As Li closes the trade, the true Yama-Monkey tears his throat open. Police sirens blaze through crimson snow as Wanning realizes: some legends exist to devour real monsters.