32 The Savvy Civet Cat

It was a dark and windy night. A night for catching a demon.

The entire inn, having been cleared of all customers very early on, was filled with silence. There were four or five fat cockerels in a cage in the middle of the inn's inner courtyard, and the flapping of their wings could be heard from time to time.

There was nobody in sight, not even the waiter who normally patrolled the inn in the middle of the night, but a closer examination would reveal a few shadowy figures lying on the roof, under the eaves, behind the door, and even in the shrubs in the courtyard. Every one of them was concentrating on the chickens dozing in the courtyard.

Two hours passed.

No movement.

Four hours passed.

Dead silence.

Six hours passed.